Israel-Week One

First off, my apologies for not updating this sooner. A busy week here in Israel dealing with travel issues, computer connection problems, yada-yada...But the past seven days have been some of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. I can tell you after being here for just a few days that there is no place on this earth like Israel.

There are so many stories, but here's a quick rundown on where I've been lately: Monday-The Old City: Mount of Olives (where Jesus will touch down when he comes back), the Garden of Gethsemane, King David's town, the Western Wall.. Tuesday-Israel's Foreign Ministry of Affairs, the Kennesset (Israel's version of congress/parliament) Wednesday: The Market, Downtown Jerusalem, Thursday: Yad Vashem (National Holocaust Museum).

Like I said last week, the main objective of this trip for me is to go back to the beginning, to truly know who Jesus really is. Not the Alabama version, not the U.S. version, not my version, not your version. The real deal J.C. Now that I've had a couple days to digest all of these powerful experiences, here are some of my thoughts...

On Monday afternoon I walked into a garden called Gethsemane. It is a sobering place, a feeling that honestly can't be described. It's one thing to read the gospel account of what happened here, or see the visual reenactment in The Passion of the Christ. But nothing can prepare you for physically being there. I felt the presence of God in a way like no other. My eyes filled with tears as I got just the slightest, slightest, slightest glance at what Jesus felt. I don't pretend to know what that must've been like, but I felt overwhelmed with thankfulness because I knew nothing that I've ever done means anything in this place, and it didn't matter. Then I opened my eyes and saw a dove literally touch down on one of the olive trees. I felt the Lord telling me that this garden was all about freedom, where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. There is no standard of performance, no opinion of man, no rule or regulation, no past failure, no nothing that can make you any more or less "free". Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise, just go to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Today (Thursday) I visited the National Holocaust Museum of Israel, known as Yad Vashem. Six million Jews killed in just a few years. That would be 1 out of every 3 Jews alive at that time. If you want to see humanity at its worst, stroll through the halls there. The one display that got me the most was a pile of thousands of shoes. They were worn by the concentration camp prisoners, who were forced to remove them shortly before their death. One pair that was so small it could only belong to a child caught my eye. The hopes and dreams of a kid who didn't even know what was happening, just snuffed out like that. Sometimes there are things you just can't explain.

The last exhibit was a room called the memory hall. Complete silence was the rule, and you had to cover your head out of respect for the victims. It's a plain and empty room, no pictures, no movement, just cobblestone bricks. In the middle of the room was a small flame that was burning. I felt almost immediately that the Lord was speaking to me about his heart for the Jewish people. The Babylonians and the Romans annihilated their land and scattered the people everywhere. The Nazis stomped and stomped until there was almost nothing left. Now radical Muslims are plotting a new evil. But despite all that, they have not been broken. The flame was small, but it was burning. I felt the Lord telling me that his heart still burns for his chosen people, and the fire is not going out. Jesus is walking the streets of Jerusalem just like he did back in the gospels, and he's not giving up.


Jesus has been constantly misunderstood throughout the ages, both in the Holy Land and around the world. It all started with his ministry here in Israel. The Pharisees tried taking a sledgehammer to him because he defied the Jewish man-made religious laws, "violated" the Sabbath, drank wine and ate with "sinners". Check out the book of John to see what I'm talking about. Jesus is freedom. There are still 613 laws that Orthodox Jews are required to follow..That's one of the reasons that Orthodox Jews are on the decline in Israel. Many of the Jews here that I've talked to are sick and tired of going through all the rituals and traditions, many of them nothing more than man-made. They're Jews by birth, but not by practice. They're turned off by the thought of God, because that's who they see him as, a tedious lawgiver. You may think there's almost no hope for them, but I think they're on the brink of freedom. When you get to the point of throwing up your hands and throwing the laws and traditions of man out the window you're right down the street from Jesus. There's something going on here. I think there's about to be a new revelation of Jesus in my life, in the life of the church, and in the land of Israel. You can take what I say however you want to. I just want to know the real deal, the Jesus who's walking these streets.