We had a wonderful time on our tour of Israel. It was educational, inspiring and for me personally, added depth to my Bible knowledge. For the next few days I want to share some of my personal highlights of the trip with you. On the first day of our trip we visited Caesarea Maritima. It was pouring rain when we visited this site but it was still quite remarkable. A huge complex or ruins complete with an amphitheater. A stunning vista of the Mediterranean Ocean made the site more inviting. Many Biblical stories took place at Caesarea "by the sea". Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, at Caesarea. The Bible records that he and his household were saved (Acts 10). It was at this location that King Herod died (Acts 12). But, for me, the most inspiring event that took place here was Paul addressing Felix and Agrippa. These were Romans governors who were stationed at Caesarea Maritima. Paul was given the opportunity to defend the Gospel and he did the most profound and simple thing. He gave his personal testimony! Think about this. Here's a man who is standing before a very powerful person, King Agrippa, and Agrippa says to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." What does Paul do? He shares how he came to know the Lord, Jesus Christ as his Savior. If you read the account in Acts 26 Paul does three very simple things: 1) He shares what his life was like before he followed Jesus Christ 2) His encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road 3) What God has done is his life since he became a believer. There is power in a personal testimony. After Paul had finished his testimony King Agrippa stated, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian". As we visited this site it reminded me again that all of us who are Christ followers have a story of how we met and believed the Savior. No matter who we are standing before, that story can have a powerful impact.
If you get permission to share your story with someone else, be like Paul...stand and deliver. The Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.
Israel was great - but it sure is good to be home!

Pastor Tim