This is Great Saturday of Orthodox Pascha (Easter) weekend. Thousands gather every year outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, awaiting Holy Fire from the empty tomb. Today Ellen and I were hosted by a friend for lunch next to Manger Square in Bethlehem when the report came that the flame had appeared…
Month: April 2023
Hope in a polarized world
How easily I get entangled in the divisions of church and society! Do you also get discouraged or angry? I set out to find help and hope in the Bible, in ancient Judaism, in Jesus, in the early church, and in the witness of Christians in our time. This book (released April 11) logs what…
A house of prayer for all nations
This Holy Week my wife Ellen and I joined 15,000 jubilant Christians for a Palm Sunday procession from Bethphage on the Mount of Olives to Old City Jerusalem. On this photo the multitude is descending the Mount of Olives into Kidron Valley. At top center is the golden Dome of the Rock where the temple…
Holy Lands Peace Pilgrim 