Our Journey has come to an end! I have posted my last pictures. I hope you all enjoy!
In Him,
Greg.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
March 13th
Please see photos for an explanation of my day listed above under “Ladiocia-Heiropolis!” Tomorrow we are waking up at 5am to visit 5 of the 7 churches of revelation. So i must get to bed!
In Him,
Greg
In Him,
Greg
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
March 12th
After a long day of driving and visiting several places I am quite tired. We visited Antioch of Pasidia today, and stopping point in several of Paul’s missionary journeys. It was here Paul preached and they asked him to come back and he preached again only to face persecution. This city would later become a christian city and dedicated a synogogue to Paul. Visiting here was amazing! To walk down the very streets Paul walked down with Barnabas and many other fellow christians was quite inspiring.
Colossae although not excavated left an impression on me I will never forget. As I stood at the top of the un-excavated mound that was several hundred feet high I looked to the south and there were huge mountains, then I looked to the north and there were massive mountains, and it dawned on me, “This is exactly what the apostle Paul must have seen as he was traveling through Colossae on the way to Heiropolis and Ephesus. It made since to me why Colossae was in the location that it was and why Paul would have traveled through there. I will never forget that image that no camera can capture. Scripture will never be the same for me!
Tomorrow we continue our journey to Heiropolis and Ladiocia!
In Him,
Greg
Colossae although not excavated left an impression on me I will never forget. As I stood at the top of the un-excavated mound that was several hundred feet high I looked to the south and there were huge mountains, then I looked to the north and there were massive mountains, and it dawned on me, “This is exactly what the apostle Paul must have seen as he was traveling through Colossae on the way to Heiropolis and Ephesus. It made since to me why Colossae was in the location that it was and why Paul would have traveled through there. I will never forget that image that no camera can capture. Scripture will never be the same for me!
Tomorrow we continue our journey to Heiropolis and Ladiocia!
In Him,
Greg
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
March 11th
Today marked the start of our tour of Paul’s first missionary journey. We traveled from Cappadocia to Konya. On the way we stopped by an 800 year old Celtic Fortress and an excavation site of a pre-neolithic Stone age village. Then we visited Lystra, however this biblical location has not been excavated yet and remains just a mound.
The city of Lystra first appears in the Bible when Paul and Barnabas visited the city on their first missionary journey (Acts 14). It was in this city where Paul and Barnabas healed the man crippled from birth. Due to this miracle the locals of Lystra were very impressed and mistakenly called Paul and Barnabas, Zeus and Hermes. Paul then taught these people in the synagogue until they found out his teachings were not the orthodox jewish teachings. They then stoned him and dragged him outside the city and left him for dead. Paul would later revisit and bring Timothy with him on his second missionary journey. Paul reminds Timothy of his persecution in Lystra in 2 Timothy 3:11.
On a different note, our hotel for the night is fantastic! It is very first class, and tonight we had our best meal by far. The food here is quite different, and for those of you who know me well I am a bit of a picky eater, so it has not been easy to eat. I will post pictures when I can! There isn’t much to see today since we just saw an unexcaveted mound. I hope everyone is doing well!
P.S.- Previous Pictures are posted under the tabs above (Istanbul, Cappadocia)
In Him,
Greg
The city of Lystra first appears in the Bible when Paul and Barnabas visited the city on their first missionary journey (Acts 14). It was in this city where Paul and Barnabas healed the man crippled from birth. Due to this miracle the locals of Lystra were very impressed and mistakenly called Paul and Barnabas, Zeus and Hermes. Paul then taught these people in the synagogue until they found out his teachings were not the orthodox jewish teachings. They then stoned him and dragged him outside the city and left him for dead. Paul would later revisit and bring Timothy with him on his second missionary journey. Paul reminds Timothy of his persecution in Lystra in 2 Timothy 3:11.
On a different note, our hotel for the night is fantastic! It is very first class, and tonight we had our best meal by far. The food here is quite different, and for those of you who know me well I am a bit of a picky eater, so it has not been easy to eat. I will post pictures when I can! There isn’t much to see today since we just saw an unexcaveted mound. I hope everyone is doing well!
P.S.- Previous Pictures are posted under the tabs above (Istanbul, Cappadocia)
In Him,
Greg
Monday, March 10, 2014
March 10th
Today we visited the Biblical City of Cappadocia. This is the city which is mentioned in Acts chapter two, and the city to which Peter wrote both of his letters. While here we visited some ancient sites including an underground church which was dug into a cave, and an ancient monastic city. We also had the opportunity to visit a hand made rug shop and pottery shop. In each of these shops they would demonstrate how they made whatever it was they made, and then they would attempt to sell us a rug or piece of pottery. Something extraordinary happened in the rug shop.
A man named VeeCee (pardon the spelling) sat down beside me and asked me if I was interested in some five thousand dollar hand made rugs. I politely told him no, and he asked me what I did for a living in America. I told responded, “I am a youth pastor, for a christian church,” to which I received a bit of silence and shock. Then I asked if he was Islamic, and in fact he was! So I began asking him questions about his faith, and he began to do the same about mine. At one point I asked if he recognized Jesus and he said, “Yes, if we do not accept his teachings then we do not please Allah.”
So I began to teach him the true teachings of Jesus. He was under the impression that I was a catholic priest and I explained to him, “No, I am not catholic, I am a sinner who was saved thanks to Jesus sacrifice on the cross, and because of that and His free gift I can have an eternal relationship with God, 100% based on what Jesus did and 0% percent on my works, and I can know 100% for sure that I will spend eternity with Jesus.” He then responded, “I can never know for sure.” After this, I shared the sweet gospel of Jesus with this Islamic man. As the conversation came to a close he said, “I and not sure of what I will do” and thanked me for the conversation. The seed was planted in VeeCee’s heart and now someone else must bring the increase. Its sad that in turkey today there are very few witnesses for Jesus, especially when Jesus said, “Go into the uttermost parts of the earth!” Once this place was vibrant with Christians and now it is vibrant with sin and darkness. My prayer is that this land will one day return to its roots and follow Jesus!
Tomorrow we visit Iconium! Please don’t forget to check out the photos under the links above!
In Him,
Greg
A man named VeeCee (pardon the spelling) sat down beside me and asked me if I was interested in some five thousand dollar hand made rugs. I politely told him no, and he asked me what I did for a living in America. I told responded, “I am a youth pastor, for a christian church,” to which I received a bit of silence and shock. Then I asked if he was Islamic, and in fact he was! So I began asking him questions about his faith, and he began to do the same about mine. At one point I asked if he recognized Jesus and he said, “Yes, if we do not accept his teachings then we do not please Allah.”
So I began to teach him the true teachings of Jesus. He was under the impression that I was a catholic priest and I explained to him, “No, I am not catholic, I am a sinner who was saved thanks to Jesus sacrifice on the cross, and because of that and His free gift I can have an eternal relationship with God, 100% based on what Jesus did and 0% percent on my works, and I can know 100% for sure that I will spend eternity with Jesus.” He then responded, “I can never know for sure.” After this, I shared the sweet gospel of Jesus with this Islamic man. As the conversation came to a close he said, “I and not sure of what I will do” and thanked me for the conversation. The seed was planted in VeeCee’s heart and now someone else must bring the increase. Its sad that in turkey today there are very few witnesses for Jesus, especially when Jesus said, “Go into the uttermost parts of the earth!” Once this place was vibrant with Christians and now it is vibrant with sin and darkness. My prayer is that this land will one day return to its roots and follow Jesus!
Tomorrow we visit Iconium! Please don’t forget to check out the photos under the links above!
In Him,
Greg
Sunday, March 9, 2014
March 9th,
What an amazing day we had today! I am sure ill say that many more times as we continue our journey. Today we visited the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Ottoman palace, several museums and the spice market. We also flew to Cappadocia, where we will spend the next two days.
Several Notes this far:
1. Jet lag is still terrible
2. The food here is different but not bad
3. Turkish delights are amazing, as well as Turkish Coffee
4. I am so thankful that we are saved by grace and that we do not have to depend on our selves to gain acceptance to a Holy God. I am thankful for the blood of Jesus that was shed on that cross many years ago, but is still as effective today! I am so thankful for the savior (and not just prophet) Jesus who died and rose again for my sake. I am so thankful for His free gift of salvation!
5. I am saddened by the severity of the darkness here in Turkey. 99% of Turkey is Islamic, and most of them aren’t even faithful. Those who are spend hours a day trying to appease a wrathful God who will never accept them. My heart is broken for the people who desperately need the free grace of Jesus Christ.
Well until tomorrow feel free to check out the Photos tab where i have posted a few snap shots from today! More pictures to come tomorrow.
P. S. - I must give a shout out to my father-in-law, Kent Bowers, for giving me the idea to post my trip on a blog! Thanks Mr. Kent!
In Christ who Alone can save,
Greg
What an amazing day we had today! I am sure ill say that many more times as we continue our journey. Today we visited the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Ottoman palace, several museums and the spice market. We also flew to Cappadocia, where we will spend the next two days.
Several Notes this far:
1. Jet lag is still terrible
2. The food here is different but not bad
3. Turkish delights are amazing, as well as Turkish Coffee
4. I am so thankful that we are saved by grace and that we do not have to depend on our selves to gain acceptance to a Holy God. I am thankful for the blood of Jesus that was shed on that cross many years ago, but is still as effective today! I am so thankful for the savior (and not just prophet) Jesus who died and rose again for my sake. I am so thankful for His free gift of salvation!
5. I am saddened by the severity of the darkness here in Turkey. 99% of Turkey is Islamic, and most of them aren’t even faithful. Those who are spend hours a day trying to appease a wrathful God who will never accept them. My heart is broken for the people who desperately need the free grace of Jesus Christ.
Well until tomorrow feel free to check out the Photos tab where i have posted a few snap shots from today! More pictures to come tomorrow.
P. S. - I must give a shout out to my father-in-law, Kent Bowers, for giving me the idea to post my trip on a blog! Thanks Mr. Kent!
In Christ who Alone can save,
Greg
Saturday, March 8, 2014
March 8th, 9:00pm here in Istanbul. After taking off in DFW at 4:30pm during the day light we arrive in London, England around 7:45am GMT. The flight went well, I was able to watch the movie "Ender's Game" which was actually very entertaining. Unfortunately I was stuck in the middle seat of five and couldn't get much sleep. With that being said the jet lag had already begun to whip me. After an hour layover in London we boarded British Airways Boeing 767-200 to Istanbul, Turkey. This flight I had a whole row to my self and slept amazing! We arrived in Istanbul at 4:30 local time. A total of about 14 hrs travel sent me and my group to three different continents, how amazing!
Once we arrived in Istanbul we boarded the tour bus and headed straight for the hotel where we are staying just tonight, and I am very pleasantly surprised at how nice it is. We all shared an interesting dinner which was like beef stroganoff and fried onions, it was actually quite tasty.
Tomorrow we have a busy day planned! We are touring Istanbul and visiting the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. We are also visiting several other museums and a cool market place. Then in the afternoon we will fly to Kayseri, also known as Cappadocia. Our adventures of biblical historical sites will begin there! Pictures to comes soon! Hope to see you all soon!
P.S.- Feel free to ask me any questions about the trip or the upcoming location and I'll do my best to get you an answer!
Once we arrived in Istanbul we boarded the tour bus and headed straight for the hotel where we are staying just tonight, and I am very pleasantly surprised at how nice it is. We all shared an interesting dinner which was like beef stroganoff and fried onions, it was actually quite tasty.
Tomorrow we have a busy day planned! We are touring Istanbul and visiting the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. We are also visiting several other museums and a cool market place. Then in the afternoon we will fly to Kayseri, also known as Cappadocia. Our adventures of biblical historical sites will begin there! Pictures to comes soon! Hope to see you all soon!
P.S.- Feel free to ask me any questions about the trip or the upcoming location and I'll do my best to get you an answer!
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