I’m currently in the mountains, but posted this before I left. My goal is to summit Mt. Whitney on Monday, Sept 12 at about 8AM. Then we will start a long descent (about 10 miles) and then a multi-day journey back to Texas. We drop off our backpacking equipment and pick-up a different packed back and head to Turkey.
We should arrive there on Saturday, Sept 17. During the following three weeks, we will be retracing the route of Paul on his first two missionary journeys in Asia Minor and even to the edge Greece. We will also visit the seven cities of the book of Revelation. My goal is to study the book of Acts and the writings of Paul in the geographical context where they were penned or near the people to whom the letters were written. I have many specific things I want to see, but I’m praying that along the way Serendipitous things occur and that God gives me new insight into the text of Scripture.
I’ve been reading, learning and praying. I’m especially looking forward to visiting Antioch. It was there that the followers of Christ were first called Christians. I’ve been giving that idea a lot of thought. What did the people of Antioch see that made them label these people? How distinctive did they need to be to have been given a new name? Would people watching us now say that we look like Jesus? Would they give us that nickname if we already did not have it? My Dad’s nickname was “shorty” because when he was young he was the shortest kid in class, but in High School he shot up and was one of the tallest. The nickname stuck, but the reality was very different.
The church in Antioch was the first mission sending church and a church driven by acts of compassion (like our church). Yet, there is almost no trace of it. How is it that the area that first received the Gospel, formed a thriving Jesus community, now shows so little evidence of the the way of Christ? What does it say about our culture? Where will we be in twenty years? In a hundred years? Will the same thing happen here?
Along the way, we will be visiting ruins, most of them Roman ruins. Buildings, roads, infrastructure that are now piles of rubble. The transition from the Roman world to a Christian society, to a now post-Christian area has great interest to me. How does one transform a civilization with the cause of Christ and how do we keep from abandoning the way of Jesus? How do we continue to renew the church so that it stays relevant for centuries to come? I’ll be studying and praying through these questions and I ask that you seek the Lord’s input on them with me.