A New Name

I am extremely honored to be the one to write todays blog on the fact of what we did today. We started the day, if you can believe it, on a cloudy, chilly beach on the East side of the Sea of Galilee. We worshiped looking out across the lake to mount Arbel, the city of Tiberias, and Capernaum. We listened to the lion and the lamb, child of God, and Cornerstone which was so good. It was interesting being on the East side of the Sea because that would have been where the Gentiles lived in the first century. To think that Jesus ventured out to those people as well as the Jews.

After worship, we went to Mount Arbel on the West side of the Sea of Galilee. It was a beautiful hike that had green grass, flowers, amazing stone, and even a couple of cows. There was also a man made fortress like cave dug into the mountain that a few of us explored. On the top of the mountain we did another set of worship, listening to King of my heart, the Lord Almighty, and Thank You. Paster Michael talked about Luke 6:40 and how you become like your teacher. He also talked about how Jesus during his ministry went to quiet places to be with God. He talk about the distractions in our life have deep spiritual impact because of the lack of time with God.

Then we went to Magdela where Mary Magdelene was from. The city was actually recently found when some people wanted to build a shopping mall there. We learned Marry Magdelene is a key player in the story of Jesus because of a few reasons. For instance she is the only one mentioned in all four gospels of being a witness of Jesus's empty tomb.

The next quick stop was Tabgha. This is the traditional place where people think Jesus questioned Peter about his love for Him, and Jesus giving Peter his purpose. Michael talked a lot about Peter, his life, faith, and Name. John 1:42 Jesus says "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which translates to Peter) which means the rock. Mathew means Gift of God, James and John were given the name sons of thunder. Michael spoke about Christian's have not only salvation but a new name that has a meaning and a life with a purpose that has been given to each of us before we were created. That we are not a Christian by accident. Michael's main question was "what is your true name?".

The last stop of the day was Capernaum. That is where Peter lived and where Jesus spent three years doing the majority of the miracles mentioned in the Bible. In the city there was a synagogue that Jesus spoke in. Ronan (our tour guide) talked about Mathew 4:13 and Jesus having authority from God to speak there.

It was an amazing day with a flood of information. To be honest I feel like I won't be able to process most of the stuff that I have learned, experienced, and have been challenged with until I get home. I have loved this trip so far.

Thank you for your time,
Dayne Johnson