A couple of years ago I joined a group from Mariner’s Church on a trip to Israel. My friends Matt and Bianca Olthoff were leading and a girl with an epic case of wanderlust I’d always been curious about the Holy Land. The trip brochure spoke right to my soul, “our goal is to bring you into such intimate acquaintance with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ that your study of God’s Word will never be the same again.” Yes, please. I want some of that.
Because truth be told my time in the word needed a revival of sorts. Quiet times felt laborious. I wanted to love spending time in the Bible. I just didn’t. My attempts at reading it cover to cover in a year left me with a shameful amount of YouVersion notifications. “You have fallen a bit behind. You are now 274 days behind on your One Year Bible with a Daily Psalm plan.” Ouch.
I love world history and traveling so it seemed natural that a trip to Israel could reshape the way I viewed the Bible. And it did. I saw real places that I had spent a lifetime only imagining.
Nazareth. The Sea of Galilee. The Jordan River. Capernaum. Gideon’s Spring. The Dead Sea.
The Garden of Gethsemane. The Mount of Olives.
Jerusalem. The Road to Calvary. The Garden Tomb.
The Bible and all of its characters, Old and New Testament, came to life in a new way for me on that trip. And so I have told everyone I know that if they have the means they should go and see. They should walk where Jesus walked. They should see the rock that the Church was built upon. They should learn and be transformed. {And I have said yes to every opportunity to be in Israel I can. This summer I will embark on my 3rd trip in 3 years. I love it that much.}
But I realize there are many of you that don’t have the time or the resources. And that many of you that are too disturbed by grim headlines about the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. And that many of you just don’t like crossing over bodies of water on flying metal objects.
That’s why I am so excited to tell you about a project that is being built in our nation’s capital, The Museum of the Bible. Bricks are probably being laid as I type this post.
The museum in Washington, D.C. will be housed in a 430,000-square-foot building just two blocks from the National Mall and three blocks from the nation’s Capitol, and it will open in the fall of 2017. It will provide guests with an immersive and personalized experience as they explore the history, narrative, and impact of the Bible.
The Museum of the Bible will bring the Bible and its history, narrative and impact to Washington, D.C. for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. It will be a testament to the eternal hope and the power of the Word of God. And you can be a part. You can get in on the ground floor. You can be a part of its legacy.
Do you long to make a difference? Do you want to honor the most important Book of all time? How would you like your name to be remembered?
You think the Bible matters. So do we.
{Below is an incredible group of diverse friends and world changers in front of St. Peter’s Basilica that visited Rome and Israel on a special trip this March curated by The Museum of the Bible. You’ll hear more about them and what they taught me about myself in a subsequent post.}
That’s why we’re excited about the building one of the most extraordinary museums that Washington, D.C., has ever seen. And it’s all about the Bible.
But we can’t do it without you.
We invite you to join us. Let your name count for something. Build a legacy. Honor the greatest Book ever written. Declare your belief that this extraordinary Book should be celebrated, honored, and engaged with. Act today by donating and adding your name to our inspiring global initiative: One Million Names.
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