Israel Experience Day 1

     Our first full day in Israel was beyond phenomenal. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was. We started out bright and early, and I mean it was super bright for how early it was, by having breakfast on the deck overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Which was gorgeous. 
     Afterwards, we headed into the heart of Tel Aviv to see Independence Hall where, despite the threats and the terrible odds against her, Israel declared herself an independent state. We stood in the room in which occured "the most significant fulfillment of prohecy since Acts 2" (Michael Onifer). Yes, I just used a parenthetical citation.
     So anyway, afterward we headed towards Old Jaffa, the port town from which Jonah tried to flee from God's command to go to Ninevah. Which just so happens to be the same city  where quite the significant event took place in the New Testament. We saw the house which claims to be the home of Simon the Tanner, where Peter was staying when God spoke to him concerning sharing the word with Cornelius, a Gentile. Notice both of those stories share a theme. Joppa, Jaffa, Yafo, whatever you wanna call it, is a clear representation of God's amazing grace. A grace that did NOT begin in the New Testament, but has existed since the dawn of time, and has been extended to those of us who were not born children of Israel. If it weren't for the events that took place in that city, there would be no hope for us.
     Also, check this out. God made two promises to Abraham. He would give him land, and descendants to inhabit it. Though perhaps unconsciously, the church was affected when God's chosen people were separated from their chosen land. But at the same time that Jews began returning to Israel in the early 20th century, revival began breaking out in the church across the world. As they came back to their land, we came back to our God. And when the Hebrew language was revived in Israel, guess what starts happening in the church? As they return to speaking in their native tongue, the church returns to speaking in tongues. It's all connected!! God is so cool!!! GAH. So after having our minds blown with that little thought, we had lunch in Jaffa. Falafel and tahini on a rooftop in a middle eastern city when the call to prayer sounds from the mosque down the street. If THAT doesn't scream "you're not in America," I'm not sure what will. Afterwards we made our last stop for the day at IDC in Herzliya, Israel's only Ivy League school. There we had a lecture with their vice president of external affairs, Jonathan Davis. He is a devout Jew who loves Christians who love Israel. His military history is pretty legit, although it was a little bit weird to think that he fought in the same war that I'm pretty sure some distant relatives of mine might have fought in... only on the opposing side. Way to go Egypt. Anywho, so we got back to our hotel, but I crashed so hard on the bus ride back. Just saying. But we got back then spent an hour and a half on the beach playing volleyball (or attempting to) and taking photos as the sun started to set. After dinner, we went up on the rooftop (I am seriously loving these rooftops. Like I can't even...) and had a small worship service. That ended. Then started back up. That moment when you say let's worship for another half hour then go back to the beach for half an hour. Yeah no. Don't tell God how long you're gonna worship Him. He's got other ideas. We finished over an hour later. It was awesome. Jesus is awesome. Oh and we still went to the beach after. And we kinda discovered that we're basically an a capella group. So stay tuned. Anyway, it's 1am and I need to be up in 5 hours. Love y'all. Laila tov from Tel Aviv.