Elliott's Muses

There are so many things I could say about our recent trip to Israel.  I loved it.  It was a "bucket-list" trip.  I had my eyes opened to so many things I did not realize.  I saw things that I've read in scripture over the last forty years and it made me wonder, appreciate, ponder and learn. Over the next few posts I want to share some of the more interesting things I saw, or observed. Let's start with this:  Israel is a country of complexity.  One cannot just jump into a car, cab, or bus and go north to south or west to east without to go through checkpoints. There are multiple checkpoints.  Why? Because Israel is a divided country with different sections relegated to Palestinian Arabs and the general Jewish population. It does not mean that Arabs and Jews don't live together.  They do in many different areas - city and rural. Yet those areas of joint living are all under Israeli control.  The areas that are completely under the con...

Hi my friends, It's been a while since I've posted, and the fact is it was a welcome break. Sometimes I feel compelled to write, and love that; but there are other times when I feel the duty to write and it becomes a task - often dry and stale.  So forgive me for the lack of posting and accept this as a "glad to be back here and sharing again." I continue to read through Calvin's "Institutes of Christian Religion" - a massive exposition of Christian doctrine, now 550+ years old, but still timeless in depth and truth.  I've come to the end of book two, which means there are still two more books to do.  This last book dealt with the person and work of Christ, and in an interesting fashion the last part of book two was an exposition of the Apostle's Creed. Don't know if you remember the creed, but it's worth memorizing. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurre...