My new mission in life

In the past few weeks, it’s not surprising people have been asking me why I stepped down from being a pastor.

After 18 years at a great church in Warner Robins -- and 26 years of a delightful pastoral career -- sometimes I’ve even asked myself that question.

But then there’s the Goliath Gate.

Did you see the news a few weeks ago? Archeologists working on the massive hill that holds the ruins of Gath found the clear outline of the city gate from the time of David. Or, in other words, the time of Goliath.

What about the remodeling work at the Tower of David in Jerusalem’s Old City? When workers pulled up the floor of the old museum in January, they found the ruins of what appears to be Herod’s Jerusalem palace. Important? Jesus was interrogated there the morning of his crucifixion!

Then there’s the City of David, just a short walk from the Temple Mount, where the discovery of an elaborate stepped structure was announced recently. Though archeologists aren’t sure what it is just yet, there’s no doubt it sits in the middle of a first-century street. It might have been a beautiful water fountain. Today, however, it’s simply part of a million-piece puzzle slowly taking shape right before our eyes.

Israel is the cutting edge of Christian education today. No longer do we have to imagine what the Pool of Siloam looks like. No longer do we have to live under the false impression that Christians invented baptism. There are “micvahs,” or places of baptism, everywhere in the ancient Jewish community! No longer do we have to miss the incredible wealth of information the land can give us.

Just one trip to Israel, I like to tell people, will take your Bible from that scratchy, black-and-white TV picture I grew up with to high-definition color.

But there’s a catch.

Only 1 percent of the people who would like to go to Israel ever get there.

And that’s why I left my church last month.

I’m determined to share the high-definition version of the Bible with as many people as possible. Some of those people will make the trip across the ocean with me -- most will not. So, I’ll bring the Israel experience to them.

I love nothing better than leading virtual tours to places like the valley where David beat Goliath, or to the “Gates of Hades,” where Jesus once asked, “Who do you say that I am?”

Our church family in Warner Robins blessed us as we left, and continues to bless us as we begin this work.

Never has there been a more mission-minded church than Shirley Hills Baptist; they know that this is a mission.

In a culture that seems to delight in casting doubt on the reliability of the Bible, archeologists are using that same Bible to help them find David’s palace, Mary Magdalene’s village (Magdala) and the real Via Dolorosa.

There are thousands -- tens of thousands -- of places and combinations of places in the Bible. The writers named rivers, pointed out valleys, and too many towns to count. They tracked journeys from city to city, and country to country. They named mountain ranges, oceans and roads.

With the help of modern-day archeology, we’re finding that all of those places are right where the writers said they would be.

If the impact doesn’t hit you yet, consider this: The Judeo-Christian heritage has a book whose authors clearly told the truth when it comes to geography. And if they went to that much trouble to be accurate in the places of their stories, I believe you can place faith in the events they recorded.

So we’re off on a new journey. I’ll be in churches, schools and prisons. I’ll share with college students and offer devotions for businesses. If an audience will sit still long enough, I’ll bring the show-and-tell.

Why did I leave my church? I guess I’m simply convinced that these lessons are far too valuable to leave on the other side of the world. We need them now!

Andy Cook lives in Peach County and is the founder of Experience Israel Now.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 4:19 PM with the headline "My new mission in life ."