Bring The Kingdom Of Heaven To Earth

 I shared in earlier posts how when the results of the election took place, that I was done being so involved with politics. I was no longer willing to listen to the news anywhere near as much, or follow the events of the president as in the past. As one pastor said this past week at a conference, that he was on a "political fast" and so am I.

Anytime there are two points of view or more, there is a divide between those that hold those opinions. It seems that now more than ever there is such a hostile political divide. And while I recognize that fact, and I too have strong opinions, and even though I did not become a hermit and live in a cave, I determined to have only a casual interest in what is going on in the political world. I have tried to muffle my political opinion, and focus more on Spiritual matters, the results of which have been the subjects of the many recent posts.

As a Jesus follower, I have been trying to figure out what is my role is in light of the great emphasis on the division of political sides in the country. I recently began to work some of it out in my thinking, and shared some of my thoughts during breakfast at the hotel we were staying at during a church conference last week. 

My point was never to bring up politics except as a reference point, and yet my point was taken out of context and it upset someone to the point they left the table, not even knowing that I agreed with him politically. But I did not tell him that, because I was focused on trying to explain that I was working out a thought that perhaps Christians are called to spread the Gospel of another Kingdom that is not of this world, rather than trying to influence the kingdom of this world. 

I began wondering what would Jesus tell us to do in light of this volatile political climate... and I was going to say if He were here, (but really isn't He here... in us)? And don't we have the Holy Spirit as our teacher, who will lead us into all truth? Of course, that's true, so then does that mean it is our calling to become a weapon of political power to change who holds the Executive, and Legislative branches in Washington? That has been a huge part of the controversy over Christians ignoring the moral actions of the previous president, in order to enact his policies. Enough said. So what is the role of a follower of Christ?

 I have thought a lot about the time of Jesus when the Jewish nation was under rule of the Roman government! There was great political divide even then! There were the Herodians, the Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, and Essenes, and yet Jesus did not focus on the political, but rather the personal. Though He did say "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."  That should be all we need to know about our political involvement. We are to be in this world, but not OF this world.

Of course during the time of Jesus, the Jews main focus was on the Messiah coming to set them free from the Romans! For the Messiah to rule like King David. That was even the main focus of the disciples during their three years, with Jesus trying to tell them differently. "My kingdom is not of this world..." said Jesus. What if Jesus told us the same thing, would that change our views on politics?  Being free from the Roman's was Judas' main reason for betraying Jesus. He was thinking to force Jesus' hand to start the battle and not to let Himself get captured! Is God wanting to use political power to enact His Kingdom in the earth? I think the answer is an obvious no, both then and now.

Before the Resurrection, the main focus of the disciples was to usurp the political power that held them in captivity, so what about AFTER the Resurrection? What did the disciples do after the Resurrection? What was their focus now? What was their mission now? What was their calling now? You see, the Romans were still in power from the time before the Crucifixion and for several years after the upper room experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. But what DID change was the mission of the disciples to now spread the news that Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not! They were not called to fight the kingdoms of this world, but rather to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth! The good news wasn't then, and it isn't now to escape this world and go to heaven, but rather it is "Thy will be done IN EARTH as it is in Heaven." What makes us think we have a different message?

So what if we as believers, and followers of Jesus were to do the same thing? What if we as believers put much less focus on the earthly kingdom in Washington and more emphasis on our Heavenly Father's Kingdom in the earth?  I realized I had no influence on the election results. I am Canadian, and cannot even vote, and all we can really do as citizens is to vote the one into power that we think might be the best candidate, and in reality, it is our Heavenly Father who has the final say as to who is in the seat in Washington. Can someone steal an election and God not know about it?  And that was my point at the breakfast table.  And since that is the case, why not just trust Him to worry about that while we focus our attention on our mission to Bring the Kingdom of Heaven To Earth. 

Now That You Know

 You don't know what you don't know. Seems obvious, But since you don't know what you don't know, then how is it that you can be held responsible for not knowing, unless it is reasonable to expect you should know. Such as the saying "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." But even if ignorance is no excuse, you still don't know what you don't know. 

Case in point: Yesterday I was trying to build a cement pad behind the shed. I had done all of the prep work, building a form, laying down a base of stone etc. I bought 10 bags of pre-mix concrete, I watched a dozen videos on how to make a concrete pad. So I was prepared. I was really anticipating doing a professional type job. But I didn't know what I didn't know, and while I knew it was going to be very labor intensive, I was not prepared for how labor intensive it would be. Also I did not make the mix wet enough, for fear of making it too wet, which was the major mistake. I did not find out that was the problem until I texted a friend this picture, who then called to tell me the mix was too dry! By then it was too late to fix. And so, it will serve it's purpose, but I am really disappointed with all the work I put into it, just that little extra information would have made all the difference in the results. 

So why am I telling you this? Because it got me thinking of how Christians especially think that when someone hears about how Jesus died on the cross to save them, and they need to love Him and trust him with their whole life like they did. They think that person is now responsible for accepting what they are told without question.  But in both cases, you don't know what you don't know. The person witnessing, and the one being witnessed to, are often both missing key information. Is the one witnessing giving the right information, and does the one being witnessed to have to trust they are being told the truth; and to believe in a God they know nothing about? Obvious room for doubt. Yet we are also informed that ignorance of the Truth is no excuse, and you will be held accountable for going to hell! But is that true?

I used to deliver gasoline to stations, and some customers needed to pay cash before we delivered, because if they did not have the money, it goes one way through the hose, and can't be taken back. I had customers that told me to trust them, and another driver remarked: "Trust you? I don't even know you!" And so when Christians ask us to trust God, many peoples response is the same, Trust Him, I don't even know Him. 

When I first became a Christian and began to think about it, I often wondered how it is that God could hide himself from people, and yet hold them responsible to believe and trust in Him, AND love Him, when they don't even know Him? I thought how unfair it was that Jesus would appear to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, and convince him beyond doubt that He was real, and yet hold everyone else to the same standard of belief without the same proof. Several times in Scripture, an angel would appear, and people would fall on their faces and believe, and yet, have you had an angel appear to you? Neither have I. 

If you are to believe that after death comes the judgment, and those who believed and said the "sinner's prayer" go to heaven, and those who did not, go to everlasting torture, (which I did for decades). The only reason I could explain that was that my faith and trust in God was an inside work of the Holy Spirit, which went beyond just brain power, and right into the heart of knowing without proof. but I also believed what I was being told, about God by those who I trusted without having the revelation of the restoration of all things.  

And that is the key information to understand and trust in God. That it doesn't come about by getting enough head knowledge, but only through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in everyone's lives. No exceptions. "You are saved by Grace, through faith and THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is a GIFT of God. NOT of WORKS, lest any man should boast." The gift of God IS the faith to believe, which is given by Grace. So that you cannot even boast about your faith to believe. How do you think THAT would change the way you witness to others?

 The great part is that even if you don't accept what I am saying is the truth, and you think people are responsible for their own believing and trusting God, the truth does not depend on your believing me for it to be true. Truth is truth even if you believe it or not. The truth was I needed more water in the concrete mix, whether I believed I was right or not. Just truth alone does not set you free, but it is knowing the truth that sets you free. 

So now, since salvation depends on the work of the Holy Spirit, and not on your own knowledge: That it depends on the gift of faith from God to believe: That it will bypass your own understanding: Then even if you don't know what you don't know, your salvation is guaranteed, because it still depends on God, and not on what you know or what you don't know. So then, what about the Scriptures that tell us to believe? Simple. You will believe the same way everyone believes, by the gift of faith through the grace of God. What do you think about that truth Now That You Know?

 

What's The Next Verse?

It is always a good thing to memorize as much scripture as you can. It can come in handy for many uses. It can provide comfort for ourselves or others, it can help when witnessing, it can be used as assurance of our faith. It can also help us understand doctrine. However, understanding correct doctrine can only come by keeping the verses in context. We have all the modern advantages of search engines and bible programs that provides unlimited study materials and versions and languages including dictionaries of the Greek and Hebrew, and still when we quote things out of context, then we will misread what the Scripture is trying to say in any language!  

"And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment." If you know this verse, and perhaps have quoted it, to others, and maybe even know where it is found in the bible, but you do not know what the next verse says.... then perhaps you have been a victim of using this scripture out of context like so many others I know, especially if you think it is talking about judgment after your mortal body dies!

If this is the first time reading my blog, then perhaps you should catch up with the previous two posts to get even the context of the subject of this post. Assuming you are now caught up, the verse is taken from Hebrews 9:27. But lets read 9:28 " So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

While we are at it, lets read a couple verses prior to gain more understanding of the context.
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Back to verse 28 In this case is the qualifier for verse 27 and is also part of the conclusion of the argument put forth by the writer of Hebrews. If we just take these two verses in context with the message of the cross, then we can clearly see that it is saying  Christ died in our place and took our judgment. Verse 27 is not talking about our future physical death,  but paired with "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" and read with verse 28 which is not talking about a judgment that is yet to happen, it is explaining about a judgment that has already happened! This verse is all inclusive for ALL mankind in that Jesus brought about the death of the first man Adam on the cross, in order to raise up the New Creation Man. 

Now, some will get hung up by the word "many" in the verse 28 where it says: "...once offered to bear the sins of many.." but this is when Hermaneutics needs to kick in and to put this verse into context with the message of Scripture. In the first place, the word many does not indicate any particular number, and it does not indicate exclusion either. We often use the word many as in most but not all. There is no indication of that usage here, and in fact there is clear evidence it does mean all peoples. The whole world will be saved, because Jesus is the savior of the world! Jesus went down into death to conquer death, so that death no longer has any dominion over you. Jesus did not do an incomplete job and only die for some. "As in Adam ALL die SO ALSO IN CHRIST SHALL ALL be made alive! Pretty inclusive.

Don't get hung up on the rest of verse 28 either, "and unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." There is no exclusion on how many shall look for Him, since EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue confess that He is Lord! And the verse saying he shall appear the second time.... does NOT make reference to some so called "second coming." I can attest to many times Jesus has appeared to me by His Spirit since I have been saved, not to leave out the first time He appeared to me unto salvation when I first believed! 

I hope now you can see how important it is to get to know your bible: read it, study it, get comfort from it, build your faith and knowledge and wisdom. Learn about God, and Jesus who is the express image of the Father. Memorize verses, so that it becomes a part of you, and as you do so, be sure to remember to read and find out: What's The Next Verse?

 

Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth

If you have been a Christian for even a short time, you probably have your favorite verses you quote. I mean, who has not even memorized the "Lord's Prayer"? You probably don't even have to be a Christian to know that, or even John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, will no perish, but have everlasting life." And so taking this verse at face value, you could easily interpret the meaning one way, but is that correct?

Do you know what the next verse says? And does what the next verse says change your interpretation of the first verse... even a little? John 3:17 "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." So now what do those two verses mean put together? How do you interpret what is being said now? And does the verse before or the verse after affect the meaning you have? What about the whole chapter? What about the whole book? And while most people know the books of the bible were not written with chapter and verse; sometimes quoting just some verses as though they are complete in themselves can almost most assuredly lead to grave errors in interpretation. 

My thoughts are to write a few posts that will point out some common verses I have even memorized, and also have heard quoted by others many times, that are taken out of context with the meanings intended by the writer. I don't intend to write in such a way as to explain much more than some obvious observations, and I am rather hoping that by pointing out some of these common verses, the reader will search their own favorite verses for correct context.

In no particular order, other than what comes to mind the first verse I will write about is taken from 1 Cor. 2:9 "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."  Now this seems pretty clear, however a little digging will surprise you. What I left off of the quote is five words at the beginning which say: "But as it is written" which would indicate that Paul is quoting this from the TeNaKh which is what the Hebrew Scriptures are called. (as a side note, there was no old and new testament at the time of the biblical characters. and if you were to talk to a Jewish person and quote verses they would know, it might give some credibility to refer to those verses as having come from the Tenakh.)

Okay, so now onto the next verse, where Paul changes the meaning of the verse he quoted by explaining: "BUT God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God."  Doesn't that change the meaning often used of the previous verse? And yet to be even more clear lets read what Paul continues to explain. "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God." Oh, okay, that seems clear that the verse was being interpreted correctly, because Only God knows, and man does not know except what is in his own heart. But don't stop there. Remember context. Let Paul finish his point.

Verse 12 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which IS OF GOD, that we might KNOW THE THINGS FREELY GIVEN TO US OF GOD. 13. Which thing also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, COMPARING spiritual with spiritual." And so now Paul explains the difference of how it used to be before Christ, and how it is now for the New Creation Man...

Verse 14: "But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned," This is why it has not entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for him, BECAUSE the natural man cannot receive them... BUT we are not natural men anymore, and so it is freely given to us to know by the spirit!

And so let's finish Paul's thought in this chapter. "But he that is spiritual judges all things, het he himself is judged of no man." (side note about don't judge lest you be judged. how do you compare those two verse meanings?)

Okay, read verse 16 carefully which sums up Paul's teaching and proper interpretation of the verse. "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST!"

I had a friend point this out to me probably 35 or more years ago, and it has stuck with me over the years, and perhaps if you have not heard it explained like this before, it may help you to be another step closer to Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth.

The Subject of Hermeneutics

 When I was in my early 20's after I had been a Christian for a couple of years I had an experience with the Lord that led me to want to go to bible school. My circumstances prevented me from being able to attend a bible school, and so the other option was to take a correspondence course by mail. And so with all the hopes of being called into the ministry, I enrolled in the P.A.O.C. Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada, ministerial course. 

I got a list of the courses I would be taking, and did not even recognize the subject names let alone knew what I was going to be learning. I did discuss it with a bible student from the college and he explained that the Pentateuch is the study of the first five books of the Bible, from the term Penta meaning five and Teuch meaning scrolls, or books.  Soteriology is the doctrine of salvation. That Eschatology is the study of end times theology. Of course Christology is the study of  who is Jesus Christ. And then there is Hermeneutics. which deals with how to interpret the biblical texts.

As it turns out, I only got through 10 of the 20 courses and did not complete all of the subjects, but what I did learn was a good launching pad for further study on my own. Many years later, I took another correspondence course with the Florida Theological Seminary, because the president of the school had spent some time learning from Willie Hinn, who was preaching the doctrine of  Universal Reconciliation of all things. Willie Hinn is who I mentioned early in these posts as having a profound effect on my Christianity and beliefs, and who the Holy Spirit used as the catalyst to reveal a greater understanding of what Paul calls, "the height and width and depth of the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus". 

So then, Harold Shindoll, the president of Florida Theological Seminary, began to introduce class subjects that now centered around the teachings of Soteriology (salvation) as including ALL of God's creation. And Christology, with teaching "that Christ is the savior of ALL men, especially of those who believe." (1 Tim 4:10) And an Eschatology that believes it is more about bringing heaven to earth, than it is about getting Christians to leave earth in the hands of the devil while we sit on a cloud playing our harps and watching God's good creation go to hell! And since I was learning to believe these very same teachings of the school, and I wanted to have a disciplined study of these doctrines, and so I enrolled in the correspondence course offered by the FTS and this time completed their Assoc. degree of Theological studies.   

Of course, all of the conflicting doctrines that many different church's teach comes from their method of Hermeneutics. How they interpret what the Scripture teaches.  It is not always easy to know what is true and what is not, which explains why there are so many churches.  Now of course there is more that unites us than divides us, and church history has had a long long "checkered past" to say the least. (All one has to do is a cursory study of church history after the book of Acts, to know some of the regrettable and disturbing actions of people who called themselves Christians, who were some of the worst offenders of atrocities against mankind, even so called brothers in the faith!)

But I also believe that what we believe about God has everything to do with what God has revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, (which belief of course comes as a part of Hermeneutics). along with what we have been taught by the churches we attend, which can help to explain why some people either reject the church they were raised with that doesn't answer their questions, or just quit church altogether thinking they are all the same, or as in my case, where I was overwhelmed with the presence of God unexpectedly while watching a sermon on video in my living room. 

The very first sermon I heard Willie Hinn preach in that video was part of a series called "Mistaken Identity". And indeed if we can't even get the character of God correct, or the plan and purpose for His creation correct from the very beginning, then how can we expect to live our lives in accord with that plan or purpose?

Getting that right all comes down to how you interpret what the Scriptures teach, and how it is applied to your life, and so I feel the urge to write the next several posts about some common verses in Scripture that we often quote out of context to what is actually being said which then change our beliefs into something different than what the bible actually teaches.  All of that comes down to "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" though correctly using  The Subject of Hermeneutics 

 

The Earth And Also The Heavens

I know it has been a while since I have posted, after a series of posts in a short time, but it seems like that is just how it is. I do not want to post just to have something, but would rather have the time pass until there is something meaningful to share. Since I was blown away reading this from Preston Eby's Bible Study on Revelation this qualifies. I am confident you will enjoy this excerpt:

"I have shared the following before but feel to share it again because of its great relevance to this subject of the garden within the city. Some years ago Gene Edwards ministered a word of revelation with which I heartily concur. In the following paragraphs I will seek to share as faithfully as I can from memory the concepts he set forth. I will also expand and enlarge upon his original thought as the Spirit has opened it to me. In that wonderful day when the Lord God planted a garden in Eden for the man in His image, God stood at the boundary between heaven and earth, that is, between the spiritual world and the physical creation, and did a most incredible thing. He stretched forth His hands of omnipotence and took this terrestrial ball in one hand as with the other He grasped the heavenly realm. He moved the two toward one another. He brought the spiritual realm, the timeless realm, the dimensionless realm toward planet earth while He moved earth toward the heavenly realm. The two moved closer and closer until they kissed each other. The two realms met and touched — thus entering into union with one another.

The area where heaven and earth met together and overlapped He called Eden. The place where these two realms met, overlapped, and interfaced became unlike earth and unlike heaven, that which had never existed before — not heavenly and not earthly — the kingdom of heaven on earth! The only thing it can be likened to is the resurrection body of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was visible, even tangible, but utterly spiritual. He brought His physical body out of the tomb and appeared in a body possessing an earthly form and appearance, but it was a glorious metamorphosed body limited by neither time nor space. It was neither a body nor was it a spirit — it was a spiritual body. Here in this realm of which I speak, where heaven and earth meet and mingle, all that is visible becomes spiritual, and all that is spiritual becomes visible. Great is the mystery! Everything upon this earth which is seized upon by the spiritual is transformed by the spiritual, and there is created here the kingdom of heaven on earth. When you take the heavenly and the pristine earthly and join them together, what is formed by that blessed union is far more beautiful and glorious than either!

Consider with me, my beloved, What is the natural habitat of man? He is spirit — therefore his natural habitat is the heavens! He is dust — therefore his natural habitat is the earth! Both? No! Neither? Yes! Neither. And yet, in some strange, mystical way — both. This glorious creature God created in His own image and likeness — where is his "home"? Ah — God prepared the place for man as soon as He created man. He created a realm that corresponds to man’s true state for man to inhabit. The earth, dear one, contrary to all that you may have been taught, is not the natural habitat of man. And neither are the heavens the natural habitat of man! The garden — and only the garden — and no place but the garden is your natural habitat. That’s where you belong — that is your true world, your homeland, your motherland — that unique realm where heaven and earth meet and mingle — the kingdom of heaven on earth! The garden was not heaven, neither was it earth. It was a realm where God could walk, and where man could walk and talk with God in the spirit of the day. It was the dimension of the spiritual body — spirit and body, heaven and earth, visible and invisible, tangible and ethereal, celestial and terrestrial, blended into one. The greatest of the glories of heaven was in that garden — the tree of life was there. And that was man’s habitat. It was not merely where man was — it was what he was!

This great truth of man’s STATE OF BEING constituting the garden of God is one of the tremendous themes which courses its way like a mighty river through the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. In the book of Revelation the garden of Eden finally becomes the wonderful city of God — which city we are (Rev. 21:9-11; Isa. 60:2,14). "And I saw the new Jerusalem…having the glory of God: and her light was like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal…and He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 21:10-11; 22:1-5).

How do you suppose the tree of life was transferred from the garden of God to the city of God? The simple truth is — it wasn’t! The garden still exists. The garden is in the city. The garden is the city. Have you not been to a village, a small town, and returning forty or fifty years later you find it to be a giant metropolis? The original village is still there — in the metropolis! The garden has grown, increased, expanded, changed, and now it is New Jerusalem! That’s why men have never found even a trace of the original garden over in Mesopotamia though many have searched for it. It’s not on earth as earth — for in this city two realms interface once more — the new heavens and the new earth — not two separate entities, but that place where heaven and earth are joined, the Land of the Interface! The garden was there, therefore the city is there. This is where righteousness dwells — the new mind and the new body. That is your world, my beloved. You and I belong to an interface. We are an interface. We are part heavenly and part earthly; part spiritual and part physical; part visible and part invisible. And no man on earth really knows or understands where we dwell!

What is the new Jerusalem? It is the bride with the Bridegroom, the place of union with God in the interface where heaven and earth overlap. We are a colony from the heavens inhabiting the earthlies. We belong to neither and we belong to both. We are of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. He, more than any other man, is an interface of these two realms. Very God and very man — only the interface can explain that! He is the second man, the last Adam. He reveals within Himself the true purpose of God in man. Only in Christ can one understand the true nature of all things. He is of both these realms and He is in both of these realms. He is in both and He is in neither. It is a great mystery. Oh, the wonder of it! He is a MAN seated in the higher than all heavens! He is a SPIRIT poured out into all creation to fill all things! We who have been born of water and the spirit are of His species. We are bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, mind of His mind, spirit of His spirit, life of His life. We belong to His realm. We walk with Him today in the garden of God, in the city of God, in the LAND OF THE INTERFACE, for it is the only place where we can comfortably move in both realms. And yet it is not both realms — nor is it either realm — it is a combination, a union of the two — a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST JESUS! That’s what you are! You are spirit and you are body. That is our destiny — to be both in union in one in the power of HIS RESURRECTION! That is our habitat. And redemption progressively brings us into our inheritance in this blessed Land of the Interface. The salvation of the soul, the redemption of the body, will complete the work. Let us press on, saints of God! The full splendor and bountifulness of this precious Land lies just before us! As the crab lives in two elements — water and land — so the new creation man lives in Two Elements: The Earth And Also The Heavens!

Brian And Peri Zhand Israel Tour 2022

Cindi and I took two weeks off of work at the end of March to go on a guided trip to Israel. We flew on EL AL from Newark N.J. for over 10 hours to Tel Aviv Israel. We stayed the night in a hotel in Tel Aviv, and then started our tour taking us up to Tiberius, off of the Sea of Galilee for 3 nights. We then went to Bethlehem for 2 nights and the final 3 nights in Jerusalem. All of the while travelling by bus to many different biblical sites!

 We had never talked about it before this past year, and I never seriously considered making such a trip before. It just so happened that as I expressed in earlier posts to this blog, having spent so much time listening to all of the available podcasts from Brian Zhand, pastor of Word of Life Church , and also the teachings from the BEMA discipleship podcasts, it has sparked an interest in going on a tour to see the land of the Bible.

It mostly originated with hearing Brian talk about his previous tours, (some 26 or more times) and some of the sites that they visit. One site in particular is called "Tel Megiddo". It is called that because there are 26 generations of cities built on top of each other dating back thousands of years, and each layer is called a "Tell, or Tel" or generational levels from which archaeologists are able to discover the artifacts from these previous cities. 

It has become famous among most modern bible teachers as the future site of a so called "Battle of Armageddon" in which according to those who do not properly interpret Scripture will tell of a battle in which Jesus will wipe out an army of 200 million people with a sword coming out of His mouth while riding a white horse! Much of this nonsense has been promoted by the "Left Behind" series because of a literal interpretation of the book of Revelation. Such an interpretation ignores the whole nature and character and purpose of the life and ministry of Jesus!! And it presents God as wrathful and vengeful on a creation of His own making, and to which John tells us instead that God SO LOVED the world! God is LOVE and is demonstrated in the life of Jesus! And while I was originally taught that same vengeful story-line decades ago, I have long since rejected such nonsense, and found that Brian Zhand speaks of a Jesus who would rather die for His enemies than to kill them...such preaching resonated with my own beliefs, that I told Cindi... this is the person I want to visit Israel with! And with that, plans were made to go on this trip.

We were certainly NOT disappointed. When Brian and Peri announced the tour, it was full within 24 hours. So they graciously agreed to open up a 2nd back to back tour, which we booked. Sure there were many more sites to see, and you can't see them all in one trip, but I was so impressed by the schedule of what we did see and do, that it more than exceeded our wildest expectations! I don't feel like we missed out on anything! I even got to float on the Dead Sea!! But I was not one of the more hearty souls who braved the cold and were baptized in the Jordan River. Brrr.

One of the highlights of the trip, after we had visited Mt. Carmel, and Mt. Arbel, after we went for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and went to the Mt of the Beatitudes, and after we visited the ruins of Ceaserea, and Magdala, (the home of Mary of Magdalene), after we visited many churches, and visited Qumran, and was on the Mt. of Olives, and walked down the path of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and visited the Garden of Gethsemane, and walked the Via Dolorosa, and visited the Garden Tomb, along with many more sites in-between, the last item on the tour was, we went to Hell and back!

Did you want to re read that last sentence? Does it sound like I am being facetious? Well, provocative maybe, but I am serious. One of the other reasons for our going on this trip was Brian's descriptions of going to this literal place of Hell, which was antithetical to at least what most of the churches teach as hell.

 "Gehenna" or the valley of Hinnom, used to be a place of child sacrifice to the god of Molech, This valley afterwards became the common receptacle for all the refuse of the city. Here the dead bodies of animals and of criminals, and all kinds of filth, were cast and consumed by fire kept always burning. Jesus was warning Jerusalem, that unless they repented, their city would be destroyed and become a pile of refuse like this Gehenna dump "where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die!" It was not meant by any means to indicate a literal fiery place of eternal torment for all those who did not trust in Jesus for their salvation which has been the threat of the vast majority of church teaching for centuries. Such teaching has defamed the very nature and character of God and has kept more people from believing in the immutable love of God than has ever drawn them to Him. 

This is a picture of (left to right) Cindi, Peri Zhand, myself, and Brian Zhand in Hell. Or at least what used to be Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom, or the city dump for Jerusalem. 

Notice the sign in the right side background... No fires allowed! So much for the fiery torment that is threatened, and the place of the so called "last day bar-b-que!

As Brian has mentioned, even hell has been redeemed, and is now a park and a place to visit and have a picnic!

This is one of some 1600 pictures and videos, and I am in the process of sorting out some of the best to put together a type of video-photo journal of the experience. And when I finish doing that, I will be sure to post links to it in a future post where I will write again of  the Brian And Peri Zhand Israel Tour 2022.