Running from God?

Dears friends,

Peace and grace to you in Jesus name!

Well here I sit at 3 a.m. looking out over the Mediterranean Sea. Coffee, my computer and tons of thoughts. I would sure like to tell you that the Holy Spirit woke me up with deep spiritual truth that will change your life forever. Or, even that my lightening swift mind is working at warp speed to produce a body of new knowledge that will change the world! I would like to but if I led you to believe either of these ideas I would have to repent for being a terrible liar! :-) The naked, unadulterated truth is "JET LAG". On a trip of this nature it can become the gift that keeps on giving.

Fortunately Brandy is also awake and Santiago is beginning to stir around in his little bed as well. I would prefer that only myself would be delirious for lack of sound sleep but on the other hand there is the age old saying "misery loves company"!

Today is huge for us in that it is the first that we will be with our tour group. We have a day planned that includes morning payer, a devotion and praise and worship with Brandy and then?? Time to get to know these great folks on a personal basis and take them all on a walking tour of the old city of Jaffa. Brandy was just sharing with me that she is thinking of a devotional teaching overlooking the ancient bay that would include Jonah trying his best to run away from God. Of course we all know how that turned out; Poor ole' Jonah discovered the hard way that one simply cannot run away from God. When he wants you to do something, He WILL pursue you and He will win. Have you ever run from God? Truth to tell there have been times in my ministry life that I just did not want to obey His leading. "Surely you can't mean me Lord, After all Lord, I am not qualified---can't you get someone else?" No!? Are you sure Lord? Well OK already but fare warning Lord, I will probably blow the whole thing. Are you REALLY sure Lord??? Sooo, Your sure Your sure? Well maybe you can give me a little sign of confirmation or something? How about just one little old fleece just to make absolutely sure? OK already Lord, I'm going."

Never been through that? Maybe now it's time for you to repent! :-)

As Brandy was sharing her thoughts with me God did in fact give her a confirming sign. She opened her computer and there was a ministry friend of her's from Lodi, California specifically suggesting a devotional teaching on Jonah trying to run from God! That all happened in the ancient City of Jaffa. Jonah was pursued by God and caught. Boy oh boy, can you imagine what the inside of a giant fish stomach must smell like? I think maybe I will just try to obey God the first time. How about you?

Here is a thought for the day that we can all dwell on; Jesus ended His earthly teaching in the book of Matthew (28:18-20) with what we call the Great Commission. You remember, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." AMEN.

Where did we ever get the idea that this was just the pastors job? Certainly someone else but surely NOT ME!!! What if I get rejected?

Not very comfortable is it? Did you know that there are currently 2 BILLION people on this earth that claim to be Christians? 2 Billion out of nearly 7 billion living there lives on this planet. The Lord Jesus Christ had lots of "tag alongs" in His earthly ministry walk but really only 12 devoted men and a few crazy women who had the guts to believe that He really was the Son of God. As far as I know, all the women kept there faith and most of the 12 men but some of them certainly had to pass through their faith trials along the way. One betrayed Him altogether, which left a mere 11 plus the ladies and a "voted in" replacement. A pretty motley crew all in all! BUT, those few devoted souls somehow managed to change the course of ALL mankind to the point that Jesus followers today number at least 2 BILLION?

Now, it makes me wonder what would happen if all two billion had the same zeal and devotion to the Great Commission as did Paul, Peter, James and John? If that was the case, do you really think that there would still be nearly 5 billion souls on this planet that were in danger of hell's fire?

Well, you decide!

Have a great day and God bless you all,

Pastor Rance from Tel Aviv--Jaffa!

Photo of me with Yosef Ben David Nachmias

What an honor to meet this Irgun Veteran! (Explanation on blog post below)

Jaffa, an ancient City over 4000 years old!

Dear friends,

Peace and grace to you all in Jesus name!

Well here we are in literally one of the foremost cradles of civilization. Today we await the arrival of our tour group from Canada. I will meet the aircraft and along with our tour guide, Allan Rabinowitz (very long time friend of our family), and will get them checked into the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv. Their first agenda will be to "crash and burn" because I can guarantee that jet lag will be uppermost in their minds. Then this evening Shabbat will officially begin at about 4:15 p.m. By that time most of the streets of Israel will be deserted with a beautiful calm and will remain so for a period of 24 hours while the entire Jewish Nation celebrates their weekly observance of the Sabbath rest.

At about 7 p.m. an extremely lavish dinner will be served here in the Hotel dinning room. There will be many guest / tourists of course but also the room will be full of Jewish families dressed in their Sabbath best. At 4:15 p.m. (Shabbat (Sabbath) begins) the elevator buttons stop working and everything mechanical in the Hotel goes on "automatic pilot" for the next 24 hours. What an experience that will be for all concerned.

Tomorrow, Brandy, Santiago and I will lead our group on a walking tour of the ancient 4,000 year old City of Jaffa (Joppa). Yesterday we refreshed ourselves with a visit of this extremely old and famous city that was alternatively conquered and occupied by the Pharaohs of Egypt, including both Thutmose III and Pharaoh Ramesses II. Then came the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Christian Crusaders (including King Richard the Lion Heart) and the French Emperor Napoleon, (not necessarily in correct chronological order).

This city was also much earlier taken by Kings David and Solomon, Sennacherib, King of Assyria, the Maccabees, various pirate clans, the Ottoman ruler Sultan Salim I, the British under General Allenby and finally, by Israel on the 13th of May 1948. By the way, for the sake of brevity I have left out VERY MANY other conquests of this key seaport city.

Today the city is part of Tel Aviv but separated by about 3/4 of one mile. The current population is 25,000 Arabs and another approximately 10,000 Jew and Christian residents, all of whom get along pretty well.

A highlight of our day yesterday was a tour of the small Mediterranean coastline museum of "ETZEL" (I.Z.L.) which later evolved into the current I.D.F. (Israeli Defense Force). Part of the earlier ETZEL was a very dangerous fighting force known as the IRGUN. Originally many of these young Israeli men and women had entered service with the British Army as it defended the Middle East against the German Field Marshall Rommel. Later the Irgun turned against the British as they sided with the Arab populations and tried o block Jewish immigration into the newly reestablished Nation of Israel as given mandate by the League of Nations (later to become the current United Nations).

Our host for this tour was a true hero by the name of Yosef Ben David Nachmias. He joined the fighting while only 14 1/2 years old, was captured and imprisoned twice, wounded 4 times and is highly decorated. It was a fascinating experience listening to this elderly gentleman explaining how the early Israeli freedom fighters went on to win a war of independence that was gained against several fully equipped Arab armies, at the cost of much death and bloodshed by the Jews who had few weapons and little food or ammunition. He was quick to give credit to God for these victories, as should be the case.

As stated earlier, our group arrives today and we will take them to Jaffa tomorrow. For my Christian readers it should be noted that Jaffa is where Peter the Apostle was called from to minister to the Roman Centurion Cornelius and his household. Also where the home of Simon the Tanner was located and where Jonah fled to as he was trying to escape from the Lord! It is also believed by some historians that Jaffa was originally founded and settled by Noah's son Japheth.

Our formal tour begins Sunday morning with a visit to Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion declared Israeli National Independence of May 14, 1948. We are one of the few tour groups that take our people to the Independence Hall here in Tel Aviv. We do this so our folks can witness first hand what Israel must do simply to survive. There is seldom a day that missiles are not landing in some portion of tiny Israel. And yet every time Israel responds to these unwarranted attacks agains innocent civilians, the United Nations passes scathing declarations AGAINST ISRAEL. What do you think would happen if just ONE missile from an enemy source struck anywhere in the United States, Canada, Mexico , Russia, China, or most European Nations? I will leave you today with that question.

God bless you all,

Pastor Rance.

Welcome to Israel!

Israel---HOME AT LAST!!!

Dear friends,

Peace and grace to all of you in Jesus name!

We landed at Ben Gurion airport after a great flight of 14 hours. It still amazes me that mankind can traverse the globe---in this on the exact opposite side from where we live------- at 37000 feet and 625 miles per hour. I have traveled so much over the years that this should now be "travel 101" for me but I am still in awe!

We were met by our representatives and transferred to our hotel in Tel Aviv--no problem. Met lots of folks on the plane and of course our little son Santiago stole VERY MANY HEARTS! He has a ministry all his own and cannot speak a language that anyone but Mom and Dad can understand.

Right now we are preparing for dinner and looking out over the Mediterranean Sea. To our left is the ancient City of Jaffa---walking distance. We will explore tomorrow.

One thought that I would like to share briefly. There is seldom a day that missiles are not reigning down upon this tiny strip of land that is Israel. She is literally hated by nearly all her neighbors and much of the world. Why? Simply because Israel belongs to God.

We have a Jewish friend in Jerusalem that says this: "THEY CAME TO KILL US, WE WON, LET'S EAT"! That pretty well sums up life in Israel. How would you like to live your life that way?

We as Christians must stand up to the world and proudly and defiantly proclaim that we will not remain silent while this miserable persecution is played out upon tiny Israel and our Jewish brethren. Right now, the leadership of Iran (ancient Persia) is DAILY proclaiming their goal of destroying Israel and the Jewish people! History repeats itself. Are we going to stand for it once again?

Join me as we help other ministries get this word out to the world that this injustice must cease!!!

I will post all along the way as often as possible. Keep reading and keep praying friends. The time is here to put feet to the gospel of PEACE!

Shalom from the Holy Land,

Pastor Rance.