Sunday, May 31, 2009

On the Day of Pentecost . . .

Acts 2 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:" 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.


Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.

I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him:" 'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.'

"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." '

"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Tower Bridge in London

This is one of my favorite photos. I shot it while on vacation in London.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Graffiti: Interpret This?

Here's a photo from Bethlehem. It's painted on a wall in direct view of an Israeli military post on the wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Messiah Snacks

Is it presumptuous to name your snack shop Messiah Snacks? I wonder if the snacks from this shop taste better than those from other shops. I must admit that the popcorn is inviting.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

A Nice Logo


The lion is the symbol/logo for the city of Jerusalem and can be seen on all types of things: man hole covers, park benches, information boards, and a variety of other flat surfaces like the wall of city hall.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Certified Kosher


This is the kosher certificate for a fruit and vegetable vendor in the Jerusalem market. Without one of these he would do NO business, so it is surprising to me to see one in such disrepair.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

One of My Favorite Signs


When I see this sign, it means that I've been off-roading in the Judean Desert. Unfortunately, I haven't seen this sign in over a year. Worse still, it doesn't seem like I'll be back in the desert any time soon. At least not in my Land Rover, which has gathered about an inch of dust while sitting quietly in the garage.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Almonds: Three Months Later

Just three months ago these felt covered almonds were just blossoms, now they are in the market.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

I Hate . . .

Folding fitted sheets. In fact, I can't do it. The best I can do is sort of roll them up into a semi-square.

What would be wrong with having just a little bit larger flat sheets that could be tucked under the mattress? Then I could fold them without any trouble.

I'm open to fitted sheet folding tips. Anyone?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I'm Not a Greek Scholar

I'm not a Greek scholar. In fact, I've actually only formally studied Greek for one semester. And that was during a crash Summer course almost 25 years ago. But, on a recent walk through the Christian Quarter, I caught this Greek mistake.

For those who would jokingly say, "It looks Greek to me" because you don't read Greek, the symbol is the Christian fish with the Greek acronym IXTHUS in the middle. IXTHUS is a Greek acronym for "Jesus Christ God Son Saviour."

Anyway, the funny thing about this is that I saw the car that was decorated with this symbol parked outside this place:

Monday, May 11, 2009

Fed Ex and Mother's Day

We've had no small amount of trouble with Fed Ex over the last five or so years. Our trouble with them generally revolves around their inability or effort to deliver a package, which typically means our intended recipient ends up going to the Fed Ex facility to gather the package. And this has happened more than once.

However, this time, the ending was a little different.

Colleen ordered some chocolate candies for her mother for Mother's Day. As is her normal practice, she had them sent to her sister's apartment to be hand delivered to her mother.

Colleen has been anxiously tracking the delivery, or non-delivery online. On Wednesday, the driver left a note on my sister in law's door saying that he had been there and would try again the next day. She, in turn, wrote a note for him to leave the box at the manager's office. Thursday: no package. Friday: no package.

By Saturday, Colleen was getting upset since she had paid extra to insure timely delivery. So, she called her sister and asked her to call Fed Ex and check on the whereabouts of said package. Sis went to Fed Ex and waited while the manager searched with no success for a half hour. Finally, he asked her to go home and call him with the tracking number, and said that in the meantime he would find his driver and see what he knew about the package of (probably melted by now Godiva) chocolates.

Sis went home and called back with the information, and the manager presumably got busy searching for the package.

A few hours passed when there was a knock on the door at my sister in law's apartment. She opened the door to find the facility manager standing there holding a plastic bag. Sis was puzzled because she knew the package would not have been shipped in a plastic bag.

The manager said, "I couldn't find the package; it seems that one of our workers might have eaten them, so I went and bought some chocolates for your mother. I have a mother and it's Mother's Day. I'm sure it's important to your mother, so I wanted to take care of this. Also, I'm going to reverse the shipping charges. Have a blessed day."

I don't know the guy's name, but he definitely saved a customer for Fed Ex.

Happy Mother's Day, Memaw. I hope you liked the chocolates, even if they got to you in a weird way. We love you.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Happy Mother's Day

There are two mom's in my life and I want to wish them both a happy Mother's Day.

First, to my mother: Thank you for the many sacrifices you have made to make my life easier or better or more fun or more pleasant. I love you.

To my wife, the mother of my daughter: Thank you for partnering with me to raise our daughter. Thank you for being such a great mother to Grace. You are a treasure. I love you.

This Spoke to Me

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Fresh Garlic

Garlic is coming in from the fields now.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Harvesting



It was interesting to watch this "blister beetle" (Mylabris Syriaca) burrow around in the Crown Flower gathering pollen.

I wish I had captured a shot of him with his head submerged, but I'm pretty satisfied with this shot. However, I still miss my 995's insect-ability. :-(

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Off to the Zoo

Colleen has a women's conference today, so Grace and I are going to one of Grace's favorite places: The Jerusalem Zoo. Physically, it's a beautiful zoo, and they have a nice collection of animals - though it feels funny saying it that way. But, how else could one refer to the animals that are kept there? Zoos collect animals much like boys collect baseball cards. Perhaps there's more idealism in collecting animals as zoos do, but there really isn't a substantial difference. So, I'll continue using the term collection when referring to the animals at the zoo.

Anyway, it is a favorite destination for our family. We all enjoy seeing the animals to a greater or lesser degree. Colleen most enjoys the family being together in a nice environment. Grace most enjoys the large playground. And I enjoy the family time and taking photos at the zoo.

Here's a photo from out last outing. We were all surprised when this big cat was alerted by Grace and Colleen making the Israeli "tssskk" call for street cats.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Shabbat Shalom

Don't Bite Your Nails!

This prairie dog hasn't yet learned what we are trying to teach our daughter: Don't Bite Your Nails!