If your house is anything like my house –- sometimes it’s incredibly loud! Kids playing and screaming, my wife preparing for guests who are frequently here, news on the television behind me and praise and worship playing in the background, then…the phone rings.
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A missionary in the New Hebrides Islands, described his experience with God’s divine angelic protection. Hostile natives surrounded his mission headquarters one night, desiring to kill him and his wife and burn the place down. All through that terror filled night, they prayed that God would deliver them from this evil. When daylight came they were amazed to see the natives leave, looking frustrated.
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The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the “Days of Awe”, a short but intense time for deep introspection and repentance as the “New Year” begins. During this time, I was spending a few days in Eilat with my family as we concluded hosting a tour with 40+ people in Israel for two weeks.
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Here in Israel, I have to carry my passport everywhere. It’s always in my pocket where ever I go. It’s my source of American identity here in the Land, should anyone ever question it.
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As we close out the fall feasts here in Israel I’m meditating on the deeper significance of this season. I’m realizing how God’s ordering of the festivals contains a deeper meaning than one might see at first glance. It’s not just about apples and honey and building tabernacles. The Lord gave the Jewish people these feasts as a beautiful picture of His ultimate plan; repentance, faith, atonement, forgiveness and joy. He carefully ordered these feasts to call us to a profound internal reflection designed to lead us from sin and alienation to reconciliation, fellowship, freedom and great joy.
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Since our move to the Negev Desert in Israel, we’ve had the privilege of meeting many fascinating and somewhat disturbing desert species, some of which have unfortunately had to meet the exterminator. One of these is the scorpion. Scorpions are commonplace here. They can often even be found in the house and they aren’t easy to kill. These little creatures have a knack for survival. I have even read that scorpions have survived nuclear weapon testing! But what’s more interesting is their method of devouring prey.
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I love fishing but sadly, I haven’t been able to do it in quite some time. Yeah, I know, one would think there’d be some good fishing spots here in Israel. However, from what I understand, they’re not really available to the public. So sad. Nevertheless, fishing gives me a chance to get a break from the world and just relax and meditate — and on a good day, maybe catch a fish or two.
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