Before there were Presbyterians or Baptists or Lutherans or Methodists. Before Calvin, Arminean, Luther, or any other of the great Church fathers. Before the emergent church, new evangelicalism, or even fundamentalism. Before all of that stuff that summarizes modern religion- there was a popular speaker walking around and sharing the good news. His name was Jesus. Jesus wasn’t part of a special movement (apart from the Gospel), didn’t claim a religious title (except Messiah), and never joined any specific Church (aside from being the Cornerstone to THE Church). He never wore a suit, taught Sunday School, or played in the band. And thanks to a blessing from God and some major contributions, I was able to see where he did it all.
Thanks to CJF ministries (http://www.cjfm.org/) I and a group of fellow believers were able to go back to where it all started. We got to go back to where our roots truly lie as believers. We got to visit and experience the land of Israel. Obviously, I could write for days about the experiences had, friendships gained, and the lessons learned on a such a trip, however, there is one specific lesson God showed me through my time on the trip to the Land.
Over there, there are three major religious groups: Jewish people, Muslims, and Messianic believers (what we would identify as Christians). My group was filled with the latter and we traveled around worshipping at the different sites that reminded us of our faith and confirmed the veracity of the Scriptures. Often at these sights we would be able to set up a small praise service and shout praises to the Father together. The thought that continually impressed itself on me during this trip was the beauty and variety of God’s kingdom. The people composing this tour were not of the same background by any means. We had students from staunchly conservative schools, more moderate Christian schools, and then a few state schools. There was a teaching pastor from a great ministry in San Antonio, a worship leader from the same church, a small New Yorker with a big bark and a head full of Jewish culture, and a Jewish tour guide who lives in and with one of the local congregations there in Israel. Despite all of our differences, we all came together and worshipped one incredible God who loves to be worshipped.
God gave us all a great experience that he intended for us to enjoy together. For a few days there were no denominations, no associations, and no problems between any of us because of what brought us there in the first place – Jesus. We were granted the experience of going back to our roots – not just geographically, but also as a family of Christians who love and need to worship the Savior. We were taken back to the times when worship was not deemed negative or positive on style, but merely enjoyed the times of worship because of who we were worshipping. It was breathtaking. Every moment of worship on the Sea of Galilee, or in the Garden of Gethsemane, or in the Garden Tomb absolutely engraved itself into my mind for eternity. And it made me thankful, not just for the trip and friends and experiences, but for the day when we will all set aside our differences and worship our one Savior in unison. Until that day…
2 Peter 1:2 “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
