Sunrise Over Jerusalem

Some friends and I spent the night on the roof of Petra Youth Hostel the other night. We didn't get much sleep with all the crazy singing people down below, the muslim call to prayer at 4:30 am and the procession of church bells from alternating churches at sunrise. But I did have a chance to watch the sunrise over the mount of olives. I also experimented with my camera, taking incrementatl shots of the sunrise over the city and then piecing them together so you can see the motion of the sunrise. One disclaimer: I know that I totally missed the sun. It's so sad. I set my tripod in the direction I thought the sun would appear and then slowly watched it arise slightly out of view :( So please don't make fun of me. I think it still has value. To view, click on the picture below.

No One Is Writing About Them...

For the last three years I have been impacted by missionary biography (more on this later). This has had a heavy impact on my life and the way I think. Many of the biographies that I have read focus on missionaries who died many years ago. And concerning this point it seems to characterize the genre...but this ought not be in my opinion. The great men and women of the faith have not all died, the work of missionaries in this world is not simply historical, there are faithful believers alive today, living to proclaim the salvation that is through Christ alone...but no one is writing about them. I think this is sad. Missionary testimony, by God's grace, leads to more missionaries.

I want to write about faithful missionaries to Scotland here: Mikey and Emily Luehrmann. The following is a copied description from Grace Community church's missionary adoption page: Michael and Emily Luehrmann are serving at Carrubbers Christian Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. They have been here since August of 2004. Michael is a 2004 graduate of The Master's Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree and Emily is a 2004 graduate from The Master's College with a Master of Biblical Counseling degree. Michael was ordained and commissioned at Grace Community in June of 2004. They have been married for 5 years and Michael will be serving as an assistant pastor at Carrubbers Christian Centre with a primary role of overseeing and giving leadership to the University Student Ministry. You can access Carrubbers Christian Centre website at: Carrubers.org. Our personal homepage is: Click Here!

I knew Mikey and Emily while we were all college students at the Master's College in California. Mikey was my first college RA and roomate for a year and a half at the California campus and then for a semester in Israel. Emily sang on chapel band. Mikey probably had the biggest impact on me during my years in college both through his example and challenge as a friend caring for my sanctification. I was able to observe the life of a spiritual man who made being pleasing to Jesus the priority of his life (2 Cor. 5:9). While we were seminary students together, I witnessed his growth in love for the land of Scotland, its history and ministry there. Mikey is the one who influenced me in the reading of puritan works and biography. Today he stands in a long history of witnesses for Jesus who with Knox pray "Give me Scotland or I die."

Now he labors to lead others to a saving knowledge of Jesus, to influence the church toward greater faithfulness to Christ through accurately teaching God's word, being a living example, faithful husband and father, and currently learning German and completing a Th.M degree. These people, of whom the world is not worthy, are worth writing and reading about.

Trip to Southern Israel

I was talking with a friend about our blogs and realized that I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up with it...but it's important to me to share what is going on in my life with those who care...so please expect regular posts from now on. I'm thinking that at least once a week. Last week I went with IBEX to Southern Israel (known in modern vernacular as the Negev although communicating a broader region than the biblical term Negev suggests). It was a great trip and Todd Bolen did an excellent job of leading us around and teaching. I went places that I have never been in Israel and saw some amazing sights. Here are some picutres from the trip.

We hiked through Nahal Zin, from which the wilderness of Zin gets its name (Num 13:21; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; 34:3; Deut 32:51; Josh 15:1-3). It served as the Southern border of the land promised to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob.


We stopped the bus along the road in the regions of the Wilderness of Zin and Paran to meditate upon God's purposes for leading the people of Israel without a physical destination but with a spiritual destination according to His will. Being here again after my thesis work was meaningful since God says that He lead the people in the wilderness so as to discipline them (Deut 8:4-5).


We stopped at an overview point in which four countries are visible: Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. This is a picture of me and my friend Austin scoping out Egypt.


In the Timna Valley, near Eilat, there are remnants of copper mines and impressive geological formations. This is a picutre of a rock formation known as Solomon's pillars (not having a connection with Solomon but once believed to be the area of his mining operations).


I took a series of time metered shots of the sunrise on top of Masada. We left the hostel at 5:00 am to get up the mountain in time to see it. Here is one picture from the series of shots.


On another note, things are really busy here with projects and studying but I am thurally enjoying it. Back at home, my grandpa appears to be approaching his last days before going to be with the Lord. I am inspired by his life and faith in Jesus. It is a difficult time because he means so much to our family. Also, my mom is scheduled for today to have a surgery today to kill cancer cells in her liver.