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     On Saturday evening we had the opportunity to praise and worship with both Messianic Jewish believers from Jerusalem, and other brothers and sisters in the Lord from all over the world whom the Lord had drawn to Mount Zion Fellowship. This congregation was begun by Ruth Ward Heflin, who went to be with the Lord shortly after we returned to the States, and is pastored in Jerusalem by Nancy Bergen. Immediately below is a picture of Alice standing at the entrance to the fellowship, which in reality is Sister Heflin's house located about 3 blocks north of the British Consulate.

I cannot tell you what a joy it was to praise and worship the Most High with the same freedom and intensity we had come to know back in Kansas. In fact, when we first entered the fellowship hall one, about 1/2 hour before the service was scheduled to begin, one of the members of the fellowship came up to us and said that they normally begin singing  in the spirit about 1/2 hour before the actual service begins and then progress to dancing before the Lord. We immediately knew this was where we were supposed to be.
 

     We were able to worship with these wonderful brothers and sisters again on Sunday morning the 20th,  Sunday evening and finally on Monday afternoon. Each time we were welcomed with open arms and could definitely feel the love of the Lord in those who were present. It was really interesting to learn that only about 1/2 of the people who were there each time were regular members of Mt. Zion Fellowship. The remainder were pilgrims like us who had journeyed to Jerusalem and had prayed beforehand about where they could meet with fellow believers who like us wanted to abandon ourselves to praising and worshipping the Lord while we were in this ancient city. Above is a picture of the fellowship hall itself.

     Ever since we began having house meetings back in Kansas, the Lord has impressed upon Alice the desire to have those who worship with us on Sunday morning stay for dinner. We have been doing this since 1992, and there have been more wonderful times of extended fellowship while doing this than I could possibly remember. 

     While we had been in Jerusalem for 2 full days by now, we still had not gone into the old city. We ventured there on Sunday afternoon. The closest gate to our hotel was the Damascus Gate located near the bus depot. Here is a picture of the gate, and the bazaar which greets you as soon as you enter. In a sense, going through that gate is like going through a time portal, for you feel like you have been transported back at least 8 centuries.
 

However, if you look around, you can see numerous signs of the 20th century.  Here are just a few:

How about a 'Blue Light Special!' This shopkeeper not only had a good sense of humor, as evidenced by his sign, but he was a shrewd businessman. When I asked him if he knew the shortest way to a particular site we wanted to see, and he said, "Of course I do, right through my shop." Needless to say, we stopped in his shop, and even bought several silk scarves which we now use during our praise and worship services back home.

And for music lovers there is even a 'Holy Rock Cafe!"

 There was one 20th Century touch that truly blessed me. You see, after several hours of wandering around, we were getting tired and thirsty. Alice spied an internet cafe down one street, so we went in. It was only about 5 shekels ($1.25),  for 1/2 hour on the net, so we sat down and surfed for a few minutes as we enjoyed a Coke. I pulled up our web site.
Now while I know that the internet is accessable from anywhere in the world, and have had a fair number of hits from around the world, it was really somewhat of a thrill to be sitting in in the old city of Jerusalem and pull up the site which I put together while sitting at my computer in Kansas, Illinois. Our half hour was up, and we were rested, so we returned to the clamor of the vendors and their customers.

But there are definitely some quiet places where one can lose themselves in the mystique of this wonderful place. All that's necessary is to walk a few paces off the main 'street,' and you begin to experience an entirely different part of the "Old City."

     Another way to get a different perspective of the old city is to take either of the two ramparts walks that cover almost 2/3rds of the city's walls. Here are 2 pictures I took while we took that walk.

Even though we were well aware of the fact that these were not the walls of Jerusalem which existed at Jesus' time (they were in fact built by the Muslims in around 1542) I had an ulterior motive for wanting to take that walk. For years we have sung a praise chorus taken from Joel 2:9, "they rush on the city - they run on the walls - great is the army that carries out His Word..."  And in addition to standing in the Jordan River, one of the three things which I wanted to physically do when I was in Israel was to 'run on the walls of Jerusalem.' So I did! And it was a wonderful experience. I am sure that may have looked a little ridiculious doing it, but what the heck, I wasn't going to see any of these people again, so why not. Besides, as I recall, when it came to physical praise and worship, David said to Michal in II Sam.7:22 that "...I will become even more undignified than this." (I'll talk more about that later, when we get to the pictures of Mt. Zion.)

Here is one final picture I took of Alice while we were on the ramperts walk.