HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Wednesday-- 2009

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Will update blog when I return to the states but here are some pictures from today.

From Holy Land Tour Day 9 2 18 09

Drive to Yad Vashem, memorial to the six million Jewish martyrs of World War Two.

Visit the Museum and walk along the Street of the Righteous, dedicated to the non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust.

Lunch enroute.

Drive to the Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book.

Also visit the Scale Model of the Old City during the Second Temple Period.

Holy Communion at the Garden Tomb.

This evening prepare for your farewell dinner & departure to airport(B,L,D)

From Holy Land Tour Day 9 2 18 09

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Tuesday-- 2009

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

From Holy Land Tour Day 8 2 17 09

Today we drove out of Jerusalem and down to the Dead Sea area ( the lowest place on earth).
Along the way we drove past Bethany where the the House of Mary and Martha and the Tomb of Lazarus is.

We drove past at 1300 feet below sea-level, Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world.

Our first visit of the day was the Fortress of Massada, the last stronghold of the Zealots in the war against the Romans. We took a tram to the top and then walked around the remains of the village. It was an amazing place. Herod built a house there and WOW-plaster walls, frescoes and swimming pools. How they captures and stores water was very interesting.

We continued to the Oasis of Ein Gedi for lunch. This was the place that David went to aviod capture. The water falls were spectacular.

The next big stop as the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Once again the use of water for ritual baths was just mind boggling in the desert.

The final stop of the day we at the Dead Sea. We went floating in the Dead Sea. It was an amazing experience. You felt like a cork as you really floated on top of the water. At over 30% salt--it was even hard to stand up.

Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Overnight: Jerusalem, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Monday-- 2009

Monday, February 16, 2009

From Holy Land Tour Day 7 2 16 09

Our morning began with a breakfast and then on the bus at 7:45 for a short ride across town for a lecture with Fr. Jerome Murphy O’Connor at the Ecole Biblique. He wrote a book published by Oxford press called; The Holy Land. He talked for just about 50 minutes about Jesus last few days in Jerusalem. It was fascinating as he made the scriptures come alive.

We then climbed aboard the bus and head for the Temple Mount. We went to see the Dome of the Rock. It is a holy place to pray for Muslims. There is no worship inside, but only a place to pray. The worship takes place next door at the El-Aksa Mosque.

The Dome of the Rock was build when the Muslim's controlled Jerusalem. It is built on the site that Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac. They claim it was not Isaac but Ishmael. It is on the grounds and close to the place where the Holy of Holies was in the second Temple build by Herod.

Right next door is the West Wall of the Temple. Oldest part of the wall still standing and was built by the poor. It is close to where the Temple was built on Mount Zion. It is sometimes called the Wailing Wall, as has water form on the stone that looks like tears. There were Bar Mitzvah happening while we were there. The Torah is read on Tuesday and Thursdays. So they would bring the Torah out to be read, by the 13 year old boys coming of age. You have to cover your head, as you don't want God to be angry with you. Also some do not turn their back on God, but back away from the wall backwards.

There was the blowing of the shofars and drums to celebrate weddings, and Bar Mitzvah.

It is amazing to see how this important wall and the Muslims mosque and here they are right next to each other. It is no wonder why this is the hot spot in the world.

Then we drove over to The Israel Museum. Here we saw a 1/50 replica of The Second Temple built by Herod. This was what Jerusalem looked like during Jesus time in Jerusalem.

They also have the Dead Sea Scrolls. We went for a tour--but we could not take pictures. It was amazing.

We went to lunch at a Kibbutz.

Then we drove on to Bethlehem. This meant that our bus, driver and guide could only take us to the wall. A Palestinian guide and bus driver - then took us to see the Church of the Nativity.
This is the traditional place that Jesus was born. It had some floor tiles from Constantine and it is the oldest church in the world 1500 years. The Persians didn't destroy the church, because of a mural of the wise men - who came from Persia. The door was made smaller so the crusaders wouldn't ride their horses into the church, and animals couldn't just wander in. It also makes one humble as you have to stoop and bow to get in.

The inside is shared between three Christian churches and a Muslim watches over the time as a neutral party so everyone is treated fairly. The stable was in the lower level of a home, so under the church, where a stable would be in a home, is the place where Jesus was born and laid in a manger. Much history to be seen and a very holy place.

We then drove to the East past the Field of Ruth where Ruth, the Moabite, met Boaz.

Adjacent to Bethlehem is Shepherd's Field -Here we saw a cave where shepherds would tend their sheep at night. Why would God come to shepherds? They were raising sheep for the sacrifice-God is telling them, that they now can tell those who come for lambs, that God has sent Jesus as the lamb of God. We also read John 10--the Good Shepherd chapter from the Bible.

Above the cave is the Church of the Angels that announced the good news to the shepherds.

We stopped at a shop in Bethlehem that specialized in Olive Wood Carvings. It is the main source of income for Palestinian Christians. We went back through the security wall and returned to Jerusalem in our hotel.

Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem

Tomorrow the Dead Sea
Overnight: Jerusalem, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Sunday Feb. 15 2009

Sunday, February 15, 2009

From Holy Land Tour Day 6 2 15 09

The day began with worship at the English speaking service at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, in Jerusalem. 9 am service. Marta Erling was to meet me at the service, but she fell ill and needed to stay home.

Michael Powel is an intern from Trinity Seminary--he is Rod and Sherry Rinell's nephew. What a surprise to meet him in Jerusalem. We chatted after worship in the courtyard. There were many people from around the world at this service.

We shopped for a while and then went back to the church of the Holy Sepulcher to see some of the sights and not be rushed. It was amazing.

We ate lunch and then headed to David Tower museum.

A couple of us took the Rmparts walk--walking on the wall, we went from the Jappa Gate to the Damascus Gate.

Then we walked back through Jerusalem through the bazzar market.

WE stopped and picked a few more gifts and headed back to the hotel for supper and a good nigths rest.

overnight: Jerusalem, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Saturday -- 2009

Saturday, February 14, 2009

From Holy Land Tour Day 5 Sat 2 14 09

We began the day by entering the city of Jerusalem through the North Wall - Herod's Gate. Our first stop was at the Pool of Bethesda. Bethesda (Bet Hesda) place of healing. There were ruins here from the Byzantine and Crusader eras.

Right next door we entered the Church of St. Anne, the mother of Mary. Unser the church is a groto that celebrates the birth place of the virgin Mary. This church was build during the Crusaders era.

We walked down to the Lions Gate. This was built duing the 1st century, notice the lions. It came from a dream where the king dreamt of lions attacking, so he built a wall to protect the city. It is also the place that Steven was stoned, so it is also called St. Stevens Gate.

We reentered the city though the Lions Gate and follow Jesus' footsteps along the Via Dolorosa,

1. Jesus is Condemend

2. Flaguation of Jesus (Kings Game of the soliders, was played out in real life on Jesus.)

3. Jesus falls the first time

4. Jesus meets his Mother

5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross bar for Jesus. (see the hand print in wall).

6. Veronica (Vero Icon) "true image" True image of Jesus.

7. Jesus falls a second time (this was once the old gate of the city).

8. Pillar in the wall - Daughters of Jerusalem weep.

9. Jesus falls a third time-This is by the Etheopian Church-in which we passed through.

We stopped in the court yard of the Holy Seplecure to have our group photo taken.

14. We went right to the tomb of Jesus (there was no line) The box shape strucure around the tomb is called the edicule.

10. Jesus is stripped--preparation.

11. Jesus is nailed to the cross--crucifixtion begins.

12. Jesus hangs on the cross and dies (under altar is place for cross).

13. Jesus is removed from the cross (Place of Purification).

14--Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Next Russian Orthodox chapel to see a family burial aera at the time of Jesus.

Chapel of St. Helena (Constitines' Mother) she claimed to have found the cross of Jesus.

We went under the chapel to the quarry area. Romans removed the rock and used as place for garbage.

We journeyed outside and went to a roof top to look across at the Mt. of olives and the Western Wall.

Stopped fro Lunch at the Friends Resturant.

We saw left over pillars from the Roman era.

The building of a new synoguge

Mt. Zion--here was the Upper Room--where the last supper was held and Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.

David Tomb--no pics allowed.

Chapel of Mary Dortitory--Abbey of Mary. Mary is sleeping in the basement.

St. Peter's Church - here we went into the prision in the basement, where Jesus was held while Peter was outside denying Jesus.

Ciaphus's House--The courtyard. Saw steps down into the Kydron Valley--where Jesus walked to Gethsemane

Final stop was St. John the Baptist's birthplace. En Kerem. The blue tiles in the church are for Mary.


Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B,L,D)

Overnight: Jerusalem, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Friday 13 2009

From Holy Land Day 4 feb 13 2009

Friday, February 13


We boarded our bus by 7:45 am and left the kibbutz. Remember a kibbutz are families and individuals living in community and holding everything in common. They are very popular here in Israel.

Our first stop this morning is Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle. We walked some back alleys and found a Roman Catholic Church, which had a grape press from Jesus time. We read from John 2 about the wedding of Cana and Jesus turning water into wine. It is here for the frist time that the disciples begin to believe in Jesus. The intent of doing this miracle is that the couple and families are not emabarresed or shamed by running out of wine. Jesus wanted equality and acceptance for the families.

We stopped by an Orthodox church across the street but it as closed. Our guide Ezra, reminded us that the Bible did not give an address, but given there was discivered a wine press and jars for purification was a good indication that something happened around this area.

We continue to Nazareth witch is where Jesus parents lived prior to the visit to Bethlehem. We visited the Church of the Annunciation, and Joseph's church which was believed to be the site of his workshop. We talked about how Mary walked to Jerusalem and this distance was 100 miles away. That is 200 miles round trip. That is a long walk. Later--when they fled to Egypt, that walk would have been over 250 miles. Mary and Joseph were in good shape to walk so far through so very rough and desolate country.

On the way in the center of town we stopped at Mary's Well.

We walked through the markets and wounded our way to a synoguge that was from Jesus time.

On our way out of town--going toward Jerusalem, we drove by the cliff that the people of Nazareth was going to throw Jesus off.
We continued to Jerusalem, going by Mt. Gilboa, from which a spring is mentioned in the Bible, 2 samuel and Judges.

Lunch enroute at a Kibbutz.

Our next stop was Beit She'an, to see the excavations and visit the Roman theater. This was an amazing dig of a whole city that help 80000 people. You have to see the picture to believe it.

We drove through the West Bank---which took us by Mt. Nebo (Deut. 34) Moses looked at the promise land and God wouldn't let him enter. It's here tha Moses died.

We went by the city of Jericho (remember the walls tumbling down by trumpets).
The Dead Sea is just across from Jericho (1400 feet below sea level, the lowest place on earth). The drive through this area was wilderness--desert--desolate country. It was just outside of Jericho that Jesus was tempted. It was also tradition that Jesus was baptized by John in this area. Iyt only get about 2 inches of rain a year.

Coming closer to Jerusalme we wnet by the Good Samaritan Inn. Nomad homes that chose to live in the wilderness and watch there sheep and goats.

WE came upon the town of Bethany--the home of Lazarus (Jesus raided him fom the dead) brother to Mary and Martha.

AS we came into the city of Jerusalem, we went to the Mount of Olives. It's on a hill that over looks the city of Jerusalem. It took us by the St. August Luthean Hospital. We stopped at the Mt. of Olives and read Psalm 122. We took time to retell the history of Jerusalem.

Then we drove down the Kidron Valley- by the Garden of Gethsemanie and then by the old wall of Jerusalem. We drove by the valley of Ghenna (valley of hell) on to our hotel (King Solomon).

We ate dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Thursday -- 2009

From Holy Land Tour Day 3 feb 12 2009

From Holy Land Tour Day 3 feb 12 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009


Today was spent driving around the region of Galilee, and taking a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee.We read Matthew 4:12-that talks about how Jesus went and lived by the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum.


We began learning about olive presses. Did you know that 2/3of the oil comes from the pit? who knew--the extra virgin oil comes from the pressing of the olive pit.



We began the day at Tabgha, the site of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fish. Matthew 14:13-ff. There is a church where tradition has it that Jesus fed the 5,000.


We then journed to the Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional site of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. We read Matthew chapters 5-7.


Our next stop was at Korazim.
This comes from Matthew 11, it is the unrepentant city. Here we saw the remains of a village at the time of Jesus which also had a synagogue. We saw Moses seat (see Matt. 23) a preaching stand and a table in a house (it's just rocks)



We proceed to Caapernaum, the center of Jesus' Ministry in the Galilee. We saw Peters house (which has a church on top of it--literally over the top).


The weather was great so we sailed across the Sea of Galilee (8 miles X 16 miles) on a reconstructed wooden boat similar to the one used by Simon Peter. We stopped in the center of the lake and read (about Jesus calming the storm, walking on water and the big catch of fish.) Then we continued to the other side for lunch. Lunch was St. Peter's fish (Talapia with head and tail-reminded me of Africa).


On the way home we stopped at Gerasene (Mark 5). It was here that Jesus cast out demons into the pigs. This was a land of Gentiles-so it was probable that pigs could ahve been in the area. The church that was built, decided that the crosses in the floor were too holy to walk on so they took them out. Not unsual, they were nornally replaced with a fish symbol. They did not replace them--but just filled the holes in with a cement like subastance.


The next stop was the Jordan River. We stopped at the Banias Springs and waterfall (the source of the Jordan River), also named Caesarea Phillipa. I went into the river and remembered my baptism. I also bottled some water to bring back for our baptims. It was cold water.


The last stop of the day was at a boat that was discovered in the mud that comes from Jesus time. They have preserved it. This is a small boat for the sea of Galilee. You can see why the disciples were afraid in a storm.


Dinner and overnight at your kibbutz

A Kibbutz is like a communion, where people live and work in community. They pool everything they have. We are staying a very nice hotel complex. It seems that tour groups stay at these places. I know they have great service and spectacular food.


After supper we went back into Tiberas to a Dimond whole saler. It was nice to look, but didn't buy anything.

Overnight: Galilee, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE Wed Feb. 11, 2009

From Holy Land Trip 2 11 09

From Holy Land Trip 2 11 09

From Holy Land Trip 2 11 09

From Holy Land Trip 2 11 09

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
After breakfast we drove to Joppa, the ancient port city to view the home of Simon the Tanner. We read from Acts 9:32-43 and then Acts 10:24-ff. It talks about Peter going to Caesarea and Joppa. This is where I walked today. It was amazing to step into history.

Now we will begin our journey north along the coastal road to to Caesarea, built by Herod the Great. It was here that Peter was imprisoned for two years. Herod was a builder. We sat in a 5,000 person amphitheater and then saw peaces of his palaces by the sea. It actually had a fresh water pool right on the salt water beach. We also saw a piece of stone etched with Pontius Pilates name. We saw a aquduck that ran fresh water 15 miles from the spring.

Visit the Crusader's fortress and Roman ruins.

Proceed to Beit Shearim, ancient seat of the Sanhedrin, to visit the Catacombs and the ruins of what was once the most important synagogue in Israel.

We ate lunch at Megiddo or Armageddon. See Revelation 16:16.

We continue to Megiddo ancient chariot city of King Solomon and Ahab. They had a stable with 700 horses.

Mt. Tabor, the traditional site of the Transfiguration. This will be the gospel text when I return on Feb. 22. It is a mountain with heighth. Jesus and the disciples would have had to been in good shape to hike to the top.

On top of Mt. Tabor we visit the Church of the Transfiguration. A Roman Catholic church that marks the traditional place of Jesus' transfiguration.

We end the day by coming to our hotel (Nof Ginosar Hotel) right on the Sea of Galilee. We will stay here for two nights. Dinner was an amazing buffet of salads, main dishes and desserts. The black olives are great, but the desserts are even better. It's all kosher-so no dairy in anything, but I can't tell.

Tomorrow we will go around the Sea of Galilee, including a boat ride and going into the water for a remembrance of baptism. So far it's all been so amazing. I can't take enough pictures or movies to do it all justice. I'm recording the lectures our tour guide gives. I think we could do a adult education class, just on the pics and tour guide insights.

Overnight: Galilee, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE -- Tue. Feb. 10 2009

From Recently Updated

From Recently Updated

From Recently Updated

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Arrive Ben Gurion Airport.

Meeting and assistance through customs to your waiting guide and motor coach.

There were no issues at the air port or going through customs. It was a good to see my checked luggage arrive. Means everything got here.

I did have an multi-plug short circuit, but nothing got fried but that, thankfully. I had a back-up so all is well.

We met our guide Ezra who will lead us each day of our tour. We are on a coach bus, so it will be nice moving from site to site. Very different from the Africa tour.

Transfer to Tel Aviv. Check into your hotel for dinner, group meeting, and overnight

Our first meal was a buffet at the hotel and there was a great variety of food. I sampled different foods and enjoyed the meal. It was good not to be on the plane.

We are staying at the Tel Hotel in down town Tel Aviv. We are only a block from the Mediterranean Sea. There is a thunder storm right now that blew in from the sea. There is lightening and thunder and the wind is blowing hard. We walked down to the sea, after dinner, but the storm was coming so, I came back and worked on updating the blog and getting my luggage packed for tomorrow.

We have a 6:30 wake up, breakfast is at 7 and the bus leaved at 7:45. Tomorrow will be a good day as we head North to the region of Galilee.

Overnight: Tel Aviv, Israel

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE -- Mon. Feb. 9 2009

From Recently Updated

Monday, February 09, 2009
Depart from an airport to JFK. Meet with tour host. Check in with EL AL. Depart for the overnight, non-stop flight to Israel.

There are 36 pastors from all over the USA, from all different faith denominations. Our flight left just a little late, the 747 was full, with no empty seats. We will arrive in 10.5 hours. We had a meal of spaghetti, salad and a brownie.

We slept some, but after a few hours the Orthodox Jews got up and got dressed to say prayers. It woke up most of the plane. I slept a few more hours and then awoke for breakfast (omelet and bagels, with fruit.

A few weeks ago we were singing a hymn in the middle of worship at Zion Lutheran Church. We were just finishing the second verse when all of sudden the organ went silent. The organist was pushing down on the keys, but there was no sound coming from the speakers. Our organist looked to me with a bewildered look that said, “What do I do now?” I gave him a look of shock that said, “What happened?”
Once we had shaken off the shock and surprise we simple moved to the next part of the service and later we continued our singing with the piano.
A few days later a technician arrived to repair the organ. He opened the organ’s innards and began to pull out circuit boards, and amplifiers. There were many parts that needed to be replaced including: amplifiers, fuses and even some chips on the circuit boards. He simple heated up his soldering iron and replaced the chips and amplifiers that had been fried. It was amazing to see the skill of the technician, seeking out the broken chips and replacing them. Once the circuit boards were re-installed with the new chips, the organ’s sound was once again restored.
I was thinking today about the organ and how it went silent. Sometimes I feel like that organ. The organ was made to make loud and amazing music, and yet, there it was silent, not fulfilling its purpose at all. There were some vital circuits that had been fried.
Sometimes I feel that my keys are being played, but there is no sound coming from my life. I wonder if my circuits have been fried by all the demands of life. Normal weeks are filled with stress and the demands of family, but these past few weeks have been even more burdensome. The stresses of the economy, the worrying about job security, the demands of preparing for Christmas, are simple overwhelming. Do you ever what to just say no to everyone and everything that needs your attention? Do you ever feel that you’re not fulfilling your purpose, like a organ that’s silent because its circuit boards have been fried?
Author Patsy Clairmont writes that one year, she decided to write "Noel," the French word for Christmas, in bright lights on the roof of her house. Unfortunately, she ran out of lights halfway through the project, so she ended up with just the word "NO" in flashing, multicolored lights on her roof. Some of us want to say "NO" to the Christmas season too. We are too rushed to enjoy it. We are too detached to experience it. We are too cynical to believe in it. We are too fried to live it.
Sometimes when our lives become so hectic, frenzied, difficult and messy we feel God has abandoned us to the forces of fate, evil or despair. It is during these messy times that God’s presence hovers near to
us. For Christians, “stable” moments aren’t those few days when calm briefly descends upon our
world. Our true “stable times” are when we look around and see that however unpredictable, unmanageable and unimaginable our mess, the message is there even more. At Christmas, the mess
is the message.
Jesus was born in a stable -- a small, cramped, congested, messy place. A new born baby was out -of-place, out-of-sync, amid the dusty animals, the mucky straw, and the spilled grain. But the mess is the message of Christmas. There is no stable, no place in our world or in our lives that is too poor, too remote, too outcast, too “other,” too messy, that God cannot be found and formed in us.
As Christmas approaches, we will all find ourselves at wit’s end, running out of time, out of patience, out of money, out of ideas. Don’t be fooled into thinking that God cannot draw close to your life, to your heart, just because your schedule seems “too busy” for Christmas. If your life is hovering near overload, you could be on the very cusp of experiencing genuine “stable time” in your life. Open up to it, exalt in it, and be willing to let God love and care for you. I pray you may experience a very Blessed Christmas.

Loving or Winning?

"Because a loveless world," said Jesus, "is a sightless world." John 14:23 (MsgB)

“Storyteller Bill Harley tells a simple story about a children's T-ball game he witnessed a few years ago. On one of the T-ball teams was a young girl named Tracy. Tracy ran with a limp. She couldn't hit the ball to save her life. But everyone cheered for her anyway. Finally, in her team's last game, Tracy did the unthinkable. She hit the ball. Tracy's coach began hollering for her to run the bases. She landed on first base, only to be told to keep on running. She rounded second base, and the fans stood to their feet and cheered. With one voice, they were all urging Tracy to head home. But as she neared third base, Tracy noticed an old dog that had loped onto the field. It was sitting near the baseline between third plate and home. Moments away from her first home run, Tracy made a momentous decision. She knelt in the dirt and hugged the dog. Tracy never made it to home plate. But the fans cheered for her anyway. Tracy had made her priorities clear. Love was more important than winning.” Billy D. Strayhorn, Luxuriate In God's Grace

I read this story and it kind of stuck in my mind over the last week or so. The story made me ask a question of myself, do I value love more than winning? It’s a good question. We say we love all kinds of things. We proclaim our love in all sorts of ways. Love is a good thing. It’s something we want to receive and to give to others. But we also value winning. We are competitive people. Sometimes we act as though the end justifies the means to the end. This means, it doesn’t matter how we win, but that we win. Where is the love in that kind of winning? I don’t know if I would have even seen the dog, if I was rounding the bases. My vision would have been reduced to home plate and getting there no matter what the cost.

We are busy people. September has brought not only a crispness to the air, but calendars over flowing with commitments. Sometimes as we move from one practice to the next, from one game to the next, we lose our prospective and our goal becomes to just get it done, to just cross home plate. What if we were to expand our vision and include love in our daily routine? What kind of dogs would we see along our base lines? Who or what are we missing in our rush to run the bases of our daily schedule? If you would see love sitting there, would you stop and give it a hug? Is love more important than winning in your life? We may all say yes, but what do your actions say?

To say we would choose love over winning is easy, but to stop as were running towards home plate, and not win because we chose love. Well, that is something else. It’s not something we see very often. And yet, as Christians, we gather each week on Sunday, the day of resurrection, to worship Jesus who chose to love this world rather than win it with power and strength. We are invited to slow down and open our eyes and see with new vision, a world, a community, a person who needs our love.

The amazing truth is that when we choose love, we win. Maybe not the way we thought we would win, but we win, because love changes us as winning never can. Love opens our hearts, our compassion, and our very lives as nothing else. Will you open your field of vision to see with eyes of love? Will you stop against all odds and share an act of love with someone, as you run through your daily schedule? If you do, you will find yourself following in the footsteps of Jesus who has gone before you, who walks with you now and promises to walk with you forever. This kind of love changes not just our priorities, it changes us.

September begins Zion's fall programing

Martin Luther said, "At home in my own house there is no warmth or vigor in me, but in the church, when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through."

Many have taken time this summer to relax and refresh their lives and families. The long days and warmth allowed for more time to accomplish our check lists. Now that September has arrived the days are shorter and there is a chill in the air at night that means fall is coming. It also means that we are beginning the fall programing here at Zion. Sunday School, Bible Study, First Communion, Confirmation, three worship services/week are all signs that it's time to gather once again as the multitude-the church. Were looking forward to seeing everyone again and hearing about your summer adventure. We have been busy planning for the fall and are excited about the events that will be happening over the next few months.

Apple Harvest is arriving soon. You can sign-up for dry mixing, dicing, booth schedule on Zion's web site. We need you to accomplish this task each year. It's not about a few but the multitude. It's when we become the church-God's people working together that we accomplish the amazing things that are miracles in the eyes of the world.

Come Grow With Us in faith, in love, in hope. See you in worship!

Pr. Jim

Who Do We Blame?

This devotion is just as good as yesterdays.

Good morning. Welcome to Tuesday, June 17th.

“At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Luke 13:1-5

It is so very human of us, when something horrible happens, to assess blame. Maybe that is the reason why the first question we always ask is “why?” We want to know who to blame.

Once we pick out someone or something to blame, then we can start pointing our finger. We love to do that! (Usually forgetting Stuart Smalley’s wisdom that when we point one finger at someone, four are pointing back to us.)

The natural disasters that have been happening in the world this spring make it very difficult for us to play the blame game. We can get angry because a despotic government confiscates aid supplies but we can’t blame them for a cyclone. We can react with confusion because of the densely crowded urbans areas of China but those conditions don’t cause earthquakes or floods. And we can argue all day about the balance between corn for fuel and corn for food but none of that creates tornadoes or floods.

Which leaves us no one to blame but God.

When we ultimately arrive there I always remember that incredible scene from Elie Wiesel’s book, “Night”, where the rabbis in the concentration camp put God on trial. After it becomes clear that the verdict will be “guilty”, the rabbis can do nothing but turn and walk away from one another toward their barracks. Pronouncing God “guilty” only makes the pain and the isolation worse. It doesn’t help.

If anything, these disasters teach us about our common humanity. A life in Iowa is worth as much as a life in China or the Sudan. A home in West Des Moines is worth as much as an apartment in Sansui – not because of the cost of the building materials but because of the value provided to the family that lives there. The natural world draws no human distinctions or boundaries or borders. We are ALL in this together.

So what do we do? What do those of us sitting on the sidelines do?

We help as we are able. Maybe we write a check to Lutheran World Relief (www.lwr.org) or the Red Cross (www.redcross.org) because we want to help. Maybe we add those affected and those trying to help to our daily prayers. Maybe we remain informed, as hard as it is to hear and read, because we understand that we are ALL in this together.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, we pray for those who are hurting today, those terrified children and grief-stricken adults, those international leaders struggling toward the best response to the tragedies which have struck across the world. Bless those seeking to make a positive impact and strengthen those working hard now to bring relief. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


________________
Pastor Kerry Nelson

Flood Waters & Earth Quakes

This devotional came to my in box today and it spoke to me. I share it with that Spirit.

Good morning. Welcome to Monday, June 16th.

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, &; and the flame shall not consume you.”
Isaiah 43:1-2

For the past several months the earth has been slipping out from under the lives of millions of people. A tremendous cyclone tears through Myanmar taking the lives of tens of thousands. Then an earthquake hits in China and tens of thousands again perish. Then the floods and tornadoes come to the Midwestern United States and still another flood in China forces a million people to flee.

To go where?

Where can we go to be absolutely safe? Such a place doesn’t exist.

I have never been through any natural disaster that comes anywhere close to what these people have experienced. Hurricane Katrina was devastating but Houston came away from the experience untouched. I was just north of Mount St. Helens when it erupted, the sound of the eruption woke us all up, but we didn’t even get any ash until two weeks later when it had circled the earth. I’ve never even been touched by a flood. So I hesitate to even know what to say other thank thinking out loud from my point of view.

Such disasters certainly put our lives into perspective. They tear down the illusory wall of control behind which we live our lives. They teach us about the utter fragility of life. They destroy any sense that we are in charge of much of anything.

Homes and businesses and schools and buildings topple like sandcastles at the close of the day. Flood waters scour the signs of civilization and replace it with the scars of nature gone wild.

And we are reminded of what really matters to us. Life matters to us! Things go away and it hurts for a moment. People go away and life is diminished forever.

The people of ancient Israel experienced such devastation. Sometimes at the hands of invading armies seeking profit and exploitation. Sometimes at the shocking eruption of volcanoes and the raging waters of flooding rivers. They had no tools to measure these events, no real signs that they were coming. They only had one answer – God must be punishing us.

So it is a remarkable sign of faith that the prophets turn the tables from destruction to encouragement with the reminder that God can’t be blown away by a crumbling mountain or swept away by the waters of a flood. Rather, God can be and is with them through it all.

Not an impersonal timepiece maker God but a personal God, one who has created us, who knows us, who has called us by name. To know such God is with us means the world when the world disappears under our feet.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, we watch with horror and wonder as the reports come to us about the untold suffering that millions have been experiencing. You have heard the prayers, we pray that you come now out of hiding to bring comfort to those who are hurting, who are grieving, who are forced now to rebuild lives out of what now remains. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
______________
Pastor Kerry Nelson

Stewardship of the Earth

Bishop Margaret Payne sent out her latest thoughts and I post them here for all to see. She is thinking about stewardship.

Practice Usufruct

By Bishop Margaret G. Payne, New England Synod, ELCA

Reprinted from the May 2007 issue of “The Lutheran Link,” the quarterly magazine of the New England Synod.

The next time you are tempted to grumble that the word “stewardship” is awkward to use in casual conversation, just be glad that I am not exhorting you to a more usufructary way of life. Author Wendell Berry likes to use the word “usufruct” which means: the right of enjoying the use and advantage of another’s property, short of the destruction or waste of its substance.

We enjoy the benefits of life on earth, God’s “property” and gift to us. In Genesis, we are reminded that God gave the dominion of earth and its creatures to man and woman. But the greedy edge of our relationship to the earth has caused us to fail in the caring stewardship that God intended. Now the earth is in danger of destruction.

At the other end of the bible, a careful reading of the book of Revelation gives a different slant than the “Left Behind” distortion of the day of judgment: “The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints and all who fear your name, both great and small, and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) We are not “saved” when we leave the earth behind. Instead, we find the wholeness that God intends in the midst of our life on earth, which includes the care of people, civil order and the environment.

Have you been actively involved in caring for the earth rather than destroying it? Fifteen years ago, the ELCA passed a social statement: “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice.” In that statement, as well as in the resolution passed last year by our synod assembly, each congregation is urged to be a center for study and caring for creation. Is there a Care for Creation Committee in your church? Have you done an energy audit for the building? Have you written a covenant to reduce energy consumption and engage in advocacy for the sake of the stewardship of the earth?

Here’s a deal: you don’t have to remember the word “usufruct” but you do need to get a copy of the ELCA’s social statement and form a group in your congregation to study it and act on it. It is prophetic and totally relevant to the present situation. It includes these prayers:

We pray, therefore, for the humility and wisdom to stand with and for creation, and the fortitude to support advocates whose efforts are made at personal risk.

We pray, therefore, for the strength to change our personal and public lives, to the end that there may be enough.

We pray, therefore, for the creativity and dedication to live more gently with the earth.

(Note: The ELCA’s social statement, “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice,” is available at http://www.elca.org/socialstatements/environment/ .)

The Lord is My Shepherd

I BELIEVE I NEED A SHEPHERD

I believe I need a shepherd.
Because I am sometimes timid and other times overconfident,
because I often don’t know the best path yet pretend I do,
because I rush into dead ends or lead others into hazardous places,
because my brightest ideas are seamed with darkness,
because the things I crave may not be what is good for me,
I need a shepherd.

I believe in Jesus, the best possible shepherd;
his wisdom leads me to the optimum opportunities,
his word comforts me when I’m anxious or afraid,
his arm steadies me when I feel weary and heavy-laden,
his wounded body displays the cost of my rescue,
I believe in Jesus, the best possible shepherd.

I believe that I do not find him but he finds me,
that I under his care by virtue of sheer grace,
the love he gives me is to be shared with others,
that he treasures my name and prepares a place for me,
that his fold transfixes earth and heaven.
I trust Jesus, the good shepherd.

3rd WEEK IN EASTER

JESUS IS COMING BACK!


A member of my parish sent me this article and I share it with you.


Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?
The Gospel of John (20: 7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Is that important? You'd better believe it!
Is that significant? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and the Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating. The servant would not dare touch the table, until the master was finished.

When the Master had finished eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table.

For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done". But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, "I'm not finished yet."

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is Coming Back!!!!!!!!

ARTICLE FROM HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH APRIL 2008

THE SEASON OF EASTER

CHRIST HAS RISEN!

HE HAS RISEN INDEED!

In the season of Easter we are invited to live out our resurrected lives.

Eugene Peterson writing in "Living the Resurrection" says,
"We Christians are statione, along with the children, to affirm the primacy of life over death, to give witness to the connectedness and presiousness of all life, to engage in the practice of resurrection.
We do this by gathering in congregations and regular worship before our life-giving God and our death-defeating Crhist and our life-abounding Holy Spirit. We do it by reading, pondering, teaching, and preaching the Word of Life as it is revealed in our Scriptures. We do it by baptizing men, women, and children in teh name of the Trinity, nurturing them into a resurrection life. We do it by eating the life of Jesus in the bread and wine of Eucharist. We do it by visiting prisoners, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, healing the sick, working for justice, loving our enemies, raising our children, doing our everyday work to the glory of God.
---it's all pretty ordinary. It doesn't take a great deal of training or talent to do any of it."

It's true! Living the resurrection is simply living out our daily lives under the promise of resurrection. It changes everything. It takes our ordinary lives and makes them extraordinary, life-giving. May The Risen Christ befound in your everyday life.

October 15, 2007

The Fritter Booth has not only been closed, but packed up and put away until next year. I'm so thankful for so many who gave so much of their time these past weeks to make this event a reality.

Where there things that didn't go perfectly? YES there were. Are there areas that we can improve? YES. It's these bumps in the road that allow us to grow and learn.

When we look at the big picture--hundreds of people volunteered. We sold everything we prepared to sell. No one was seriously hurt during the preparation or booth hours. This years Apple Fritter event was a blessing beyond our imagination.

Now the fun begins with a celebration of our accomplishments and a vision of how we can impact this world with the gifts we have received. Let's pray for vision and clarity of God's will.

Power and Blessings!
Pastor Jim