The view from the top

The morning began on the cruise ship where things were a bit more hectic than the previous day. People everywhere, scurrying to and fro in anticipation of disembarking. On land, we collected our luggage, hopped onto a bus and headed towards the ancient city of Corinth with a quick stop at the Corinth Canal beforehand.

At Corinth, we heard Brad Bell teach on the events that occurred in Acts, 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians while sitting in a location where we overlooked the agora, the city's main square. In the museum, we saw many sculptures of body parts and were taught that these were offerings to the main god of the city, Apollos. Subsequently, Brad read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 which talks about the body of Christ as a whole, united. I thought this was the coolest thing because I am realizing how important understanding the historical/cultural/geographical context really is. It makes it so much more real.

After a delicious, authentic lunch we took the bus over to Mars Hill/Areopagus where Shea Sumlin preached on Paul's visit to Athens, beginning in Acts 17:16. In Paul's sermon to the Athenians, he is able to dismantle their belief system without dropping any scripture or names. Shea showed us with only seven characteristics Paul mentioned, it made all the Greek gods look silly.

Afterwards and a short trek later, we arrived atop the Acropolis. Personally, I believe that in my short 16 years I've lived, the view from the top is my favorite of all time. The Parthenon is absolutely magnificent--there's nothing else like it.

On to Istanbul!

Alex Rurik