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Ramses II (AKA Ramses the Narcissist)

Abu Simbel:
The next morning we woke up extremely early to catch a bus at 4:30am for a trip all the way down Lake Nasser to see the huge temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel. It is a very impressive Temple complex. This is the famous temple that has four gigantic statues of Ramses II sitting in front. To the right of the temple is the temple Ramses II built for his wife, Nefertari, his most beloved of the three wives.
Inside the Temple of Ramses II, there are several side corridors in which are reliefs depicting Ramses himself worshiping nearly all of the 800+ gods of the Egyptian pantheon. To each one, he is bowing down and offering some sort of sacrifice, whether fruit, bread, animals, or something that resembled a chemistry set. He obviously wanted to make a statement about how religious he was.
Abu Simbel was another huge temple that had to be moved to higher ground due to the creation of Lake Nasser.
Note on Egyptian Temples: All Egyptian style temples follow the same basic pattern. The have some sort of gateway (pylons) leading into an open court where commoners could enter and worship. Then another gateway leads to a half-opened pillared section where only priests could go. After that there was an area with several vestibules where the idol of the god was brought to “eat” and to be washed and clothed. At the heart of the Temple lies the “Holy of Holies” as our guide called it. This is where the god would live. This was where the idol was kept, along with an “ark” which housed the 14 commandments of Egyptian law.
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Camel-riding and Croc-handling in Nubia

Nubia:

After seeing the Temple of Philae, we checked in to our cruise boat, ate lunch, and rested for a little while. The Nile River and the land surrounding it is beautiful.
That afternoon, we took a boat out to a place right off the Nile called Nubia, which is technically part of Egypt, but Nubians are a different ethnicity and have a different heritage. We hit the shore, climbed out onto the sand, and mounted our camels. Mine was named “Rambo.” We rode the camels for about 20 minutes across the Nubian desert along the Nile as the sun was setting. Absolutely incredible.
After about 20 minutes we came to a small village where the people in charge of the camels live. One family opened their house to us and offered us soft drinks and tea. They had a table set up with all sorts of Nubian crafts, jewlery, etc. There was a woman who gave henna tatoos. The most ridiculous thing about it was the fact that Nubians have a custom of keeping baby crocodiles as pets. They only keep them for a few months and set them free before they become dangerous.
All in all it was a great experience. The Nubian people were so nice and hospitable towards us. It is an experience that I will never forget.
Posted on

Ramses II (AKA Ramses the Narcissist)

Abu Simbel:
The next morning we woke up extremely early to catch a bus at 4:30am for a trip all the way down Lake Nasser to see the huge temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel. It is a very impressive Temple complex. This is the famous temple that has four gigantic statues of Ramses II sitting in front. To the right of the temple is the temple Ramses II built for his wife, Nefertari, his most beloved of the three wives.
Inside the Temple of Ramses II, there are several side corridors in which are reliefs depicting Ramses himself worshiping nearly all of the 800+ gods of the Egyptian pantheon. To each one, he is bowing down and offering some sort of sacrifice, whether fruit, bread, animals, or something that resembled a chemistry set. He obviously wanted to make a statement about how religious he was.

Abu Simbel was another huge temple that had to be moved to higher ground due to the creation of Lake Nasser.

Note on Egyptian Temples: All Egyptian style temples follow the same basic pattern. The have some sort of gateway (pylons) leading into an open court where commoners could enter and worship. Then another gateway leads to a half-opened pillared section where only priests could go. After that there was an area with several vestibules where the idol of the god was brought to “eat” and to be washed and clothed. At the heart of the Temple lies the “Holy of Holies” as our guide called it. This is where the god would live. This was where the idol was kept, along with an “ark” which housed the 14 commandments of Egyptian law.
Posted on

Camel-riding and Croc-handling in Nubia

Nubia:

After seeing the Temple of Philae, we checked in to our cruise boat, ate lunch, and rested for a little while. The Nile River and the land surrounding it is beautiful.

That afternoon, we took a boat out to a place right off the Nile called Nubia, which is technically part of Egypt, but Nubians are a different ethnicity and have a different heritage. We hit the shore, climbed out onto the sand, and mounted our camels. Mine was named “Rambo.” We rode the camels for about 20 minutes across the Nubian desert along the Nile as the sun was setting. Absolutely incredible.

After about 20 minutes we came to a small village where the people in charge of the camels live. One family opened their house to us and offered us soft drinks and tea. They had a table set up with all sorts of Nubian crafts, jewlery, etc. There was a woman who gave henna tatoos. The most ridiculous thing about it was the fact that Nubians have a custom of keeping baby crocodiles as pets. They only keep them for a few months and set them free before they become dangerous.

All in all it was a great experience. The Nubian people were so nice and hospitable towards us. It is an experience that I will never forget.
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Chick-flick Temple



We just got back this evening from our trip to Southern Greece, called the Peloponnese. It was an amazing trip, and hopefully I will get caught up through the Egypt trip and the Peloponnese before we fly to Israel next Sunday.

So here we go, back to Egypt…

Temple of Philae:
After a long trip South by way of scary night train, we arrived in the city of Aswan, which is located on the North side of the largest man-made lake in the world, Lake Nasser. The first temple we visited was the Temple of Philae (or “Love” in Eng.). It is named thus because the reliefs on the walls depict the love story between the goddess Isis and her lover Osiris. It’s a pretty gruesome story:
Set is the evil brother of Osiris, and he decides to kill Osiris and cut him up into tiny little pieces. This devastates Isis, who recovers all of Osiris’ body parts except for a certain, uh, “private” part. She reaches the simple solution for this problem by forging a new “member” our of gold. After this, Osiris is resurrected from the dead, and he and Isis give birth to Horus, whose eye gets ripped out by Set in a battle of revenge.

OK, enough with the sappy Egyptian love stories. Here’s the really neat thing about this temple: It is a very close replica to Solomon’s original Temple in Jerusalem. How do we know this? Because there are two other replicas that were built in Egypt after Judea was conquered by the Babylonians. Thousands of Jews fled to Egypt and, in light of the Temple being destroyed, the built a complete replica in Northern Egypt and another one in Southern Egypt on Elephantine Island (which is undergoing excavation as right now and is one of the possible locations for the Ark of the Covenant). When the Ptolemies took power, after Alexander’s kingdom was divided, one of the Ptolemies (the 3rd I think) built the Temple of Philae based off of the design of the two replicas of Solomon’s Temple.

Another cool thing about this temple: the entire structure had to be moved onto a nearby hill because it would have been under water after the Aswan High Dam was built.

So I can rightfully say that I have been inside a full size ancient replica of Solomon’s Temple. How cool is that?

Posted on

Chick-flick Temple



We just got back this evening from our trip to Southern Greece, called the Peloponnese. It was an amazing trip, and hopefully I will get caught up through the Egypt trip and the Peloponnese before we fly to Israel next Sunday.

So here we go, back to Egypt…

Temple of Philae:
After a long trip South by way of scary night train, we arrived in the city of Aswan, which is located on the North side of the largest man-made lake in the world, Lake Nasser. The first temple we visited was the Temple of Philae (or “Love” in Eng.). It is named thus because the reliefs on the walls depict the love story between the goddess Isis and her lover Osiris. It’s a pretty gruesome story:
Set is the evil brother of Osiris, and he decides to kill Osiris and cut him up into tiny little pieces. This devastates Isis, who recovers all of Osiris’ body parts except for a certain, uh, “private” part. She reaches the simple solution for this problem by forging a new “member” our of gold. After this, Osiris is resurrected from the dead, and he and Isis give birth to Horus, whose eye gets ripped out by Set in a battle of revenge.

OK, enough with the sappy Egyptian love stories. Here’s the really neat thing about this temple: It is a very close replica to Solomon’s original Temple in Jerusalem. How do we know this? Because there are two other replicas that were built in Egypt after Judea was conquered by the Babylonians. Thousands of Jews fled to Egypt and, in light of the Temple being destroyed, the built a complete replica in Northern Egypt and another one in Southern Egypt on Elephantine Island (which is undergoing excavation as right now and is one of the possible locations for the Ark of the Covenant). When the Ptolemies took power, after Alexander’s kingdom was divided, one of the Ptolemies (the 3rd I think) built the Temple of Philae based off of the design of the two replicas of Solomon’s Temple.

Another cool thing about this temple: the entire structure had to be moved onto a nearby hill because it would have been under water after the Aswan High Dam was built.

So I can rightfully say that I have been inside a full size ancient replica of Solomon’s Temple. How cool is that?

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It’s a Sad Day in America..but for a different reason in my opinion

I find it difficult to come up with words for my feelings right now. My prayers go out to all the Christians in America who are letting their anger and hatred show through. I have been appalled, disgusted, but mostly disappointed by the way “Christians” are handling this. To prove my point, here are some Facebook statuses which I have read from fellow Christians (directly copied and pasted):

“…ENJOY IT WHILE IT LAST OBAMA U WONT BE AROUND MUCH LONGER…HAHA.”

“…well guys it was fun while it lasted… wonder how karl marx we will get?”

“…wants to amputate his right leg from his knee down…”

“…is screaming at the top of his lungs “islamic people have always said they will destroy us from within!!!” Congratulations Obama voters you have doomed us all!”

“…is going to watch things fall apart…preferably from another country.”

“…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.we. are. screwed.”

“…is thinking he can finally marry his boyfriend, then adopt a baby and kill it. Thanks America!”

“…is leaving America for the next 4 years……have fun being socialist….don’t say us McCain fans didnt warn you when change comes!”

I could go on, but I think you get the point. I sense so much anger, sarcasm, and rashness in the way people are reacting. But as I have been saying all along, there is no law that man can make which can rip away our freedom in Christ. We can be Christians no matter what kind of government we are living under, be it democracy, socialism, communism, monarchy, oligarchy. There is no law against loving our neighbor as ourselves. There is no law against spreading peace and meeting the needs of others. There is no law against caring for our fellow human beings. There is no law against love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. (Gal. 5)

I have seen more division and animosity between Christians over this election than any other event or doctine. We are called to lay aside our differences, preferences, and opinions and be united with each other to the furthering of the kingdom. I will say that there are a good number of Christians out there who are willing to do this. Many of my brothers and sisters have accepted and stated that they are continuing to pray for our leaders and our country. They are unwilling to get caught up in the political mudslinging, name calling, and hostility. I thank God for those people, and I pray for those who aren’t at that point yet.

On a side note, I have also seen many people saying that they are moving to another country, like Canada, or Europe. Those people might want to do a little homework before they make a rash dicision like that. The rest of the world likes and supports Obama as much or more (in most places) than Americans do. Canada is socialist. Most of Europe and South America is socialist. The rest of the world is either Islamic, Hindu, or Atheistic. I don’t think they’ll be moving anywhere any time soon.

Posted on

It’s a Sad Day in America..but for a different reason in my opinion

I find it difficult to come up with words for my feelings right now. My prayers go out to all the Christians in America who are letting their anger and hatred show through. I have been appalled, disgusted, but mostly disappointed by the way “Christians” are handling this. To prove my point, here are some Facebook statuses which I have read from fellow Christians (directly copied and pasted):

“…ENJOY IT WHILE IT LAST OBAMA U WONT BE AROUND MUCH LONGER…HAHA.”

“…well guys it was fun while it lasted… wonder how karl marx we will get?”

“…wants to amputate his right leg from his knee down…”

“…is screaming at the top of his lungs “islamic people have always said they will destroy us from within!!!” Congratulations Obama voters you have doomed us all!”

“…is going to watch things fall apart…preferably from another country.”

“…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.we. are. screwed.”

“…is thinking he can finally marry his boyfriend, then adopt a baby and kill it. Thanks America!”

“…is leaving America for the next 4 years……have fun being socialist….don’t say us McCain fans didnt warn you when change comes!”

I could go on, but I think you get the point. I sense so much anger, sarcasm, and rashness in the way people are reacting. But as I have been saying all along, there is no law that man can make which can rip away our freedom in Christ. We can be Christians no matter what kind of government we are living under, be it democracy, socialism, communism, monarchy, oligarchy. There is no law against loving our neighbor as ourselves. There is no law against spreading peace and meeting the needs of others. There is no law against caring for our fellow human beings. There is no law against love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. (Gal. 5)

I have seen more division and animosity between Christians over this election than any other event or doctine. We are called to lay aside our differences, preferences, and opinions and be united with each other to the furthering of the kingdom. I will say that there are a good number of Christians out there who are willing to do this. Many of my brothers and sisters have accepted and stated that they are continuing to pray for our leaders and our country. They are unwilling to get caught up in the political mudslinging, name calling, and hostility. I thank God for those people, and I pray for those who aren’t at that point yet.

On a side note, I have also seen many people saying that they are moving to another country, like Canada, or Europe. Those people might want to do a little homework before they make a rash dicision like that. The rest of the world likes and supports Obama as much or more (in most places) than Americans do. Canada is socialist. Most of Europe and South America is socialist. The rest of the world is either Islamic, Hindu, or Atheistic. I don’t think they’ll be moving anywhere any time soon.

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Under the Overpass

I just finished an amazing book titled Under the Overpass. It is the story of two Christian college students who decide to drop out for a semester and live on the streets of 5 different US cities for 1 month each. The book is actually written by one of the two guys, and it simply chronicles their journey.

Life on the streets is rough, but most people, including myself, have no idea just how messed up life can get. As Christians, we are supposed to be the ones feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. We are supposed to be the ones meeting the needs of our fellow humans who are suffering from poverty, addictions, mental illnesses, whatever. It was an eye-opening book in the fact that they visited numerous churches and encountered many Christians, but the place where the homeless, poor, and hungry should be able to seek refuge was the very place that turned its back on them (for the most part).

I would suggest every Christian (especially ministers and leaders of any sort) to read this book. It has changed my outlook on the important things in life. It has given me ideas for my ministry as well as for when I get back to the states. There is so much more that we Christians could, and should, be doing. We shouldn’t have to rely on the government to do the same job that Christians are called to do. In fact, we shouldn’t even rely on our congregations to use the money we donate to give to the poor and benevolence programs – for the most part the money does not go towards those causes. We should take initiative on ourselves and help people in the name of Christ.

I pray that all Christians will take this to heart no matter what the outcome of the election might be.

Posted on

Under the Overpass

I just finished an amazing book titled Under the Overpass. It is the story of two Christian college students who decide to drop out for a semester and live on the streets of 5 different US cities for 1 month each. The book is actually written by one of the two guys, and it simply chronicles their journey.

Life on the streets is rough, but most people, including myself, have no idea just how messed up life can get. As Christians, we are supposed to be the ones feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. We are supposed to be the ones meeting the needs of our fellow humans who are suffering from poverty, addictions, mental illnesses, whatever. It was an eye-opening book in the fact that they visited numerous churches and encountered many Christians, but the place where the homeless, poor, and hungry should be able to seek refuge was the very place that turned its back on them (for the most part).

I would suggest every Christian (especially ministers and leaders of any sort) to read this book. It has changed my outlook on the important things in life. It has given me ideas for my ministry as well as for when I get back to the states. There is so much more that we Christians could, and should, be doing. We shouldn’t have to rely on the government to do the same job that Christians are called to do. In fact, we shouldn’t even rely on our congregations to use the money we donate to give to the poor and benevolence programs – for the most part the money does not go towards those causes. We should take initiative on ourselves and help people in the name of Christ.

I pray that all Christians will take this to heart no matter what the outcome of the election might be.