Palm Sunday Walk and “The Covenant”

I woke up, went to breakfast, and headed over for the morning session of the convention. I’ve heard several people saying that this was the “best convention in years”. I’ve only been to one other one in Colorado, and all I can say is that this one beats that experience by far. Ken Medema is so “the man”; his songs still get me every time. I’m keeping notes from all of the different speakers, most of which are from the nation of Israel and have ministries in the nation. Good stuff — all of it.

Daniel was easy on us today, taking us only to the Mount of Olives and what he was calling the “Palm Sunday Walk”, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. David ran to the Mount of Olives for sanctuary after learning of his son Absolom’s treachery. It was also the hill on which Solomon built pagan altars for his foreign wives and the crossing place for the scapegoat.

There were Israeli’s selling pictures, postcards, bookmarks, and embroidered bags on every corner. Daniel warned us before we left the bus that many of them were also professional pickpockets and to keep our wallets and purses either on the bus or very hidden. We took a group picture overlooking the old-Jerusalem landscape. While we were there, one of the pastors from Louisiana raised her banners — as she was instructed by the Lord — over the city. She broke out in tears as she did so and gave several of our group the chance to do the same.

Ever since the first temple, Jews have yearned to be buried on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Many believe that when the Messiah comes, He will descend the Mount of Olives and enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gates. Once resurrected, they too will enter the Holy City.

Jesus frequented the mountain and traveled over it to visit his friends Lazarus, Mary, Martha, and Simon the Leper, in Bethany. It was here that He gave a major address to the disciples. He spent the night before his arrest in the gardens at Gethsemane, where Judas brought guards to arrest him, betraying Him the next morning. The gardens overwhelmed me and when we went inside the chapel where the rock Jesus was said to pray sat, I literally fell to my knees and the tears came immediately. To try and describe the moment would be futile; it was simply God’s presence meeting me in a very powerful way.

It was also from this peak that Jesus ascended into the heavens. The mountain’s slopes are filled with churches commemorating events in Jesus’ life. A tear-shaped chapel that we visited, Dominus Flevit Church, honors the place He wept while envisioning the dire future in store for the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Because of the lighter schedule today, we were able to get back to the hotel about an hour earlier than we have been. I used the time to catch up on publishing videos to YouTube from some of the previous posts. Problem is that my Internet service runs out this evening. I have to decide if paying for another day is worth it or not. It’s been nice being able to stay in touch with everyone. I guess we’ll wait and see.

The big — and I do mean BIG — evening production was a musical put on by the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem. It was AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE and definitely a highlight of the convention. It was like the best part of your favorite movie, where your heart feels like it is going to fall apart, bursting with an overflow of emotion — either from joy or from sadness, for a full hour and a half! Everything was top class: the singing, the acting, the drama, the dancing, the costumes. Again, it was just INCREDIBLE! I wish I could show you the whole thing. Here’s some of the clips that I shot. I was close to “stage right” and right in front of one of the projection screens, so a lot of the shots are from the screen that was just a few feet away from where I was sitting.

When I got home for the evening, I shot my thoughts of the day video (below) and went back up to floor six to connect with everyone back home. I’m tired now, so I’m going to go back to my room and go to bed. There’s only a day and a half left of my stay here and then I’ll be back home. I feel like I’ll be going home with a different outlook in the fullest sense.