by First Baptist | Oct 4, 2014 | From Jerusalem
The demographic for this fall semester at Tantur Ecumenical Institute is unusually weighted toward the host Roman Catholics (23 RC’s and two Protestants). The other Protestant is Anglican, a tradition more Catholic than Baptist. (I have told these folks they...
by First Baptist | Oct 7, 2014 | From Jerusalem
Shalom from Mt. Masada! Filing away another item on the bucket list, I climbed Mt. Masada alone, via the ancient “Snake Path” yesterday. The rest of our group took the modern tramway that the Israelis installed a few years ago, while I set out alone on the...
by First Baptist | Oct 11, 2014 | From Jerusalem |
Next week I plan to join the Continuing Education group as they journey into the region known as the Northern West Bank. This is a Palestinian “Area A” (meaning it is off-limits to Israelis), so tourists and pilgrimage groups only occasionally go there....
by First Baptist | Oct 18, 2014 | From Jerusalem |
After appreciating Sunday morning visits to churches of traditions very different from yours and mine, I returned last Sunday to a favorite haunt from 2005, St. Andrews Scots Memorial Church. This Scottish Presbyterian church, standing directly across the Ben Hinnom...
by First Baptist | Oct 24, 2014 | From Jerusalem
During a recent week I joined our sabbatical group on a five-day “run where Jesus walked” tour of the Galilee region. Since I had been there several times before, one of the priests in our entourage challenged me with the question: “Did you learn...
by First Baptist | Oct 31, 2014 | From Jerusalem
On a very-first visit to the Palestinian city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, our most-celebrated stop was Jacob’s Well, located near the ancient Tel Balata, or Shechem (“Sychar” in John). Here is an extraordinary site, in that it has been...