Update on my life

Since I haven't mentioned details about my life much recently, I thought I should give a few of those on here today. I have just over a week left here in Turkey; I am supposed to fly out next Saturday morning, the 5th. Until then I have very few concrete things to do... just spending time with friends, getting together the stuff I need to take back, packing, and so forth. So, my challenge is to spend my time wisely even in the midst of a very light schedule of things that need doing. Yet, each day so far the Lord has guided in the things that I have done even though I have not known ahead of time what the day would hold.

Euro 2008

Tonight, Turkey lost in the semi-finals of Euro 2008. They lost to Germany 3-2 in what I would say was their best game of the tournament. Their previous 2 games were won in incredible come-from-behind fashion. This game was played well throughout with only a few mistakes. The Turks played with the same determination that won them the other two games, and this time they played with manners. Outstanding game!

Haydi, Türkiye!

Pergamum

Pergamum's theater, with modern Bergama in the background

Pergamum was one of the more interesting sites to visit. It has undergone a large amount of excavation and restoration. It is also one of the places that was visually very striking. The theater above is considered to be the world's steepest. Even more interesting, though, are the remains of the Pergamum Altar (presumably) to Zeus. It is worth taking the time to see the actual altar that was there, by visiting its Wikipedia site. This is probably what is described in Rev. 2 as "Satan's throne." Take a look, you'll see why the language is so lofty.

The Remains of Pergamum's Altar of Zeus

Related posts: Seven Churches Intro and Miletus; Sardis, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Smyrna; Colossae, Laodecia, Hierapolis; previous trip to Hierapolis; previous trip to Ephesus; trip to Cappodocia

Sardis, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Smyrna

The Mountains, the buildings, the Bethany - at Sardis

So, what is left at some of the less famous cities of the 7 churches? Well in some cases, we might not have known what was there in the first place. Sardis was once the capital of the kingdom of Lydia, where coins are believed to have first been used. But now in Sardis there are mostly Roman ruins, with the rebuilt entrance to the old gymnasium being the most impressive building. However, there are also impressive ruins from a Jewish synagogue with some well-preserved mosaics adorning the floor.

Rebuilt entrance to the Sardis gymnasium

At the site of ancient Philadelphia, the city of Alaşehir now bustles. There is remarkably little to indicate that an old city is buried beneath the ruins of the modern one. (And I don't currently have a picture from there.)

Ruins at Thyatira

The ruins at Thyatira (modern Akhisar) are also sparse, although slightly more plentiful. This is the city where Lydia (whom Paul met in Philippi) was from. She was a seller of purple/indigo, which is quite natural since Thyatira was know for its dyeing and indigo trade.

Bethany & I at Thyatira... resting on a random fallen column

The final city that we saw on this particular day was ancient Smyrna/modern Izmir. Here part of the ancient agora has been restored, and it is quite interesting since it is actually a two-story marketplace. That is why in the picture below we are looking down on the arches of the first level. There isn't much of the ancient to see here either.

Arches of ancient agora in Smyrna/Izmir

What came to mind while we saw these cities? These places brought to more reality the fact that by the time John penned the Revelation most of the churches in this area were under some form of persecution. The message to each of these churches was "Hold fast; be faithful." And as with those churches that were receiving the completion of the canon, if we are faithful to what is written in the Word, we will have done all that is required.


Related posts: Seven Churches Intro and Miletus; Colossae, Laodecia, Hierapolis; Pergamum; previous trip to Hierapolis; previous trip to Ephesus; trip to Cappodocia

Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis

Colossae, an unexcavated mound

Our next step in our travels (after Miletus and Ephesus) was to visit the cities of Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis, which sit in close proximity to each other, about 15 minutes apart by bus. The first stop was Colossae, which has had no excavation work done on it. It is literally just a big hill where a few old ruins are poking out here and there. While this sounds boring, it was actually quite interesting to see what these sites used to look like; pre-excavation virtually all of these sites were simply hills like that.

Bethany & I atop the Colossian mound

Next we visited Laodicea which is a very recently developed site. It has only been open to the public for about 2 years. It has a sizeable area that has been excavated and is available for observation. Apparently they are still working on other parts, so this site should continue to improve.

Laodicean agora

Finally, we went Hierapolis (mentioned at the end of Colossians). For more details about what that is like, you can check this post that I did after seeing Hierapolis with Brad.

The necropolis (city of the dead) at Hierapolis;
Those are the sarcophagi (stone coffins) lying around.

Finally, a few thoughts from these cities: The water sources for these cities are of interest. Colossae's water apparently came from a cold mountain stream. Hierapolis's water was the various hot springs in their area. Laodecia had neither; and their water was lukewarm, probably due to piping in water from both Colossae and Hierapolis, yet the water would have lost it's temperature by the time it got there. Thus, the Laodiceans had neither the relaxing hot springs nor the refreshing cool water... just tepid water. The Laodiceans would have had a very good grasp of the blessing of cold or hot water and the distastefulness of the lukewarm.  Now, think through what it means to be either hot or cold... to be useful and profitable to those around you, not of barely tolerable benefit to those in need.

Related posts: Seven Churches Intro and Miletus; Sardis, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Smyrna; Pergamum; previous trip to Hierapolis; previous trip to Ephesus; trip to Cappodocia

Seven Churches Tour: Introduction and Part 1, Miletus

Introduction: Having now returned from the tour of the seven churches of Revelation and other Turkish historical sites, I think I will try to give you all an extended update. The point will be to share pictures/information about these sites in a helpful way. However, some of the pictures that I would like to use are "unavailable" since Bethany and I usually only took one of our cameras along. Thus, I only have pictures of some of the sites, so I may try to post those other pictures later.

The Main Street in Ephesus

Miletus/some Ephesus: Last Thursday morning, our tour group traveled down to the site of Miletus. Miletus was the place where Paul said goodbye to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. Portions of the ancient harbor, the agora, the theater, and other areas of the city have been preserved.
But notice that Paul "touched at Samos" immediately before he got to Miletus (20:15). Samos is a large island that is a little ways out in the Aegean Sea. This is interesting because beyond Samos is the island of Patmos. To get from Ephesus to Patmos, one would simply have sailed the relatively short distance... probably an easy one-day trip.
Now think of John's exile at Patmos, and remember that according to very strong legend, John had previously been the pastor at Ephesus. Thus, when John writes to the church at Ephesus and says that they have left their first love, it is the voice of their pastor who is suffering persecution "just over the horizon." It is not as if he had been taken to Rome or somewhere far off. He was still faithful to his first love, but they had drifted. The geography personalized John's words a bit more when this was pointed out.

I will probably not add more about our visit to Ephesus, because of the overlap. For thoughts and pictures of that, visit here.

Related posts: Sardis, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Smyrna; Colossae, Laodecia, Hierapolis; Pergamum; previous trip to Hierapolis; previous trip to Ephesus; trip to Cappodocia

Rare positive thoughts about America from the international media

Here is an article which I found to be extremely insightful and helpful. It is not often that one can read non-Americans writing positive things about America in the international media. Beyond that, it seems that in the last several years America's typical optimistic view of herself has taken a drubbing. Thus, while I have my fair share of "cynicism" about many aspects of American life and culture, I appreciated the article a lot.

Off and away

In approximately 6 hours I am to get under way, headed to what should be my last major (planned) adventure of my time here in Turkey this year. I am joining a student group that is traveling down to Ephesus and seeing many of the major tourist sites between here and there on a 6-day trip. The sites should include the 7 cities of Revelation, the Gallipoli peninsula, and other places of historic/natural interest. I actually saw a couple of these sites already on my trip in December, but maybe that will just allow me to get a better understanding of what else is around.

Unfortunately I really don't have time for an extended post. I just finished Francis Schaeffer's trilogy yesterday; it has been good to read his Christian philosophy as I study various of the historic philosophers. Towards the end of He is There and He is not Silent, Schaeffer says that because Christians have an understanding of what is "really" there (as opposed to wondering if anything is actually there) and because we believe that man is made in the image of the creative God, we should have fertile imaginations. Some of his thoughts in this connection would be interesting to talk about in light of recent discussions of fantasy, whether that be Rowling's Harry Potter or Lewis's Narnia. Why has fantasy and fiction so often been a great tool of Christian thought? Why is it often so corrupt a form of communication? What makes for good, profitable fictional writing or speaking?

I think some of the answers to these questions are suggested in Schaeffer's book, though he does not deal explicitly with them here. But the questions are good to ponder. Till later...

In the news...

I saw real hail for the first time yesterday. The pictures didn't turn out very well, but I was impressed by the balls of ice falling from the sky. There was a lot the size of marbles or even bigger, but it only lasted a short while.Most of the other news is also mundane. Most of my time currently is being spent with the visiting friends from the States, and/or with a combination of them and Turkish friends.
(The above picture was taken yesterday morning while out for breakfast with my housemates and Bethany.)

Engaged

Because I post news of my life on here, I suppose that I should promptly post a notice that today, Friday the 30th of May 2008, I got engaged to Bethany.
I'm sure pictures and such like should follow, but this much info is enough for now.