As you read, I'm in Israel, the land of the Bible. It's my first trip. Not until four or five years ago did I begin to thirst to see the land of Jesus, always believing and still do that where the Spirit of the Living Lord is, it is Holy. Regardless of your definition of "is."

But something triggered in my spiritual psyche and now I am there while you are reading here. Making trips has a whole lot to do with traveling companions. Not too many people other than my wife and daughter would I want to start off driving across the continent. Know what I mean?

For my first Holy Land trip, I'm joined by two of my very best friends: Rev. Chuck Griffith, pastor of Fayette Assembly of God, and Rev. Richard Green, pastor of New Covenant Metropolitan Church in south Decatur. So, here we go: a white Baptist, a white Pentecostal, and an African-American Baptist.Never in my craziest dreams would I thought that one day I would be traveling 14,000 miles with such company. And, to be fair, I just imagine neither did Chuck nor Richard ever think they would be traveling with such baggage.

But we don't look at one another as baggage nor as men with different labels and colors. We're friends who, because of our skin color, look at life differently and are looked at differently, but we're still friends.

We're friends who because of our different doctrinal backgrounds believe the Bible in slightly different ways, but we're still friends.

Our friendship, however, is based on the huge affirmation and conviction that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the supreme Lord and all sufficient Savior of the cosmos. Our friendship has been structured through mutual support, interaction, relationship, and time. Most of all, we have fun when we are together.

Where did such a triangle of friendship come from? It started in worship. Several years ago, clergy from all of the world gathered at the Georgia Dome for a Promise Keepers sponsored meeting. There had never been such a large meeting of this type in all of history (42,000 ministers from across the Christian spectrum).

From that meeting, ministers all across the country decided it was high time to break down the walls that separated brothers and sisters of Christ. As a result, all across our country, ministers have new, vital friendships that transcend denomination and race. Chuck, Richard, and I are a few of the beneficiaries. I am sure we are enjoying our first, and not last, trip to the Holy Land.

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