Sunday, November 30, 2008: The entire day was spent at sea, traveling
on a direct course from Italy to Santorini, Greece. I've studied the
history of this part of the world for most of my life, and to be in it
is an experience beyond words. Using our God-given imagination we can
almost see the ships of the various then-global powers; Babylonians,
Medo-Persians, Greeks, Romans; coursing through this very same area
on their way to war and mutual domination, as foreseen by the prophet
Daniel in his vision (Dan.7:1-28) as well as King Nebuchadnezzar
(Dan.2:31-45), which formed the historical and prophetic background
for the coming of "the stone cut without hands" which would destroy
the last human global power in human history and establish the eternal
and quite literal Kingdom of God on the earth – a direct reference to
the coming of Yeshua the Messiah, when He arriv es as King of Kings
and Lord of Lords (Rev.17:14). My beloved family and friends, all of
the previous details of these visions has come true exactly as
revealed by the Almighty – so we can be certain that what remains to
be fulfilled, the coming again of the One who will sit on the throne
of David and reign over all the earth from His holy city, Jerusalem,
governing a world where there will no longer be war, disease, or pain,
rather only peace, joy, righteousness, and everlasting life ; all of
this will surely happen, and for it we give praise to God in
anticipation of the glory of that time, when the dead will rise and
the living will no longer die; Hallelujah!

Pastor Talavera

The Pilgrim Pastor Aka Indiana Jones

For those among you who don't have the certainty of being part of that
future Kingdom, please know that entrance into it is available to you
right now. Put your faith in the Lord Yeshua (Jesus), commit your life
to Him as Lord, and the promise is "you will be richly supplied with
the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua
the Messiah" (2 Peter 1:11).
Well, you can see why I've wanted to come to this part of the world
for such a long time! All that I've shared is deep within my heart,
and it gives me great joy to share it with you all.
The rest of the day was spent in rest, which I'm amazed how much I
needed. I've been sleeping between 8 and 9 hours each day, which is
quite unusual for me when I'm back home. My cabin has no window, so it
is extremely dark when I go to bed, and this, together with the
now-gentle rocking of the ship and what must be what is called in
Puerto Rico "cansancio viejo" (old exhaustion) is causing my extended
periods of sleep. I get up each morning feeling another degree of
renewal of mind and body, and as I spend the day in prayer,
meditation, and general relaxation I can feel this renewal flowing
into my spirit as well. It's as if a veil of tiredness is being slowly
lifted off of my soul, the accumulated fatigue of decades, and a new
sense of vigor and purpose is being forged in me that I pray will be
of benefit to you all, and to many others also, who the Lord will
graciously bring in the days to come.
Tonight is formal night, which I cannot participate in whatsoever
since I refused to bring any formal clothing, just jeans and sneakers.
Everybody is dressed in their finest, but I'm fine in my informal
attire. I wanted to take a free dance class – those of you who were
there remember that I was finally able to break the load off of my
feet and dance at my 50th birthday – since I want to get better at
what I'm finally free to do! But one look at everybody in their
tuxedos and dresses waiting for t he class to begin, and I realize
that "sticking out like a sore thumb" is an appropriate description
for me, so I discreetly exit, taking my lessons instead from the
videos that my son Jeffrey put into my Ipod Touch in the hopes of
getting some gracefulness into these newly liberated feet. Thanks, son!
My love to everyone as I sign off in anticipation of my arrival in the
Greek isles tomorrow, by the grace of our Lord,
The Preaching Pilgrim Pastor :)

---second letter

Subject: From the shores of Atlantis (maybe?)

Monday, Dec 1, 2008: Thera;what a majestic sight it was as we came
into the harbor. Also better known as Santorini, the island is one of
several that sit in what's called the Caldera, literally a cauldron
sitting on top of a still active underwater volcano. From Pilgrim
Pastor to Indiana Jones; well, not quite that drastic, but still the
thought of what happened here over the centuries is awesome. The
volcano last erupted in 1956, but one of the biggest ones happened
approximately 3,500 years ago, when the explosion was so great it tore
what was one island into what can be seen today, several islands m
ostly composed of ash and volcanic rock, and which probably led to the
destruction of an entire civilization known as the Minoans. This
catastrophe was also the most likely origin of the legend of Atlantis,
which fact is not lost on the tourism industry h ere, as it proudly
connects current day Thera to that mysterious and alluring city under
the sea.
On the timeline of history, that massive explosion took place around
the same time that Moses was confronting Pharoah in Egypt. This has
led some scholars to attribute all the miracles done at that time to
the purely natural explanation of the results of the Thera incident.
You may pick up on this theory now and then on the History Channel and
other similar media, but what else can we expect from people who seek
rational explanations for supernatural events? The fact of the Exodus
is indisputable, and we have this from the lips of our Lord Jesus
Himself, so whatever means God used, whether or not it was connected
in any way to Thera, it was ultimately His hand that set the
Israelites free, both for their benefit as well as ours, for we have
been grafted into the vine of God's people through the blood of the
Lamb of God!
My tour of Thera took me first to the town of Oia (pronounced "E-ah ),
a picturesque place with totally breathtaking views of the Caldera.
When you see the pictures I took you'll see just how high this village
is, and in fact all of Santorini is literally built on the high
places. Our bus took us up, but some people can take donkeys or even
walk the 600+ steps up to where the people live. I am thankful now
more than ever for bus tran sportation.
By the way, "Santorini" is a fairly new name for this place, being a
corruption of two words introduced by the Venetians, who came here a
few centuries ago. They dedicated it to Santa Irene, or Saint Irene in
English, and if you pronounce Santa Irene fast enough it eventually
becomes one word, hence Santorini. It took awhile for this to happen,
but obviously happen it did. Thera, its' earlier name, is actually the
name of the Spartan general who came and conquered this area. The
current capital is named Fera, and that was our next and final stop on
this brief tour. We were given about 3 hours to explore the city on
our own, and yours truly did just that. It was fascinating to walk up
and down (literally) these ancient streets, and along the way lunch
time came. I really wanted to eat a fresh fish taken from the Caldera,
but everywhere I went no fish was being offered! It turns out that our
ship is the last one coming here for this year, and many shops have
closed an d restaurants have limited their cuisine to the basic things
tourists like (read: junk food). I finally found a place called the
Elia Tavern (aka restaurant), named in honor of the prophet Elijah, so
what better place for your Pilgrim Pastor to eat?
Tell that to the Greeks art the Tavern! At first they thought I was
from Japan (believe it or not!), and after correcting that imp ression
I asked for one seat. My being here alone was a shock to them, and
once I was sitting I was completely ignored. No bread, no oil and
vinegar, NADA. Others (read: couples) came after me and were
immediately tended to; I sat waiting to no avail. Finally the waiter
took my order, Greek Bacalao (codfish), and again the waiting game
commenced. After about an hour I got the message that I was not going
to be served, so after trying again in vain to get the waiters
attention, I made a discreet exit. A hungry search later produced
another Tavern that had fish; this time the waiter did not hide his
shock at my being alone, told me to move to another place (a single
seat in a forsaken part of the restaurant), and literally threw the
menu up at me from the lower level where he was serving. Read: take it
or leave it, preferably leave it. So up I went and searched in vain
for an establishment that offered fresh Caldera fish=2 0to a single
male traveler. My eventual dinner on board ship (baked scrod) never
tasted so good!
Despite all of that, my time in Thera was historically significant and
informative, and as we rode the cable car down the mountainside (the
video I took will speak for itself, trust me), I thanked the Lord for
His grace and boarded the little ship back to the cruise liner.
We're on our way now, headed for Turkey and that very Biblical cit y,
Ephesus. Another personal dream of mine is about to come true;to be
continued!

Love always,

Your Pilgrim Pastor