Geoff Westlake
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Travel Notes

Christmas - empty or overflowing?

24/12/2024

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This is the kind of Christmas message I would have given if I'd thought of it! Well done Mark Fairley.
From me to you all, may your Christmas be full to overflowing!
Also, given the year Israel has had, I thought it worth sharing this reflection through Jewish eyes, that made mine overflow - again. Especially the crescendo moment "the great I AM!" Shalom Shalom.
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Cheers 2024-11 End-times & Beyond

15/11/2024

 
I'm well overdue for an update on Cheers Neighbours’ Network.

Plans about whose auspices Cheers come under have changed since last time (long story), but there is light on the horizon maybe with Worldview Aus who I now work for. WVA is still finding its organisational feet, and there's no urgency, but it's good to have insurance, childsafe training etc. And the connection between Cheers & Worldview Australia is strong as ever.
  • WVA camps involve most Cheers people at some level. And most of the Directors and many of the Young Adult Leaders for the Youth Leadership Camp come from Cheers circles.
  • WVA's new WVA Family Camp replaces the Cheers Family Camps we ran annually since 2003.
  • WVA's new Pre-View camp for years 6-8 will use our Core Stuff with which Cheers crew are quite familiar, and is directed by Darren & Kathryn, who have also hosted Cheers Sunday meetings.
Aside from WVA, since April 2023, Cheers has:
  • Continued to meet at the Westlakes' around the Bible, & prayer, & praise through trial discovering His joy in it. Helped each other through some quite difficult family & personal struggles (growing through, rather than avoiding them).
  • Kept involved with various community groups, including the BG residents association, schools & workplaces.
  • Protected each other’s places when the big bushfire came close.
  • Been learning: community living & outreach from the book of Acts, truth from Genesis 1-12, wisdom from Ecclesiastes & Proverbs, the Baton of basic teaching Paul passed to Timothy in Colossians & Ephesians, and recently passages about the End Times, and now continuing on through Matthew from chapter 26.
  • Attended the Never Again Is Now rally in Perth. This was really special, besides the important issues about antisemitism. Cheers has for years celebrated the Messianic significance of Passover and other Biblical Feasts. Plus I (Geoff) visited Israel in May ’24 observing sites from Oct 7, studying end times with various Bible scholars, and gained a sense of Christ’s desire for his Bride. At various moments in the rally I was overcome to be part of two and a half thousand voices, Gentiles joining with Jews, a foretaste of heaven’s all-nations fuller Bride, praising our LORD together. I pray something of our witness that day made them aware of the living presence of their true Messiah.

So Cheers goes on, praising the LORD.
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Israel & Palestine

18/7/2024

 
I visited Israel in May 2024, yes during the current war. We visited the Nova festival site, and Kfar Aza, a kibbutz attacked on October 7. I could have kicked a footy into no-man's land from where we stood. And yes we heard live rounds, rockets & rumbles. We saw and heard evidences of what happened. It's bad, evil. And I slept in earshot of jets & rockets in the north. But to understand that day, and this war requires more context than most news reports supply. The context is bigger than Oct7, includes centuries before 1948, and is literally of Biblical proportions.

I'm still digesting what to say theologically and pragmatically. But meanwhile I can offer these reflections:

1) Here's a good list addressing many of the common myths & memes about Israel & Palestine.

2) Here's a good way to consider the ideologies at play. Compare, "what would happen the next day if Hamas surrendered?" with, "what would happen the next day if Israel surrendered?" The obvious answers tell us who is responsible for the war, and its drawn out outcomes.

3) Christians really care about Gazans' suffering from the many evils attacking them, most especially the spiritual and ideological powers driving Hamas. Radical Islam has been the aggressor/colonizer since the 8th century, asserting that any land that has ever been under Muslim rule can never be given back (hence 'river to the sea'), colonizing Palestinia from Israelis living there after the fall of the Roman empire. Then after the fall of the Ottoman empire, the land was contested again, until post-WW2 when it was legally returned to the reconstituted Israel via multiple international laws. And boundaries were further adjusted legally through multiple defensive wars. 'Occupied territories' is Islamic nomenclature since Palestine is not a country, and Israel is the only actual country willing & able to claim or run it, even offering a two state solution to do so. So for Gazans, ultimately only grace, the Way, Work & Person of Jesus, can fix radical Islam and bring peace in the middle east, both spiritually & practically. A change of heart is needed, from Mohamed to The Messiah. It's not so unrealistic, since Jesus is a key figure within both Judaism and Islam, and considered rightly could fulfil both religions in a unifying way.

4) Christians also care about Jews, and about Jerusalem coming to faith in The Messiah. Just as Israel has blessed us Gentiles with the knowledge of God, the Law, & the Messiah, so we are to return the favour - that they may receive the Messiah. Only when Jerusalem welcomes Jesus will He return to them, as He said, "For I tell you [Jerusalem], you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’" (Mt23:39)

5) So there is no reason to hate a race, Palestinians or Jews, because this is not a racial battle (we are all one race anyway, and Palestinian blood is largely Jewish since the 8th century muslim colonization!) Many Palestinians, including millions of Arab Christians, disagree with Hamas.
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So there is no reason to hate "Palestinians" or "Arabs." The problem is the spiritual worldview of radical Islam held by Hamas - Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, ISIS, Taliban, Boko Haram, Muslim Brotherhood, and Islamic Revolution in Iran. Israel is warranted to disarm such continuous clear & present attackers.
But also we pray for Palestinian Christians to win over their brothers to a better worldview, and to new spiritual life in the True Isa.

6) Likewise there is no reason to hate Israelis for now trying to disarm their attackers. Race-based anti-Semitism is to be guarded against. Rather we pray for a change of worldview, towards recognising Jesus their Messiah.

7) Jesus is key to peace in the Middle East. He is a key figure in the traditions of all three Abrahamic faiths. But conversion is unlikely because most of the traditions in the Middle East are legalistic, from Hasidic Jews, to Orthodox Christian traditions, to Islam. Even if the traditions themselves are not meant to be so legalistic, most adherents hold to them unquestioningly, because to question is to defy not only the tradition but their own families, their ancestors, tribal allegiances, histories, and very nations. It would be seen as a whole-of-life betrayal, a treason. And yet Jesus' way can resolve all of this because He is the Way and means of mercy and grace, to forgive and to give new life, to break down the walls of partition and give all of us unity in Himself.  This may only happen sufficiently when He reveals Himself at the end of the Age, but even so it can still happen on the daily, personal and inter-personal level, for those with ears to hear. May God give such grace to people from all sides.

Update Oct 7 2024:
Greg Sheridan's brief article names realities not commonly reported. Part 1 and Part 2.
Konstantin Kisin's comparisons with any other country is 11 minutes well considered, also.

CMI Israel Tour Sept 23, 23

10/2/2023

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The upcoming Creation Ministries tour of Israel will be much better than the three trips I've done, and not so much more expensive, plus proper hotels! The reason I'm seriously considering it is the destinations! The tours I've run major on the life of Jesus. But this tour will confirm much more than those events. You'll see in person that the Biblical historical descriptions are confirmed by the locations and archaeological finds. In addition to the main Jesus-related places I've taken others before, this tour visits:
  • Ein Gedi (David & Saul)
  • Jericho
  • Masada
  • City of David
  • Megiddo (whence Armageddon)
  • Lachish (evidence of a Hezekiah battle with Assyria)
  • Arad (where an Israelite Temple was built outside God's instructions)
  • Beit Shean (huge archaeological site of various cultures)
  • Caesarea Philippi (pagan 'gates of hell')
  • Tel Dan (time of the Judges)
  • Hazor (Judges, Solomon, Assyrian and Babylonian times)
  • Shiloh (Samuel, and Psalm 78)
  • Azekah (David & Goliath)
And did I mention the accommodations (end of page.)
Check out all the details here: israel2023.creation.com
Maybe I'll see you there...
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Israel's Fall Feasts

5/9/2020

 
Christians benefit from a closer look at the Biblical Fall Feasts, because, among other things, they foreshadow Christ's work in days to come. We have hindsight to help us see how Christ fulfilled Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. We need foresight to see how he will fulfil Trumpets, Atonement, and Shelters. 
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Feast 5) The shofar Trumpets signal an arrival, like a communal alarm clock. The time has come: a new Sabbath, or that a bridegroom is now coming for his bride. 
In this feast the trumpets sound to signal: a new yearly cycle of faith; the anniversary of Creation; God providing a ram in place of Isaac; and God descending to give the Law to his people. 
It is also a reminder to prepare for the Day when this age will end, to ponder, repent, pray. Hence ten 'Days of Awe’ follow the feast of Trumpets leading up to the Day of Atonement when the Trumpet will sound again. 
Christians are further reminded that on that Day the Trumpet will sound and Jesus will physically return. So how will we be ready? We can also remember that Jesus is our ultimate Sabbath, our Bridegroom, The Creator, and the bringer of the New Covenant, the fulfilment of this feast. 

Feast 6) The Day of Atonement is actually a fast. It calls to mind Judgement Day, at the end of which the shofar signals the closing of the Book of Life, in which we want our names written. So Atonement Day focusses on how our sins are to be atoned for, or ‘covered,’ on that Day.
Since the destruction of the Temple in 70AD, the Temple priests can’t make the Levitical sacrifices of atonement, so there is a lot of repenting and prayer for God’s mercy on this day. 
Christians know how our sins will be covered on Judgement day by Christ's sacrificial work at Passover. Plus The Judge on that Day will be none other than Christ himself. So we best trust what he has done, in order to have our names written in His Book of Life. 

Feast 7) The Feast of Shelters (or Tabernacles /Tents) celebrates God-with-us, just as God travelled with the Hebrews when they slept under makeshift tents in the wilderness in Exodus. For a week meals are taken outside under simple shade. This reduces dependancy on consumerism by celebrating his presence. And that’s why we feast on our finest and favourite foods over these 8 days.
Because the feast starts on the first Sabbath after the Day of Atonement, it foreshadows God-with-us forever after the Day of Judgement - Heaven, where God will be with his people, in the ultimate way.
Christians also know that Jesus is ‘God is with us,’ as Emmanuel in the flesh, by his Spirit now, through death, and in Heaven forever. 


This helps us understand why there are two New Years in the Jewish calendar: the religious-year cycle of teaching starts with Trumpets, but the calendar-year starts just before Passover. Some people start their spiritual lives at the beginning with Creation and the Old Testament (Jewish), but some start with Jesus the Passover lamb (Christians). 
The religious annual cycle begins with Creation, the First era:
  • Trumpets recall Creation, God speaks; a ram for Isaac; the Law of Moses.
  • Atonement is made (or foreshadowed) through the sacrifices
  • Shelters thanks God for his presence and provision.
  • Passover, & Unleavened Bread recalls God's action through the Exodus.
  • First Fruits celebrates bringing in the first harvest
  • Pentecost celebrates the second harvest.
And thus people lived... until the New era.
  • Prophets Trumpet the Messiah / Christ
  • Exiles show the need for Atonement, because Judgement Day does come
  • Christ Shelters with us in person (Scriptural clues even suggest Jesus' birth around the time of Shelters: God-with-us in the flesh.)
  • Passover - Christ makes the necessary sacrifice for sin & death to pass over us
  • Unleavened Bread - Christ's sinless body, broken and buried, to return later
  • The First Fruits of the resurrection harvest, is Christ
  • At Pentecost, Christ's Spirit descends for the second harvest - of Gentiles.
And thus people live now… until the Final era!
  • Trumpets will herald Christ's return
  • Christ's Atonement covers us on Judgement Day
  • His people will Tabernacle with Christ in the new heaven & earth
And thus people will live - forever.
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Whether you start with Creation, or start with Christ, the Feasts commemorate the whole of history, from the very beginning to the very end of the age.​ 

Israel 2019

21/12/2019

 
Took a group of 30 to Israel to see the Core Sites of the Core Stuff. We saw that the locations match the eyewitness accounts. You can click on the links to see the locations' webpages for yourself. There were some extra sights that I had not seen before. 
  1. God Creates 
    - Neot Kedumim shows how local plants were meant to grow, and their significance in Bible times. Everything needed for food & medicines was provided. God knows what he's doing. 
  2. Humans sin
    - Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, soldiers, checkpoints, crime, and disparate worldviews remind us that we all need a Saviour! 
  3. The Law & Prophets are given as a reliable revelation from God, recording God's work in history and foreshadowing God's work in the Messiah to come and in the future. 
    - Qumran is where Bible texts were so accurately scribed and preserved, we even stood in the Scriptorium itself where the action took place. 
    - Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, we saw parts of those actual texts from before the time of Christ with our own eyes! The Great Isaiah scroll from the second century BC, does contain all the prophecies fulfilled by the Messiah centuries later. 
    - Jerome's cells are where Jerome translated the original languages into Latin, the language of the day, or The Vulgate. It took him 30 years in Bethlehem. 
    - City of David excavations revealing the place of coronation, walls and foundations of Davids old city, Hezekiah's tunnel, the seals of King Hezekiah, Gemarayahu, and most probably Isaiah the prophet. We took the Temple steps from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Gates in the Davidson Centre, where I also stood on the Herodian streets and saw the replica of the trumpeting place of the Temple where it had fallen in the first century. All is as mentioned in the Bible. 
  4. God becomes flesh. Messiah is born. Son of God, Creator incarnate! 
    - grotto under the Church of the Nativity is where he was born. Nothing much remains of the building, but the place of both the birth and the manger are uncontested by the three churches at this site (Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian). 
    - Nazareth Village, on the site of a first century vineyard, shows us life growing up for Jesus. (Here I learned that Nazereth was an offshoot of Bethlehem for David's descendants to live in the Galilee area. Nazer means shoot - Mt2:23 / Isa53:1-2.) 
    - Sepphoris, this Roman town being built using Nazarene labour in Jesus' day would likely have utilised the building skills of Joseph and his sons. 
  5. Jesus' Life demonstrates Love for both God and People
    - Capernaum was Jesus hometown during his ministry years. One of these houses was his, one was Matthew's, and one is actually identified as Peter's. 
    - Baptism site over Jordan, and the Judean Desert where Jesus was led by the Spirit to fast before battling Satan. 
    - Mt of Beatitudes, Kursi, Magdala, Tabgha, Tiberias where Jesus taught and did miracles as he criss-crossed the lake on mission to the differrent countries circling Galilee. And a high place overlooking these countries like where he gave the Great Commission. 
    - Bethesda where we can see how deep the sands of time were over the last 2000 years, and peer down to where Jesus healed that cripple. Also the aforementioned districts from Siloam to the Temple. 
  6. Jesus' Passion and Death saves us from sin
    - Mt of Olives where Jesus taught and wept over Jerusalem. 
    - Palm Sunday Road, Upper Room, Gethsemane, Caiaphas's House & dungeons, Pavement stones from the Roman Fort Antonia. 
    - Gordon's Garden Tomb site matches Biblical descriptions of where Jesus died to take the sin and death from us all, and where he was buried... 
  7. Jesus' Resurrection turns death into a door
    ...and the Garden Tomb has a tomb carved into a wall, in a garden, with a winepress... The location matches eyewitness accounts of where Jesus rose again on the third day.
    - Church of Holy Sepulchre is the traditional site for these events, but has been so overbuilt that it is hard to get a sense of whether it matched the Biblical descriptions. Having more than one site that does match only strengthens the veracity of the eyewitness accounts. 
    - The Garden, Emmaeus, Upper room, a Galilean mountain top, Tabgha Beach are all places where Jesus appeared over the next 40 days, and fit the accounts well. 
    - Mt of Olives Chapel of the Ascension from where Jesus ascended to heaven...
  8. Jesus' Spirit descends to lead us through life and death...
    - Upper Room the location where The Spirit of Christ descended in to his disciples at Pentecost. 
  9. Grow in Community with God and people now and forever. Go share this
    - Jaffa, where Jonah ran from, has St Peter's Church and Simon the Tanner's house, where Peter received the vision to include the Gentiles, just before Roman Cornelius knocks at the door. 
    - A Mountain overlooking Galilee's many nations is where Jesus gives the Great Commission to go into all nations... 
    - Departure, as we depart Israel for locations all over the world, we follow the steps of the disciples, and the Spirit of our Lord, going to all nations, making disciples, so they too might grow in love for God and people, both now and forever. Eventually, Israel always points us back to the redemption of the whole world. 

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The Core Stuff
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Olive Tree shoots
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Isaiah manuscript circa 100BC
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Bulla seals from Hezekiah's reign
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Shofar stone unearthed where it had fallen to street level in 70AD.
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Jesus born here
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Jesus lived in one of these houses in Capernaum
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Magdala synagogue where Jesus taught
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Polluted bus depot at Place of the Skull. Symbolic.
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Place of the Upper Room
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Jaffa out the back of the Tanner's

CSI Israel: Christ Scene Investigation

7/9/2017

 
PicturePippa at Garden Tomb: He is not here... He is Risen
I returned to Israel in March 2017 (having first visited in 2013) to personally show 18 Aussies the Core Sites of the Core Stuff - where the key events occurred that founded Christianity on solid, historical foundations. 

As tour leader, I had less time to process the journey, but on the upside I could take the tour where I wanted to go in the time available. We squeezed a lot in - maybe too much if you count that one time I forgot lunch! But it was worth it! 

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It became a presentation, CSI: Christ Scene Investigation. We personally investigated how the sites agree with the texts of the Core Stuff. We saw for ourselves:
  • that God knows best how to look after the Land he created and make it flourish - Neot Kedumim
  • reminders of our human sin, which makes a Saviour necessary - Holocaust museum, soldiers, checkpoints, crime, and disparate worldviews 
  • where Bible texts were so accurately scribed and preserved, containing prophecies fulfilled by the Messiah - Qumran. And we saw some parts of those actual texts from the time of Christ with our own eyes - Shrine of the Book
  • where Jesus was born - grotto under the Church of the Nativity
  • where Jesus grew up and worked - Nazareth and Sepphoris
  • Jesus hometown during his ministry years - Capernaum 
  • where he taught and did miracles - Mt of Beatitudes, Kursi, Magdala, Tabgha, Tiberias, Cana, Galilee, Baptism site over Jordan, Mt of Temptations, "Old" Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, clues to the location of the Temple, excavations of David's City, Mt of Olives  
  • where Jesus endured Passion Week - Palm Sunday Road, Upper Room, Gethsemane, Caiaphas's House, Roman Praetorium and Pavement  
  • where Jesus died for all our sins, and rose defeating sin and death - Gordon's Garden site / Church of Holy Sepulchre / a view from approximate Red Heifer site on Mt of Olives. We checked all three. The former is the best preserved site for us to get a sense of place, and may even be it. 
  • where Jesus appeared post resurrection - Garden, Emmaeus, Upper room, a Galilean mountain
  • where he ascended - Mt of Olives Church of the Ascension
  • where he descended as the Holy Spirit at Pentecost - Upper Room 

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