Wayne Stiles

Wayne Stiles said that Israel can’t help but transform the Christians who travel there, in spite of the ordinary-ness of the place itself.

Stiles wrote Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus: A Journey Through the Lands and Lessons of Christ after five trips to Israel. The Aubrey resident served as the pastor of Denton Community Church, a congregation that Denton Bible Church planted on the downtown Square, for 14 years. The church is now located at 1919 N. Elm St.

Stiles is the executive vice president of Insight for Living, a radio broadcasting and publishing ministry affiliated with pastor Chuck Swindoll.

Stiles’ book is at Martus Bookstore.

View larger More photos Photo store

Stiles said the book began eight years ago, during his first trip to Israel. He was bracing for an overwhelming experience, but when he landed without his luggage, he found himself asking around in Hebrew where he might buy new underwear.

“It was not like I imagined,” he said. “You know, you picture it, and you always have this exalted view of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, that you’re going to see something that is fantastic. The place is really kind of dumpy, almost Third World-ish. You have to forget that pile of trash and that they built a church every 12 feet. You have to remember that this is where Jesus made his journey.”

Stiles’ book isn’t a travelogue.

It’s a retracing of Jesus’ steps, coupled with a personal meditation about the things he saw, the people he met and the new understanding that grew with each trip.

It also provokes the reader to seek out the modern evangelical significance of the journey.

“Here in the States, we read the Bible and we have a face which we cannot see,” he said. “Our faith isn’t in a place. When we go to the stage on which the divine drama took place, we see that our faith is rooted in history. It puts the real in reality. It verifies that what we read actually took place in time and space.”

Stiles wrote Going Places With God for Regal, a Christian publishing house, last year, and the company asked if he’d write a book like Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus.

He started writing the book last year, and he plans to go to Israel again next year. Stiles said he applied his growing faith to the book.

“It’s written for people who are already there [converted to Christianity], but it challenges their expectations,” he said.

LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is
cbreeding@dentonrc.com .