May 18 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 22. Buying a magic carpet in Fez

A must have experience of visiting a country like Morocco is getting a traditional carpet. My uncle has a couple he got from when he lived in Iran in 1970s.

This is a big grand place, there was a loom upstairs with a part finished one, but don’t think the actual manufacturing is done here.

Notice the DHL poster. As part of the deal on a larger carpet, the vendor says shipping is included. One of the very large ones hung up had a price tag of $10,000

In the true style of business in this part of the world, selling handicrafts has to be done an aggressive and fun way. Here at this shop, we are given a tour of the place, some mint tea and a selection of carpets brought out for our perusal.

I think only myself and this American Jewish girl who was with our youth hostel bought a carpet (which hers was $200) which was meant to be a traditional Berber Jewish style pattern did some buying.

The purple one in the top right is now mine 🙂 I think I got it for about £65 in the end. There are cheers from the owner and his assistants as we each go over to the credit card terminals. Its part of a big well rehearsed act, even though there is guilt as I try and work out how much money I have spent over my intended budget this week.

The owner says these carpets are all made unique, they will appreciate with age as an investment and could be resold at an auction.

I call mine a magic carpet, just as Morocco is a kind of magical place and it will be something to remember these fascinating places. I was asked to give one of shop workers a small tip as he bundles the carpets upto into a neat sausage shaped bag to squeeze into my flight case for later.

After all this hard work negotiating with eager shop keepers, its time for lunch with the folks I met at my youth hostel.

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May 17 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 21. The tannery

The Moroccans are very talented at making jackets and bags.

I went past the tannery which has been here for centuries.

This place still uses traditional processes to dye and treat leather. These pools have men leave skins in there to achieve the desired colour then leave them to dry on the roofs and balconies.

The dyes range from vegetable (I think beetroot) and pigeon poo.

There is a nice veranda to stand on and look across the old city. On your way out you will got through the showrooms of bags, men’s wear and women’s wear where you will battle to get out without the hard sell. 🙂 I think the treated fabrics are stitched in people’s homes who then bring them to the stores to be sold.

I got a nice brown jacket for about £100. The usual practice of haggling is necessary, so much less than 50% of the original asking price is to be aimed for.

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May 14 2015

James Tabor’s false grave of Jesus discovery is an agenda to delegitimise the gospel

When I first got interested in Israel and the Jewish foundations of my faith, I liked looking at all kinds of sources. After many years of being in ministry and meeting various people I’ve got more discernment of sorting out what’s sensationalism, what’s just weird and what has value to history of our background as believers in the Jewish Messiah. Today I worry that I have seen my friends in the UK and the US often may get excited about something that could have an agenda.

Ages ago I heard about the Talpiyot tomb which is being portrayed by a fringe movement of historians like Professor James Tabor as new possible site where a grave of Yeshua (Jesus) could of been. The tomb that Jesus was given from Joseph of Aramathea known today as ‘The Garden Tomb’ (see footnote) is most likely the correct one, but there are other possible locations I’ve seen that were intended as tombs for more wealthy Jews of that time.

From Tabor’s web site:-

the jesus tomb

The crucial point here is this tomb had bones in. These are remains of Jews may be roughly contemporary with Christ and his disciples, but not the bones of Yeshua. To proclaim it is, would be to say that the resurrection never happened. If James Tabor is a believer he needs to repent and accept Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. If he’s not a believer Christians should have nothing to do with him.

I’m also quite familiar with the location of Tabor and Jacobovici’s own tomb. Its interesting that they found it among early 1980s built flats that are there now. I blogged about this quite a while back when I was still in Jerusalem.

Why? I used to live in Olei Ha Gardon in Talpiyot for 3 years, the very place this tomb was found. You can’t see where this tomb actually is, as the entrance is blocked and they got pictures of it using a robot sent into a small hole.

Ok, where today there is a big problem with super-sessionism (replacement theology or saying Israel and the Jews have no relevance today) and antisemitism, the regular type and the less obvious types, I’m going to talk more about the Hebrew Roots movement, I think there is a lot of dangerously destructive ideas in this which are leading believers astray.

Tabor lists on his Facebook page as being a Professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he lists his friends as not evangelicals, ordinary Jews, or Israeli Messianic Jews but ex-Messianic groups who aim to destroy the gospel such as Jono ‘Truth2U’ Vandor and Jason Spiritualbabies, these are heretical revisionist groups aiming to convert Christians to Orthodox/Chabad Judaism.

Tabor seems well educated, but its crucially important for Christians to stick to sources of history only from credible sources.

2 Corinthians 11 : 1

I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

12And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Please also check my other writings on The tomb of Jesus and also Easter at the Garden Tomb 2012

May 10 2015

Lance Lambert, author, speaker, prophet and British gent in Israel 1931-2015

Got a message today to report the sad passing of Lance Lambert, a British man who was a well known author on theology and Israel in prophecy. The interesting thing was I was at my parents house last week and found and old book of his that fell out of a shelf.

Lance was someone I got know very well personally. Quite a few young people in their 20s and 30s doing volunteer work for various Christian organisations got to have bible study or get-togethers at his house. Not only was Lance a worldwide renowned speaker and author he was very hospitable, but as a single man who never married who had a few health problems, he always had people helping him at his home, cooking, looking after his pets (3 parrots, 2 dogs, 2 cats) and going on tour with him. Lance was high in demand in churches and Christian events, so would usually go to the US and Canada every summer, to the UK and other parts of Europe but when he was younger would go to China. He would always have volunteers to help with his travel arrangements and getting him on flights, hence I came good friends with Christians of similar age with folks like Nathan, Josh, Shlomo, Basti, Stephen, Richard and Michael who worked for Lance at different times.

Oddly we had a lot of fellowship when Lance was not there, as he left a budget for his housekeepers to have people over dinner. We were kept amused by films, card games, Lance’s old and fascinating house full of antiques and of course his animals. The three parrots he had, one would screech loudly, another would join in, and the other one was friendly and amenable and would talk and mimic the doorbell, telephone and the dogs barking. Lance’s house was in a historical part of Yemen Moshe, Jerusalem close to the famous King David Hotel and the “Yimca” (Israeli word for the YMCA) he emigrated in Israel from the UK in 1980, he lost some of his family in the holocaust.

Tuesday would normally be bible study for crowd of us, sometimes just 8, there could be as many as 25. Lance and his friend Chuck an American Messianic leader would discuss what was currently happening in the news, and talks usually stuck to particular book ie Romans or Revelation.

Since I left Israel in 2013, I knew the Lance’s health was causing him some challenges, but he would always speak at the Feast of Tabernacles event run by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, as many Christians would come to this event as a huge praise and worship event. Lance has given prophecies about world events these been have documented on his web site, some of these have already been realised such as the collapse of the Soviet Union.

I will miss Lance, he is a wonderful British gent who was highly knowledgeable on the bible, gracious, hospitable with a passion to speak about the Lord all over the world.

Some of Lance’s books:- (many translated to lots of different languages)

Israel a secret documentry 1975 (these years might not be right, as some of been re-printed)
Battle for Israel 1976
Uniqueness of Israel 1980
Israel The unique land the unique people 1981
Till the day dawnss 1982
God can do it without me 1991
Thou art mine 1991
Reignin with Christ 1992
Jerusalem the covenant city 2000
Jacob I have Loved 2008
The eternal purpose of God, salvation is not the end, but just the beginning 2009
Explainig Spiritual protection 2012
Let the house of God be built 2012
If any man would follow me 2012
They Shall Mount up with Wings 2012
The glory of Thy People Israel 2012
In the day of thy power 2013
Warring the Good Warfare 2013
Be ye ready 2013
Spiritual Character 2013
My house shall be a house of prayer 2014
The Battle of the Ages 2014
What is God doing? 2015
The supremacy of Jesus Christ 2015

Lance’s official web site

http://www.lancelambert.org/ – His books on Amazon UK now

lances web site From one of books;

Lance Lambert is one of the most distinguished Bible scholars and speakers in Israel today and has an itinerant teaching ministry worldwide. Born in 1931, Lance grew up in Richmond, Surrey and came to know the Lord at twelve years of age. He entered the school of African and Oriental studies at London University to prepare for work in China. He studied Classical Chinese, Mandarin, Oriental Philosophy and Far Eastern History, but the revolution closed the door to European missionaries and his entry into China. In the early 1950’s Lance served in the Royal Air Force in Egypt and later founded Halford House Christian Fellowship in Richmond, England. Having discovered his Jewish ancestry Lance became an Israeli citizen in 1980 and now has his home next to the Old City of Jerusalem. His father and many members of his family died in the Holocaust. Lance is noted for his eschatological views, which place him in the tradition of Watchman Nee and T. Austin-Sparks. He produces a widely appreciated quarterly audio recording called the Middle East Update, which gives his unique perspective on current events in the Middle East, in the light of God’s Word. He has written numerous books and is presenter of the video production, Jerusalem, the Covenant City.

May 9 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 20. The palaces of Fez

Fez is a really old city, these perimeter walls remind me a bit of Jerusalem and Akko.

There are more of these Riyads (mansion houses) here

The tiles, coloured glass, geometric shapes, palm trees and ambiance makes these a beautiful characteristic of Morocco.

This is my Youth Hostel I stayed in 🙂 Its not quite as striking as the one in Tangier. But it has this large grand feel all the same. Under this Arabic text you can see various icons of Morocco, notice on the left is a Jewish Candelabra. 🙂

This roof unusually, isn’t glass.

This is the roof top, this canopy is actually a tent type fabric structure. There’s a lot of places to hang out for the guests of the youth hostel, so I had the chance to chill and chat with a lot of other people, Americans, Canadians and French mostly.

This on the right is a money changer (or an actual bank) that’s close to the outdoor markets.

There are many other beautiful big grand buildings around Fez, mostly part of the Moroccan government with stern looking soldiers outside and they don’t like you taking pictures!

Although this is a unmistakably Islamic country, these large buildings that are fit for a king made me think of this verse:-

John 14 : 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

This makes me wonder what kind of dwellings we will have when we meet with our Lord.

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Next 21 The Tannery

May 9 2015

Universalism – today’s modern enemy of the Gospel

(I’ll talk more on Morocco shortly)

I was talking to someone the other day who isn’t a churchgoer but has had some Christian upbringing. He told me he thought it was possible that all religions follow a mostly similar set of rules and framework, and it is ok to mix them together.

Here’s why this idea is a bad one if I look at quotes from three of the most well-known faiths.

Judaism has The Shema;
ְׁשמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יהוה אֶחָד
“Shmai Y’Israel Adonai Elohinu Adonai Echad”
Hear oh Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is one

Islam has the Shahada
لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله
“lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh”
There is no god but god, Muhammad is the messenger of god

Christianity has Jesus’ proclamation of no other way;
λέγει αὐτῷ ‹ὁ› Ἰησοῦς Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή• οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα εἰ μὴ δι’ ἐμοῦ.
I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me – John 14:6

These three quotes as you can see are mutually incompatible! You can’t build a one-fits-all faith any more than you can make a cake out of cement!

Christianity uses the foundation parts of Judaism with many of the laws fulfilled by Jesus, Islam mimics some elements of Judaism and is considered to be an ‘Abrahamic’ faith, but it’s only through Jesus we have salvation.

The message of the gospel requires love but also the courage, to tell the truth. If we tell people that it’s fine to follow another religious system then the sacrifice on the cross Jesus did means nothing.

Other religions don’t accept the Trinity, and many pseudo-Christian (7th day Adventists, Jehovah’s witnesses, some hyper-Hebrew Roots) groups don’t either, the Trinity isn’t explicitly mentioned in the bible but it is there if you get a closer look. ~~I’ll blog on this soon.~~ This link actually.

Apr 18 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 19. Fez first impressions

This station looks even better than the others I saw!

Stepping out of the station on to this neat garden

fez taxis

fez station2 1024

At this point I resisted getting a taxi, as I wanted to get some lunch and thought I’d just have a wander around although the little wheels on my trolley are probably almost worn to the metal, as they are more suited to a shiny airport floor rather than gritty Saharan Africa…

fez roundabout

Fez is characterised by these ancient perimeter walls, this is an exciting place….

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Apr 15 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 18. On the train to Fez

This was Casablanca station when I originally got there, not a great pic, but its quite a huge looking station

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So now, I’m leaving for another city, Fez.

There is quite a large array of platforms as it seems Casablanca is quite a central hub for the rest of the country.

Once getting going, this was a 5 hour journey, with an hour stop in Rabat. I found I could track my location on my Android phone as the GPS would show in Google Maps even with cellular data switched off which would be costly if I had this on.

Rabat is Morocco’s capital. I didn’t get to venture out properly except from with these pictures. It looks quite modern and I like these tree lined boulevards that you see on a lot of streets here.

One of the tough parts of this whole trip is seeing some severe poverty.

Looking out of the window there are people living in shacks by the side of the track. These people look ethnically different from average typical Moroccan (Berber or Arab or inbetween) These people look like they were from more central Africa. I’m guessing they are immigrants from maybe neighbouring Mauritania or Senegal.

This was just approaching Fez itself.

On my train in the same carriage, there was young couple very in love who looked in the early 20s, the girl looked Arab and the boy looked more Berber. Although Morocco does seem to be loyally Islamic, I wonder if showing affection in public in much of the middle east would be possible.

I was looking forward to seeing the ancient city of Fez.

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Apr 15 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 17. Scooter shops

In Casablanca, a common way to get around is to get a motor scooter.

These are quite different from the mostly plastic bodied scooters I see in the UK.

I think the city could be characterised by the lot of small scale garages that do servicing and also small shops that do accessories and parts.

Previous – 16. Synagogue and Jewish museum of Casablanca

Next – 18. On the train to Fez

Apr 11 2015

Magnificent Morocco – 16. Synagogue and Jewish museum of Casablanca

Until today, the only sign of Casablanca’s Jewish community I saw was this;

I don’t think this building is used any more. Like the first synagogue I saw in Tangier, there are no symbols of anything to show the Jewish faith, just a temple looking place which looked all locked up.

There is actually 17 synagogues in Casa, apparently there is just one that is still active. Had to walk about an hour and 15 mins to the other side of town to the Jewish museum.

Its very quiet here, there are no other visitors apart from me.

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Nicely looked after artifacts, Torah scrolls, lamps, clothing

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I think this museum is run by the Moroccan government as they are keen on preserving history including non-Islamic cultures. This is fairly unusual in a lot of Muslim countries. The lady who took my money and asked for a tip was a religious Muslim who was friendly and kept the place immaculately clean and offered to take pictures of me.

There is no mention of the Shoah (Holocaust) I don’t know if any Jews fled to North Africa from Europe. There is no real mention of Israel, Jerusalem, Zionism or antisemitism. There is no mention why Jews have left Morocco. There seems to be very few left.

What I did learn is this community have had a few tragedies, a typhoid break killed thousands. Many of the Jews left in 1956 when Morocco came independent. Later, I read online there were multiple suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003, the same time as the intifada in Israel. Still, I think Jews in this country have been treated better than much of the rest of the Islamic world.

There has been a problem with Jizya – this is the Arab name for a term for a unfair tax paid by non-Muslims, this happens other parts of the Arab world.

Check out this blog for music and historical culture of Moroccan Jews http://jewishmorocco.blogspot.co.uk/

I’ll explain more of the Jewish history of Morocco by the time I get to Fez.

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Brit In Jerusalem

A Christian discovering the roots in the holy land….