June 2nd: The northern edge

Since I have been home from Israel, nary a Sunday goes by when I don’t give my wife a nudge in the middle of a sermon and whisper, “I was there!”—in reference to a Bible verse or other anecdote made by the pastor. I’ve been back for nearly four months, so now that I think about it, she’s probably getting tired of it. However, one thing that was so awe-inspiring about this trip is that I had the privilege to be at so many locations mentioned in the Bible. Some of these places were rather obvious, like the Temple in Jerusalem. But some were rather obscure. But in either case, I found all of these places fascinating just the same. On June 2nd we traveled to the north of the Sea of Galilee region to the extreme northern end of the country of Israel. We saw some well-known, and some not well-known, biblical sites.


“This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord’s Temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.” 1 Kings 9:15 The photo you see here is the gate to the town of Hazor from the time of King Solomon. Yes, sirree, an actual “Solomonic Gate.” We saw many such gates in Israel (for instance, we also visited Megiddo and Gezer, mentioned in this verse from 1 Kings), and it never ceased to amaze me that we were looking at the actual walls built during the times of the Bible. Solomon built the town of Hazor as a fortress in order to defend Israel from would-be invaders from the north.


“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” Matthew 16:16 Later on we visited the town of Caesarea-Philippi, several miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had taken his disciples to this town to “get away for a bit” before His final journey to Jerusalem to be crucified. While alone with His disciples in this town, Jesus asked them a very pointed question: "Who do people say that I am?" The disciples had several responses. But then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter, of course, answered with his famous confession.


In Caesarea-Philippi, we saw a large, heavy device (sorry I didn’t get a picture of it) that could be turned in a circle and leave an imprint in the sand. The imprint, which you can see in the photo here, commemorates the important interchange between Jesus and Peter in this town.


“The Danites set up the carved images for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the Danite tribe until the time of the exile from the land.” Judges 18:30 This verse in Judges tells us that the tribe of Dan, in northern Israel, worshiped carved images over the course of several centuries. The photo you see here is a cultic site in the town of Dan, one of the places where this false worship was conducted.


By the end of the day we had made it pretty close to the northern border of Israel. The photo here shows a white gravel road toward the top of the photo and a gray gravel road parallel to it in the foreground (harder to make out). Before 1967, the gray gravel road was in Israel and the white road was in Syria. The border is now a few miles to the north of here, but this shows you just how close we were to the border. It also reminds me of just how much of the country we traversed in this three-week trip.

When our day was done, we returned to the resort at the Sea of Galilee and took a nice refreshing swim. On this day I had seen places that had references back to three very different times—the Judges, Kings, and the New Testament. This, I think, gives you a good flavor of the layers and layers (and layers) of history that exist all over Israel. Anyway, after a swim in the Sea of Galilee and a great dinner, it was once again time to prepare for the next day and get some rest. June 3rd would be the day that took us to many places where Jesus walked—including the Sea of Galilee itself!

P2X

If you have been alive in the past year or two, chances are you have heard of “P90X.” It is the latest in a seemingly never-ending parade of fitness programs available to the American consumer. I have no idea what the “P” stands for, but the “90” signifies that the program is 90 days long. (One of the first things I noticed when I bought the P90X DVD set is that it is a 13-week regimen, which technically is 91 days, but I won’t quibble.) The “X,” of course, stands for “EXTREME,” a word that can only be adequately expressed by placing it in all capital letters. P90X joins the nearly endless list of “EXTREME” products on the market today. In fact, the only way I can think of to advertise this product better would be to call it “P90X-Naked.” (If you don’t get that, see my blog entry from September 15th.)

Alright, so, in addition to the slick marketing, I have also been impressed with the personal testimonials. Over the past year I know of several people who have done the P90X program, and to a person, they all have glowing praise for it. Over time I became intrigued enough to look into doing the program myself. And the first problem I ran into is that it costs about $120 to $150. I wasn’t sure I wanted to pay that much for a program that, quite frankly, I might use just once or twice and then never use again. But then I got an idea. I figured that there must be a lot of people out there who have paid $120 or more for P90X, used it once, and now it is collecting dust on their bookshelf. So, I bought the DVD set via Craigslist. After withdrawing $50 from my bank account and executing what felt like a covert drug deal at a local mall, I became the proud owner of P90X.

My next big decision (after making the purchase) was when to start my first 90-day run through. I already knew that I was going out of town for a weekend in September for my mother and father-in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary, where I would not only be away from home, but I would be doing a lot of eating. In keeping with my long standing policy of not starting any diet or exercise program before such a trip, I decided to start after I returned home. That way I would weigh even more at the beginning of the 90 days, and my results would be all the more impressive.

Okay, one more decision to make before getting started. That is, how much extra “fitness stuff” am I going to buy before I begin? Like any company concerned with the welfare of the American consumer, P90X recommends/offers exercise mats, fitness drinks, push-up hand grips, exercise bands, heart-rate monitors, etc. etc. In addition, they recommend that participants take “before,” “during,” and “after” photos so that you can see your progress. I think they want you to have your photo taken at Days 0, 30, 60, and 90 (why not on Day 91 when you really finish?).

Anyway, at the risk of great embarrassment, the photo you see above will suffice as my “Day 0” photo. Let me explain. The day that I bought P90X, I watched the first video in my family room, just to see what a workout looks like. By the end of watching it, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the floor. My wife thought that it was pretty funny that I fell asleep merely watching P90X (yes, it does seem pretty pathetic), so she took the picture. Things can only get better, right? Anyway, I decided not to buy any of the other stuff, at least for now. If I waited to buy this, that, and the other thing, I’d never get started.

By the title of this blog entry, you may have guessed that I have now been on the program for two days—it’s just “P2X” for me, so far. So, how do I feel after two days? MISERABLE! Day 1 was an hour-long chest and back workout, admittedly a weak area for me. In keeping with one of the program’s catch-phrases, I “did my best, and forgot the rest” (meaning do what you can, and don’t worry if you can’t do it all). I did a modest amount of the push-ups and pull-ups, nowhere near the full workout, yet still, I could not feel my arms when the workout was over. I didn’t want to be too sore the next day, but, by the morning of Day 2, I was—how can I put it?—EXTREMEly sore.

The Day 2 workout was “Plyometrics,” which is basically an insane aerobic routine which is heavy on jumping, squatting, and using the leg muscles. I began the day with my own “fitness drink”—a half a glass of milk with an 800mg Motrin. As for the workout, I could do only about half of it, which was more than enough for the first try. The thing I liked best about the Plyometrics workout is that my legs hurt so much that I actually forgot about how badly my chest, arms, and back hurt from Day 1!

Well, I’m sure I’ll have more to say about this as my 91-day adventure proceeds. While I am very sore now, I do believe that over time, once I get used to all this, I will no doubt enjoy the program to the EXTREME.

June 1st: Nazareth

“He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.” (Luke 4:16)

On Tuesday, June 1st, we continued on our five-day trip through the northern part of Israel. As always, we made several stops. But the key stop of the day was Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up. The first thing one notices about Nazareth is that there is one high mountain in the city that is very prominent. You can’t miss it. It is called the Mount of Precipice, and it was our first stop in the town.

The first photo is of a sign at the Mount of Precipice. I was surprised that it alludes to a tradition that Jesus jumped off of this precipice to get away from the crowds. What actually happened here is the episode in Luke 4:28-30. Jesus had been preaching in his hometown, and the folks did not like His message. So, they led Him to the “brow of the hill,” to throw Him over. Jesus, however, “walked right through the crowd” and left. When you are in Nazareth and look around the city, you can see that the Mount of Precipice is the only place where this episode could have happened. As for the sign, I don’t know why it does not directly correspond to the Luke passage. I will say that while in Israel, I noted several instances where “tradition” trumped what the Bible actually says. Good thing that doesn’t happen in our Baptist churches in America.


This is a photo of the modern city of Nazareth from the Mount of Precipice. In the middle ground, you can see two structures with green domes. This is the site of the Church of the Annunciation, the supposed site where the angel visited Mary to announce the birth of Jesus through her. Again, scholars don’t know if this is the precise site, but it was likely in this vicinity. We later visited this church.


Here is another photo from the Mount of Precipice showing the other side of Nazareth, which is the Jezreel Valley (the only consistently flat part of Israel that I saw). I think this picture does a pretty good job of depicting how steep the Mount of Precipice is.


This photo is of the city of Nazareth from outside the Church of the Annunciation. It was pretty, and, it was the only place on the whole three-week trip where I got lost. For some reason I missed the call for my group to return to the bus (several blocks away). I didn’t panic, but at the same time, it’s a little scary to be looking around for twenty minutes and not seeing anyone you know, with no idea of how to get to the bus. Fortunately, our professor came back to get me.


Later we went to a first-century Nazareth village. Here you see a replica of an olive press, an extremely valuable tool in the ancient world, as olive oil was used for many purposes (lighting lamps, cooking, anointing, etc.)


After our visit to Nazareth, we proceeded to the region of Galilee. To get there, we traveled through the Arbel Pass, a very narrow, imposing ravine. It was a dangerous route in ancient times, however it was a key connecting point in the roads of the day, so it was widely traveled. We went to the top of one of the sides of the ravine, which was perhaps two thousand feet high. My photo does not do it justice, but if you were to take one step over these rocks, you would take an unpleasant fall of a few thousand feet. I found it interesting that there were no safety rails up there, no warning signs, nothing of what you would see in America. You were on your own to be smart enough not to get too close to the edge.


We ended the day by checking into a very nice hotel/resort right on the Sea of Galilee, where we would spend three nights. What an incredible treat this was! Here is a picture of the sun setting on the Sea of Galilee on June 1st.


When I say we were staying “right on the Sea of Galilee,” I’m not kidding. This picture is taken from the back porch of my room (How about that? Our rooms had porches!). It was about fifty yards from the water. I can remember looking around and shaking my head in disbelief. “Am I really at a resort sleeping fifty yards from the Sea of Galilee?” I still can’t believe it.

May 31st: Heading North

Before my summer blogging hiatus, which by the way consisted of me taking a few intensive classes down at seminary and getting my older son off to college, I had been chronicling my recent trip to Israel. I had gone through the first two weeks of the three-week trip. I want to finish “blogging the trip,” especially because the last week included our tour around the Sea of Galilee region in the north of Israel. So over the next few weeks I will dedicate some entries to completing the task of "blogging Israel." If you are new to my blog, you can check out previous Israel trip entries via the topic labels to the right.

After a weekend in Jerusalem where we recuperated from our trip to the desert and Negev, took an exam, rested, did laundry, took in more of the Old City, and went to the Baptist House for church, it was time once again to hit the road. We were headed north for a five-day study of the northern part of Israel. This region included port cities on the Mediterranean, Mount Carmel (site of Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal), the Jezreel Valley, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galilee region.

On our first day we spent a good bit of time in the port city of Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea (this is not to be confused with Caesarea-Philippi). Caesarea was built from scratch in the time of King Herod the Great (just before Jesus was born), because Herod did not have an adequate port under his jurisdiction. Obviously, there are huge economic advantages to having such a port, so Herod’s men created one for him.

What I found interesting about Caesarea is the amount of New Testament history there. The photo that you see here is the theater at Caesarea. This is where public addresses and concerts took place (and still do!). In Acts 12:21, Herod Agrippa I (Herod the Great’s grandson) addressed a crowd at Caesarea, almost certainly here at the theater. Of course, the chairs and canopy on the floor have been added in more recent times. By the way, when we were on the stage looking out at the theater, I saw an Israeli worker and asked if he had a guitar I could borrow. I would love to have played a little at that location . . . my own “Live at Budokan” moment . . . “We love you, Caesarea!”


This picture shows a replica of an inscription found at Caesarea that mentions Pontius Pilate. It is a significant archaeological find, obviously, since it is an extra-biblical (outside of the Bible) reference to this historical figure. By the way, as is the case all over Israel, the real inscription is in a museum, and a replica is placed at the site of its discovery.


This is the hippodrome in Caesarea, where chariot races took place. It was amazing to see the entire arena pretty nearly intact after two thousand years. Chariot racing, according to our professor, was the “NASCAR of its day.”


You might recall that in the latter part of the book of Acts, Paul had unjustly been punished and appealed to have his case heard before Caesar in Rome. This picture shows the beautiful harbor of Caesarea on the Mediterranean. Paul appeared before the local leaders (Herod Agrippa II and Festus) at Caesarea, then departed for Rome from this location.


As was the case with most major cities, Caesarea was built with an extensive aqueduct system so that fresh water could be channeled to the city for use by the population. This picture shows me in front of one of these aqueducts, with the Mediterranean in the background. [By way of reminder, I got to swim in the Med one night during our trip to southern Israel, and it was soooooooooooooooo nice.]


In case you were wondering how aqueducts work, here is a picture of one lengthwise. The water runs through these tunnels atop the structure. We got to walk inside one of these. No water there, just a bunch of sand, but it was very cool to walk inside of a first century aqueduct.


After departing Ceasarea, we continued north and spent a little time at an observation post at Mount Carmel. This was the site of the dramatic showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 (If you haven’t read it for a while, I’d recommend it. It is not only dramatic but also very funny in parts.). In case you don’t recognize him, this picture is a statue of Elijah himself.


We came to the end of another long day of jaw-dropping experiences by checking into a monestary-hotel overlooking the port city of Haifa. This picture is from the front of the hotel, high above the city (notice how we were looking down on the tallest building). We were served a good dinner by the nuns there, and had a good night’s rest. We looked forward to yet another day of adventure, one that would take us to the town where Jesus grew up.

The Naked Blog Entry

Over the past generation, I’ve noticed an increasing infatuation in our society with the word “naked,” and it has gotten worse over time. The Naked Gun. The Naked Chef. The re-released Beatles Album “Let it Be . . . Naked.” I remember an ad for a fitness company a few years back asking, “Do you want to look better naked?” Nickelodeon's teenage rock band "The Naked Brothers." Naked naked naked. I don’t remember the word being flung around so much when I was a kid. In fact, I think I was even reprimanded once for saying the word in an inappropriate setting.

Well, for me, the past few days have been the proverbial straw that has broken the camel’s back. After church on Sunday my family went to a restaurant where I encountered not one, not two, but three “nakeds” on the menu. There was “naked burritos.” There was “naked taco salads.” And then there was a beverage refrigerator labeled “Naked Juice.” Call me old-fashioned, call me a prude, but I’m just not very comfortable with the combination of “naked” and “food” in the same place, especially in a public restaurant.

Then, on Monday morning, I heard a D-J on the radio state that his nickname is “Naked.” Wow, how special is that? Of course, if you watched VH-1’s recent countdown show “50 Things That Guys Do That Make Them Undateable,” you’d immediately know where this guy falls.

But you might be saying to yourself, “Get your mind out of the gutter, Dave. The word naked doesn’t just mean ‘without clothing.’ It can also mean emotionally exposed and vulnerable, or even plain, simple, and stripped of all pretense.” Okay, I realize that the definition of the word has several nuances. The re-released “Let it Be” album was stripped of all of its (originally unintended) studio overdubs. The “naked burrito” comes without some of its normal ingredients. But this doesn’t account for every instance. After all, do you really think the fitness company wants me to exercise (with their equipment) and eat right (according to their nutritional plan) so that I can look better when I am emotionally vulnerable, exposed, and stripped of all pretense? I’m going to say, “No.”

Actually, I think that there are two interrelated circumstances going on here that help to explain the expansion of naked in our collective vocabulary.

The first is the ultra-competitive marketing that takes place in our ultra-consumeristic society. There are tons of companies, organizations, and people out there that want your money, and they need to grab your attention in order for you to buy what they’re selling. Part of this process entails the use of provocative or “interesting” words in their advertising. The word naked naturally causes people to turn their heads, and once they’ve got your attention, they hope you will investigate further and eventually buy their product. Some of you might be reading this blog entry because you read my “ad” on Facebook, saw the word naked, and were intrigued enough to click on over here. Another good example of this phenomenon, by the way, is the word “extreme.” How many products can you name, right off the bat, that are “extreme” in some way? Like, for some reason, my shoelaces have worked fine my whole life, but now all of a sudden I need to go out and spend my hard-earned money on X-LACES—Extreme Shoelaces. What’s up with that?

The second, and as I said, interrelated idea, is that there seems to be a continual quest, mostly through advertising and media, to introduce and proliferate the next naughty word, or “forbidden” act, or “taboo” topic (usually sexual in nature) into our collective consciousness. Some of it is on trashy television talk shows. Some is slowly introduced over time via commercials, movies, and TV shows. I remember how a year or two ago I watched a movie from the 1980s that was rated “R.” I don’t even remember what movie it was, but I do remember thinking that that particular movie was not as bad (in terms of profanity and sexual content) as most PG-13 movies today. This is certainly not true across the board, but I think you get my point.

Now, I am not trying to claim too much about the wide use of the word naked. It is not signaling the impending apocalypse or anything like that. I would just point to it as one example of this need for some (advertising, media) to play to our more base emotions. And, I wouldn’t even say that I’m looking at the word naked as pornographic, per se, but rather as a provocative word that has a “naughty” connotation. Yes, I know it has other definitions, but I would submit that at least one large demographic in our society—I’ll call them “males”—almost immediately think of one, and only one, definition of the word.

So there you have it (dare I say it?)—the naked truth about yet another thing I think about on the way to work. And by the way, I ordered the chicken nachos and a soda. No naked food for me.