Come Seek With Me

Georgia גורגיה Bulldogs בולדגס Go Dawgs! So, in this blog, I am going to show you some of my favorite souvenirs from Israel.  I had to start with this t-shirt; being a "Dawg" fan keeps peace in the family, as my husband is a graduate of UGA.  If you happen to be offended by this, never fear!  Israel boasts Hebrew t-shirts for every team.  Pottery Abby found quite a bit of discarded pottery along our journey.  The piece at the top is from Beit Shemesh (think Sampson in Judges).  The bottom two pieces are from Har Megido.  Har Megido in Hebrew = Armageddon in English (think Revelation 16:16).   Sand We gathered this sand in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen...Caesarea by the Mediterranean Sea.   This was the site of Herod's palace and the home city of Cornelius the centurion. Rocks Can you see the salt on the rock to the far left?  Abby fished these rocks out of the Dead Sea.  Attempting to swim in the Dead Sea was

the Jewish and Christian path to the temple mount Going Up... I was shocked that our group of believers was actually allowed to go up to the temple mount where The Dome of the Rock now stands.  Notice the wooden "temporary" walkway in the featured picture. That is the walkway that both Jews and Christians are allowed to use in order to access it.  While it definitely screams "second class citizen" compared to nicer paths that Muslims use, it is a path. There are Jews who "go up" regularly to visit the real estate that they believe once boasted their temple.  Security is TIGHT...especially for Jews and Christians.  Several in our group were made to cover their arms and legs during our visit.  The Beauty... I had never really paid much attention to pictures of The Dome of the Rock, so I was quite surprised by its beauty.  The gold dome is well-known, but the ancient tiles are quite magnificent, too.  Here is a better picture of the detail:

Welcome to a view or two of The Mount of Olives.  When visiting Israel, it is easy to see why it is called that.  The mountain is covered  in olive trees.  It is also in close proximity to the temple mount and the city of Jerusalem.  It is a mountain that you have heard of within the pages of your Bible.   Abby was impressed to find a camel on the mountain.  🐪 We know that Jesus made many references to the Mount of Olives in the New Testament, and the book of Acts tells us that when the disciples watched the resurrected Jesus go up into heaven, "then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives." (Acts 1:12)   The prophet Zechariah tells us that it is to the Mount of Olives that Jesus will return.  "In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem" (Zech. 14:4). This is a picture from the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the mountain. Abby and I walked from the top of the mountain down to this ga

Our first view of the Mediterranean Sea from Jaffa Welcome to Jaffa and Caesarea by the Sea!  You likely know both of these city names from the pages of your Bible.  Jonah made Jaffa famous (it may be called Joppa in your English Bible).  Jaffa was also the home of Simon the Tanner from Peter's vision.   From Jaffa, you will recall that Peter sets out for Caesarea by the Sea to meet a gentile believer, Cornelius.  This meeting between Peter and Cornelius turns out to be the avenue by which The Holy Spirit opens the New Covenant to the gentiles.   This. Is. Good. News!   So, in a sense, I think of Cornelius as an ancestor to all of the gentiles who have come to faith in Israel's Messiah.  It was surreal to visit both Jaffa and Caesarea and recall that it was on that very real estate that God began calling the nations...calling me...to Himself.  This is the site of the home of Simon the Tanner 1 Now [there was] a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion

So my opening blog  to this series on Israel was pretty heavy.  This one will be a bit lighter, as I will be introducing you to some of the people of The Land.  This beautiful couple pictured with Abby, Sarah (CMI team member), and me are Moshe and Rollie.  Moshe and Rollie are a secular Jewish couple who live on a kibbutz in Israel.  They made their aliyah to The Land over 50 years ago from Minnesota.  They invited us into their home and shared stories of their lives with us over coffee and one of the best pastries I have ever eaten.  (Moshe is the family chef!)  Sarah, Abby, and I were able to share our love for Jesus with this beautiful couple, and they in return, shared their love for the land of Israel with us.  This is Abby posing at the United States Embassy to Israel with Mazen.  Mazen was our bus driver while in The Land.  As a matter of fact, our tour director has request Mazen to be the team driver for years of CMI team trips.  Mazen is an Arab Israeli and a secular M

Welcome to this, the first in a series of blog posts about my recent journey to Israel as part of a CMI (Christian Ministry to Israel) team.  You will see in the map that the biblical city of Caesarea Philippi sits at the tip top of the modern State of Israel (see red circle).  While this was not our team's first stop in The Land, it was the stop that had the greatest impact on me spiritually.  I hope you will enjoy learning more about Israel along with me.   Caesarea Philippi was just the name of a city in the pages of my Bible until I visited Israel.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that it was a center for pagan worship... The area today is still named after Pan, the main pagan god that was worshipped here.   Notice the arches carved into the mountain. These were arches where idols to many pagan gods were placed and worshipped.  And when I say "worshipped," I mean something different than what you may imagine from Sunday School.  The worship that took p