Blessed But Exhausted

The latest from Fr. Russell Martin, Sts. Timothy and Titus:

Sunday Highlights [6-22-08:

Morning:

Holy Eucharist Service at Christ Church Anglican in the Old City. It was fabulous and I was reduced to tears as I had my first communion in the Holy City within blocks of where Jesus made way from His condemnation  by Pontius Pilate to Golgotha and to His tomb--yes the tomb, which is an incredible site in and of itself. Fr. David Pelligi, the Rector, gave an outstanding sermon on discipleship, especially in the context of first century Judaism. That and the Messianic Jewish Music situated next to some familiar hymns and praises songs really made for a moving experience especially since there in excess of four hundred pilgrims, of which approximately fifty were Bishops and about four Archbishops as well, from all over the world, alongside the regular congregation.

Afternoon: I took a tour of the Shrine of the Book and its associated art museums, The Shrine may be familiar to some of you, as it is both the home of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Center dedicated to their study and preservation. I saw a large portion of the Isaiah Scroll which both the oldest copy of that book known to exist and the longest. Those of you who saw the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit [in San Diego] have some idea of the magnitude of what I saw.

Evening:  The opening of the conference and the plenary address by Archbishop Peter Akinola, of Nigeria. It can be found online in its entirety on Stand Firm www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/13559/ (not Hyper linked)

Today In brief [6-23-08]:

Early Morning Worship on the Mount of Olives, which is across the Kidron Valley, from Old Jerusalem. While there we visited two shrines one which commemorates our Lord's agony in the garden.

Lunch at the main hotel, followed by the opening Eucharistic Service at 2 p.m. which I was graciously asked to be a chalice bearer--it was simply phenomenal Eucharist service. What a terrific honor, praise God!  Then a workshop by the renowned Dr. Oz Guinness on Secularism and its challenges to authentic faith.  My posts have been spotty, but I have been swamped.  I will try to get another Blog/Journal out to you soon. I have been on full thrust from about 16+ hours now between coordinating the pilgrims at my hotel for transport, assisting in the opening Eucharist and being assigned as Archbishop Venables’ Chaplain. It is wonderful and I have been so very blessed beyond belief but I am bushwhacked. So please understand why I have not yet written more.

My love to all of you and blessings from Jeruasalem.