Poverty to luxury, from slums to skylines, the world is so diverse. Yesterday a car blew up just outside of Tel-Aviv, which probably doesn’t even raise an eyebrow here. How different that news would be if it would have happened in Manhattan. No need for alarm, but an appreciation for the prayers that are heard in heaven as we travel under God’s covering. Today we visit the battlefields of Megiddo and will end up in Lake Galilee. Love you all!

As we reflect on our own calling to the Gentiles all around the world, we repent that we have not made more of an effort to evangelize the world that God so loves. He has shown us the tremendous need to share the gospel. The difference between countries He has blessed versus those countries that have received His wrath. How can a desert bring forth flowers? God is the answer!

St Peter’s church where he had the vision of reaching out to the Gentiles

It’s also the same city where Jonah got his call to the Ninevites.

Where Paul stayed at the home and work place of Simon the tanner.

Flowers are all over Israel!

We stood at the highest point the Parthenon which housed the goddess Athena and Mars Hill or the Areopagus, a rocky outcropping at the top of the city. When the apostle Paul had been evangelizing about His Lord to the Epicureans and the Stoics, they brought him here before the city council. As you sit on the Areopagus, you can imagine Paul sharing his message from Acts 17:22-31, with the temple to the goddess Athena in his background view. We also visited the destroyed temple to the goddess Athena by the Persians in 480 BC next to the Temple of Poseidon. Though each of these temples were destroyed including the Jewish temple, only one has been raised again! He alone is alive as are we, now that we are His adopted children. All praise be to God!

Paul’s famous message in Acts 17:22-31

What’s left of the Temple of Poseidon

Murder, covert operations, front lines are just some of the themes of Tom Clancy’s fictional novel of the past. Yet there is a story to tell the United States that speaks volumes of non fictional truth in the present and in the future. You will have to wait till my publicist gives me the go ahead, but to my private fans I’ll give you a copy of the first edition upon my return. In the meantime, thank you for your presence in our lives, we are enjoying the footsteps of loved ones soon and will send lots of photos then.

Preaching, teaching, healing, sharing, around the clock – no wonder Jesus was fast asleep on the boat! We are knocked out in a good way! All glory be to God! Lots to share when we return! Keep up your prayers! Demons are being cast out!

God! Was and is surely my answer, as I shared with a house church of 21 participants that is discreetly operating underground. It was another opportunity to prophesy, to encourage the body that Jesus is alive and loves them very much and is with them in every moment of their journey of growing faith. Thank you for your prayers during this crazy week of divine appointments and opportunities! I am reminded of Festus’ claim to Paul: “Are you mad?” Indeed, we are! All glory be to God!

…wow that’s a long time to figure out that he was the right man for you to marry? “Oh no,” she said, “I knew from the beginning, I wanted to marry him, but it took me that long to see if I was worthy enough to marry him!” I was floored by her response, a girl no more than 26, with her daughter now over 2 years of age, she reminded us of our own daughter, at least in age. She was the pastor’s wife, or a very special pastor’s wife, a missionary pastor whose calling was to reach drug addicts for the Lord. A former drug addict himself, the man had been saved and was now called to save others. His entire life was now devoted to the many whose lives were severely affected by meth. His salary a meager $300/month and yet his life completely surrendered to follow Him and Him alone. Once again God was stretching us!

I am reminded of Jesus who extolled the Roman centurion and said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Luke 7:9) In all my years of living and it’s alot, never have I found such a servant heart as I did, in being welcomed to their hotel. From the opening of doors, carrying bags, and welcoming cocktail, you might say, I have received that at five star hotels, but she actually sat down with us, asked us about our stay and then proceeded to help us take in some sights, and even suggested on her own, that she would print out our boarding passes for us. She walked with us to the room and explained all the amenities and switches as if I was the king. I wondered, why such favor was being given to us? What was God trying to show us? …perhaps that Christians themselves could still learn the joy of servanthood? …perhaps like the good samaritan, it doesn’t take a Christian to have a heart of compassion? …perhaps like the Roman centurion, the stereotypical religiously devout do not have the corner on the market of faith?

Unless you eat street food, there is no way you can understand the culture or the people. Street food is more than scorpions, snails, and snakes. Street food is oftentimes the one grueling, laborious, painful road that a person takes to get themselves out of poverty. They choose not to sell their bodies or do things illegally to get ahead but daily put their entire effort to scrape out a living. They are the heart and soul of the country, serving and suffering, and their stories will surely make you cry. Yet, they have endured and many of them are now famous, becoming the ‘food trucks’ of tomorrow. We’ve tried some new stuff, like Bánh xèo and Kebab torki, both were excellent! However, the crocodile on the spit was a little over the top for me.

If you ever read the book, you know that the story is set against the backdrop of an ever increasing ability of man to circumvent his way around the globe. Would Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout be able to go once around the world in 80 days time? Today, we could make that journey in under 80 hours. The question I am asking myself is how to make the journey with God. What is it that He wants us to see and endure? Yesterday, Pastor Shin saw an elderly lady selling small packages of kleenex on a mat on the street. She stopped and paid her and blessed her. As she began to walk, I said, “it’s ok to cry,” and she did. We cry, because our hearts break with the same vision that God has as He sees how we toil in this world.