The Fifth Gospel

We have just returned from a wonderful tour of Israel.  This was my fifth trip to Israel.  All five trips have been special and each different but this may have been my most satisfying.

This is the first time we (my wife and I) have stepped out to lead a tour group.  Accepting this responsibility changes a tour from being a holiday to being work but the rewards were worth it.  We loved being able to facilitate others in all the benefits of their first tour of Israel.  It was great to see their excitement as the bible comes  alive.   We walked in the footsteps of Jesus, visited with believers in the Galilee, and saw modern Israel up close.

As others have said, the geography of the land of the bible is like a fifth gospel.  As Bargil Pixmer says in the introduction of his book With Jesus through Galilee according to the Fifth Gospel “… Five gospels record the life of Jesus.  Four you will find in books and one you will find in the land they call holy.  Read the fifth gospel and the world of the four will open to you.”

Thousands of pictures were taken, many sights were seen, but best of all was to see how hearts were touched and lives changed.  One said to me “my life will never be the same.”

Here’s hoping the Lord will allow us to take a group again next year.