Rethinking Prosperity

written by Matt Lantz

Hello friends and family! We are having a great time in Turkey so far. We are all safe and well and enjoying what we are seeing and learning. Thank you for thinking and praying for us so faithfully!

Today we spent our day in the three major cities of the Lycus River valley: Hierapolis, Colossae, and Laodicea. As we went to each city, we asked ourselves the question: "What is the good life?" As we did, we were challenged by what we saw and learned.

In Hierapolis, we learned about the ministry of both Epaphrus and the Apostle Phillip in that city. At Colossae, we considered the story of Philemon and Onesimus. At Laodicea, we looked at Jesus' words to the Church in Revelation 3. In each case, we were confronted by the world's definition of prosperity and the 'good life' vs. the prosperity that Jesus offers us in his Gospel. The world is training our hearts to view it one way and we must re-form our picture of what the good life by what Jesus declares it to be lest we end up like the church in Laodicea.

We finished up a little early today and got to enjoy some time at our lovely hotel (it's also a spa!) to refresh a bit and get over our last little bits of jet lag. More tomorrow!