I have developed an obsession. For so long, I’ve watched Jews venerate the Western Wall. They touch it, cry at it, stuff paper prayer requests in the stones, they believe it is the constant center
That crazy “scapegoat” thing in the Day of Atonement passages (Lev. 16:6-10, 20-28; 17:7) has always bugged me. Scholars have a field day figuring this one out. The NIV 2011 for Lev. 16:8 reads: He
It’s hard to miss it. I have seen “Gibeah of Saul” (aka Tell el-Ful) many times. Typically I spy it from the roof of Nebi Samwil, the mosque-and-synagogue marking the traditional tomb of the prophet
I am not the most traveled person you ever met, though I’ve been to a good many places. I probably don’t have the authority to say this, but I will. I have seen a good
I first saw it in 2006. Walking from the bus station in Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity, dying for a really good cup of coffee (about which, more later!), my heart jumped at
Not everyone “gets” the idea of coming to Israel to study the Bible. To them, it all sounds like emotionalism—corny, sentimental, even manipulative. “I walked today where Jesus walked.” But the actual impact in terms of
