I think it is a healthy thing to go digging for physical evidence of the reason for your faith.

Faith is a beautiful thing, but it should not be blind. Our faith should be built on evidence. For me, the very first evidence of a holy God was creation and sensing his presence.

As a small, four-year-old child, I had never been to church. Yet, there was something about the name and mention of God that always rang true for me. I immediately knew to look up at the sky when my neighbors said His name. Belief was instinctual for me. (You can read more about my story of faith here.)

I feel like it was a privilege to discover faith in God basically on my own. Many people struggle thinking, “Do I only believe this because it’s how I was raised?”

I don’t think how you are raised is the only reason why you believe whatever you believe. There’s so much more to it than most people realize.

From the time I was eleven years old and up, I took to reading the Bible for myself to learn what God’s word says. I needed to examine it for myself.

Then somewhere in adulthood, I wanted to know even more about the past of the Bible.

What evidence is there to go along with these stories? Are there other historical accounts that agree with the Bible? What else do we know? Are there artifacts?

Oh boy, are there ever artifacts!

The more I read about it and see it for myself, the more I enjoy Biblical Archaeology. It pains me so much that there is a war going on in Israel. I worry about Israel remaining a country, and I am concerned for all of the preserved places. War always destroys historical keepsakes, if you will. Plus, I hate that we are all too scared to go tour Israel now.

One of the easiest ways to read about archaeological evidence for the Bible is to order a few books on the topic.

Not all Bible history books are created equal, obviously. There are some I’ve learned much from but didn’t enjoy, and I gave those to Goodwill.

Today I’m going to share only five of my favorites with you.

These five are both informative and interesting. Each of these books has earned its spot on my bookshelves, and I guarantee you could learn a lot from them too. I cannot keep too many books in our home because we move so much, and books are heavy.

Let’s start with my number one pick.

#1. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler

This book is the ultimate resource for learning about how the Bible was translated, preserved, documented, and evidenced. It is an exhaustive source for going into details on archaeological discoveries relating to the Bible.

I confess I have not read the entire book yet. It is so in depth and lengthy, and my attention span is like a butterfly. Instead, I use this one to look up any antiquity or event I’d like to learn more about. To me, it never seems like there’s enough information available on the topic of Biblical history online.

The Popular Handbook was published in 2013, over ten years ago. Therefore, it is missing all of the things discovered in that time gap, and you would not believe how many discoveries have been made just since 2013. For more recent discoveries, check out books number two and three on this list.

If you would like a book that will answer many of your questions about the Bible and what artifacts have been found, this is the one for you.

Here are a few topics covered well in this book:

• Reliability of Old Testament manuscripts
• The Dead Sea Scrolls
• How the New Testament came to be
• Reliability of the New Testament
• Archaeological Evidence of Old Testament Events such as the Flood, the Exodus from Egypt, and King David
• Old Testament People who were confirmed by archaeology, in graphs
• Non-Christian accounts of Jesus
• Archaeological evidence for Jesus
• The Temple Mount
• Finds relating to the New Testament

This is such an excellent resource to have on hand. If you teach any kind of Bible class or have any interest in learning more about the ancient past or how the Bible was written, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. You can buy it here from Amazon, or any book store with a solid religion section. When you purchase through affiliate links on my website, I do collect advertising fees from Amazon.

I am not a Walmart affiliate, but I believe you may be able to get it cheaper at Walmart.

#2. Where God Came Down by Joel Kramer

This book is newer, published in 2020, and I cannot say enough positive things about my experience reading this book.

First of all, Kramer is an archaeologist as well as a Christian preacher. He spent many years living and working in Israel.

Furthermore, Kramer routinely takes people on tours of the Holy Land. Those tours are probably on pause during the current war with Hamas. Don’t despair that you cannot take a trip to Israel though. Kramer has a YouTube channel where he uploads his tours of many historical places in Israel. There are enough videos on there to keep you busy for a while!

Here’s a sample of his YouTube channel/videos:

What makes this book so great:

-easy to read, conversational tone

-engaging, full color photos to go with each archaeological site discussed

-in depth look at important discoveries

Joel Kramer takes ten places, five from the Old Testament and five from the New Testament, and goes into deep details to what is relevant about each place.

A few topics covered in Where God Came Down:

• Abraham
• the Mountain of God
• Jacob’s altar
• Abraham’s burial site
• David’s palace
• Nazareth
• the nativity
• where Jesus was crucified and buried

Kramer focuses on the evidence and the story in each famous individual place and walks you through exactly how this site was preserved over time. He explains why each discovery and fact about the place and the people is significant.

If you are looking for a book where you can read in depth about Christianity’s most famous heroes and places and how we know they are true, this is the book for you.

You can find this book on Amazon. I was dismayed to find that Barnes and Noble does not sell it.

#3. Biblical Archaeology Review magazine

You can get this magazine in the mail or online. Even if you don’t subscribe to the magazine, many of their articles are free on their website.

I have been reading this magazine for years. My favorite article they ever ran was on why the dates for Christmas were chosen. As it turns out, those are not random dates or pagan holidays. You can find the article here.

The tone of this magazine is academic. Some of these articles will be immediately interesting to me, and some will not. However, it is a good way to stay up to date on recent findings. You can also learn about many opportunities to visit dig sites and listen to lectures on the topic of Biblical archaeology.

The magazine always runs articles on interesting artifacts and discoveries. It is a welcome surprise in my mailbox when it arrives.

Specific topics vary with each issue of the magazine. You can visit their website to learn more.

#4. Tried by Fire by William J. Bennett

This book was fascinating. It feels extremely rare to have the opportunity to learn about church history of those first one thousand years of Christianity.

I wrote a whole article about things I learned from this book a few years ago.

This book is thoroughly entertaining because so much of it I had never heard before at all.

Here are a few topics included in Tried by Fire:

• Persecution of the disciples
• before the church was under the authority of Rome
• Influence of early Christian women
• the Codex
• Egypt and the Great Persecution
• Constantine
• Council of Nicaea
• Monasticism
• Pope Leo I
• spread of Christianity
• East/West schism of the church

I highlighted and underlines so many pages of Tried by Fire.

There are so many stories in here that were completely new to me about early church customs and people. It filled so many gaps in my historical knowledge. In fact, I feel like I need to go back and read it again because it’s been a few years since I read it the first time.

You can find Tried by Fire on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

#5. Israel Then & Now by Thomas and M. Cartier

Paintings by S. Rotem, Photographs by z. Radovan, S. Rotem, and Y. Hirshfeld

If you would like a chance to see Israel, how it looks now, as well as how it looked in the past, this is the book for you.

Israel Then & Now is full of present day photos, with an overlay drawing of how each place looked in ancient times.

This is one example of how the book shows you each place and takes you back in time to that same place:

Each photo goes along with a summary of what is important about the places you see in the photos.

Here are few places you will learn about in this book:

• Temple-Mount in Jerusalem
• The Cardo
• Masada
• King Herod’s palace
• Tiberias
• the Galilee boat
• the synagogue of Capernaum
• the Roman Temple in Caesarea
• Meggido

My favorite section of this book is the story of the fishing boat discovered in the Sea of Galilee. It dates back to the exact time of Jesus.

Plus, I love how this book is full of full-color photos and illustrations. If this is the kind of book you enjoy, also be sure to check out the book I wrote about our trip to Israel, as it is also full of full color photos and stories about each place. However, my book does not have the benefit of the overlays of how the places looked in ancient times. That’s what makes Israel Then & Now so unique.

Israel Then & Now is a quick read. You could read it in one sitting and learn so much. You can buy it on Amazon.

I hope you’ve found at least one book in this list that sounds exciting to you.

If you’ve never read any books in this genre before, I would start with Joel Kramer’s Where God Came Down. The book is well written and easy to understand. Plus, the photos are so good, and it covers the ten places that it focuses on in great depth. In fact, it looks like he might make this into a series of books.

With God being taught in less and less places, many people are left not knowing what to believe in. So much doubt has been cast on the things of God. Most people do not realize how much of our beliefs is pure history, and not a matter of faith at all. It is a fact Jesus was a real person who lived two thousand years ago. What you believe about Jesus is where the faith comes in. I don’t think most people realize that.

Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16:

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

2 Peter 1:16 KJV

I want to challenge you to look up some of these people and places, and you will be amazed at how much evidence there is to support the events reported in the Holy Bible.

These five books are all a solid start to learning about archaeological evidence to support the Bible.

Have you read a book about Bible Archaeology that was so good you’d like to share it with others?

Leave us the title and author of it in the comments section, so we can read it too! I’d be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments as well.

The post Best Biblical Archaeology Books for Exploring Evidence of the Past appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Today I have a guest post for you on the topic of important considerations for your homeschooling decision.

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, as we have homeschooled at our house several different years, in a couple of different ways. There was so much that went into this decision.

Our expert today is here to share with us what we should think about when we are making this important decision.

Going to school is the norm for most children. However, it doesn’t always have to be. Homeschooling is the legal alternative to sending your kid to a traditional school.

In homeschooling, you can enable teachers to educate your children at home. While some parents opt for homeschooling due to their religious beliefs, it is also an excellent way to provide your child with a flexible learning environment.

However, homeschooling is not for everyone, so before you opt for this style of education for your child, you should consider a few factors. Just because it works for me doesn’t mean it might work for everyone.

Did you know that the homeschooled population in the U.S. has been growing at an estimated rate of 2 to 8% per year?

The benefits of homeschooling are why many parents, including myself, prefer it over the traditional method of education. I

If you also wish to enter the world of homeschooling, you should consider the following factors:

1.    Your Schedule:

The most important thing about homeschooling that you must understand is that it is a full-time job. You will have to commit to homeschooling if you decide to go for this method of education. You must also do regular research to plan your child’s curriculum.

As a homeschooling parent, I have had to create and maintain a structured schedule for my child. You will also have to plan lessons, teach, grade assignments, and handle administrative tasks. 

2.    Your Educational Background:

In homeschools, parents are the primary educators of their children. Although you don’t need a degree to homeschool your child, you must be knowledgeable. You can take online courses to supplement your knowledge if you need more aspects. I have also attended workshops to improve my knowledge and be the best educator for my child. There is also plenty of guiding material online for parents who are new to homeschooling. 

3.    Your Child’s Personality:

A child’s personality can help you determine their learning style. I figured out the best way to educate my children by observing them. As a homeschooling parent, you must focus on providing your child with an environment that promotes growth. To accomplish that, consider whether your child prefers a hands-on approach or lecturing. Another factor to consider is whether they thrive in social settings or prefer to learn alone. 

Taking care of your child’s mental health is also important for building their personality. You can also look into pediatric therapy services in Central KY if you’re from that area and if your child needs professional assistance. You can also find pediatric therapy centers in almost every city if you aren’t in that local area.

4.    Financial Considerations:

Homeschooling is much more affordable than traditional schooling. However, it requires an initial investment in supplies, books, and curriculum. If you wish to become a homeschooling parent, you might also have to quit your job. So, before you decide to homeschool your child, take a look at your finances. Only opt for homeschooling if you are financially ready for it. 

5.    Socialization Opportunities:

Children get plenty of socialization opportunities in a traditional school. However, we can’t say the same about homeschooled children. For a child to grow into a confident adult, they must socialize with their peers.

As a homeschooling parent, you will have to provide socialization opportunities to your child. There are plenty of clubs, homeschool groups, and community activities that your children can participate in. Homeschool groups can also provide support and guidance to us parents. 

6.    Homeschooling Laws & Regulations:

Each state in the U.S. has its own rules and regulations regarding homeschooling. You may have to register with the state, keep a record of attendance, and submit test scores. If you want to avoid problems later, learn about the regulations beforehand. Finding out about my state’s rules regarding homeschooling helped me a lot as a parent. By following the laws set in place by the state, I could focus on providing my child with quality education. 

Advantages of Homeschooling:

The following advantages of homeschooling are why more and more parents in the U.S. are opting for this method of education: 

·      Safe Environment:

One of the biggest plus of homeschooling for me was being able to protect my child from things like peer pressure and bullying. The negative aspects of a traditional school can be detrimental to a child’s mental health. As a result, 1.9 million American children are currently studying in a safe and controlled environment. 

·      Stronger Connection with Family:

Students of public schools in the U.S. spend 6 to 7 hours a day away from home. Even after coming home, they rarely get to spend quality time with their families due to schoolwork. The situation can be reversed with homeschooling.

Through homeschooling, you can build a strong bond with your children. By spending the majority of your time with your child every day, you can build a strong family connection. Your children will also find it easier to come to you with their problems if they have a strong bond with you. 

·      Flexible Schedule: 

In traditional schools, all students are required to follow the same schedule. However, in reality, every child has a different learning speed. If children are forced to change their learning speed, they end up hating to study. With homeschooling, you can design a flexible schedule for your child according to their needs. Flexible schedules also help improve a child’s learning ability. 

Disadvantages of Homeschooling: 

Homeschooling also has a few disadvantages that you must be aware of: 

·      Isolating: 

Homeschooling can be an isolating experience for both parents and children. You will be unable to meet and connect with other parents if you homeschool your child. Your child will also miss out on connecting with their peers. 

·      Limited Socialization: 

Although you can find socialization opportunities for your homeschooled child, they are only sometimes enough. Limited socialization opportunities can impact the personality development of an extrovert child. 

·      Hectic Routine for Parents: 

Homeschooling can be harder than a full-time job with a heavy workload. You will have to research the curriculum and create lesson plans. Make sure you are ready to take on the heavy workload before choosing homeschooling. 

Final Thoughts:

Homeschooling can be a great way to bond with your child and protect them from the dangers of a traditional school. There are also plenty of resources to help parents who are thinking of homeschooling their children. However, make sure to weigh the pros and cons of homeschooling before you make the final call about your child’s future.

The post 6 Important Considerations for Homeschooling appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

With thousands of dig sites in Israel, scientists are constantly coming across exciting archaeology finds that support the Bible.

There are books upon books about biblical archaeology. There is even a monthly magazine that reports on archaeological findings that relate to the Bible.

I will link you to some of my favorite archaeology books at the end of this article. But for now, I want to share 10 exciting and relevant artifacts when it comes to the Bible.

When I decided what I believed about this great world, archaeology certainly had zero impact on what I came to believe. I could feel the presence of God before anyone even told me about him, and that was enough for me.

As we get older, we hear so many competing messages about the world and faith.

The atheist voices can feel like the loudest ones. God always held true for me, in spite of what the world had to say about the Christian faith.

So archaeology never led me to faith, but it sure is neat to see these clues to the past, dug up by people who are even more enthused by this process than I am. Even a simple 2,000 year old wine jug becomes a marvel to me. It helps me envision what the wine jugs used by Jesus to turn the water into wine looked like.

Archaeology can excite us, deepen our understanding, puzzle us, and offer its own clues to the past.

These findings can absolutely help validate your faith.

This list of archaeological finds is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just ten that I found inspiring.

***Disclaimer: When you purchase through Amazon links on this website, I do collect advertising fees from Amazon, which hardly ever happens really.****

10 of the Many Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible

#1. The Silver Scrolls

The infographic I made above gives you all of the most important details. The discovery of the silver scrolls proved that yes, the Bible is indeed ancient. The silver scrolls contain scripture from Numbers and Deuteronomy, and they date back to the 6th-7th century BC.

To learn more about these spools found at Ketef Hinnom, read the full article I wrote about them here.

To see a picture of what they look like, go here. I would love to share the photo, but alas I do not have the rights.

When a writing is published is so important because when the writing is published close to the time that things happen, there are living witnesses. So you cannot get away with publishing cleverly made up tales. Only the truth can hold water when published near or during the time it happens.

The apostles of Jesus who wrote their accounts wrote from their real experience as well.

History proves you cannot pretend history never happened. Archaeology discoveries further prove that we should take what the Bible says seriously. It is quite sobering.

#2. The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls have to be the most famous of modern archaeology finds that support the Bible. These scrolls were discovered in 1947, in the limestone caves of Qumran, near the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain parts of every single book of the Old Testament, except for Esther. The Isaiah scroll contains the entire book of Isaiah, written 1000 years before any other copy that we had of Isaiah. It is the earliest known complete copy of any book of the Bible. And this is what is amazing to me: that copy of Isaiah is basically the same as the copy of Isaiah that you have now. God’s word remains unchanged.

The Isaiah scroll dates back as early as the second century B.C.

A fragment of the book of Samuel dates back to the third century B.C. and is written in biblical Hebrew.

The oldest Qumran Bible fragments are of Exodus and Samuel.

This discovery was such a big deal because before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the oldest copies of the Old Testament only dated back to the eleventh century AD. What a huge difference!

Now no one can say that the Bible was written in modern times. We know too much now. These Old Testament works were already alive and well over two hundred years before Christ was born.

Not everything discovered in the caves was scripture. There are also commentaries on the scriptures, small notes, additional books, and lists.

They investigated thirty more caves after the original Dead Sea Scroll discovery. This turned up 10 more caves containing ancient manuscripts. All eleven caves are in the area near the ancient settlement of the Khirbet Qumran. (Source 1, page 103)

These scrolls are in different languages, some in Aramaic, some in Hebrew, and others in Greek. Notably, the Genesis Apocryphon preserves the accounts of the patriarchs in Aramaic. (Source 1, p. 37)

The Messianic Testimony

The Messianic Testimony was written in the first century B.C., so before Jesus. It lists all of the Old Testament passages that refer to the coming Messiah. The list also references the coming Messiah as a three-part office: prophet, priest, and king.

I would like to see a copy of that list. Wouldn’t you? Alas, I could not find one on the internet, but I did not look hard. Let me know in the comments if you find it.

Thanks to the Dead Sea Scrolls, we know that the Hebrew text that we have today of the Old Testament is completely accurate.

These scrolls testify to the reliability of scripture. We have a “faithful copy of the original words penned by the original author, handed down for generations.” (Source 1, p. 46)

Want to learn more about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Check out this article from The Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

My “Source 1” for both the Silver Scrolls and the Dead Sea scrolls:

The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

#3. King Hezekiah & Hezekiah’s Tunnel

The Bible goes into great detail about many of the things that King Hezekiah did during his lifetime, which was about 726-697 BC.

You can read about King Hezekiah in the Bible in 2 Kings 18 and in 2 Chronicles 29-32. Plus, we have found many artifacts from Hezekiah as well.

King Hezekiah went to great lengths to prepare for attack from Sennacherib of the Assyrians in 701 BC. Hezekiah reinforced the wall of Jerusalem with an added on outer wall. Then he diverted the water from the Gihon Spring into the city. This ensured the people in Jerusalem would have water during a long siege from the Assyrians.

Evidence of that broad wall and Hezekiah’s water tunnel are still there today. The wall was an impressive 23 feet wide and 27 feet high.

Young people checking out the tunnel in 1880 discovered a Paleo-Hebrew inscription carved into the tunnel. This is one of the oldest Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions ever found. It dates to the 8th century B.C.

The inscription reads:

“The axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut… and on the day of the tunnel (being finished) the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and flowed water from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits.”

8th century Paleo-Hebrew inscription

We have several more artifacts from Hezekiah.

Hezekiah’s royal seal was found. Plus, the Annals of Sennacherib, dating to 701 BC, tell the story of the Assyrian siege on Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s point of view. It is written in Akkadian cuneiform. If you would like to see a cool photo of it and learn more, see this on historyofinformation.com.

For more on the story of King Hezekiah and how God defeated the Assyrian Army for him without the Israelites having to even fight, go here. You can find it in 2 Kings, chapter 19.

I love that of all the battles, we have both sides of that one recorded.

Source: The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

#4. Oldest Copy of John’s Gospel

The oldest copy of the gospel of John was written in Greek on papyrus in AD 150-200. The entire book did not survive, but most of it did. Actually there are several other copies of parts of John that are about that old. You can learn more here.

This is incredible because it dates the copy back to very near the actual lifespan of the apostle John. If John died in the year AD 99, as it is believed, then this copy dates almost all the way back to his lifetime. Now that is a reliable source.

#5. Tomb of Jesus

There are a couple of different places that claim to be the location of the tomb of Jesus. According to my extensive reading in many books and study Bibles, the one in the picture above is extremely accurate. This was probably exactly where they laid him.

This tomb, that no gets to really see, is under a monument inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem. At the time that they crucified Jesus, this was all outside the city gates. But for modern day Jerusalem, it is inside the city.

In 2016, they restored the enclosure again. A marble cover inside dates back to the AD 300s. This site has been venerated as the tomb of Jesus since at least the 300s. For more on that, see this article.

The Garden Tomb is far more aesthetically pleasing, so it is also a good place to visit to picture what it might have looked like.

I read in Under Jerusalem, by Andrew Lawler, that this other tomb was full of skulls that they dug out in the 1800s and the date does not match the timeline that it could have been an unused tomb in the time of Jesus.

For more photos of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, you can see my article on it here.

#6. The Most Ancient New Testament Manuscripts

I learned the most about these copies of the New Testament gospels from this web page of the Bible Archaeology Report. They were “all written within a lifetime of Jesus”. I love that.

Much like the Dead Sea scrolls, they are tattered looking papyrus fragments. One of these manuscripts was discovered in an ancient garbage dump in Egypt!

All total, there are eleven manuscripts that possibly date back to the 2nd century, and four of them definitely do.

The oldest complete copy of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus. The Codex Sinaiticus was handwritten in Greek in the 4th century AD.

There are no ancient manuscripts as well documented and copied as the Bible. See the article I wrote here to learn more about the reliability of scriptures.

#7. Tel Dan Inscription

The Tel Dan inscription is the first historical evidence of King David, outside of the Bible.

The Tel Dan Inscription is a stone from the 8th century BC. The stone is carved in Aramaic. It tells how the Aramean king from that area defeated the “king of the House of David.”

The writing also described defeating the King of Israel, just as the Bible says that Israel was divided into two kingdoms: Judah (the house of David) and Israel.

Source: Biblearchaeology.org

#8. The Pool of Siloam

The pool of Siloam was uncovered in 2004 when a repair team was excavating a damaged sewer line. (Source: Los Angeles Times) Coins in the original plaster of the pool helped provide an accurate date for the construction of the pool.

In the Bible the pool of Siloam is the place where Jesus healed the blind man. You can read that story in John, chapter 9.

To see a photo of the pool of Siloam today, go here.

#9. Abraham’s Altar at Mamre

¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by ^[d]the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

Genesis 13: 18

The Bible tell us that Abraham settled at Mamre, where the great trees are, and he set up an altar to the Lord there. Archaeologists believe they have identified Mamre as well as the site where Abraham probably placed his alter. There are even giant holes marking where the large trees once grew.

I read about this in Joel Kramer’s book, Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence. In the book, he provides extensive graphs of the different layers and history of the site.

Joel Kramer also made a video at this very site near Hebron, and I am attaching it below in case you’d like to see.

#10. St. Peter’s House

This is one of my FAVORITES because I actually got to go see this one in person. The ancient town of Capernaum lies in ruins to this day, and we know that Capernaum is where Peter lived, from Matthew 8.

The archaeological evidence surrounding Peter’s particular house is astounding. Not only was it written on the walls that it was Peter’s house. But you can archaeologically see the progression of how this completely ordinary 1st century house was plastered up and turned into a real church. Ordinary dishes were exchanged for larger vessels to serve crowds.

Eventually, in the 1900s, Peter’s house was preserved under this giant church:

It is believed that Jesus stayed in Peter’s house for prolonged periods of time. Then later, Peter’s house became a church. Since the entire village of Capernaum still lies in ruins, we have great access to see it all.

These are a few of the photos I took when we visited, and you can see more in my full post on why Capernaum was our favorite city to visit in Israel.

Actually, I was delighted to find that Joel Kramer has a YouTube video tour the site of Peter’s house as well:

#11. Would you like to read more short articles on Biblical Archaeology finds?

Here are a few more I think you would appreciate.

–The Rosetta Stone enabled people to understand Egyptian hieroglyphs better. With that knowledge, we could understand that ancient Egyptians also referenced stories that agree with what the Bible says.

–The Moabite Stone, also known as the Mesha Stele, mentions going to Israel in battle. It even mentions some of their names. You can read a lot more about that here.

–City of David Stepped Stone Structure.

–Walls of Jericho

I am linking below a couple of my favorite Bible Archaeology books, if you would like to read more.

These two books will tell you far more about archaeology finds that support the Bible.

#1. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

This one covers just about everything discovered prior to 2013.

#2. Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence, by Joel P. Kramer. ©2020, Published by Expedition Bible–an imprint of Sourceflix Inc., Utah.

Where God Came Down is very up to date and written in an easy to read style. The author, Joel Kramer, has an M.A. in archaeology from the University of the Holy Land. Plus, he has participated in many digs in Israel himself. This is an excellent source.

#3. The Evidence Study Bible, NKJV, Commentary by Ray Comfort. Bridge-Logos Publishers; Illustrated edition (March 1, 2011)

#4. Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, & Timelines, Rose Publishing ©2015

This is all just a drop in the bucket of all the artifacts and places that have been uncovered related to the Bible.

Every year, archaeologists find more Biblical evidence in Israel. It is astounding. At this point, skeptics can no longer say that the Bible is a fairy tale book. It is a historical account. Now what you do with that knowledge is up to you.

I personally felt drawn to read the Bible for myself to figure out what I believed, and I strongly recommend that to everyone. Get to know the God of the Bible, the parts that you do understand and the parts that are hard to grasp.

I hope this helps you want to dig deeper into what you think of your own personal relationship with God.

The post 10 Exciting Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This retreat was 100% necessary.

It is hard for me to even sit here and describe how desperate I was to get away two weeks ago because I returned fully restored, better than before. I am on the other side of that mental wall of misery now. Life is good and happy again, and I fully mean that.

When I packed my bags and left Alan with the boys, I did not even fully grasp why I need this so badly. I just knew that Alan works at home now, so he could handle the boys for the weekend just fine.

I did not realize how bad off my mental/emotional state truly was until I sat down on the airplane, buckled my seatbelt, was looking out the window, and heard a child cry. This was probably a preschool aged child. How many times have I flown with a child and had to quiet down a baby or a toddler on an airplane?

When I hear that sound, my heart always goes out to the parents. I have been that parent so many times. This time though the sound of the crying hit something deeper in my brain, down in my spirit, something I have pushed to the corners that comes overflowing out when I least expect it.

Tears.

No! No! I am not going to sit here and silently cry on this airplane. It is hard to explain why tears were so close to the surface, but I am going to try to explain myself anyway. All those memories of handling babies and toddlers on airplanes, they are all tied up in difficult memories I have of the hard work that I put in through all these years of being an Army wife.

I hear that crying, and instantly I am twenty-five years old, flying alone with my six-month-old to begin a new life in Texas. Alan will follow me in two weeks, but for now it is just me and the baby.

At the same time, I am twenty-eight years old, flying with a toddler and four-year-old alone because I wanted to visit Alabama longer than Alan had off from work. That day the flight was delayed two hours, and after hours of keeping the boys entertained in the airport, I was already on edge when I got on the airplane where I had to make sure Joshua did not come in contact with any peanuts, which seemed to be everywhere in those days.

The sound of the crying starts, and suddenly I was thirty-two, flying home with one-year-old John David to visit my parents who I do not get to see very often because we have lived in the D.C. area for five years. I remember that day there was a super kind lady on the plane who walked down the aisle and gave me a new and different toy for J.D. to play with so he would stop crying.

I am thirty-three years old, flying with all four of our boys to California. Mom flew with me because Alan is already in school.

There were so many moves, and there were so many airplane rides with small children and me. Somehow Alan usually was not there, and I cannot even remember all of them or why I took all of them. I just remember standing in the aisle, softly singing to my baby so he would not cry on the airplane.

I remember landing at BWI airport, with a baby, I don’t even remember which one, in tow, and completely unable to find my car in the parking garage at eleven p.m.

So all of this starts to flash through my head, and water is beginning to leak out of my eyes, while my nose fills up with the overflow of salty tears. I stiffen myself. NO! This is not the place. Every flight attendant on this airplane knows who I am because I am flying with Jennings. (I was alone in a three-person seat though, thanks to the rona.)

Instead, I focused my brain as hard as I could on praying that child to stop crying. He or she was asleep in like one minute. Thank you, Jesus!

Thankfully, I recovered, and Jennings soon joined me to talk all the way to Atlanta.

I had NO idea my brain was going to go in that direction from a simple airplane ride.

But the thing was that my head was already in that fragile place, from all the recent weeks of feeling trapped and homesick, so the airplane ride just kind of nudged me closer to the edge.

The first time this ever happened was the day I listened to a speech about the Combat Reboot program at my church. It just sort of lanced an emotional boil that had been festering for a while. Ew. Gross imagery. Sorry, guys.

Let me explain about that. Our church here in Maryland, back in the days when we all got to go to normal church, has a Combat Recovery program. One day the organizer for the Combat Recovery program spoke at a church business meeting. She was promoting the program and looking for new people to join and/or lead it. Alan has even been asked to lead the group, as it has to be lead by a combat veteran, but this is not Alan’s calling. I totally get that, as I feel that way about many things. Being a combat veteran does not automatically make you a good leader for veterans with PTSD.

I, of course, am not at all a combat veteran. Nor do I have combat PTSD. I have never seen war, lived with the daily threat of enemy fire, or had to watch friends die or be mutilated. Those are certainly not my issues.

However, as she stood up there talking about military veterans and their spouses and the challenges that they face and how this group can help them, I became a complete and total WRECK. I sat there and silently bawled my eyes out for what felt like twenty minutes. It was so humiliating and unexpected.

“Why??” I kept wondering. Why am I crying so much, and why can’t I stop??? And I could. not. stop. crying. It was terrible.

It was like every time she said the word “military” my heart just poured out more grief. This is so hard to explain, but again, I will try. I literally was left wondering if military wife PTSD could possibly be a thing. Maybe this is because this could be our last duty station? Or because we are nearing our twenty year mark? I don’t know, but suddenly, here it is.

When I was at this meeting, we had only moved in three or four months past. I was fresh off two years of moving in a row, five moves in four years, and eleven moves in eighteen years. Then there were those year long, fifteen-month, and six-month long deployments where I juggled the kids.

So many nights of being new in town, and it is like all the emotions of all those hard things that we dealt with in the midst of all these years as a military family just piled on top of each other in a very untidy fashion. You know how you stack things that are not equal sizes, and if you stack big things on top of little things and crooked on top of straight, and after a while it all just starts to slide?

Well, that day we had a full on avalanche of pent up feelings. When you are tense and fighting through a move or a family separation or a war deployment or being new year after year after year after year, it catches up with you.

This had never happened to me before, crying over I was not even sure what! I think it is the eighteen years of it just catching up with me. We could retire in two years, and I am so extremely ready to do just that. Retire and buy a house in Alabama, land of my forefathers. Maybe the Army thing possibly being almost over is a whole other part of it. I don’t know.

All the feelings started to come out my eyes and my nose:

-hurt -disappointment -uncertainty -inadequacy -failure

-abandoned– So many times I felt abandoned to deal with raising the boys alone. It was not Alan’s fault. He was doing his job, and that meant he had to go overseas sometimes. I knew that with my head, but sometimes it felt an awful lot like plain old alone. Maybe it was wrong, but it was a feeling I had to deal with.

-exhaustion -confusion -worry -frustration -anger

Well, obviously, I could go on and on. That was when I realized that no, Alan was right, combat recovery was not a good program for us. He did not feel like he needed it, and I needed recovery too much to go. That would have been a whole lot more of facing all those emotions that busted out all suddenly on me, and I could not handle it. I really couldn’t.

That incident was late last fall, and I had not had another moment of raw emotion like that one at the church business meeting until this flight to Florida.

But I am happy to tell you that I held it together for another twenty-four hours.

Then I spilled it all out onto Jennings, and somehow I feel like I ACTUALLY worked through it, to the point that I am not even the same and I am able to sit here and type about it without coming apart at the seams. I cried it all out in Florida. Poor Jennings! She got an earful!

Do you know why it helped?

Maybe crying it out, facing your problems, and talking about it always helps. I am not sure, but there was an extra layer present at Jennings’ beach bungalow. That added factor was the way that she pointed me back to what matters, to Jesus. She kept pulling up her Church at the Highlands telecasts and Christian music playlists, and it was exactly what I needed.

With God on your side, you are not relying on your own inner strength alone to get you through hard things. With God there is a bigger comforter and help that goes further than you could get on your own.

Jennings and I talked about our current problems, and we laughingly discussed and debated our old foes too. Together, we even combed Facebook and successfully found one of our friends from college days who we thought we would never be able to find. It was so good just to see her smiling face, looking exactly the same.

Every morning we ate our eggs and walked on the beach. Ugh, I would rather have cereal or a pop tart like in my younger days. Why won’t my pant size cooperate with that??

Then every evening we would take one or two walks. Two different nights we went out around midnight to search the beach for sea turtles laying eggs in the dark. There were none to be found though.

We got sun burned, ate lunch on the beach under our umbrella, and even went souvenir shopping. You might be happy to know that even down in Florida, they took our temperatures at the store, and everyone was required to wear a mask.

I got the cutest souvenirs ever, and I bought every single one of my boys (even Alan) a new Melbourne Beach t-shirt.

With every ounce of seriousness inside of me, I am telling you that this trip was a gift from God. He knew I needed it, and I am so thankful I got to go. The Lord saw my exasperation with lockdown isolation and homesickness, and he blessed me with a ticket to get me through until we visit our family in August.

If you are feeling miserable, pray!! Pray for help. You never know what that help may look like or what form it may come in, but don’t turn it down when it arrives!! You never know what God may have in store for you.

Seize the day! And pray!

We cannot wait to see all of our dear family in August! You will be getting the most desperate-for-people and visiting version of us ever. Ha! I hope you are ready!

The post Weekend Retreat: Dealing with Military Wife PTSD. Is that a thing? appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Have you had to look a little harder for joy over the past few months of pandemic? Do you find the coronavirus and the news to all be a little discouraging?

Feeling down and being in a place of seeking joy has happened to me many times over the years, not because I am totally Sadness all the time because I am not. It is just that hard times call for digging a little deeper, and we are definitely in difficult places these days. There have been months where I sat down and searched out instances in the Bible where it mentions joy, just to teach myself and help pull out of the funk from moving year after year after year as an Army wife.

That is why I was excited to write out this booklet to share with you what I have found in my own joy-quests. Each of the eight days focuses on easy ways to refocus your mind to a calmer, more joyful place. 

And yes, of course, 8 Days of Finding Joy During a Pandemic is free for all my readers. It is an easy read too, at only 25 pages long.

Here is an outline of what you will find in this booklet:

• What do you enjoy?
• The Importance of Joy
• One Simple Lesson that Brought Joy Back to My Life
• What are you focusing on?
• What is it that we long for?
• Don’t let your joy rest in the hands of others.
• Thinking Positively When You Feel Surrounded by Negatives
• Don’t let the news drink your coffee.

Save it to your desktop while you go through the chapters this week to make it easier to find each day. I decided to give you the whole thing at once because who wants eight separate emails? 

Now, of course, we are not about to solve all your problems with a booklet.

…But I am hoping it will be a pick-me-up/encouraging read for you.

I would love to hear from you all about your answer to the Day 1 prompt, so if you’d like to share, send me an email or a blog comment, and tell me what it is that you enjoy doing.

To download the Choosing Joy booklet, sign up below, and it will be delivered to your email:

And of course, if you are already one of my newsletter subscribers, I have already sent this out to you. Check your inbox!

The post 8 Days of Finding Joy During a Pandemic appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

The Dead Sea scrolls we have all heard of. They were discovered in the caves of Qumran, by the Dead Sea, in the 1940s. But have you ever heard of the Silver Scrolls? Sounds a little more posh, don’t you think? They’re silver, so it sounds like jewelry. Well, the funny thing is they were jewelry, amulets actually.

And what better to engrave on an amulet than God’s Word?

Amulets are small pieces of jewelry that ancient people believed would protect them against evil. The silver scrolls are two small amulets made of real silver. The major importance of these scrolls is that they are the oldest copies of scripture that we have. Obviously, you cannot fit an entire Old Testament book on two amulets, but it does contain the priestly blessing, just as it appears in Numbers 6:24-26. They pre-date the Dead Sea scrolls by approximately four centuries. Wow!

The silver scrolls date back to the 7th century B.C.

That is during the First Temple time period, around the time that Jeremiah the prophet lived and King Josiah reigned in Jerusalem. This was a time period when some skeptics previously doubted that the book of Numbers had even been written yet, but this find indicates that it had.

The silver scrolls are tiny and fragile. It took the power of technology to read the writing on the scrolls. From what I understand, they were never able to read every single word with certainty, but this is what they do know is written on them:

“… the great … [who keeps] the covenant and graciousness toward those who love [him] and those who keep [his commandments …].
The Eternal … blessing more than any … and more than evil. For redemption is in him. For Yahweh is our restorer [and] rock.
May Yahweh bless you and keep you. [May] Yahweh make [his face] shine ….

amulet 1

May [he/she] be blessed by Yahweh; The warrior/helper and the rebuker of evil:
May Yahweh bless you and keep you; May Yahweh cause his face to shine upon you and grant you peace.

amulet 2

Both amulets match Numbers 6: 24-26: “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace,” and the first one also matches Deuteronomy 7:9 where it reads “who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments… “

I put together a basic 411 on the silver scrolls and why they are worth mentioning in this snazzy little info graph. You can pin it if you like:

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Finding excerpts of Numbers and Deuteronomy worn around people’s necks for protection is further proof of just how far back this goes. These accounts were recorded somewhere close to when the events actually happened, just how close we do not know. This particular find goes back to before the events of the later books of the Old Testament had even happened yet.

This was before Nebuchadnezzar defeated Jerusalem. It was before even the stories you know so well of Daniel and his friends. The 6th and 7th centuries B.C. were 6-700 years before the birth of Jesus.

The Bible also testifies that some scripture was already written by 700 BC.

For instance, the Bible records King Josiah having the “book of the law” brought out and read to him in his castle. That is found in 2 Kings 22:

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.”¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. ¹² He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: ¹³ “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book;

2 Kings 22: 8-13

The book of Second Kings also indicates that these writings far outdate King Josiah, as they found the old book of the law in the temple, and lamented that it had not been followed for years.

Archaeology is such a powerful science in discovering the truth of the past. As I find things like this that are well documented and proven out by technology, but not heard about much in the mainstream media or schools, I like to share these artifacts with my friends and readers. I find it very faith-affirming, and I hope it encourages you too.

Want to learn more? Check out my sources below:

Pictures:

You cannot use someone else’s photo without permission, which is why I don’t have the photos posted here, but you can click on these links to see what the silver scrolls look like:

Silver Scroll as displayed in the Israel Museum

Close-up picture of the writing on the scrolls

Articles:

The Blessing of the Silver Scrolls at biblearchaeology.org

Solving a Riddle Written in Silver at The New York Times, nytimes.com

Ketef Hinnom Scrolls on watchJerusalem.co.il

Books:

The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture  by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler, 2013, Harvest House Publishers.

Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, and Timelines , Rose Publishing, 2005.

The post The Silver Scrolls: Even Older than the Dead Sea Scrolls appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Is anyone else feeling nervous about their kids beginning virtual school? I feel like this is an issue that parents across the entire world are dealing with.

We have been out of school for the sheltering-in-place or quarantine or social distancing, whatever you want to call it, for a month now. Seriously. An entire month has passed.

During that month, we here in Maryland were given home-school packets of suggested work. Thankfully, they gave us all the benefit of the doubt and gave the children all 100s on daily grades for the work done on the packets. So far it has all had a very laid back feel. Yes, we are home schooling, but the oldest boys don’t even really have math. The younger boys haven’t had much science.

We recently added in BrainPOP.com videos when I found out that their service is currently free. Plus, we read and write and do a few other things. School at our house has been fun, really. I mean, it has been fun for the kids and sometimes even for me, but all of the monkeys have been on my back. It has definitely been a lot of work. We have four kids, and they all have different assignments. I spend each day doing school with them, feeding them, and then planning out what we will do the next day.

I have had less time to do house work and writing. That’s for sure, but it has been doable.

Next week everything changes.

Wednesday we will start virtual school. The kids will watch videos of their teachers teaching them on our computers, and they will have to actually complete the assignments the teachers give them.

Everything reminds me of a song. Sometimes my kids take it as a challenge and try to throw out random phrases to see if I can find a song that relates, and I assure you, I always can.

Today I am Elsa, of Frozen II, and we are all on a collision course straight “Into the Unknown.”

Virtual school is the unknown, and we are headed there fast, and I don’t know whether to be terrified or happy! Up to this point, if I thought the packet-suggested science questions were ridiculous, I just tossed them out and used a different science lesson that I chose for them myself.

I won’t get to do that anymore. Yet, it won’t be like sending them to school all day long either. I may not choose the activities, but I WILL be the one who has to make sure they do said activity, and if they cannot figure out how to do it, their project becomes my project in many ways. You know?

And then there’s the computer sharing in this house…

When this all started, we had a family of six, with three iPhones and two computers to use. Once the home-schooling began, I ordered a new Kindle Fire tablet to replace our old one, and that has been a life-saver. When they announced that school was about to go to virtual classes, we decided to go ahead and order a new computer. So now we have a 3:5 computer ratio, which is a huge improvement, but I’m still nervous about everyone trying to share them.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LoRD forever. “

Psalm 23

So many unknowns

Our county school system has not given us any information about what to expect next week. Thankfully, ONE teacher did send us what he plans to do. That’s for 8th grade math, so he is planning to do live classes for his students, there days per week. He’s already given times and instructions.

We love this teacher. I am thankful he is doing these live classes, and my oldest son will actually have math again. It was easy to dig up math for my elementary boys. I didn’t even bother to try with the 8th grader. Inventing functions and such is not really in my wheelhouse anymore. I will happily wash my hands of it.

But what if they all need the computer at the same time?

And exactly how many videos will each boy have to watch each day? The first grader, I’m hoping, will only have 2 videos each day. Our third grader has three different teachers for his subjects, not including music and such. Both middle school boys have seven classes each. That could mean making time for as many as 20 or more video classes per day! And then there are assignments!

See, I think about this stuff, and my heart beats faster, and my hair gets grayer, and my jaws clench. My teeth grind. It’s all a messy stress and worry reaction.

Then I remind myself.

It is going to be okay. They, as a public school, must know that these students are all sharing electronic devices with siblings. Surely, they will continue to be more laid back than usual.

My sixth grader’s French teacher who let them take a test over the phone to final out their grades, and before he gave the test, he went over it all first. He basically told him all the answers before he asked the questions, and I was SO grateful.

What we are facing is not unique to our family. It’s the whole world going through this together.

Sure, each area handles it a little differently, but it’s all similar. What about the families who only have ONE computer and several children? Or the families who cannot afford to buy a new device to get through this? How about all the people who have lost their jobs and aren’t even sure how they will pay for next week’s food or electric bill?

Those are bigger problems than I am dealing with. We are very fortunate that Alan has been able to work at home, and I always am at home.

When I face uncertainty, which is a constant in my life, I always go back to faith in God.

As a military wife, we’ve been waiting for the Army, going where they send us, never knowing where we’ll be next year, for the past 18 years. Uncertainty is what we do.

I trust in the Lord. He knows. I am just a pawn, along for the ride. That’s how I often see my life. The roller coaster is taking off again, but I have my seatbelt on. I trust the one who is in charge. God is still in heaven, and he will always take care of those who call in his name. Getting upset or griping about it is not going to make coronavirus go away or your neighbor’s response any different.

“The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

Psalm 9:9-10

I will not spend too much time worrying about this because focusing in on a problem only seems to make the problem grow. Once we have all the information, we will build a schedule then. Until then, we will enjoy the weekend. Maryland’s “spring break” is Friday through Tuesday. Isn’t that odd? This state does not get a week-long spring break.

We are going to take that time off from school. The boys will spend way too much time on video games. I will work on writing my next book, and I’m sure we will play some Ticket to Ride and do a good deal of baking and eating.

The Lord will take care of us. He will take care of you too, if you trust in him. In the meantime, we should all enjoy the spring as much as we can.

********************

Funny Quarantine Quotes from the Week:

“Ohhh, you say it like bunt pan?? All this time I thought you were saying butt pan!” (John David)

“Do y’all know the story of Rapunzel at all?”

“Ohhh yeah, was she the girl who couldn’t eat her soup??” (Daniel)

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