Day Two

Well, day two has come and gone. It seems like it has already been a week since we have arrived. The amount of information we have been given in these past two days has been overwhelming, but absolutely wonderful. Today, like yesterday was full of hiking and lots of learning. 

Our first excursion was out to a group of fields marked by ancient rock walls. These walls are the ones that Abraham would have seen sometime around 2500BC. Can you imagine that these rock walls are probably more than 5,000 years old. These walls marked the boundary lines of inheritance G-d gave each Israelite family as they entered the promised land. And guess how big they are? 1 acre. Can you imagine that your whole family's inheritance is only 1 acre. I am talking you and your whole family survive on one acre of land. And just think we struggle to survive on much more than that. Needless to say our conceptions of the lush green fields of the promised land might be a little off. The point is that G-d gave his people just what they needed to survive and they danced in joy of this blessing. It makes me wonder how much does G-d have to give me before I will dance for joy. 

We also talked about the parable of the sower at this location. We learned some really cool stuff here. Just ask yourself, what is Jesus teaching us in this parable? Is it about where you should sow your seeds or is it about how to prepare your field? It's all about perspective here. How can we seek to usher the kingdom of Heaven to earth if we have unplowed ground...soil full of thistles and rocks, hearts that are unprepared to receive G-d's blessings? The answer...we can't. So how do we tend to our fields? First, we must know our text. In knowing the text, G-d reveals the places in our hearts that need tending. Second,  we have to be surrounded by a community who will encourage and help us get our fields ready. We can't do this alone. I am so blessed to have a community of people like Riverside and particularly my acacia group, who help be burn the thistles of my field and break up the unplowed ground. 

The rocks serve as the border lines for each field. They have been here for over 5,000 years. 

Look at those thistles...pretty brutal. What a great picture of our hearts we when we have not done the work to prepare the soil for G-d's word. 

Picture of the fields. Can you see the ancient walls dividing the land?

After leaving the fields we headed into Nazareth where we hiked from a small olive grove to the city of Tiberius where the Herodians lived. All I have to say is our Rabbi, Jesus, is one brilliant man and a little feisty too. Jesus knew the text (and by that I mean the Hebrew scriptures) and he used them in a way that reached his audience no matter where he went. He was so gifted that he tailored his message for each of his audiences….he used fishing metaphors to talk to fishermen, acting (hypocite) allusions to speak to the Herodians who loved the theatre, farming metaphors when he walked through the field with his disciples, and that is just the beginning. Makes me wonder why we don’t know our text like that. We say we want to be like him…then why don’t we know the word of G-d like him?

Mosaic tile floor in Tiberius. This was built by the Herodians. Isn't is beautiful? Yep...well it is Hellenistic and that is BAD!!

On our hike all the moms got into an ancient wine press to pray for their children. The was a Jewish ritual in which unmarried women got into the wine press during the grape harvest and they blessed G-d for the bounty of his provision and prayed for fertility. Not in the same way the Greeks did, but in a way that was honoring to G-d. So it was definitely something special to see all of the moms dance for joy over their children and to lift them up in prayer.  If your mom is on this trip, just know that they love youdeeply and are praying for your marriages, your children, your health, your protection, and so much more. They also prayed over those of us who do not have children. That was really special. I cried thinking about the possibility that my children will someday get to experience this as well. 

The moms dancing. So cool!

Finally, we talked about discipleship. All I have to say is discipleship is key in the kingdom of heaven. So Riverside get ready...cause discipleship is coming to a church near you.

The day was full and I don’t want to reveal too much for those of you who will one day have the blessing of making this journey. We are praying for you and missing you a lot.

TODAY’S FUNNY STORY: So Josh Dean had to go to the bathroom last night before dinner. So he ran to his room to do his business. After finishing he got up left the bathroom, but soon realized that his bag was not where he thought he had left it. He thought, well that is strange. Then after looking around for a few more seconds he quickly realized this was no his room!! He had just christened someone else’s toilet. And guess what he soon found out…it was RVLs room. That’s right, Josh Dean, stunk RVLs bathroom up!! We haven’t told RVL yet, but don’t worry we will throw Josh under the bus. 

Per our moms' requests:

Ben and I on the bus! Isn't Caleb just hilarious there in the background. 

Court, seriously, you have got to get him to cut his hair. 

Brian and Randy with their lovely locks!! Looking good boys.