By Jim Lyon, CBH ViewPoint

It has been my privilege to visit more than fifty countries in this world. I have stood in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower and on the Great Wall of China. I have watched the sunrise over the Taj Mahal and climbed to the feet of the famed statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro. From the spectacle of the African savannah to the sweep of Alaska’s wilderness, I have been moved by the grandeur of God’s creation. But in the whole wide world, there really is nothing like a glimpse of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives or the feel of a breeze sweeping up the hillside from the Sea of Galilee.

The Holy Land. It is a tiny plot of earth that has been the hinge of history. And more. It is a tiny plot of land upon which Jesus himself, the very Word of God, become flesh, walked. In person. The world still echoes with the sound of his voice. The Holy Land still carries the sense of his presence.

To stand in the Shepherd’s Field outside of Bethlehem’s gate on a cold winter’s night, to explore the warren of streets and shops that hug the Temple Mount in the ancient walled city of Jerusalem, to actually stand on the top of Mt. Zion, to step into the River Jordan, to imagine blind Bartimaeus’s call for help as you walk the streets of Jericho, to hear the reading of the Sermon on the Mount, while sitting in the still quiet of a field of lilies overlooking the Sea of Galilee, to discover the Capernaum house in which Peter once lived and in which Jesus healed his mother-in-law, to pause at the well in Nazareth as Mary once did when Gabriel appeared—well, there is, quite simply, no place in the world like it.

Join us January 4–12, 2009, for an unforgettable journey through the Old and New Testaments as CBH leads you through the Holy Land. I am looking forward to returning to this land like no other once more—and I am looking forward to introducing it to you, our CBH friends, myself. It will be an adventure like no other. It will be an experience like no other.

Plan now. Pray now. Save now. And, oh yes, be sure to pack your Bible. You will see its stories come to life. In the Holy Land. January 2009. I hope to see you then. For more information, visit the CBH Web site at cbhviewpoint.org or call 800-757-VIEW.