July 5
Today we started out with a very nice baptism at the Jordan River! Rachael Hall and Gabriella Yanga both gave
their testimonies. I love testimonies. It just makes me so happy to hear how
each person has their own individual story of how they came to give their lives
to Yeshua. After their testimonies, they each got immersed into the Jordan River by Chris and Bruce and they got to choose a
song for all of us to sing. We sang “How Deep the Father’s Love” for Rachael
and “As the Deer” for Gabriella. It was absolutely beautiful.
After the baptisms were over we went to the ancient city of Beth-Shean. It was
awesome!! This city dates back 4,000 years and contains the remains of 20
cities. We got to go to the amphitheater where lots of violent games would take
place and Gladiator games. Brett and Matt got to reenact a “fight to the death”
which was pretty fun. It is sad to think about, though, all the violence that
went on in that arena. We got to explore the ruins and we got to learn a lot
about the culture by seeing the theater (and what they used for bathrooms!) It
was sad to see all the immorality that went on there, such as brothels and
learning about what they did for entertainment. But, it was beautiful. They had
really pretty mosaics and it was just so crazy walking on the streets that
these people walked.
We also looked at James 4 and 1 John 3 while we were there
and we talked about how the things on earth do not last, but the Word of God
and our souls last forever. God loves the world but not our system. So, we
cannot invest our lives into the system of the of the world, but into the will
of God because only then can we invest in our souls. So, we must honestly ask
ourselves, what are we investing our lives into? The things of this world, or
into God?
From Beth-Shean we went to Qumran,
which is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found! We learned about the Essenes
who would purify themselves by washing twice a day because they were constantly
expecting the return of the Messiah. They were scribes, so they wrote copies of
scripture. It is amazing that these scrolls were preserved for so many years
and they were found when Israel
needed it most. Critics were saying that if they found a copy of scripture from
Yeshua’s time, it wouldn’t match what they had. Just imagine what went through
their heads when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls and it matched almost exactly!
It also confirmed the land
of Israel because it says
in scripture that this land is for the Jewish people. It was so interesting
being able to learn about them and what an important discovery they were!
After getting to see where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found,
we got to go to the actual Dead Sea!! Which
was AWESOME. First of all, we got to put a whole bunch of mud all over
ourselves. Second of all, you cannot sink!! I mean, Heather was laying there
reading a magazine while floating in the water! It’s so weird. It was so funny
being able to stand without touching the bottom… just floating there. Anyway,
it was a really good time as well as just crazy that we were in the DEAD SEA!
It’s jut mind boggling.
After swimming we went to the hotel to relax and I was
EXHAUSTED. I could barely make it through devotions, but luckily Chris is good
at holding attention! We were reading more into Philippians and finished
Chapter 2! We read about Paul and Timothy’s relationship and we talked a lot
about discipleship and how important it is. Paul discipled Timothy and he grew
into a wonderful young man who knew about all the things Paul wrote about.
Everything that we’ve been reading about… humbleness and humility, shining and
not grumbling or complaining… this was what Timothy exemplified! Chris
challenged us that if we are not being discipled or discipling somebody, we
should definitely pray about it because it’s a huge part of the Christian life.
I have never really done anything like that, but who knows what will come up!
Just pray for an opportunity and who knows what God will open up for you. J
Tomorrow is a really early morning because we’re climbing Massada.
5am. Oh boy, this should be interesting.
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