Today was the final day of GAFCON and it was a good one.  Several things came into focus for me and I leave feeling encouraged. I had breakfast with Peter and Christine Jensen.  Peter is the retired archbishop of Sydney and his son Michael was a classmate of mine at Oxford. Our Nigerian friends left […]

I woke up early this morning to breakfast with my good friend and former Oxford classmate Lee McMunn.  Lee is planting a church in Scarborough, England (a lovely seaside town on the northeast coast).  He was, by far, the best preacher at college when we were there and a faithful leader.  Lee is heading up […]

Now more than halfway through the conference and am so glad that I came.  I expected to be blessed, but this has been a wonderful time in the Lord and look forward to reflecting on this moment for years to come. I grabbed a quick breakfast with Abp. Mbanda and his lovely wife Chantal before […]

The day began, as it always does with our gathering around the word.  The liturgy was from the Church of Nigeria and we sang When I Survey the Wondrous Cross in preparation for our Bible exposition. (The choir from the Cathedral in Nairobi, Kenya has worn a different outfit each day.  Kind of excited to see […]

A wonderful start to GAFCON—your prayers are effective! I am overwhelmed by the number of old friends I have seen and the new friends I’ve made (in just one day).  Moreover, I am so glad to experience such a gospel-centered gathering, and an Anglican one at that. This is the largest gathering of Anglicans in […]

It’s the Lord’s Day and I miss being with my Advent family. When I am away on a Sunday, I do not feel it is a welcome break, but find myself wanting to be in Birmingham with you. Instead, I find myself on my last day in Galilee. We (our group) headed up to Nazareth, […]

We began the day at Tabgha, site of the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 16 and Mark 6), Jesus walking on water (Mark 6), the restoration of Peter (John 21), among other events.  Jesus spent a lot of time here: This is the view from the shore, looking out at the Sea of Galilee.  This […]

This is the view from the fort.  The border is clearly defined:  if it’s green, it’s Israel. If it’s brown, it’s Syria.  Damascus is only 60 miles from where I stood.  This is also the area that only three weeks ago saw Syria launching rocket attacks into Israel: We left the border and headed back […]

This morning our group left the hotel on the Sea of Galilee and headed north.  Along the way I see that one of my predecessors has franchised into Israel: Our first stop was the ancient city of Dan.  This was the land given to the tribe of Dan (obviously) and the city has Canaanite origins.  […]

Today we left Haifa and made our way to Caesarea Maritima, one of my favorite sites in Israel.  This was the seat of the Roman governors (Pilate, Felix, Festus, et. al.), as Jerusalem was not a pleasant place to live, according to Pilate anyway (you can read what he wrote about it elsewhere).  As you […]

The tower also offers some of the best views of Jerusalem: The tower to the left is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. The gold dome in the foreground is the Church of St. John. The gold dome on the right is the Dome of the Rock mosque. In the background is the Mount of […]

While in Israel, I hope to keep you posted on my travels. I am staying in the American Colony area of east Jerusalem.  This ‘colony’ was founded by Horatio Spafford, who wrote the hymn It is Well With My Soul, (a story worth looking up), as a residence for Christians in Jerusalem. This morning I made […]

I would ask for your prayers as I travel to Israel next week for the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON), a renewal movement within the Anglican Communion. Our Communion is at a critical point and it is important that we continue to pray for Anglicanism around the world, but that we also work for renewal […]