Today is DAY 12 (May 14), the last day of the tour!
Ray seemed very passionate today, passionate about the text.
This may be controversial, but I don’t want to be a disciple of the text.
I want to be a disciple of Jesus, and learn to read the text with Him.
It is a matter of emphasis, and I prefer to emphasize my relationship with Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong, I read the bible everyday… but so did the Pharisees.
They were people of the text, but they did not know and accept Jesus.
I have known people who knew their text well, but did not know or reflect Jesus.
I was one of them myself; I graduated seminary knowing the text, but not Jesus.
The more we spend time with Jesus, through the stories of the Gospels, the stronger we will be.
I want to be passionate about knowing and showing Jesus, a disciple of Jesus (not the text).
And I will use the text, as well as other believers, and prayer, and spiritual disciplines, to do it.
May I be as passionate about Jesus, as Ray was about the text.
Thanks for joining us!

Today is DAY 11 (May 13).
We are the temple of God, where He welcomes the sacrifice of love.
Everyone of us is a living stone, everyone of us has a place in His temple.
Love, peace and grace are the mortar that holds a church together.
I recall once a church in a bitter legal battle for the church building.
How ironic, their fighting was tearing down the only building God was interested in.
Buildings can be helpful tools for accomplishing the mission of the church.
But often the members become the tools needed to maintain the building, the new mission.
God isn’t impressed by our buildings, no matter how nice them are.
If the early church could survive without buildings, can we?
Is this COVID-19 situation challenging the way we think about church and buildings?
COVID-19 cannot stop us from loving each other, and this is what makes God’s temple.
Just some random thoughts ion today’s session.

For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 10 (May 12).
What struck me was how hard it was for Jesus followers to belong.
To follow Jesus as Lord put you at odds with your neighbours.
You could not participate in society (the market, politics) like others.
But you could still make your presence known – by how we loved all people.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
This is how Jesus changed the world then; this is how He will do it today.
Not by protests, not be petitions, not by politics, but by the fruit of the Spirit.
We show the world God’s way, the way of grace, mercy, peace and love.
If we are living like this, I suspect people will want to belong to us!
I was especially struck by how the different classes treated each other as equals.
Is this how our neighbours know and experience us?
Are people struck by how welcome and included they are among us?
Or are we as divided (if not by class, then by clique) as the world around us?
The way Jesus still works in the world today is through His followers.

For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 9 (May 11).
When Jesus calls us to come, He is preparing us to go.
He calls us from our little lives (small town Chorazin), and gives us a kingdom calling.
We do not just follow Jesus for our own salvation, for God and the world too.
He equips us to be like Him, to even walk on water (take on the impossible).
Do I passionately want to be like Jesus, and to do what He did?
Our world seems closed to God (Scythopolis), a mighty city impervious to us.
How can our humble faith in Jesus challenge the power and technology of our world?
But this is how God works; He takes nobodies and makes them somebodies!
Are we more impressed by what people do, than by what God can do?
Our humble faith, hope and love is a powerful thing, it can change the world.
But it is not up to us, we just need to step out of the boat (comfort zone).
We don’t need to win or convert the world, we just need to show Jesus to the world.
The Spirit will do the rest, as He has done throughout history.
If we live and love like Jesus, we will impact the world like Jesus!
But do I want to live and love like this; do I want to follow Jesus like this?
Am I willing to step out of the boat, onto the impossible?
For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 8 (May 10).
Today we begin the next series, ‘In The Dust of the Rabbi’.
His first comments about a disciple were overwhelming.
I am not THAT passionate, I am not THAT zealous or strong.
But then he shows how Jesus did not wait for the zealous to come to Him.
In fact He often discouraged those who those who wanted to follow Him.
Instead He went to those who had already decided not to be passionate disciples.
Those who were fishing had not been learned enough to keep going to school.
These are the ones that Jesus chose to follow Him.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you so that you might go and bear fruit.” (John 15:16)
Jesus takes ordinary people, so that he can do extraordinary things through them.
We do not need to be exceptionally gifted or passionate, we just need to be real and sincere.
To surrender our ordinary selves to Him, and let Him work through us in our ordinary lives.
This is how He brings glory to God, to show the world that He uses the anybodies.
This is very humbling, yet very inspiring because…. He chose you, He chose me.

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.'”

For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 7 (May 9).
These scenes and lessons really help in understanding the bible.
I liked the connection between Jeremiah 17:13, and John 7 and 8.
I’ve never caught this background to the idea of ‘writing in the dust’.
The lesson seems to be, life is a desert and at times very hard.
If not for us, then certainly for others.
God not only wants to be an En Gedi to me, to us.
He wants me,m and us, to be an En Gedi to others.
How has the Lord satisfied the thirst of my soul?
How has the Lord shown mercy to me, though my name was in the dust?
Life is hard, lets not make it harder for others.
Let’s do what we can to assist those who are struggling around us.
The day will come when we need them to assist us too.
For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 6 (May 8).
The image of the straight paths along the ‘green’ slopes is striking.
I agree, those slopes are not very green afterall.
But it is the food they need, and the shepherd is taking care of them.
This pandemic season certainly feels like those barely green slopes.
But we have more than enough; and best of all, we have the shepherd.
Now is not the time to focus on what we do not have, or cannot do.
Now is the time to appreciate what we have, and to stay focused on the shepherd.
He will lead us through this valley (and not leave us there).
Watching this session changed my understanding, and appreciation, of Psalm 23.
For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 5 (May 7).
Following Jesus includes many unknowns and difficulties.
But He leads us through the wilderness to a better place.
We need to make sure we are staying on the path with the Lord.
Are the words I speak, and the steps I take, the kind that Jesus would speak and take?
Would Jesus yell at that person, would Jesus hold back on helping that person?
Would Jesus sit back and only take care of Himself, or those close to Him?
Would Jesus let Satan’s lies convince Him to give up, turn back or do something selfish?
Israel did not walk the path alone, and we do not either.
Jesus offers to carry the yoke with us, to make the burden lighter.
Today I am facing choices in how I will respond to the rocks in my day.
Will I think selfishly of myself only, or will I follow where Jesus would go?
Will I forget about those around me, or will I make the path easier for them?
I am walking a path today, whether I think I am or not.
What steps am I taking, and where are they leading?
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit…” (Galatians 5:25)
And am I keeping in step with Jesus, following the lead and help of His Spirit?

For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 4 (May 6).
It is hard to imagine a flash flood in the desert.
I’ve had only a few flash floods (sudden crises) in my life.
But I have had the experience of being stuck in the mud.
Right now it feels as if I am slogging through this virus lockdown.
I can rationalize my way forward, but I am not feeling it.
I am quickly tired, and it is hard to motivate myself to do the next task.
Or even to know what the next task is.
I don’t hear the roar of the flood coming, but I am feeling stuck.
In times like these the Psalms do express well the cry of the heart.
‘Lord, I am stuck, I need help, set me up on a rock!’
The video gave me images to picture when I read psalms like these.
“My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth!” (Psalm 121:2)

For more information about this virtual tour, click here.

Today is DAY 3 (May 5).
I didn’t realize how barren and lifeless the wilderness was.
How can those trees survive such a barren wasteland?
And yet they become lessons for life in this world.
The rottem tree for shade and the acacia with roots reaching to the river.
The tamarisk planted in faith and the arar tree that deceives with empty fruit.
I’ve been reflecting on how God is revealed in creation.
This pandemic is leading many people to discover the outdoors again.
That is a good thing, because it brings us closer to our Creator.
He is always with us, but perhaps our walls are barriers to experiencing God.
If I look outside at the grass, or the trees, or the birds, what can I learn?
Is there a life lesson right in front of me, and I am not seeing it?
Do you see any life lessons around you, in the things of nature?

For more information about this virtual tour, click here.