Journeys in the Middle East and Europe

The Church and Missionary Work in the Middle East and Europe

Table of Contents

1. Questioning Doctrine - the author begins to question teachings and biases he had embraced growing up, with regards to dancing, music, and other teachings

2. A Stubborn People - outlining specifics of the hardness of religion and social conflict that exists in the Middle East between Arabs and Jews

3. Divine Protection - depicts actual events and circumstances which threatened the author's life and those of his friends

4. Wolves in Sheeps' Clothing - explains the dangers that exist within modern higher education, including Christian education

5. Words of Knowledge - the author encounters supernatural acts of God, through people who understand secrets of his heart

6. The Struggle for Freedom - demonstrates God's work with young people in Israel

7. Believing and Yet Believing Again - the author encounters difficult and trying circumstances with regards to a pastor who is arrested from a local congregation in Jerusalem and a peer at college who gets drunk

8. Dancing in the Enemy's Camp - adventures in living on a Kibbutz in Israel, and the dilemas of the younger generation

9. Remembering the Poor - the author travels to Egypt and describes some of the spiritual and physical poverty that exists

10. True Fellowship - an encounter with a friend from France, who is studying Arabic in Egypt

11. Looking for Jewish Roots - explains the necessity for Jewish people to encounter their Messiah and the role of the Church with regards to them

12. Dreams - dreams the author has for Israel and God's heart for His people

13. Sustained Upon a Sick Bed - visiting Jordan and meeting some friendly westerners who help him

14. Visiting Philadelphia - traveling to Turkey and being a guest in a Muslim home

Across Europe

1. Czech Republic - encounters with street performers, a prostitute, Jewish travelers and local performances

2. Germany - discussions with Turkish travelers, a local, and spending the night in the train station

3. Norway - staying with some locals and encountering a youth church

4. Holland - the vices of Amsterdam and God at work there

5. England - discussions with travelers about cults and the leadership of Jesus

6. Scotland - freedom in Christ and alcohol in the land of Braveheart

7. Ireland - homosexuals, wiccas, and saints

8. France - an encounter with an american traveler, who is going into the army

9. Italy - meeting some friends from LA, visiting the Vatican, and struggling with dead religion and God at work

Beyond bricks and stone, beyond our human-temples, made holy by His blood, beyond mountains and cathedrals, churches and miracle-places, relics and site, You O Lord are more awesome than these.  We worship you and make our home in you.  We seek you, to see you, to visit you, to stop and take a photo if we could, study and know you, hear you and understand, to feel and sense you.  Our hearts cry Abba!

Oh Jerusalem, city of sorrow and shame,

bent and broken from war,

hiding beneath her sin.

Menacing beneath, seductively destructive.

The harlot, the winking eye, who plays with sin,

Jezebel, who kills the prophets.

Jehu rides through your city again,

Jesus triumphs over death and every demon.

Though you kill Him, He will not remain silent.

In humble victory, He loves you,

In power He rises, Your King, Your Savior,

the demons tremble and scatter at His name.

QUESTIONING DOCTRINE

Matthew 22:29

But Jesus answered them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God."

I walked along Harachov HaNevi’im (Prophet’s Street) in Jerusalem, next to the school I was attending, Israel College of the Bible. Shouts of joy, beatings of drums, and loud praise music could be heard from the chapel area. A security guard to the hospital next door commented, with an Israeli accent, “It sounds like a party in there.” I smiled to myself, knowing that it was a local congregation, Shemma Sasson (“Oil of Joy”), having their weekly meeting on Saturday night. I walked into the service, feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit and noticing people shouting to God and dancing to the music. This was a far cry from the Baptist church I grew up in, and the other Baptist schools I had attended, where drums were taboo, dancing was forbidden, and prophecy was despised, but I could see Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) at work, and I knew from Scriptures that God was pleased. I went to the dorm and wrote these lyrics,

You are the laughter of my soul

You are the joy that makes me whole

You are the peace within my heart

You’re the only light I have right from the start.

I couldn’t have imagined that God could be this good – that laughter and joy this real could actually be a gift from Him. I had bought into so much religion and false teaching growing up, along with some good Biblical teaching, that it took the work of the Holy Spirit and the study of Scripture to find the truth.

Psalm 150:4

Praise him with tambourine and dancing! Praise him with stringed instruments and flute!

2 Samuel 6:14

David danced before Yahweh with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.

As I read this passages in my parents’ house back in Montana, I stared at them over and over. What does this mean? How can drums and guitars be ‘worldly’, if these passages command us to praise God with such instruments? How could David dance before the Lord if dancing is ‘worldly’ and ‘sensual’?

I prayed and asked God, “God, reveal truth to me; if this is of you and it is for today, I want to see it. Please show it to me.” Some time later I went fishing with my dad. We stopped for lunch after fishing at this restaurant called “Julie’s”, west of Kalispell. As we walked out the door I noticed a little card on the public announcement board, “Davidic dance, Messianic worship”. It listed a time and place where they were meeting – at the Smith Valley Grange Hall, west of Kalispell, Saturday afternoon. I showed up there maybe a week later. I knew God had answered my prayers. They danced to Messianic praise music before the Lord in a Jewish-style dance. I joined in, as they taught some simple steps, and soon I began to feel free. Free from misunderstandings about God, free from dead religion. I had decided I would question everything I had been taught and believe the Bible and the Holy Spirit’s teaching.

Matthew 8:17

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases."

We walked along the path with our teacher/archaeological guide Sheila to some sites in Israel. My knee had been hurting me for some time and felt like it might be out of joint slightly. I had been praying for a week now for God to heal it, but nothing happened. As I sat down to rest for a little bit, I questioned the Lord about the ailment and asked Him again to heal me, because I knew that with Him all things were possible. I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to ask Helen (one of my classmates from England) to come pray for my knee. She gladly came over and prayed with me, laying a hand on my knee. When she finished praying, I felt the Holy Spirit and stood (to my joy) to know that the pain was instantaneously, completely gone. God had healed me. Again, this went completely against many things I was taught by pastors and teachers growing up. However, I had read over and over in the Scriptures how God promised us healing and the power to bring healing to people who were sick. I trusted His Word and asked Him to demonstrate it to me. He answered me in His Spirit with power.

A STUBBORN PEOPLE

Back in Israel I began to feel a pull from many professing Christians in the Land. Many Jewish people have made Aliyah into Israel (immigrated to Israel), and many more will still. This is the Lord’s gathering of Israel back as a people for His glory. However, everywhere I looked I saw compromise. Not just compromise, but the spirit of antichrist. People were afraid to share about Jesus, afraid to offend Jewish people or get in trouble for telling young people about Jesus. In fact, I found organizations that were called ‘Christian’ that made their members promise not to talk about Jesus to Jewish people in the land. I felt the urgency of the Gospel. I knew that bringing people into the Kingdom of God was more important than bringing them back into the land of Israel. I even had a dream one night where I was riding the bus. On the bus this Jewish lady says, commandingly, “No more Jesus stuff.” Then a believer retorts, “Living in Israel is a waste of time for believers.” In the dream it showed me how some believers were believing the lies of Satan, to their own hurt.

Ezekiel 2:1-5

He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you. The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me. He said to me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day. The children are impudent and stiff-hearted: I do send you to them; and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh. They, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Sometimes I would hear something like, “the Bible must be read from a Hebraic understanding,” which simply became a way of undermining the ability of the Holy Spirit of God to illumine the mind to God’s intention for Scripture, despite a lack of scholarly understanding. I felt the pressure of Satan against the progression of the Kingdom of God. He was accusing us of the things that we know, that they are false; he was accusing us of what we don’t know – that we haven’t studied enough and aren’t smart enough to tell these people about Jesus; he was accusing the Church that we weren’t ‘Jewish’ enough, and needed to adapt more of the culture of the Jewish people before we could talk to them about the Messiah; he was accusing us regarding the past – the holocaust, the crusades, the inquisition. All these were attempts to paralyze us from being bold and loving, and embracing and sharing God’s grace in the gift of the Messiah with them.

I sat in Kirkat Tzion (Tzion Square), playing love songs and worship songs. I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and I began to speak with a few people. Each time I sang, I became more and more bold to sing whatever God wanted me to sing, even about Jesus. It was getting late and these punk Israeli kids invited me back to their place. They were kids in poverty, rejects from the Jewish religion, and the atmosphere was dark. They were mostly dressed in black, but they had invited Jesus into their home. We spoke a little bit, and they asked me to play, so I played from an Old Testament prophet,

Zechariah 12:10

I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.

I was singing to them, for them, and praying that God would fulfill His word.

As I gazed upon the faces of orthodox Jews in our area of Jerusalem and walked past pictures of Schneerson, a false messiah, I realized how “all scriptures…are profitable for teaching…” (2 Timothy 3:16); even these words in Ezekiel were speaking to our generation today. These people were as stubborn and rebellious as in the time of Ezekiel, but God had sent me to speak to them. Jerusalem was dark, spiritually. I had a dream about a big futbol (soccer) game, where all the Israelies were against each other. Indeed, this is how the atmosphere was in Jerusalem – complete competition and strife against one another. God’s city was clouded in fear, witchcraft, dead religion, despair, depression, doubt, control, anger, bitterness, blood-thirst, rebellion, pride, covetousness, suicide, lust, envy, dead ritual, human tradition, lying, drunkenness, selfishness, and under attack.

I walked through the streets of the Old City, following the directions of a friend to get to an Arab congregation. It was hidden back in a narrow street, almost invisible, except for those who knew what they were looking for. I stepped into the singing and worship, only to have eyes gaze upon me in amazement. I was the only westerner there. I sat down and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit very strongly. I was glad to have made it there, unhindered from the enemy. I had resisted bitterness and hatred I saw in some people, even Christians, toward Arabs. I knew this wasn’t Jesus. Allelujah. Salaam. Yesua. These were words I recognized. God was teaching me. A nice young Arab girl sat next to me. As one brother began to preach about the early church, false teachers, and the true Gospel of faith, she translated flawlessly.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all… to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages. But the one and the same Spirit works all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires.

I knew God was at work in a very practical way to help the Church function. Her interpretation was impeccable, supernatural, and a gift from God. I had experienced this time and time again in multi-language environments. I saw it in a Spanish congregation in Pennsylvania. I saw the Holy Spirit at work in Africa. Where the issue of ‘tongues’ seemed to be something that the Baptist church I grew up in preached against, here I could see its necessity. In Africa, people told me that God had given them the gift to speak in English, even though they had not been formally taught any English. Their translation was incredible, and a gift from the Holy Spirit, to help people communicate God’s Word.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

In this place, as well, I had never felt as much of a struggle to take sides. I felt like Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman, while the disciples questioned why He was with her. The Arabs and Jews outside the Church continued their war, while fear, intimidation, and misunderstanding separated congregations of those who believed in Jesus. Jewish believers would sometimes cast doubt upon Arabs as a whole for suicide bombings and lack of support for them as a people and nation, while Arab believers would see some exaltation of Israel and Jewishness, which was beyond Scripture, as being arrogant, presumptuous, and an idolatry. In order for me to join both Jewish believers and Arab believers, I had to maintain that we (ie. Those who believe in Jesus) are the Church. The church I had grown up in was very adamant about joining a local church body in a formal sense (ie. ‘becoming a member’). What I have found, however, is this is often a means of segregating people, exclusiveness, and isolation from interaction with other believers in other congregations, especially where racial segregation is involved. In researching the Scriptures, I also discovered that there is no command to ‘join a church’, but rather a command the join ‘The Church’ and to receive those who are of the Faith. Once a person believes in Jesus, they become part of the Church, and no one can revoke that membership, even though some might be disciplined for a time and not be part of the congregation. Churches were separated in the Scripture only by region, (ie. The Church of Philadelphia, the Church of Jerusalem, etc.), but not by denomination. In fact, they were rebuked for such divisions. As a child I had heard we should not marry outside of our race or denomination, because it was unscriptural. Later I learned that it was actually against the scriptures to forbid marriage for such reasons, and the former reason was actually a cover-up for racism. Within the Arab-believing community there was also discrimination, based upon background. In the Arab church, it was socially unacceptable for someone who once was a Muslim, but now believed in Jesus, to marry someone who had been raised as a Christian. In essence, those who came to Christ later in life were treated like second-class citizens. On another level, however, I also saw the grace of God and His desire for unity. Where persecution exists, unity is a necessity, not an option. Believers were forced to bind together to help encourage one another. Arabs believers would sometimes meet in the Jewish sections of town, in buildings where Hebrew believers also met on a different day. Even still, I learned through such extreme circumstances, the ultimate reconciliation of Israel as a nation to God and the unity of the Church will only come through Jesus.

DIVINE PROTECTION

As time waxed on living in Jerusalem, my spirit became more and more tense; I could feel spiritual darkness around me. Sometimes I would have to take a break and visit some other city just to get away from a spiritual cloud.

Matthew 23:37

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!

I woke up to sirens and an eerie feeling. Something wasn’t right. I walked up to my Ulpan Alef class (where we learned modern Hebrew), and Shuley, our teacher, was there, but a few classmates weren’t. She had a look of worry on her face, along with other students.

“There’s been a bombing.” She stated, with a thick Israeli accent. She was calling all the students to make sure everyone was safe. One of the buses that blew up was the route that one of our students, Jean, from Korea, rode every morning. She called again. He answered, sleepily. He had over-slept, praise God. It showed us once again that God was with us, protecting us, and sovereignly guiding our every step. Nevertheless, here in Jerusalem, a city called ‘Sodom’ and ‘Egypt’ in Revelation, there was a spirit that hated the innocent, that hated us - an antichrist spirit that wanted us dead. It led some toward depression, and others toward suicide, and others to be slaughtered. The war was reality – right in our back door. We watched as bombing after bombing happened in our city. We looked on as a bus burned and body parts hung everywhere, blood staining the streets. Nevertheless I heard the Holy Spirit speaking to me, “God is around you. He is always with you. Do not fear. Believe. My grace is sufficient for you.”

Nahum 1:7

Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.

The war in Israel was one thing. The war in Iraq added just the right ingredient to make everything just a bit crazier. I had had a dream that Bush bombed Iraq secretly, before it happened. I didn’t want the war in Iraq. I prayed that it wouldn’t happen, but God allowed it to happen. It threatened our security in Israel, surrounded by Arab nations, within missile range of Baghdad. It made reaching the Arabs with the Gospel just that much more difficult when the nation in which I was born was bombing one of their countries. Nevertheless I trusted His heart, and prayed for boldness – to not be afraid to die, and to know that I will never die.

I also visited a Palestinian children’s school with some Arab believers from this church, including my friend Steve, who is the only believer in his all-Muslim family. The team performed a skit, teaching about the good Samaritan and true religion. I prayed and secretively handed an Arabic tract to one of the children who had given me a heart-shaped key-ring. I prayed for all these children, that Jesus would reach them amidst the hostile world they grew up in. I dreamed I was in Ramallah, where Arafat used to have his headquarters. I was walking down the street, where there were a lot of girls, maybe 8-12 years old. They were prostituting themselves in their underwear as I walked by. I felt incredibly grieved at what I saw. I met this one girl who was throwing up cockroaches, which were crawling through every orifice in her body, all through her system. I woke up crying and grieving for these girls. I understood that it represented the sexual and physical abuse they were under, and the demonic oppression that lived inside some of them who didn’t know the freedom of a Savior who loved them. I prayed for them to be set free.

WOLVES IN SHEEPS' CLOTHING

I struggled again in classes of Jewish culture and philosophy, just as I had in ethics, theology, and psychology classes at the other colleges I had attended – Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa and Baptist Bible College in Clark Summit, Pennsylvania. These classes were part of the curriculum, and sometimes mandatory for their accreditation, but I couldn’t shake one nagging concept – these ‘great minds’ were false teachers. I studied the scriptures more and more regarding false teachers, and I discovered that the people the world (both in Jewish and Gentile culture) reveres as being experts, denied Jesus as the Messiah, as being Lord (or God) in the flesh, and were really of the spirit of antichrist. What I couldn’t fathom, was, why were Christian college professors also esteeming these individuals? Why should we listen to anything these ‘experts’ had to say? Why weren’t we obeying the Scriptures?

Titus 1:10,11 - For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain's sake.

1 John 2:22 - Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? He is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

I knew there was a true wisdom to be gained, from the Lord, and those that once believed and those who still believe in Him. The pursuit of worldly (demonic) wisdom by the world does not negate the value of Godly wisdom, which is humble and contained in everyone who believes, and not everyone who studies or strives to understand and know. The church ought to be anti-intellectual to the wisdom of this world, but wise and receptive to the knowledge of God that comes by faith, which is foolishness to the world. I saw many students go into debt to pay for wisdom they thought they would gain from Bible college, but ended up in monetary bondage at the end of their schooling.

1Timothy 6:20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge.

I also struggled to avoid debate, or arguing, which is of the sinful nature, because often the Holy Spirit was speaking to me about something else, while people wanted to dispute some finer point of doctrine. I recognized that sometimes the enemy polarizes believers by setting them against each other to fight, when the question that he poses doesn’t actually come from God. For instance, the question of reconciling the sovereignty of God (predestination) and the free-will of man (choice) in salvation is really a demonic question that in some way is fundamentally questioning the goodness of God. God’s Spirit and my spirit were quenched listening to seemingly endless debates, resulting from intellectual pride, so I hid in God.

Proverbs 2:6 - For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Revelation 21:6

He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.

The greatest teachers I have encountered didn’t charge me a cent for what they’ve had to say, nor did they beg me for money or demand it from me. Most of learning comes from walking with Jesus. I learned to beware of false teachers, who come to me in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves; that the Holy Spirit was my teacher, and not to put my trust in men. God meant everything that He said, and I need to trust Him. I learned that knowledge puffs us, but love edifies.

WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE

Numbers 11:29 - Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? would that all Yahweh's people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!

I longed for wisdom that came from God, and not from people. I longed for a Church built upon relationship with Him. I longed for His stamp of approval, His authority, and not authority based upon what I had done – an authority that stayed with me wherever I went, and didn’t change depending on whether I decided to stay with one particular group for a long period of time.

I walked from my home in Pisgat Ze’ev (North of Jerusalem), into town, which took me a couple hours. The buses had stopped running, because it was Shabbat. There were no shops open to speak of, except one little grocery store, tucked away over by McDonald’s, at the end of Ben Yehudah Street. I was living with a Korean pastor at the time, but I wanted to visit these meetings I had hear about. Some elders from a church in Pennsylvania were visiting, and preaching. God was drawing me there. As I stepped inside, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.

1Corinthians 12:8

For to one is given through the Spirit … the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit

We worshipped and sang praises to God for a while, and then they began to preach. Then they began to preach specifically to individuals, giving them words of encouragement, and specific words that God told them. They pointed me out of the crowd. They began to speak things about me they could not have known, except that God had shown them. They knew things no one else knew, except God, and exposed secrets of my heart and encouraged me in the Lord. They told me that I came from a broken background, like a black sheep in my family, and had been rejected by many people, who called themselves Christians, and that many people looked at me and would shake their head and wonder if I would make it. But God was with me, and would help me. I liked to hang back and be hidden, but God was bringing me to the front. I would preach the Word of God with fire and power by the Holy Spirit on the streets. I would have boldness in His presence. This was not new to me, however, because I had experienced the same types of words of knowledge many other times with other believers back in Montana and in Africa. I first encountered this when I began to believe for impossible things with God, and prayed for God to reveal truth to me, for God to do supernatural things in my life. I had believed that all things were possible with God. I had called upon Him and He was answering me and showing me great and mighty things which I didn’t know.

THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM

I walked down HaNevi’im toward the Old City of Jerusalem, and into at place called ‘The Jamm’. There was loud music shaking the ground outside, and alternative, outcast kids filtering in and out of the building. At the door stood one older kid, a security guard, inspecting bags and people for bombs or contraband before they went inside. I underwent inspection and filtered in. Inside a Christian band was playing, along with some other kid, punk bands. Some of the kids started moshing. I could see their hearts were mostly fun, with only a few exceptions of people with malicious intent. I began joining in, along with my friend Adam, and started praying for the kids we were bumping up against. We held out our hands to protect them as they were moshing, and also so we could pray for them. Another night they had open mic at the Jamm. I felt very strongly from the Holy Spirit to play some music about suicide and God’s unconditional love. He gave me the words and I began to play. Some kids’ ears perked up and listened. The Holy Spirit was working.

BELIEVING AND YET BELIEVING AGAIN

“I still believe in love, still believe in faith, still believe in hope…”

I walked with some of my friends from the Bible College to a local pub. We sat down and had a drink, just visiting and enjoying spending time with each other. One of the girls starts drinking more and flirting with my roommate at the time. They start dancing to the music. I didn’t feel comfortable there and just wanted to leave. After I left, the girl kept drinking and got drunk. I was grieved. I went back to confront her with another friend. She became belligerent, and I just left, not knowing what to do. I felt hurt, and I knew that Jesus felt hurt. I had done what I could to encourage her to leave and been pushed aside. I had spoken the truth in love and been despised for it. Her words felt like ice, like they were crucifying what was good in me. I went back to my apartment and saw an open vision of Jesus on the cross with blood streaming down. The devil really tried to discourage me in this situation, and tried to tell me that holding to the truth was worthless and that it was no use correcting friends who were going astray.

I walked with my friend Elizabeth to Consoladores de Israel, a Messianic Spanish congregation in the heart of Jerusalem. We liked going there, because it helped us with our Spanish, and also was a great cross-cultural experience in so many ways. Here people greeted each other with a holy kiss, danced, and worshipped freely to the Lord. But the devil was at work. This week was different. We received word that the pastor was in jail for accusations against him by a little girl in the church. According to the parents, the girl said the pastor ‘touched’ her. The pastor explained that while the whole congregation had been worshipping, the girl fell asleep in his arms during the music, and he had carried her upstairs to a loft area, which was a study for him and also a bedroom. He laid her on the bed, and her dress had got caught on her underwear. Elizabeth and I were shocked, to say the least, by the whole ordeal, and drew back for a bit to pray and seek God about the truth. Nevertheless it led me to trust in Jesus more, and to believe there is still grace and hope for the Church, despite whatever battles we may face.

______________

DANCING IN THE ENEMY’S CAMP

I went back a second time to Israel, to live, work, and love people there. I ended up working on a Kibbutz for a time, living in hostels in Jerusalem, and traveling a bit. There on the Kibbutz I met volunteers from around the world (South America, Europe, Korea, and the United States).

After my initial arrival here at Daliya, I met some Koreans who professed faith in Jesus and held worship times occasionally together - Un, John, Yuni, Arua, and Mortin.  I was very glad for this answer to prayer.  Un, Mortin, Yuni, and Arua have recently left, but Jesus is still here.

After some time, I met other volunteers who said they believed in Jesus as well, and were Catholic, all from Columbia - Alex, Caesar, Sandra, and Isabel.  I was waiting and praying to see if their faith was genuine and encourage what God was doing in their lives.  While trying to extend the true Gospel to the ends of the earth, we will always face the traditions and institutions of 'Christianity' that came before us.  As we seek the wisdom of the Lord, we will learn how to discern the purity of His doctrine and teaching and the work of the Holy Spirit, and pray to the Lord for them to 'strengthen what remains', instead of simply ignoring them.  "...so that I may present all men perfect before Christ."  I have been praying that not only will the Lord bring His Word to the ends of the earth, but He will revitalize and purify every single place where His Word at any time has reached.

I gave a Spanish New Testament for Isabel to read if she wanted, and I found out later she had been reading on her own.  One night, when all the volunteers were around a camp fire, she comes to me and says, "I think this week I have been born-again."  I was very surprised how she used this term, and asked her how she knew it.  She replied, "I feel like I've been flying this week, and that all my troubles have gone."  I told her, "Es la obra del Espiritu Santo"  (it's the work of the Holy Spirit)...Caesar also joined in one of our prayer/worship times and replied with tears, "These things are so amazing to me."

Others, out of curiosity or through revelation the Lord is giving them in dreams and the Holy Spirit's work, have asked to borrow my Bibles (to the point I have to read my own on the internet, or work through some Hebrew Psalms)...Tsalmon is one Jewish friend who asked me specifically if we could get together and spend some time talking about Jesus.  Ben, a German friend, asked to borrow my Bible to catch up on Jewish history in Genesis, or the accounts of the Nativity.  Stephanie also asked for a Hebrew/English Bible to study Hebrew a little more.

Many Drews (an Arab religion) have asked about what I believe at work, and I try to be as lovingly up-front about what we believe, and the Good News of Jesus, especially when they ask. 

Music has been a powerful avenue to communicate the love of Jesus.  Many of them, Chris especially, loves to hear the music ("it's soothing," so they say), but I usually sing worship, or other songs the Lord leads me to play.

My thoughts and prayers are with you, especially in down-time in the soap factory.  The soul and heart sometimes say what the mouth cannot, and God hears the cries of our inner-most being.

We somehow found rides to another Kibbutz one night, where they were having a huge party called ‘The Terminal’. There was plenty of sensual, provocative dancing, drinking, and unspeakable things there, but I prayed. I danced to the Lord and hung out with friends, praying and singing to Jesus over the music. The whole time I was on the Kibbutz I kept thinking about Egypt. I knew I should visit there once my 3 month contract with Kibbutz Daliya was over.

REMEMBERING THE POOR

We took a trip to the Garbage City, outside of Cairo, and found a church there. There, in the rocks were carved many pictures and stories from the Bible to teach those who couldn’t read. There was a large amphitheatre with thousands of seats carved into the rock as well. We played futbol with some kids there and prayed for these people, living in poverty and making their living by sorting garbage.

I'm finding the Lord's love and strength as I continue to walk by His Spirit and not by the flesh.  It's good to be back in Africa.  :)  There are many promises about Egypt I am praying for the fulfillment of, including in Isaiah 19 (here is just a taste) vv.24,25

On that day Israel shall be a third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, when the LORD of hosts blesses it: "Blessed be my people Egypt, and the work of my hands Assyria, and my inheritance, Israel."

God promises that He will call the Egyptians His people in a similar manner as He has called Israel His people...read this chapter if you wish to understand more about it.  I am finding out many interesting things about the people here in Egyptian, including the "Christians".  One is, if a Muslim converts to Christianity, he will be killed by Muslims, and the gov't simply overlooks it.  As well, if a "Christian" converts to Islam, "Christians" will kill him.  As Jesus prophesied, many will kill in His name and think they are doing God a service.

Right now I'm in Cairo.  I don't have a determined time when I should go back to Israel (I'm not in a hurry to get back there)...I'm just taking my time and responding to what the Lord wants me to do here - we visited a place I call the "Grave City" here in Cairo - it's a place where people are living among graves and very poor.  We brought them some food and they offered us some tea.  It was wonderful, despite they knew about as much English as I do Arabic.  Yesterday we also found a boy who was running around the city without shoes, so Eric and I bought him a pair.  The people in the shop were very surprised and I'm sure it was a little uncomfortable to have a street kid in their nice, clean shop. 

We went to a large church today, which had many Arab people and some foreigners.  It was all in Arabic, but they sang some songs that were translations of hymns I knew (so we sang in English). 

I later discovered the same ‘poor’ boy on the street without any shoes. He had given the new ones to his parents to sell and went to beg me again for sandals. I refused, telling him I had already bought him shoes. We had to be careful of deception in Egypt. Many people tried to coax us into their shops for tea to sell us something, and all of us got scammed at one time or another by someone selling us something for much more than what it was worth.

At one point in Egypt I had an impression of Jesus kneeling before the Father, dressed in an Ephod and robe, with wings like and angel, and praying for us.  I understood this was a picture of the book of Hebrews, and so I felt also the image must have eyes of fire and a crown.  A prophet, priest, and king, who is better than the angels, Moses, the Aaronic priesthood, and sits on the throne of David.  What struck me most, is I felt His humility and it pierced me.  The Son of God (our older brother), kneeling in humility before the Father, and praying.  Surely if Jesus the Christ/Messiah will take this form, how much more we as redeemed sinners.  Lord, bring us to our knees.

One day I went out into a square with my friend’s guitar. I resisted fear as I began to play worship songs and some orthodox Muslim girls approached me. I didn’t know very much Arabic and they didn’t know much English, but I prayed that God’s Spirit would minister to them.

TRUE FELLOWSHIP

We met up with a friend I had met in a hostel in Jerusalem, named Benjamin. His parents were from America and France, and he was studying Arabic. When he greeted me, I knew in the Holy Spirit that we should greet with a holy kiss (as is customary in both French and Arabic culture to those you trust and love). We enjoyed fellowship and the presence of the Holy Spirit as we encouraged each other. I felt a great sense of appreciation for this brother and admiration in my heart for him.

We spent 4 hours at the border going back into Israel, as they searched our bags, asked us questions, and basically gave us a hard time.  Maybe it was because of the Arabic/English Bible I had with me, or the Brit Hadeshot (Hebrew New Testaments) I had, or maybe God was trying our patience.  Anyway, it all turned out okay, and I still have a visa for more than a month in Israel - praise God.  Through it all, I'm less fearful about mentioning the fact I'm a believer in Jesus - even to border police.  I've found out - it really doesn't make very much difference.  I will probably get harassed anyway, so I might as well be upfront about our Savior (using of course Jesus' wisdom - be as wise as serpents, as harmless as doves).

LOOKING FOR JEWISH ROOTS

Regardless, I'm waiting here in Jerusalem for the next step, which I think is to go to Tel-Aviv and check out our family in the Diaspora Museum database and explore Jewish possibilities.  I'm considering many things from here, but mostly I want to draw near to Him.  I understand the importance of this.  I want to know my Father, to hear His advice and counsel, and live by His wisdom.

I walked along Jaffa Street, traveling from the Old City. Along the street ahead I saw a commotion. Some Jewish people were shouting angrily at a man with a beard, who was carrying a large wooden cross, maybe 12 feet long. I stopped when I encountered them, impressed by this brother who was lovingly sharing Jesus with the people of Jerusalem. Joseph, the man carrying the cross, soon became a close friend of mine, as we were on the same Path. I helped him carry the cross through the streets as people mocked and spit on the ground in front of us. Everywhere we went people wanted to talk, and God was with us to protect us and give us boldness to share the Word of God with them that would set them free; the Messiah that they have been waiting for has already come.

While there are plenty of Jewish people who have been grafted back in, as natural branches, who were once before (as all of us) cut-off because of unbelief, there still lies a grave spirit of unbelief, and dangerous religious system that opposes the God of Israel.

The world over has countless crimes against it, which can only be washed by the blood of Jesus - genocide and war, not the least of these. As Jesus prophesied, there would be many who would come in His name, and some would even kill in His name, thinking they are doing God a service. Now, as there has been a regathering of the children of Israel into the land which God had before promised to the children of Israel, the Church and many who come in the name of Jesus are anxious to unite themselves to this people.

But, as children of God, and those who are believers in the God of Israel, and His Son, the only Messiah, Jesus Christ, I caution those who would indiscriminately and without discretion embrace all that the modern-Israel promotes.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 - Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what communion has light with darkness? What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ Therefore, 'Come out from among them, And be separate,’ says the Lord, 'Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty’

"Whoever has the Son, has life, whoever does not have the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him."  - Jesus

Since returning from Israel, I have caught wind of some interesting teachings concerning Israel and the Church.   The most recent one I feel led to make you aware of is something of a reactionary Counter-Replacement Theology:  the teachings concerning Israel and the Church in the Scriptures are twisted to say that the nation of Israel as a state and the Jewish people have replaced the Church (which contains both Jews and Gentiles) as the people of God, and that the Church is not the Bride of Christ (even though in Ephesians 5, this is clearly demonstrated.  So eager are these to reverse years of anti-Semitism and exalt the cause of the nation of Israel, and for fear of the Jewish people who have not embraced their Messiah, they by-pass the Word of God, and even suppress it.  Beware - watch for this.

This is for certain - anyone, regardless of physical race or nationality, who does not ultimately embrace the only Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), will not see God, nor is of the people of God.  Whoever does not remain in the Vine, of Messiah, is cut off and will be thrown into the fire.

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are:  Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.  This is the message you heard from the beginning:  We should love one another.  Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.  And why did he murder him?  Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.  Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.   (I John 3:10-13)

An Israel that does not ultimately embrace the one whom God sent does not know God.

And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.  You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does His word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one He sent. (John 5:37-38)

Suffice it to say, however, that an Israel who does embrace Jesus does know Him, and are the people of God - they are the natural branches who had been cut off and grafted back into the Root of the Messiah, who is the eternal God.

...And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.   After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!  (Romans 11:23-24)

DREAMS

Acts 2:17

It will be in the last days, says God, I will pour forth of my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.

Some years previous I was attending a college in Iowa, where God was busy renewing my mind from misconceptions I had about how He worked. I went back to my dorm room after class at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny. I felt extremely tired for some reason, even though I’m sure I’d had enough sleep the previous night. For some time I had been open to supernatural things of God, and had prayed that He would show me great and mighty things which I didn’t know. I laid down on my bed and fell into REM sleep within minutes. I dreamed I was on this beach with some friends. The scene was beautiful, and I was touched by the majesty there. We waded out into the water, because I felt there was something buried in the water, just off the shore. We dug and searched where I felt something lay hidden, and we uncovered a huge treasure chest.

I awoke, startled by a phone call from one of my friends. They were taking a trip to the Ledges State Park, not far from the school, and they invited me along. I had never been to the Ledges before, so I was interested to see what it was like. I groggily succumbed and rode with them to the park, still feeling a little hazed from sleeping. We walked slowing along the path, and I kept silent while the others joked around and flirted. I spoke with the Holy Spirit in my heart, not really with words, but just knowing that He was there and that He loved me. We walked down a steep bank and toward some water. I looked up, shocked. There, in front of me, was the scene I had just seen in my dream. I ran down toward the water, praying and wondering what this was about. I peered out into the water, curious to know what lay beneath the surface. My friends soon asked me what I was doing. I explained I had seen this same seen in a dream that afternoon. Doubtful, they thought maybe I had been there previously. I explained I hadn’t. Still standing after some time, they insisted that we leave. I didn’t want to leave, until God showed me why I had seen this before in a dream, without having visited this place previously, and how this was possible.

Later I understood the dream meant that God was giving me a treasure – that dreams and visions can be used by Him to reveal things of His Spirit, and even future events, just like in the Scriptures. This confirmed to me what His Word said.

I had a dream some years later, after spending some time in Israel. I was following this Man with a mass of young Jewish people (kids under the age of 26 I'd say) - most of them had fled from their orthodox homes and came to believe in Jesus.  We were in a big meeting hall, up in the mountains, or at least some place where there was snow.  I looked at everyone and was amazed, because there were maybe 1/2 million kids there, yet they were all somehow taken care of.  I felt maybe we should be working, or doing something, but mostly we were enjoying each other, and just sharing in friendship, having fun.  I understood that, given the situations these kids had come from, and the oppression they had experienced, this was the perfect place for them to be.  One girl came to me, sat on my lap, and I asked her what she had been doing that day.  "Cooking."  she responded, and somehow it seed to be a form of flirting with me.  Most all of the kids seemed to speak English, and there were older kids, as well as young kids, and babies. With the man I had several conversations, one about how the Mormons had about 1 million people in their camp, and we didn't have that many.  Another he seemed to be rebuking me for having a jealous spirit or something similar.

I also had a dream about an orthodox Jew named Aron who believed in Jesus. He was maybe 3-4 years old and wore glasses. He was brilliant, maybe even a genius, and was weeping at the treatment he would receive for believing in Jesus as the Messiah.

Both of these dreams represent God’s heart for Jewish people. He longs to save them, deliver them, and lead them out of bondage from human tradition. He longs to feed them, take care of them, and carry them in His arms.

SUSTAINED UPON A SICKBED

The previous year in Israel I had traveled with my friend Tadashi (from Japan) into Jordan. We went for vacation purposes after school had ended, to visit some sites in Petra, and also to carry some Sunday school materials secretly into Amman to some Arab believers living there. The following year I took another trip into Jordan for different reasons.

I traveled to Amman, Jordan today and met some new friends here from, guess where - Eureka, Montana!  What are the chances???  Anyway, one of them is a believer who works with humanitarian work in Iraq and Israel, and I'm considering going to Baghdad soon, and visit some believers there.  Please pray about this for me, for obvious reasons.

On a personal note, I was sick for a day when I first arrived in Jordan, due to maybe a combination of food poisoning and spiritual attack, but the Lord sustained me upon my sickbed and did not surrender me to the will of my enemies (Psalm 41).  Hallelujah!

Thanks for your prayers about traveling to Baghdad.  After much prayer and effort, although an opportunity for me to go to Iraq was available, I felt I should not go there at this time.  I received some warning signals from the Lord which indicated I should not take this particular route at this time, and also, my main purpose in going was accomplished through other means:  ie.  meeting, fellowshipping, and praying with Iraqi believers.  In fact, I was able to meet 4 of them, 2 of which have been refugees in Jordan since the Gulf War.  Nonetheless I found their perspective on the war interesting and surprising, maybe in some respects because the war is still concluding and they might be hesitant to say anything too negative about America for fear of being labeled as a "terrorist".  Regardless, we were able to pray about the war situation and I prayed for the Lord to begin the work of reconciliation an d forgiveness for injustices which may have purposefully or inadvertently been executed (we will have to face this at some point - better sooner than later).  This is for certain - war and military force are not the only means to fighting terror.  As Someone great once said, "Perfect love casts out fear (ie. "terror")".  Please continue to pray that the True Gospel of Christ's healing and saving grace will permeate the Middle East, and not be clouded by military, political, and individual will, and that God will bless Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, and (of course) America.

VISITING PHILADELPHIA

Matthew 10:13 - As you enter into the household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it isn't worthy, let your peace return to you.

I had tried to visit Turkey the first year I was in Israel. I had wanted to visit the 7 churches of Revelation, especially Philadelphia, but every time I tried it seemed to be a closed door. The following year in Israel I received a note from Loren Bebee, an elder/friend of mine back in Montana, “I see you in Turkey.” It was just enough confirmation that I needed to book a ticket to Istanbul and Izmir for a couple weeks. It was smooth as butter.

I've been battling here in Istanbul for a bit...I hope to visit a congregation tonight and some other believers here in the area.  God sent me an Australian believer last night, so I could pray with him and discuss some different things.  It was a blessing. 

I had some bizarre experiences while I was in Turkey. I spent most days praying, walking the streets, and asking God what He was doing. One night I met a native Turkish kid, who led me to an amusement park. We went on some rides for free and then an American band from Arizona set up a stage in the middle of the park and began playing music. I knew they were Christians by the music they were playing, but they were being a little covert about the songs they were playing. I was praising God for them and went up to the stage and left a Turkish Bible on the stage in front of them.

Later, I traveled on a bus from Izmir to Alashehir (modern-day Philadelphia). As I traveled on the bus, I was the only westerner there, and I found out, the only one who spoke clear English. I figured I would find a hostel or something in Alashehir to stay in. As I traveled, this older woman approached me, named Kadriye Caton. She signaled for me to follow her off of the bus once we arrived in Alashehir. I spoke broken words of Turkish, with the help of my Lonely Planet guide, and she spoke broken words of English. She found out I was trying to find the ruins of the Church of Philadelphia. She brought me there.

The Church of Philadelphia is in ruins, over-run by her enemies, who love to see her in the past, love to see her and look upon her as she is and not help her, seek to dig her up and preserve her this way. They have set gates around her and locked her in this downcast state, and charge money to visitors to look upon her destruction. But God is her Helper, He will not suffer her to remain in Sheol. He will raise her up.

Kadriye invited me to her mother’s home, where they fed me, introduced me to their son, and let me stay the night. I was impressed at God’s ability to provide for me. Later, they took me back to their house in Izmir, where I met her daughter and stayed a night there. As I spoke with them about Jesus by drawing pictures and using small words I knew, I soon realized they were Muslims. Yet, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I know I was able to share something of the Gospel with them. I also knew that God had opened their heart to Jesus, because they had received me and shown me hospitality.

________________________________________

ACROSS EUROPE

Dates of Travel: May 12-July 12

Czech Republic May 12-19
Germany May 19-26
Norway May 26-June 2
Holland June 2-9
England June 9-16
Scotland June 16-23
Ireland June 23-30
France June 30-July 7
Italy July 7-11

back to Czech Republic by July 11

I spent about a week in each country I visited, praying for my heritage and the people with which I have ancestral ties. My goal was Jesus – to find out what He was up to here in Europe, to discover what the Church was like, what the heathen were like, and to share something of God’s heart for them.

CZECH REPUBLIC

I traveled home one night from watching these gypsies – street-performers, on the bridge outside of the main part of town. As I walked back to the hostel, it was late, almost past curfew for the hostel, so I was hurrying. As I turned a corner, a woman bumps into me, smelling strongly of alcohol. She asks me for directions or what time it was and then bumps into me again, this time grabbing my pants near my crotch. Shocked, I gently pushed her away, knowing that she was drunk and also under the influence of a spirit. She solicited me to come back to my place and I firmly, but gently, refused, sensing God’s heart to reach her at the same time grieving her actions toward me. I walked home, in a surreal state of pondering what had just happened.

Not too bad here in Prague- just hitting up the hostel and hangin with some of the travelers here.  I just finished a book called "Healing America's Wounds".  Pretty good, but afterward I became a little weary and picked up Jeremiah and started reading.  Nothing beats the Bible.

I also went to 2 concerts - one was a black-light show that was called "The Creation"...I was really skeptical at first, but it turned out to be a presentation of the Gospel.  I gave it a standing-O!!!  The other was a symphony orquestra and choral classical concert of Mozart, and Dvorak - it was okay, but mainly I went because they were performing Biblical pieces - Ps.147 and some others. 

Prague definitely has it's flare for the tourist, but I've been searching for Jesus here, and genuine Christianity is obscured.  Some lies in all the Churches and traditions of the past, while some of it, I think, is trying to emerge as a new, powerful, creative force (this is what I'm praying for) - He makes all things new.  I see the warrior-heart within the people, and I'm discovering fascinating things about my heritage.

There are many distractions - principalities and powers here in the Czech Republic/Bohemia - lust, greed/covetousness, pride, doubt, drunkenness, among them - but I'm trying to keep my eyes on Jesus.

Somehow, no matter where I go, I can't get away from Jewish people - I met these two girls from LA who are Iranian Jews, one with an Israeli passport, but they were both born in Iran.  Remarkable girls, and very nice.  We had a shabbat together, and shared many things, and I shared with them about Jesus being the peace solution for the Middle East. 

God is good, and I'm trying to remain in His love, His blessing, and His goodness, not stepping into my own ways.  Although it's not my intention to be alone, I'm refusing the enemy’s lies, for He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

GERMANY

I sat for a long time in the hostel, talking with this kid named Joel Kavanaugh. He had some criminal charges pending against him, but he seemed interested in everything that I had to say about Jesus. Later, some kids from Turkey invited me to talk with them. One of them was deaf, but I continued hanging out, and then I played some music on the piano which was there in the lobby. I tried to hear God’s heart in what He wanted me to play, and ended up playing some love songs. I found that God would often have me play such themes, I think, because God is love and the source of true love. His heart toward all people is to show love to them and help them experience love among each other.

I’m in this really sketchy area of Berlin right now, and there is a

great amount of temptation, but I can confidently say I’ve never had as

great of an opportunity either. There’s a piano in the lobby of the

hostel!!! So I’ve been taking the Spirit to the Streets and making a

home for the Spirit in the dorms.

After arriving in Berlin, the Lord led me to this cheap, but nice, hostel, not far from the train station.  I stayed there a couple nights, until they were so booked (and because I didn’t reserve in advance)  I had to move on.  It was great, with the piano and all, worshipping and playing themes from the Titanic in the lobby.  Mostly, though, I’ve been hanging out with so many drunks and sinners.  Man, I didn’t know how out of control my generation was, until I found myself in the midst of a traveling college campus.  God have mercy.  Anyway, I’m finding myself part of the traveling Church and hooking up with believers when I find them, playing drums-guitar-singing on the street, and finding myself stranded in Berlin with no room in the Inn...something like a festival, where all the hostels are booked...spent the night in the train station...I went down to München-Bavaria region.

Same story here with the travelers, but at least it seems to be calmer here (some of them are being disciplined by the Spirit - ending up sick and what-not, and I met this girl who isn’t really into drinking...that’s a first I think)

NORWAY

I walked with a guitar a friend loaned to me, through Oslo. I watched the people – the locals, the immigrant Muslims, the children, and adults, and I began to play worship to the Lord. I cried out for His presence to reach them and touch them – for their hearts to be turned toward praise. While searching for the Jesus Freaks (a youth movement in Europe), I went with my friends to a youth church. The pastor was quite young, maybe in his 20s and most of the congregation were young people - older teens and college-age people. The church was called the Jesus Church, and I felt the Holy Spirit at work there.

After a week in Oslo and fighting a cold, I swung down through Copenhagen on the way to Amsterdam.  Met some nice believers from Seattle and Vegas along the way and am finding some surprising things about my extended-extended family.  By the way, some of you may be wondering, "What's he doing in Europe anyway?"  "What's all this traveling about?"The best explanation I can give is :

Nehemiah 4:14

Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

After sharing the gospel with my extended family, I also felt burdened to pray for my ancestral family in Europe.  While the Gospel has reached Europe in the past, I am praying for a renewal in every place the Word of God has ever touched the earth, because I find most of the places I visit, Christianity has traditionally been equated with something of the Holy Roman Empire and government-forced "Christianity", as in Norway, where the official state religion is Lutheran.  So we are contending on two fields - one against the religious principalities and one against humanism (or heathens as they are called in Norway).  I am learning much.  I stayed with a couple brothers (in Jesus) in Oslo, which was a God-send since the hostels were booked and no-doubt outrageously- priced.  Not surprisingly, I'm meeting a lot of Jewish people along the way, some of which speak Hebrew.  Too many Falafel stands in Europe - I still feel like I'm in the Middle East.  

HOLLAND

I walked past whore-houses and lude-display windows, and pot-houses, down the street to the Shelter, a Christian youth hostel, where I was staying. After a while I joined a new-found friend, Joel, out on the street, while he played pop songs for money. He played for a while and some people offered him a bit of change. We watched as this woman was being harassed down the street. Sensing some urgency by the Holy Spirit we confronted the man and made sure everything was okay. She came with us, grateful for someone who cared enough to help her out. Here I understood that God’s heart is sometimes to physically intervene with people who are in some kind of danger.

ENGLAND

Judges 8:22-23

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian. Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Yahweh shall rule over you.’

Gideon did a very brave thing in forfeiting his opportunity to rule over the nation of Israel to an unseen Authority.  I met some kids lately reading a book about a man who accidentally formed a cult.  True story - apparently the man simply placed an add in the newspaper "Join Me", with simply instructions to send a passport-sized photo, with address and name to his address.  He ends up with literally hundreds of people joining him, yet he then realizes he has no purpose, no goal or direction to take these people.  Sadly this is the case in an arrogant, selfish society, with many people seeking followers, whether in dress, form, attitude, speech, values, even philosophy. 

These new-found friends then joked around about us being a collective (only about 4 of us), and trying to decide on a leader.  They wanted to appoint me a leader, but after the whole cult-book conversation, I realized it might be better to forsake my 'right to rule' to Jesus.  'Join Jesus,' I said in the end, 'I don't have anything to offer you.'  I also realized how important it was to stay on the narrow path, for fear of forming my own cult accidentally (God forbid).

Even Jesus Himself deferred to the Father.  He came as the Way to the Father - our humble example.  Moses desired that all the people could prophecy, as did Paul.  John the Baptist said, 'He must increase, but I must decrease.'  Quite unlike power-struggle and self-promotion, it seems most so called 'leaders' deferred to the Lord.  Those struggling to gain control and make sure people 'listen to them', 'obey them', and 'get under their covering' or 'respect their authority' may have a hard time finding an audience by the Church in these last days, especially by those who may have been abused by authority in the past. However, those pointing to the Father can't lose.  The Father always has the answers.  He is the one to guide us in these last days.  He is the Father of all His children, and the only one who can bring the Family together.  Imagine with me, if you will, of a Church completely ruled and administered by the Holy Spirit, where no demon, man, woman, or child, can force their will upon it and abuse it, where everyone is confident they are being led, together, and individually, by the Lord.

SCOTLAND

John 2:10 - And [they] said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!"

We traveled in our Paddy-wagon – a small bus designated for tourists, which took us up into the northern part of Scotland, and to some significant sites. Two of us stopped for a quick dip in Loch Ness, even though we both had colds and the weather wasn’t that bright either. The driver bought a small bottle of whiskey for us all to share, and I took a little swig. I really wasn’t in the habit of drinking alcohol at all on this voyage, simply because so many people looked at it differently – just to lose themselves and get wasted. Yet, this was one other thing in which my mind had changed since growing up. Why would Jesus turn water into wine if drinking wine were a sin? Why would Paul encourage Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach’s sake, even though he was a pastor of a church? Certainly getting drunk would grieve the Holy Spirit, but yet again the Scriptures questioned human tradition and rules about drinking, and helped me to understand God’s freedom.

Writing from the highlands of Scotland right now, on the journey toward a port in the south called 'Port Logan'.  I'm meeting many nominal Christians along the way, some 'backslidden' Christians, and plenty of Jewish people (I don't think I'll ever escape this in my life)...I'm praying for the Church, for I feel many have become ashamed of the Gospel and are turning to the world.

IRELAND

I've met lots of nice kids along the way, and some who would say they know Jesus, or at one time did, like one I met in Belfast, a homosexual who's now into wicca.  The apostasy is evident, for many have lost hope in salvation - the only life-line we have.  A great evil cloud is coming - all the more opportunity for the glorious ones to shine like the sun - all the more opportunity for us to do exploits and wax strong.  While there is a strong temptation to envy the workers of iniquity, cave-in and join the race for false-intimacy, sex-outside-God-given-covenant, drunkenness (or other drugs), riches (greed), manipulation (witchcraft), and fame (pride); we stand firm and fix our eyes on Jesus and His grace and forgiveness.  This is the way we once were, but He has delivered us and set us free.

While traveling through S. Ireland I met 'St. Patrick' and 'St. John' preaching the Gospel on the street in Limerick.  I hung out with them and had tea...it's always nice to meet believers along the way, especially local people enthusiastic to share the Promise.  I also met 'St. Megan', this girl from California, who is traveling with her sister around Europe - both fairly new believers, but a heart after Jesus.

FRANCE

I had just finished eating at a nice restaurant in Paris, which was surprisingly cheap, for the service and meal that I had just finished. I looked again for Jesus in this spiritually dark place. I met a young man, just 18 years of age, who was stoked about joining the army as a green beret. His whole goal, it seemed in life, was to fulfill American idealism, and ‘blow up some Arabs’. Arrogant and independent, he felt he had the world by the tail and didn’t need Jesus in his life. I listened to him for a long time – a full day - and prayed. Finally, as he was leaving on the train, I gave him something I felt God wanted to tell him. Speaking into his future, I knew that one day he would need God and would reach the end of his rope, and I told him when he got there to look up, because Jesus was waiting for him.

ITALY

I met up with these believers from CA studying/working in Rome.  Ted & Carry-Ann - he's an artist, she's a fashion designer - both love the Lord.  We visited the Coliseum, the place of the martyrdom of many of our fathers/mothers in the faith, and also where Paul & Silas were in prison.

As I traveled through the Vatican, I wondered what possibly could remain of Jesus and the freedom of the Holy Spirit in such a dark and dismal place, clouded by hundreds of years of false religion, oppression, and spiritual abuse. As I prayed, I looked upon the art of master painters and sculptures. Here, they communicated something of the messages of the Bible, and I realized it was a gift to humanity, to help communicate the history of God’s work among people in the earth.

I long for closeness, of hearing Him clearly, of facing the reality of what He says of me and the world around - the Truth.

I long for my family to be free, and for the world to know that Jesus loves them.