Customer Reviews

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus: A Journey Through the Lands and Lessons of Christ

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This book combines passion with humor in a unique "tour" through Jesus' life. Author Wayne Stiles has not written a "life of Christ" book, nor has he produced a work recounting the geographical background of Jesus' ministry. What he has done, through his deep knowledge of Jesus' life and land, is to take the reader on a delightful and challenging journey to the physical and spiritual places where Jesus lived and taught.

Stiles' skill as a writer and "tour guide" makes the book engaging and rich with insights. As a pastor for many years, Stiles is gifted in making lofty ideas of Scripture readily understandable to the average person, and he does so with many fun anecdotes and helpful analogies from his travels in Israel. From Bethlehem, to Galilee and Jerusalem, and ending in Patmos, the book largely travels "in the footsteps of Jesus."

If you haven't yet been on a trip to the Holy Land, you'll enjoy visiting it virtually through this book. If you have been, you'll see it in ways that you haven't before, even if you've visited countless times. This journey combines so many of my favorite things in one book: the places of the land of the Bible, the life of Christ, fascinating stories, excellent writing, and God-exalting, people-challenging truth.

During my sophomore or junior year in high school, my parents and I took advantage of an opportunity to tour the Holy Land, Egypt and Amman for 15 days. Words cannot describe the awe and wonder of walking where Jesus walked over 2000 years before, seeing Jerusalem, the Western (Wailing) Wall, to see the Garden of Gethsemane where He prayed and was arrested, to see Golgotha and finally, to see the Empty Tomb (He has risen indeed!)! Sadly, I didn't have the maturity and foreknowledge to journal all the things I saw, smelled, tasted, felt, and heard during my experience and thus, so many memories are lost. It is my greatest and deepest regret. Many times I have prayed for another such opportunity to visit Israel in the hopes of revisiting the hallowed ground and to journal my experiences there.

As Wayne Stiles states in his introduction, this is NOT a chronological journal of the entire itinerary of Christ's life. Instead, it is one man's writings of his impressions, encouragement and challenges as he walks in Christ's footsteps and how He impacted those around Him during His ministry. Throughout the book, Stiles encourages us, the readers, with powerful words of wisdom, including his own personal experiences, lightly seasoned with good-hearted humor. You also get a glimpse into the heart and mind of the author as he challenges himself in his own relationship with Christ.

It brought back many memories of the semester I spent studying in Israel and challenged me to keep pursuing a deeper relationship with Christ. Stiles writes in such a way that you feel you are right there with him, especially if you have actually been there. He does an excellent job of reminding the reader/tourist of the ultimate purpose of studying/visiting these important biblical sites, which is to know and love the Savior more.

When a friend and former professor offered to give this book away, I jumped at the chance. I got to spend 3 months in Israel learning about, living in, and hiking through the land, and I always enjoy thinking back on those memories. This book did not disappoint. While this book is not an exposition of the life of Christ (nor is it meant to be), it serves its purpose well.

Wayne Stiles has a great way of making the connection between ancient history and Israel as it stands today. Even for someone who has never been there, Stiles' descriptions of the land give a vivid picture of what it looks like today, and how it would have looked in Jesus time. He weaves well the biblical narrative into his book, showing how the land of Israel fits into the biblical story. The reader gets a feel for not only the time of the biblical story, but the geography as well. Personal anecdotes make the reader feel as if he were actually there, experiencing the modern culture of Israel as he explores the ancient. the results are often humorous!

Of course, the best way to learn about the land of Israel would be to visit. But since that is not possible for everyone, this book gives a good grasp on what the land is like today, how it operated back then, and how invaluable a knowledge of the land itself, its artifacts, and its structures can be. And having been to Israel, it is a refreshing picture for me of what I saw, learned, and how important the land is in the plan of God.

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus is every bit as enjoyable and vivid as Wayne's earlier work, Going Places with God (Going Places With God: A Devotional Journey Through the Lands of the Bible). If God ever blesses me with a chance to travel in the Holy Land, I would definitely want Wayne as a travel partner; until then, Wayne's tasteful narrative will serve nicely. It is a vibrant read, filled with wit, insight, knowledge and personal experience (and scripture) that brought to life, for me, many scenes from the gospels. I recommend Wayne's "Going Places..." as a daily devotional book, and I now heartily recommend his "Walking in the Footsteps..." as a text for coalescing in the mind of the reader the times, places, people and mindsets that were the settings for Jesus' ministry.

I was very excited when I heard about this book and it definitely satisfied my expectations. Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus is a very fun read, especially for those who have been to Israel and can relate to the author's experience. I also love the comments that the author makes about the life of Christ and his observations.

This book made you feel like you were walking along with the author. I bought the book because my wife and I plan to go to the Holy Land nexst year. After reading the book I wish it was sooner. I will use this book when I go on my tour.

"Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus" is a description of Wayne Stiles' travels in the Holy Land, and he describes the modern sites in the order Jesus would have encountered them. I've traveled to Israel, and this travelogue accurately portrayed what traveling in Israel is like. The author's style was entertaining, and his faith lessons insightful, but I'd expected more detail on what the actual sites looked like based on other people's reviews.

The author gave a brief description of what the modern site looked like, the quirky people there, what happened there (in the Bible), some historical and cultural background to the events, and a faith lesson based on the site and events that happened there. He also described the shopping stops and more mundane traveling moments. There were 11 black and white pictures from his trips and 3 black and white maps.

At the back, there was a Scripture Index and a Site Index. This book reminded me of the "That The World Many Know" DVD series. I like the faith lesson better in this book, but I think you get a better sense of what a site looks like by watching the "That The World Many Know" DVD series.


The main places in this book were Bethlehem (Church of the Nativity), Timna Park (tabernacle replica), Beth-Semesh (landscape), Shiloh (ruins of city), Jerusalem (model of temple mount, Western Wall, tunnel at Western Wall, a bar mitzvah, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Cardo St., via Dolorosa, Upper Room, "Tomb of David," Church of St. Peter in Gallicanta, Monastery of the Flagellation), Jordan River (baptism sites), wilderness of Judea, Dead Sea Scroll caves, church where Moses lifted up the bronze serpent, Samaria (Jacob's well), Nazareth (Church of the Annunciation), Nof Ginosar museum ("Jesus" boat), Sea of Galilee (ride on replica of Jesus-era boat), Capernaum, Bethsaida, Gamla, the ancient International Highway/via Maris, Hazor, Dan, Caesarea Philippi, Mt. Hermon, Perea region, Jericho, Mount of Olives (Dominus Flevit church, Church of All Nations, Garden of Gethsemane), Tabgha (church of the Primacy of St. Peter), Mount Arbel, Ephesus, Patmos (Monastery of St. John).

I had hoped this would be a worthwhile travel diary, following a certain logical path -- (the "footsteps") of Jesus -- through important sites in the Holy Land. Obviously, I knew it would include discussions on the author's faith, but I expected this to be useful to anyone taking a trip to Israel who wanted to learn more about the biblical stories associated with various locations. Instead, this seems like a haphazard account of one man's spiritual thoughts, presented in no order, and only loosely tied to an itinerary. And as a religious or spiritual book, it's pretty sophomoric, written by a fundamentalist rather than a thoughtful humanist. The book also appears to have been printed by a xerox machine, very low quality.

I thought the book would be more of a travel logue which it really wasn't. If you are looking for a devotional book in conjunction with a trip to Israel or having just gone, you might enjoy the insights.