Pursued

05 Feb , 2013 No Comments

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Disclaimer: I was given an early copy of this book to review. This is my most objective review possible and I am in no way obligated to give it a positive review.

Today is the release day for Jud Wilhite’s new book Pursued. It is a story about the book of Hosea from the Bible. Jud is the lead pastor at Central Christian Church in Vegas (not officially affiliated with our Central). He does a great job in this book to explain the absurd love that God has for us and the dramatic lengths He has gone to show it.

The story of Hosea is one of my favorites from the Bible. God asks one of His prophets to marry a prostitute in order to show us an example of His love for us. It is so extravagant that many people conclude that it could never have actually happened and that it must be a fable only. I disagree. I think the absurdity is exactly the point of the story. God loves us like that. Up until now, Francine Rivers’ book called Redeeming Love has been the main book about Hosea. While this is a huge hit with ladies, I’m hoping Jud’s book becomes the new recommendation for it.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

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January with C.S. Lewis

04 Feb , 2013 No Comments

Year with C.S. LewisI’m reading a daily devotional this year called A Year With C.S. Lewis. Each day is a snippet from one of his books. I’m a huge fan of Lewis so this has been a fun way to keep engaged with his content on a regular basis. I’m going to post the highlights of my readings from each month. This will include a variety of his work that is all found in this one devotional book.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from January:

For Christianity is a fighting religion. It thinks God made the world—that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colours and tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God ‘made up out of His head’ as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.

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Israel (Day 8)

31 Jan , 2013 No Comments
Michelle and I in front of the walls of the Temple Mount

Michelle and I in front of the walls of the Temple Mount

Between our travel time and jet-lag kicking in with full force, this post is off schedule from the rest of the others. Our last day in Israel was just as busy as the rest and then we boarded a long flight for home at the end of it. I’m glad I didn’t know when we boarded that our flight from Israel would be the worst landing I’ve ever experienced once we touched down in Philadelphia. Many people in our group used the complimentary sick bags on this flight and I managed to hold in my breakfast by the grace of God alone. This helped us to feel the raw nature of our “pilgrimage.”

On our last day we got to visit the part of Jerusalem known as the ancient city, or the City of David. This is the part that David established when he conquered the city from the Jebusites when it was called Zion. This was especially cool to see and imagine history in this place.

City of David

City of David (click to zoom)

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Israel (Day 7)

30 Jan , 2013 No Comments
Oscar Schindler's Tree

Oscar Schindler’s Tree at the Holocaust Museum in Israel

We started day seven with a visit to the Holocaust museum. This continued our time in Jerusalem. As can be imagined, this was a very tough time to experience yet it is absolutely vital to remember. There are a number of different museums that address the Holocaust and this one is heavy on stories and testimonies from survivors. There weren’t a ton of items from the Holocaust itself but the museum does a terrific job with retelling the story. I especially liked the quotes that they had spread throughout the museum. There were a few in particular that stood out to me.

“A country is not just what it does – it is also what it tolerates.” Kurt Tucholsky, German essayist of Jewish origin

“Don’t rush to fight and die… we need to save lives. It is more important to save Jews than to kill Germans.” Tuvia Bielski

“I know that when I stand before God on Judgement Day, I shall not be asked the question posed to Cain – where were you when your brother’s blood was crying out to God?” Imre Bathory, Righteous Among the Nations, Hungary.

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Israel (Day 6)

29 Jan , 2013 No Comments
Breakfast is a little different in Jerusalem

Breakfast is a little different in Jerusalem (herring and sardines)

Day six was by far our busiest day yet! We visited many of the main sites in the old city of Jerusalem. We began with a tour of the temple mount (the area where the first and second Jewish temple was built). Now there sits a Muslim site called the Dome of the Rock on the site of the original temples. This site has another significance in that it is also called Mount Moriah. This was where Abraham took his son Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice to the Lord. Because of that moment this site has been considered holy ever since.

Dome of the Rock

Dome of the Rock (click to zoom)

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Israel (Day 5)

28 Jan , 2013 No Comments
Masada

The view from the top of Masada (click to zoom)

Today started in the Dead Sea and then we were off to a crazy historical sight. We visited the ancient city of Masada on the very top of a mountain range. This isn’t anything significant in the Bible but it is a crazy story of a group of first century Jews who defied the Romans to the very end. When it was evident that they would be captured and turned into slaves, the entire community of Jews committed suicide instead. You can read about the crazy story here.

Since it was a walled city on the top of a mountain, it was extremely difficult to attack the city. Roman soldiers pulled it off by building a giant dirt ramp up to the entry and then building a siege tower with a battering ram on top. The pictures below show what remains of this attack today.

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