What a Journey, Pt. 4

After Athens, we began our 3-day cruise in the Aegean Sea, first visiting Mykonos and then Ephesus, one of the best-preserved cities of antiquity.

What a Journey, Pt. 4

"And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews."

(Acts 18:19)

After Athens, we began our 3-day cruise in the Aegean Sea. We traveled east, and our first stop was the beautiful Greek island of Mykonos, one of over 600 Grecian islands. Almost 20 years ago, when our ship stopped at Mykonos, I rented a scooter and traveled all over the island. I did not have time to do this again this time, but we did walk around, take in the sights, and eat dinner. Here are a couple of pictures of our time in Mykonos:

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The next day we stopped in one of my favorite places: Ephesus. God blessed us with another excellent tour guide. Andy was our tour guide for most of the trip, and she did an outstanding job. In Ephesus, our guide was Eylem. Like Andy, he was very knowledgeable, factual, and kind.

Ephesus is one of the most preserved cities of antiquity. The ancient Temple to Artemis (also called Diana) was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. "It had 127 columns which were 18.3 metres (60 ft) high and 1.2 metres (4 ft) in diameter. The columns were arranged in a double row on all four sides, eight or nine on the short sides and 20 or 21 on the long sides. Those columns on the facades were decorated with relief figures from Greek mythology." (Source.)

A prominent city in biblical times, Paul visited Ephesus briefly on his 2nd missionary journey but stayed 3 years on his 3rd journey, more time than he spent in any other place. Regarding the church at Ephesus: Paul planted the church, Timothy and the Apostle John served as pastors, and it was the first of the 7 Churches Jesus addressed in Revelation chapters 2-3. By the end of the first century, this prominent and influential church had left their first love.

Paul wrote the epistle of Ephesians from Rome around AD 60 during his first Roman imprisonment. The first 3 chapters describe who we are in Christ and the next 3 chapters teach us how to live in Christ. Some of my favorite verses in the Bible are in Ephesians. Here are a couple: "And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power" (Ephesians 1:19). "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Here are two of the numerous pictures I took while in Ephesus; the first picture is the ruins of the ancient library in the city, and the second picture is the theater, the same one mentioned in Acts 19:

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Podcast of the Week

Interview with Dr. Jennifer Wakefield, Pt. 1

Pastor Danny welcomes to the show Dr. Jennifer Wakefield, biblical counselor and head of the women's ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church, to discuss the issues of same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria and how Christians can effectively minister to people struggling with these issues, especially how parents can help their children if they are in the midst of these struggles.

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