Last day in Israel. It was hard to believe but it snowed in Jerusalem. People were making snowmen and having snowball fights. There was about six inches of snow. Joel and his wife and kids took us to the tomb of Jesus. It was very interesting and it fits the description of the site that the bible speaks of but no one except our Lord knows where that is. Jerusalem was destroyed so many times it is very hard for anyone to be precise about some of the biblical locations. From here we went to the Israel Museum where we saw many artifacts and the Dead Sea scrolls. I can tell you they don’t like for you to take pictures of the scrolls by experience, but I got one anyway.

Tomorrow Shirley and I go home but the rest of the team will stay another day. Karl Leiber will be preaching at the Baptist Mission to an All Nations Church. I wish I could be there. I want to thank John and Meagan and Karl for putting this trip together. We are already talking about another trip to work with Jews for Jesus. Be looking for the trip on truthem.org under schedules.

Final Thoughts
It has been a very educational trip, not only from the historical aspect but from the cultural. I would not have seen Israel the way I did if it had not been for Jews for Jesus. They helped me understand what is really happening, besides the sites and the tourism. There are a lot of Jewish people that are lost. The Orthodox Jewish person literally dislikes us, and that is an understatement. We are still considered the infidel, the Gentile. We are donkeys who have no soul, and we have no business coming to their country and telling them about the Messiah. They need the money that we bring to their country in the form of tourism, but I wonder if we would be so welcome if we brought no money but just the love of Jesus. I know the answer and it is No, we are not welcome. Some of the team was told to “go home,” “get out of our country” and “I want to kill you.” These are hard things to comprehend, but they are true. We asked some of the merchants in Jerusalem about Jesus and they replied, “I know nothing about this Jesus,” as they sell the crosses in their shops. They deny Christ today as much as they did 2,000 years ago.

I admire what Jews for Jesus is doing in Israel. It is an uphill battle but Jesus said that we would have troubles in this world and that we would be persecuted as He was, so this comes as no surprise.

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February 3, 2008
January 30, 2008