The sun has set and the breeze is gone. My eyes turn from the Sea of Galilee below and shift to a large boulder on Mount Arbel. There sits Jim, my pastor friend and colleague, a man with years of wisdom. His head is bowed, but I can see large tears running down his cheeks. “What’s wrong?” I ask. And he replies, “All my life, I’ve preached my Jesus from birth to death to life, and now here is His life laid out below me on this living map.” The Great Story was coming together and evidencing itself in a smile on my face and great tears on Jim’s.


We two brothers pray and give thanks to the
Lord for His enduring love. We’re renewed in our call to proclaim His salvation once we reach home. I am reminded of the archeologist who once said, “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.” Jesus’ life and mission were real, in an actual time and place. May they become real for you in a new way this month.