The Journey Continues

Have you ever been to a place where you say "now when did that happen..." only to realize it was earlier the same day?  That's happening a bit right now.  The information overload sets in and things begin to blur.  At the same time, God-moments and surprises continue to happen.

For a series of blog articles from members of our tour that are from the same church please check out the following:

http://lakeridgecommunity.com/stories-from-the-journey/

Ok, at the risk of seeming trivial there are a number of pictures from lunch and dinner.  Food actually plays an important part in the text of Scripture.  It is where community is often formed.  Whether a simple Falafel lunch at a roadside stand or a formal dinner in a hotel it is conversation around the table and appreciating the gifts of God that we do well to remember.

The Galilee area is beautiful.  One of the striking places is Banias, a lush area of small waterfalls and lush vegetation.  It is in the area of Caesarea Philippi.

Right at the top of the stairs you take to get to this serene setting is the following reminder of the conflict that has been part of this region for so long:

"Who do you say I am?" was the challenging question Jesus asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi (See Matthew 16).  Many of us were struck with the long distance Jesus led his disciples on from the Galilee area to this pagan temple area just to drive the question home.  Imagine the cut-outs full of idols, imagine folks hawking items for the temple and imagine screams of those who were part of the human sacrifice and temple prostitution that took place at the time of Jesus.

And now on a lighter note.  The primary temple here was to the god "Pan" - a flute playing half goat/half man dude.  This was also the place where Jesus said to Peter "on this rock I will build my church".... so any chance this is the inspiration for Peter Pan???

(Special thanks to Pastor Dan Olson for humouring me with this depiction)