I have been in Israel and now am in Berlin. I waited to write until I left. I met during my time there with some Palestinian pastors who simply wish to be faithful in leading and teaching their people. I led a pastoral teaching time and discussion over more than four hours long.

Yesterday we went to Zepat in Israel (pronounced Zephat). This is a major home for Jewish Kabbalah with fascinating synagogues dating back 500 years. Kabbalah is a combination of Judaism, mysticism with some roots stretching back to ideas in the early centuries post-Christ. Late Medieval Jewish works like the Zohar reflect these concepts.

I am now back in Israel. Today I went to Sepphoris as well as Bet Ha Sha'erim. The second location is where rabbi Judah ha Nasi is bured, He edited the Mishnah in about AD 180-200. This codified the oral law into written form and is an anthology of mostly legal interpretations on various topics.

Just finished the SNTS meetings in Lund, Sweden, a beautiful city in Southern Sweden, near Malmö, the country's third largest city. The university has been here since 1666. The meetings were a great time to catch up on all things New Testament.

Well, I have been quiet for a while. Not much happening in the comment world, plus I have spent a great deal of time responding to a series of queries on homosexuality tied to the comments on the previous entry which you should check out.

As I noted, I am in Taiwan. One of the fun things about traveling as I do is that you meet people who are appreciative of things you have done in ways you never anticipated. So today I had lunch with Fisher Yu.

Just a short note for now to say I start teaching at a Bible Seminar in Hong Kong today. I will be here much of the week. Then I go to Taiwan and Myanmar. I will have more later.

Well, I am back from Israel and what do I run into as I do my annual two weeks at Talbot Theological Seminary? It is a debate between Barak Obama and James Dobson about faith, the Bible, and the political environment.

This one is about an Obama speech given two years ago to a group sponsored by Sojourners. Now when politicians get into religious discussion my ears perk up.

I am currently in California for my annual trek to Talbot to teach the Life of Jesus in two weeks (Whew!). While here I am also wrapping up an essay on an evangelical take on the historical Jeus for a book that will feature six widely divergent views on the question.

After a month in Israel, I am back in the USA for two weeks before heading to Asia for three weeks. The IBR Jesus Group has wrapped up its work with long, careful discussion of historical method and Jesus studies, as well as a careful look at some key resurrection accounts.

Well, we have eight shows in the can (added one to the original seven today). It is all in the hands of the production crew at Day of Discovery. It seems to have all gone quite well. Today's picture is at the synagogue at Capernaum, Jesus' headquarters in Galilee. This last shoot involved our entire group. Here they are in order from left to right (often alternating rows):

The IBR Jesus Project started filming work today. We worked on the Cleansing of the Temple at the Southern Steps and the Last Supper at a home designed to recreate the scene in Ein Kerem. This is the traditional locale of where Mary met Elizabeth as well as the traditional home of John the Baptist when he was growing up. A museum to recreate the feel of biblical life exists there.

Our annual meeting, supported by Bible.org and a part of the Institute for Biblical Research, is wrapping up a decade long project in Jerusalem in the next two weeks.

All the participants have arrived. Filming of our work will also take place. Those here are: Craig Evans, Klyne Snodgrass, Brent Kinman, Michael Burer, Rikk Watts, Grant Osborne, Michael Wilkins, Bob Webb and myself.

Hezekiah diverted the Springs of Gihon during an Assyrian assult to bring water inside the city some 700 years before Christ.

Today was quite a day in the West Bank. We went to Mt. Gerizim, near Nablus (Shechem) in the West Bank. We met a Samaritan priest whose family line goes back to the beginning of the priests. Not only did we get to see the mountain, but he gave us a tour of the Samaritan Museum he created 13 years ago. Here is the picture of our visit (Husney Cohen, Stephen Bremer and Myself).

Well, today we visited Jericho, both the Old City Tell and the Monastery that is the traditional location of the Temptation.

The monastery was 3/4th the way up a cliff and is reachable by an Austrian Cable Car. The area is now controlled by the Palestinian Authority. In addition, we saw the traditional tree Zacchaeus climbed.

Today we visited the West Bank. This requires special arrangements because it requires Palestinian plates. Israelis are not allowed in. Checkpoints are everywhere. Security is tight. Israelis told us (after we got back) that it can be dangerous, but we felt safe. The soldiers were nice once we said we were from the USA and Canada.

I am back in Israel. The tour is gone. I am traveling with a colleague, Stephen Bramer, who has been to Israel numerous times. We will be in the West Bank area the next few days to see sites that are off the beaten path. I will try to send reports and pictures. 

I am now at the Dead Sea on the Jordanian side after spending the last few days in Amman and in Jerash and Petra.

We heard a report on Jordan Evangelical Seminary. It continues to do well and grow.

Well, I have spent the first of three trips to Jerusalem this summer. This one involved leading a group of about 45 through the city as part of a tour with Insight for Living (Chuck Swindoll).

It has been great.

Today I was baptizing in the Jordan River. A first for me. One of those baptized was 80 years old. Pretty cool, really.

For any interested, the Midlands Bible College in the UK posted the following interview with me:

http://www.midbible.ac.uk/content/view/134/

My thanks to Andy Cheung for the opportunity to do this.

Yet another piece by me explaining the Manifesto was posted today at beliefnet.com

Here is the correct URL:

The document is engendering the very kind of discussion we need. Reception has been especially open among the under 30's in the feedback I am getting.

My updated take on the manifesto can be seen in two different locales:

This is similar to a comment I just posted. I rarely do this in two spots, but in this case it is important.

Cnn.com has broken a story on the Evangelical Manifesto, a statement made by a host of evangelical leaders about the evangelical faith of the last several decades.

Keep you eye out for this when it releases in detail Wednesday. I will have more to say about it then.

The CNN release that Paul Verhoeven, the Hollywood director and Jesus Seminar participant, has written a biography of Jesus that attributes Jesus' birth to a rape of Mary by a Roman soldier is old news. In dealing with the theories of Jim Tabor in Dethroning Jesus (pp. 178-79) I wrote the following about this claim that goes back to Celsus and the late second century.