We are off to see some sights today and we spotted some camels off to the side of the road. Since that’s on our list of “must do’s”, we stopped and the kids each got a short ride. They look like they would be very comfortable to ride across the desert for a long trip. LOL.
Visiting Ceaserea by the Sea today. Such a beautiful place. I could walk around and look for hours, but sadly the children are not so enthused by more ruins. We took a picnic lunch and ate before we walked around. This city is referenced in Acts where Paul was brought as a prisoner after appealing to Ceaser, Acts 25. And it is where he addressed King Agrippa recorded in Acts 26.
Had the unique experience to attend the Passover Priestly Blessing at the Western Wall on Monday. Tens of thousands of people attend this event every year. (Last year 80,000)
Definitely helped understand what the passover crowds would have been around Temple Mount in Christ’s day. Continue reading Priestly Blessing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem
Today there was a bus bomb in Jerusalem. I was in a store a few blocks away. I walked over and got a few pics but my phone was dying. Soldiers were all over the place. The news reports we are hearing are saying several different things but it does not sound as though anyone was killed. Two buses were involved but it’s unclear from the news which was carrying the bomb. Continue reading A Sad Day in Jerusalem
Not many people get to be at the spot where the greatest events in history happened on Resurrection Sunday. We were here. And it was a very special day for our family. We started near the top of the Mount of Olives and read about the triumphal entry. 
We talked about how Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem and the people were ecstatic thinking their deliverance and military triumph was at hand. We talked about how He wept over the city because they were so lost. Continue reading Resurrection Day in Jerusalem
I was privileged to spend a few hours in the place called Golgotha today, Good Friday, and observe the people as they came to this place where Jesus was crucified.
As I sat in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and observed, I began to write this poem.
No Longer a Question
Every nation, so many faces
Weary, crying eyes, fearful questions
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord‘s hand double for all her sins.
When the children of Israel sinned, they were often smitten in the very thing that they sinned, but they were also comforted with the very thing that caused them to sin.
(Excerpt from Theological Dictionary of Rabbinic Judaism, Vol 3, 31. Jacob Neusner – Slight modifications and edits.)
Have you ever wondered why the modern church struggles to accomplish GREAT things for God?
“How good and how pleasant it is for His people to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1
Continue reading Minute in the Word – Strength in Unity
One of the harder concepts for me to learn was how to remain focused on the most important tasks that will result in my greater success.
Pursuing anything in life requires an intensity and an emotional attachment to it. There has to be a fanatical commitment to the most important things in life to generate continual growth and development in that area.
Here is a quick list that I have been using to help me maintain my focus:
1. Count Your Days
This concept works well if you are already doing a daily journal. In your journal write down how many days that you have been alive. This provides an urgency for that day. I have been alive 12,339 days. That is a LOT of days. It will make you think about all of the wasted time that was spent doing frivolous tasks.
Also in this process of counting the days, I often will repeat in my mind the words “Do it now…Do it now…Do it now.” Every morning when I wake up, and every night when I go to sleep, I repeat these words. This will also further push the urgency of the most important tasks.
2. Two Main Questions
What’s important now? and What’s Next? If you continually focus on these two questions, it will be very difficult to get away from the highest priority tasks in your life. This will also make you get up earlier and can keep you up at night.
3. Honor your inner circle
When you maintain a close relationship with those that are closest to you, you will constantly focus in on the most important people in your life. This will also push you to improve your relationships with them and improve the quality of life for you and your most valued individuals.
Keeping your intensity running at maximum will improve your productivity, but it will also make you more self aware. You will stop allowing time to slip by or be wasted on things that are not a part of your core focus. When I started mastering this concept, amazing things started to happen in my life and business.
As John Maxwell says,
“We often over estimate what can be done in one day, and under estimate what can be done in many days.”
Keeping your focus every day allows for continual growth that will result in amazing growth.
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