The reason I am taking so much time to put all these stories up is to hopefully convey what a seriously special experience it was to actually VISIT the places God chose to use to influence all of human history. My hope is as you read the stories and look at the pictures a fire will be sparked in you to actually GO and visit yourself.
Hope you enjoy!


Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3
One thing I have learned on this journey is how important it is to be on the lookout for how God wants to speak. Anything that gives your heart a pause, take note. Ask God if He’d like to tell you something through this.
I’ve come to experience that God doesn’t confine himself to any one medium of communication. As we see in the story of Elijah running to the cave in 1 Kings 19:12.
Elijah had just gone from a very high to a very low place emotionally and spiritually, he was beat down, depressed, exhausted and in need of restoration. There was a powerful wind, then an earthquake , then a fire… all of which God had spoken through before –
WIND
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. Ex. 14:21
EARTHQUAKE
Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. Ex. 19:18
FIRE
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” Ex. 3:3
Yet this time God wanted to help Elijah recover from the destabilizing experience he’d just gone through and so demonstrated his power again with the previous three methods, but then spoke in the most intimate of ways – a “still small voice” to reestablish Himself as completely trustworthy and close to Elijah. (There are many possible interpretations of this story, but this one I certainly relate to! It’s a powerful story worth a read in 1 Kings 19:12!)
Overall I have learned through much experience and input from veterans in the faith that whenever changes of circumstances occur, take note. So we did here today.
When we finally arrived at Masada we found numerous tour buses had already arrived, including a number of Birthright groups. Birthright is a rather amazing opportunity for anyone with ( I believe ) at least 25% Jewish heritage (and under a certain age) to get a free trip to Israel and be taken on a cultural and religious introduction of Israel. We hiked up to the top of Masada just in time to see the sunrise.






Here we are entering the ancient cistern.
Here is the group doing the Bar Mitzvahs.

