Every day is another adventure here is Israel! Every day my understanding of stories in the Bible becomes a little more clear.Sunday (but not the Sabbath) we left Jerusalem and headed north up the coast. We stopped in Caesaria, another fortress built by King Herod. Caesaria is also the place the Apostle Paul baptized the first non-Jewish convert, Cornelius (Acts 10).
Haifi is a large port city where we saw the headquarters of the Bahai faith; incredible terraced gardens and a huge shrine. Mount Carmel overlooks the city of Haifa where Elijah fought the priests of Baal.
When we vistited a necropolis in Beth Shearim you felt like you were in an Indiana Jones movies, walking through the catacombs filled with coffins! Brent hopped in one of the coffins; it was just the right size.
We went to Nazareth (home to the family of Jesus) and visited the spot on the outskirts of town where the men in the synagogue tried to throw Jesus over the cliff for declaring that he was "the one" who had been prophesied of in Isaiah.
Garland Dennett, our tour guide extraordinaire, does a great job of sharing insights and gives you things to ponder! Yesterday I really liked his thoughts on how often people come to the Holy Land expecting to find Christ here but can sometimes leave disappointed. Garland feels like the best chance you have to really find Christ here is when you bring him with you! In terms of opening our hearts, I like Garland's sentiment.
