Got your attention? No, I am not putting a Holy Land trip together. Never. However, I thank the Lord and First Church, Taft for sending us one year right after Christmas. It was truly an unforgettable, life-changing event.
You can travel to the Holy Land this Christmas season without leaving your home. Our dear friend, Bill, (don't have permission to use his last name) told me of a place to go. It is ancient sandals.com There you can see the same sights we visited several years ago. Places near The Sea of Galilee, and Caesarea, and Caesarea Phillipi. You can even get a guided tour with dialogue from Biblical scholars for far less than the cost of a trip. Lot safer too. As I saw some of those great pictures I remembered certain events and moments. At the place where a stream flowed from a mountainside where the god pan was worshipped, I bent and selected a pebble. I still have it today. That stream is one of several that eventually produces the Jordan River. It was near that stream that Jesus announced "on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The gates of hell are trying their best, but the church prevails. I find that to be a great Christmas thought and devotion, accompanying the birth of Jesus event. Step into the footprints of those ancient sandals. It will be a great walk.