Between the Lines

Well, I had some issue with the internet in our hotel here in Athens the past few days but I think I have it worked out, so this is a combined post that will serve as my final one for this trip. Yesterday we drove over to ancient Corinth and were able to view the ruins of this city where Paul spent about 18 months of his ministry helping to establish the church there. We were able to see various structures that were left from the ancient city and learn about its storied past. On our way back to Athens, we made a stop at a sea side restaurant where we were treated to a full Greek dining experience that pushed some and delighted others. I personally enjoyed it! In the afternoon we were free to explore Athens, and a few of us visited the newly opened Acropolis Museum that was simply amazing. I also was able to enjoy a ride on the Athens subway which I have to say was pretty nice.  This morning, our last of the trip before heading home, we got an early start to beat the crowds to the ...

Today we set out from Thessaloniki toward our final destination of the trip, Athens. It's a long ride, but there were a couple of stops that we made along the way. In the morning we made a stop in Vioria, which in Biblical days was known as Beroea. This is where Paul escaped to after the drama in Thessalonica ( Acts 17:10-15). Here Paul preached and taught for multiple days, enough that Jews from Thessalonica heard about it and came to Beroea to cause trouble for him. In the town today there is a site that commentates Paul's work in the town, including a statue of him, a beautiful monument depicting his ministry in the town, and finally a set of ancient steps that tradition says Paul stood on to preach.  Next we had a special treat for all the history buffs in the group. We went to the small town of Vergina (vur-HEE-na) where we were able to visit the tomb of Phillip II. Phillip was the father of Alexander the Great, and was known for strengthening Macedonia, which would provid...

Today we set out from Thessaloniki toward our final destination of the trip, Athens. It's a long ride, but there were a couple of stops that we made along the way. In the morning we made a stop in Vioria, which in Biblical days was known as Beroea. This is where Paul escaped to after the drama in Thessalonica ( Acts 17:10-15). Here Paul preached and taught for multiple days, enough that Jews from Thessalonica heard about it and came to Beroea to cause trouble for him. In the town today there is a site that commentates Paul's work in the town, including a statue of him, a beautiful monument depicting his ministry in the town, and finally a set of ancient steps that tradition says Paul stood on to preach.  Next we had a special treat for all the history buffs in the group. We went to the small town of Vergina (vur-HEE-na) where we were able to visit the tomb of Phillip II. Phillip was the father of Alexander the Great, and was known for strengthening Macedonia, which would provid...

Location of Lydia's Baptism (Acts 16) Today we continued following the path of the Apostle Paul. In the morning we drove to ancient Phillipi. We began in the lower village of what today is called Lydia. It is so called because this is the location where Lydia, Paul's first convert in Europe was baptized (Acts 16). Here we saw the beautiful riverbank that now commemorates this major event, as well as went inside the beautiful Greek Orthodox Church on the site. It was an exciting time as the workers and priests were anxiously preparing for St. Lydia's day which is ironically taking place tomorrow. Following our time at the village of Lydia we rode the half a mile over to the ruins that have been excavated from ancient Phillipi. Excavations began here in 1914 so there was much for us to see.  Much of what was visible of the city's structure are ruins from 2nd and 3rd century prior to its abandonment in the 5th century. There were several structures remaining from w...

The actual horse used in the Troy movie, and it was just outside our hotel in Canakkale Today was basically one thing, traveling! We left our hotel this morning along the Aegean Sea in Canakkale and were able to ride the ferry across Darnels Strait. We continued driving for about three hours until we reached the Turkey/Greece border. After going through border control, we had to transfer from the bus/tour guide we had been using throughout Turkey to a new bus/guide for our time in Greece. It was a unique experience but it was necessary. We said goodbye to Funda and hello to Dora, our guide for Greece. After about two hours, we made it to our first stop, the town of Kavala. During Biblical times, this town was known as Neopolis, the location where Paul first stepped foot onto Europe to further the Gospel . Picture depicting St. Paul's arrival The town has changed much since that time due to conflicts with the Ottoman Empire of Turkey where the city was leveled. We saw a...

We find the letter to the church in Pergamum in Revelation 2:12-17 where they are commended for holding fast despite being where "Satan's throne is". This made 6 of the 7 churches we have visited and it was unique because it's key components are up high on a mountain in the Acropolis. Just to reach it we actually had to leave our bus and take taxis to the top. Overlooking Pergamum While in Pergamum, we were able to see Trajean's temple, the Altar of Zeus which was likely what was being referenced when mentioning the presence of Satan, and some breathtaking views, including the steepest ancient theater in all of Asia. After we came down from the Acropolis we drove over to Aesculapium which was a medical bathing facility used for mental patients. The facility made use of an intricate water system to fill the baths used by patients. At this facility there was also a smaller theater and arena where patients would participate in various therapies by putting ...

To see more photos from my trip, check out the photo album on my Facebook page EPHESUS Today was yet again a full day, but fortunately we didn't have to travel a lot to enjoy it. This was the day that many of us had been looking forward to because Ephesus is a highly excavated location so it offers much to see, but also because Ephesus is such a prominent location in the New Testament. Me with St. John's Basilica We began the day by visiting the Home of Mary. This is a house in Ephesus that is traditionally believed to be the place where Mary the MOther of Jesus stayed for several years following Jesus' resurrection. This is because of the fact that John was commanded by Jesus on the cross to care for Mary, and Ephesus is where John spent the majority of his ministry. We also have various aspects of church history and traditions that say this potentially is the place. Next was St. John's Basilica which is a church constructed in the Byzantine period. It was...

Today was another lengthy day but it offered a tremendous opportunity to visit numerous places. The day was spent visiting various sites of the ancient churches who were mentioned in the early chapters of the book of Revelation, those in "Asia Minor." The day started with us visiting the Church of St. Polycarp in downtown Izmir (formerly Smyrna). Polycarp was a disciple of John the Baptist, and contributed much to the first century church as the Bishop of Smyrna. The church is named in honor of him, and it's interior is covered with images that depict the life of Christ as well as Polycarp's martydom. Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) is also one of the seven mentioned in Revelation, and Dr. Wakefield, Dean of CUDS and the trip leader, led us in a wonderful devotion reflecting on the letter to Smyrna in Revelation. Next we made stops at three other locations from "the seven" as we continued to move up the Aegean  Sea coast of Turkey. First was Sardis (Revelat...

This is a random post, but thought it might be worth sharing our travel woes. If you have been keeping up with my trip so far, you are aware of the issues we had with our initial flight out of RDU. The bus ride to DC wasn't bad but it wasn't a part of the plan. Then last night we had a early evening flight from Istanbul to Izmir. We flew into the brand new airport there and as we were deplanning there was some confusion about where we were to go and unfortunately one of our group members was separated from the rest of us for about 25 minutes. Fortunately we were able to meet back up, but with the airport only being a week old, there was miscommunication about where our us was to pick us up. Because of that we had to walk about 15 to 20 minutes to finally reach our bus. We finally made it and things worked out fine but it just happens that sometimes things don't go smoothly. Our group was and continues to be determined and we do not allow it to deter us from having a great t...

TO SEE PHOTOS FROM MY TRIP SO FAR, VISIT MY PUBLIC FACEBOOK PHOTO ALBUM FOR THE TRIP HERE. It was nice to finally have a chance to sleep in a bed and catch up on sleep. Unfortunately for me, my internal body clock was not so keen on the idea of a good seven hours of sleep because I awoke at 3:30 AM local time wide awake and would stay that way the rest of the day. (I eventually crashed on our bus ride to the airport for our flight to Izmir) We spent the day seeing some of the major locales around Turkey's capital city. We begin by spending the morning at Topkapi Palace, the former primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 40 years of the 624 year reign. The f acility was immaculate, and covered a large plot of ground. The facility doubled as a museum with items from the sultans and rulers over the years,including an 86 carrot diamond. (Yes, 86 carrots). This place was interesting because of the look into history it provided and the visual representation of th...

When our group of 31 students, faculty, staff, and friends of Campbell University Divinity School gathered at RDU Airport on Monday morning, we had no idea that our best laid plans would have to be altered. We were to leave RDU at 12 for our flight to Washington, D.C. where we had planned to do some sightseeing prior to our 11:30 flight to Istanbul. However, those plans changed when our plane had a mechanical failure and we had to de-board the plan bound for D.C. We waited in the airport for about two hours waiting to see if the airline would be able to get us on another flight or repair the plane. By 2:30 when none of those had come to fruition, we had to make the call, along with our travel agency, to take a charter bus to the airport in D.C. When a bus was eventually rounded up, we finally left RDU about 4:30 bound to D.C. We did arrive in D.C. about 9:15, plenty of time to get ready for our flight. I don't know if any of you have ever ridden Turkish Airlines before, but I hav...

If you were to ask any college student to name one of the three biggest concerns they have regarding their time in college and what comes next, undoubtedly one of those three would deal with their purpose, meaning, or calling in life. It is something that all teenagers and college students struggle with, and it is something that I think adults continue to wrestle with throughout their professional careers. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MY LIFE? That is the ultimate question that we all want to answer because we inherently want our lives to have value and meaning. We want the time that we spend walking the earth to be of worth not only to us and those we love, but as followers of Christ, we want our lives to have meaning to God and for God. I think one of the first things that must be done in creating one's purpose statement is to realize that yes you may have one calling or purpose, but understand that calling can have various roles that can change over time. Too often we attribute a ...

I will never forget that night I borrowed a roll of toilet paper from the church I was serving at. (Yes, this may seem odd, but I promise there is a point to all of this) It was my first year of Divinity School, I was in my sixth year serving as the church's Youth Director, and I was balancing holding down another job as a part time employee at a university. All of that is to say, that both time and money were in short supply. On this particular Wednesday evening, I had planned to stop by the grocery store following church to pick up some things, but some unexpected tasks came up while at church, so I was unable to leave in time to make it to the store before it closed. Before making the 45 minute drive back to my apartment from the church, I stepped into the bathroom to wash my hands, and noticed a stack of toilet paper rolls on the counter someone had left in anticipation of restocking the men's room. Seeing this stack reminded me that I was completely out of TP myself, a...

I have recently been working through a new book by Drs. David P. Setran and Chris A. Kiesling entitled "Spiritual Formation in Emerging Adulthood," that aims to explore the highs and lows, the good and the bad, associated with the spiritual formation of emerging adults. Now, if you are unfamiliar with the term "emerging adult," very simply, it is a term coined in the past decade by sociologists, among other professions (we college ministers love it), to describe the new life stage among people that has, for lack of a better term, emerged in our society. This is the time period of delayed adulthood, roughly the ages of 18-30, where college-aged people are putting off the normal identifiers of adulthood, such as marriage, children, permanent jobs, and home ownership, for the likes of continued education, career pursuits, life experiences, and living with their parents. (Don't believe me? Check out this recent BBC article about the over 25% of emerging adults in th...

Over the past few weeks, I have been amazed at the number of cultural and secular references I have both seen and heard in regards to what an individual is "giving up for Lent." Just last night, my favorite late night host, Jimmy Fallon, incorporated the question of "What are you planning to give up for Lent?" into one of his infamous skits with the audience and house band, The Roots. The common responses I have seen are sodas, sugars, coffee, social media, and cursing. All of these are certainly admirable goals and definitely would improve one's life, but sadly they negate the entire purpose behind the season of Lent. The ways in which I see people describing their "sacrifices" bears striking resemblance to language I am accustomed to hearing around New Years in regards to a person's resolution, and not about penance or reflection. You see the season of Lent is not about identifying traits that we want to improve in ourselves, but recognizing o...