We had another gorgeous sunrise this morning in Tiberius. This IS the day that the Lord has made.
We started by driving to the northern end of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. Capernaum was great. Weather was fantastic. Crowds were low. We saw Peter's house. Crazy, I know.
We had another amazing devotion time near the shore. Another convicting talk by Reggie. He's gotta stop that. We had a little talk about it afterwards but I don't think I made any progress. He's a stubborn man. Can you believe he basically laughed in my face? Here's the devotional:
Briefly explored the site afterwards, including the synagogue area. The main one you see in the photos was built around 400 AD on top of the synagogue from the time of Jesus. You can see the stones from the original building underneath. Well, you can't. But I did.
From Capernaum we added a stop at Kursi, also known as Gergessa or the "Land of the Gadarenes" where the miracle of the swine took place. See Luke 8:26-39. This is actually the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee which was where gentiles lived at the time. Reggie talks about that in the video below. This is the longest video so far at around 8 minutes. He got on a roll. Aren't you glad that Jesus wasn't afraid to visit the "other side"?
We threw in Tomlin's Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) afterward. No video. The chorus was quite appropriate.
From there we began our trek to southern Israel with our final destination at the Dead Sea.
First stop south was a baptismal site on the Jordan River. This particular place on the Jordan is just south of the Sea of Galilee so it was a short drive. There was 1 baptism and about 19 re-dedications including myself. Kim elected to not do it and that was probably a good decision because the women had a little trouble with footing and she is still struggling with her ankle.
It was a great time with the group. Several of the couples did the re-dedication together with the husband baptizing the wife and it was obviously a special occasion for all and many tears were shed.
We also sang Shall We Gather at The River. It's a rather obvious choice here. Nonetheless I think all will agree that the songs we sing here will have more significance in the future.
After the dunking, we traveled south to the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.
Again today I was struck by the sudden changes in landscape and climate within a very small area. Less than 5 minutes from the Jordan River baptism site we were in the arid desert. Here are some pictures around the Qumran Caves.
The Dead Sea is the lowest point in the world at 1412 feet below sea level. Actually the level is less than this now as it continues to drop every year. The water is a beautiful blue/green hue with salt along the edges. The water is very high in salt and other minerals so nothing can live in it. In fact, it has 34.2 percent salinity, almost 10X higher than normal salt water. We were cautioned not to get any water in our eyes as it is very painful and dangerous. I can confirm that any small scratch will burn in the water also.
From our last stop we drove on down to our stop for the day, the David Dead Sea Resort & Spa. It was a very nice hotel.
We quickly changed and made our way down to the beach. It took some time to get towels and wraps from the hotel staff but we managed. Swimming in the Dead Sea was really cool but there can't be any horseplay because it is dangerous as discussed earlier. The water is more for therapeutic purposes and for your skin. There are skin products everywhere. After being in the water and floating (phenomenal) your skin does indeed feel different. It was a neat experience. I didn't get my camera close to the water but a guy in our group did and took our picture as we floated. Hopefully I'll get the photo to post here.
Another wonderful day.
Randy
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| Late 4th century synagogue built on top of the ruins of the "Synagogue of Jesus" |
We started by driving to the northern end of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. Capernaum was great. Weather was fantastic. Crowds were low. We saw Peter's house. Crazy, I know.
We had another amazing devotion time near the shore. Another convicting talk by Reggie. He's gotta stop that. We had a little talk about it afterwards but I don't think I made any progress. He's a stubborn man. Can you believe he basically laughed in my face? Here's the devotional:
Briefly explored the site afterwards, including the synagogue area. The main one you see in the photos was built around 400 AD on top of the synagogue from the time of Jesus. You can see the stones from the original building underneath. Well, you can't. But I did.
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| Byzantine church at Kursi, circa 6th century |
We threw in Tomlin's Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) afterward. No video. The chorus was quite appropriate.
My chains are gone
I"ve been set free
My God my Savior
Has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace
From there we began our trek to southern Israel with our final destination at the Dead Sea.
It was a great time with the group. Several of the couples did the re-dedication together with the husband baptizing the wife and it was obviously a special occasion for all and many tears were shed.
We also sang Shall We Gather at The River. It's a rather obvious choice here. Nonetheless I think all will agree that the songs we sing here will have more significance in the future.
Yes we'll gather at the river
The beautiful the beautiful river
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God
Again today I was struck by the sudden changes in landscape and climate within a very small area. Less than 5 minutes from the Jordan River baptism site we were in the arid desert. Here are some pictures around the Qumran Caves.
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| View of the Dead Sea from the Qumran ruins. The hills of Moab are on the other side of the sea |
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| The first cave where scrolls were found |
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| Looking closely you can see additional caves in the hills. More may yet be undiscovered. |
The Dead Sea is the lowest point in the world at 1412 feet below sea level. Actually the level is less than this now as it continues to drop every year. The water is a beautiful blue/green hue with salt along the edges. The water is very high in salt and other minerals so nothing can live in it. In fact, it has 34.2 percent salinity, almost 10X higher than normal salt water. We were cautioned not to get any water in our eyes as it is very painful and dangerous. I can confirm that any small scratch will burn in the water also.
From our last stop we drove on down to our stop for the day, the David Dead Sea Resort & Spa. It was a very nice hotel.
We quickly changed and made our way down to the beach. It took some time to get towels and wraps from the hotel staff but we managed. Swimming in the Dead Sea was really cool but there can't be any horseplay because it is dangerous as discussed earlier. The water is more for therapeutic purposes and for your skin. There are skin products everywhere. After being in the water and floating (phenomenal) your skin does indeed feel different. It was a neat experience. I didn't get my camera close to the water but a guy in our group did and took our picture as we floated. Hopefully I'll get the photo to post here.
Another wonderful day.
Randy
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