The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine and major landmark located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It was completed in 691-692, making it the oldest existing Islamic building in the world. The site's significance stems from the religious beliefs regarding the rock, known as the Foundation Stone, at its heart.

There is something ironic about Old City Jerusalem being called, “The Holy City.” It isn’t.

Jerusalem is a city where stress runs high and the strain of so many people practicing so many religions in such a small area makes the tension palatable. Young Muslim men spitefully mock an elderly Jewish man as he winds his way through the Muslim quarter on his way to morning prayers. Devout Jews press their faces against the Western Wall, crying out to God to hear their prayers while harboring contempt in their hearts toward Muslims whose Dome of the Rock located on the other side of the wall is anathema (it is built on the site where the Jewish temple once stood thousands of years ago). People of traditional religions press their icons and rosaries against the slab of rock within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre believed to be the stone upon which Jesus was laid after being crucified. Tears streaming down their faces, they seek a blessing or a healing or some connection with God through well meaning, but mistaken, devotion.

The Western Wall is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple and is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism.

Bitter schism resides just below the surface and there isn’t any one of these factions that would be disappointed if the other two would exit the city walls. Money is the unifying denominator. Remove the tourist dollar – take away the thousands of global residents who push their way through the throng along the cobblestone streets leaving a significant amount of money with the hundreds of gift shops – and it would boil over.

My task during my eight days of wandering through the Jerusalem maze was to find out what Jerusalem means to the people who live there. Through several interviews and probing questions it quickly became obvious that the romantic notions people I know have of Jerusalem are not shared by the people who live within Old City’s walls. As objective as inhabitants say they are or try to be it all goes pear shaped with one question: What do you think it will take for there to be peace in Jerusalem?

Palestinian Muslims clamor for Jewish building and resettlement to cease in the West Bank and for Jews to reinstate boundary lines as they were in 1948 or 1967. Then, they say, there will be peace. Jews wail at the Western Wall over the defilement they believe the Muslim’s mosque and monument bring to the Temple Mount. Remove the Dome and Mosque and then, they say, there will be peace. Both groups harbor contempt toward “Christians” (the word they associate with those practicing Catholic and Orthodox traditions) for the Crusades and mock them for their idol worship.

Looking into the Eastern side of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a view very similar to what Jesus might have had.

I recognize these are generalizations and not everyone in Jerusalem feels this way, but I talked with enough people in each group to get a sense that a significant number of people in Jerusalem believe the most lasting solution for peace rests upon the total expulsion or annihilation of his or her neighbor. As one devout Jew said, “There will never be peace as long as that dome sits on the Temple site.”

The Bible records Jesus approaching Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and looking across the narrow valley and into the city. The temple would have been plainly visible to Him since its location sat near the wall on that eastern side. His perspective was slightly elevated from the hillside so He was looking down into Jerusalem. “Jesus looked over the city and wept,” Luke wrote of the occasion.

Why was Jesus weeping? Wasn’t Jerusalem a holy city? It was not. It was a religious city – much as it is today – and that is why he wept. The religious leaders of the day brought such bondage on the people that there was no joy in serving and worshiping God. They were so busy ritual keeping that they failed to rightly interpret Scripture and recognize Christ as the fulfillment of thousands of years of prophecy. Jesus wept precisely because there was no holiness, only ritual.

In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a devout Catholic, rosary in hand, kisses the stone slab upon which it is believed that Jesus was laid after the crucifixion.

I am convinced after walking the streets myself and talking to devout and secular Jews, Muslims and “Christians” that Jesus would weep because nothing has changed. If anything I’d say it has become more complicated and contentious. The bondage of religion is heavier now than it ever has been. Reconciliation to God through the Son brings peace with God and produces holiness. Holiness before God produces peace within oneself that radiates outward to bring peace among other people. As Paul wrote, “as much as it is within you, live at peace with all men.”

Jerusalem needs your prayers. In fact the Bible commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Peace will not come through religion, mostly because religion is divisive and some of the great atrocities in the history of the world have come because of religion. Jerusalem is rife with religion.

Don’t call Jerusalem the Holy City. It is not a Holy City; it is a religious city and the difference is the difference between war and peace.

Nearly 70 years too late.

I thought going to the Yad Vesham Holocaust Remembrance Museum in Jerusalem sounded like a good idea. I knew enough about the atrocities perpetrated against Jews by Germans in  collaboration with many other guilty nations that I felt reasonably sure I wouldn’t be introduced to much new. What I learned is that I had an extremely superficial understanding of the cruelty and suffering; the hate and helplessness; the evil and desperation.

I froze when I walked into the room where the picture hung. It seemed so….real; like I was there. I wanted to yell, “Run!”; or “Stop!”; or “No!” I wanted to have a gun aimed squarely at that cowardly bastard and blow his head off before he could do what history records he did. How can someone’s soul be so shriveled – so dead – that it would allow someone to coldly kill a helpless mother and her child?

Thousands of binders in the Holocaust Museum hold the names and stories of Jews who died during the Holocaust.

“Dear God, how could this have happened?” I asked over and over as I roamed – sometimes in shock – as image after image presented itself and begged from me an answer to the same question: “How could the world have allowed this to happen?” I wanted to deny the truth of what I saw yet the evidence forced my admission of it. It was real. And it did happen. And the world was slow to respond throughout World War II and when it did it acted surprised by what it found. Maybe it is better to describe it as shocked by what it found since reality proved much more horrific than nearly five years of previous eyewitness testimony indicated. All the world bears the shame of that episode of history.

And what of the world today? Not much has changed. We’ve stood by and watched Cambodians suffer similar genocide at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, or Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu Rwandans at the hands of militant Hutus, or the innocent of Darfur at the hands of extremists.

The Bible asks “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Standing looking at the image of a cowardly soldier murdering a helpless mother confirms the depths of our depravity and presents us with the reality of who we are.

God’s response to the question is in the next verse: “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

What are the fruits of my deeds? What are the fruits of your deeds? Will we be guilty of the deceit in our own hearts? Will we be guilty of waiting until it is too late before we deal with it?

These facts are easily confirmed. What is also confirmed is that everyone who had a deeply vested interest in finding His body used every means necessary to find the body, including questioning and torturing those who followed Jesus. Few recanted their belief He was God, especially the many who physically saw and spoke to the resurrected Christ.

In 24 hours, I’ve read dozens of Twitter tweets, Facebook updates and blog posts about the celebration Easter is in the lives of individuals. Rightfully so, although every day is in fact Easter for the believer because nothing will ever change the historical fact that Jesus received the wrath of a Holy God – punishment intended for the sinner – and was raised from the dead, confirming God’s satisfaction with the substitutionary sacrifice. What’s left is for the individual to believe by faith that Jesus came to this world to accomplish this stated purpose.

Unfortunately Easter is also a day of lamentation because more than 2/3 of the world’s population – 4 billion-plus people – do not call Jesus Lord or know that His death and resurrection are the only sufficient means to reconcile them to God. Sadly, many of that four billion have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. They are trapped in the endless spiritual search to generate some kind of righteousness to make them acceptable to whatever their idea of god is. This reveals the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion is a way for man to create a means for reaching God. Christianity is based solely on God reaching down to man.

It may seem subtle but there is a massive difference  between the two. Religion is easily manipulated to justify the ends of man. In religion there is no objective measure of righteousness, man becomes the center of establishing the standard and ultimately it is often left to the one who most vehemently asserts his beliefs as to whose perspective is “correct” (see long history of holy wars as evidence). Which religion, then, is right? Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism? Answer: none.

Christianity, however, is uniquely and exclusively set over and against these in that God sets the objective measure, indicates that every human is in the same boat (“all have sinned“), and that there are “none righteous” and “none seek after God.” Therefore every human stands on equally poor footing. Into this desperate situation God sent Jesus to bear His justified wrath. Jesus was a willing and perfect object upon which God’s punishment could be poured. The resurrection is evidence that His sacrifice was acceptable. Crying out in faith to Him for salvation is recognizing our need for something beyond ourselves to save us. This is Good News!

But it is only Good News if people hear it. Right now there are more than 5,000 unengaged people groups around the world, most of them in a swath of land extending across north Africa, the Middle East, central and eastern Asia and India. This means there are a significant number of Muslims, Hindus, atheists and Buddhists who either have no understanding of Jesus or a very skewed understanding of who He is, what He’s done and what He offers in terms of spiritual forgiveness and freedom.

We who have been granted forgiveness and salvation must remember every day the extraordinary grace extended to us through Christ, but we can’t linger in our celebration lest it become self-centered. We must remember the billions of people who have not yet enjoyed His grace, lament the staggering numbers who still stand squarely in the cross-hairs of God’s judgment and GO to them with the Good News of what the resurrection means for them.

Just Five years ago, mission workers said there weren’t any Shiite believers in their areas. Three years ago there was a handful of Shiites following Christ, and now there are many, many Shiites following Him Ashura is a most holy 10 day observance for Shiites (195 million) around the world.  It’s a period of 10 days of remembrance of their founder, Imam Hussein (Muhammad’s grandson), who was killed in the battle of Karbala in 680 AD.  Shiites go into deep mourning and sometime flagellate themselves in their grief.  While we celebrate this joyful time of God’s great gift to us through His Son, millions of Shiites will be mourning the death of Hussein.

Here’s how you can pray:

17th-Shiites are a people who fear God, but many of them fear evil spirits. Today pray that many Shiites will know the Son and will experience His power over the spirit world.

18th-Shiites place great importance on dreams and visions.  Ask the Father to give them dreams and visions that will help them follow the Son.

19th-On this 3rd day of Ashura, pray that when Shiites see the Son in a dream or vision, that they will be eager and bold to tell others about Him.

20th-Today pray that followers of the Son among Shiites will have spiritual wisdom and understanding. Ask that they will hear God’s voice and be prepared to do whatever He tells them, even if it means being, doing, or saying the uncomfortable or impossible.  Ask God to move believers – all of us – out of our comfort zones to reach more Shiites.

21st–Ask God to grow followers of the Son into men, women and children of faith who will live and share truth among Shiites in ways the Shiites can receive, despite the cost to them as His followers.

22nd–Pray that Shiites men will be devout and respected men of God who will lead their entire households and communities to fear God and to follow the Son.

23rd–Pray today that Shiites households will gather together to hear God’s Word and that they will hear, understand and tell the story of the Son in their homes and throughout their communities.

24th–Ask that Shiites religious leaders will hear the truth of the Word and will adhere to the teachings of the Son as their Supreme Leader and that Shiites communities will give their allegiance completely to the Son to emulate Him and follow His teaching.

25th-Whether through His spoken or written Word, through followers of the Son, or through a dream or miraculous healing, pray that Shiites will encounter the Son and follow Him.

26th-Shiites believe God forgives sins and answers prayers more readily on this day.  Please pray this prayer for Shiites and their communities:

Dear Father, You are the One who sent down Your Son to this blood stained earth to form a New Kingdom that is not of this world. We humbly ask You to reveal your Son to Shiites communities all over the world. We ask You to change Shiite’s mourning into dancing. Lead them from this season of great grief to passionately celebrate Your salvation.  All for Your Glory!

Here are some resources:

Download a ten-day prayer guide in five languages to print and share: http://www.shbride.blogspot.com/

Download a video and slideshow of Ashura:

http://www.cryoutnow.org/videogallery/index.html

Download stories of what God is doing among Shiites:

http://25minutes.org/

The reminders of war are unfortunately still evident among a people who love life.

October 23, 1983 was a big deal in my hometown, a military town. I was nearly two months into my senior year of high school when news flashed through the community that 241 US servicemen, including 220 Marines had been killed in a suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon.

The bombing occurred at about the midpoint of the Lebanese Civil War that lasted 15 years (1975-1990). Images of smoldering rubble that moments before had been an apartment building seemed to be a staple on the nightly news. I became familiar with the term “Green Line,” but confess I never listened closely enough to know what it meant. Did any American? Would it have made a difference if we had? Lebanon seemed so far away and I watched from the safety of my home with relief that it was somebody else’s problem…Until that barracks was bombed. That single incident defined Beirut for me.

On the north shore of Beirut. The city positioned is rich in history, full of life-loving people and offers incredible food.

Driving down the Green Line yesterday I saw bombed out buildings standing as reminders of a war-torn nation. I did the math and realized if I’d been Lebanese I’d have probably been a fighter in that war. Having just turned 18 in Sept., 1983, I’m certain it would have been unavoidable unless of course I’d been in a family with means to leave. Most couldn’t.

The people of Beirut live with a looming stress of possible attacks from neighboring countries and possible outbreak of another civil war while dealing with the almost constant assassination of the country’s leadership since one of the more influential leaders was killed Feb. 14, 2006. The Green Line divided West (Muslim) and East (Christian) Beirut and drove the migration of people’s from one side to another. The war is over and the line is physically gone, but in many ways remains emotionally and mentally. For nearly three decades I’ve wondered what possible reason anyone could have that would warrant someone coming here.

Now that I’m here, I know: People. People warrant coming here.

Despite the uncertainty of life – or because of it – and the fatalism that consumes many Lebanese Shiites (the majority Muslim population here), are finding hope in Jesus. About His coming it was said by the Heralding Angel, “Peace on earth, goodwill among men. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Please pause and pray that many Shiites both in Lebanon and the millions around the world would know the peace of reconciliation with God. Pray that this Christmas season Good News of great joy will be proclaimed among THIS precious people and that God would bring many to faith.