The race that is set before us

Early rise today... up at 6 AM, Breakfast at 6:30 and on the bus at 7:00.

Once again a foggy morning and a very cool 40 degrees. Driving to our first site we drove through the countryside, and saw lots of pime trees and agricultural areas.

Josh began our teaching day on the bus with the city of Smyrna. We did not actually visit this site but learned a lot about it on our bus ride. Smyrna was the most loyal city to Rome but also the most dangerous for believers. Believers here too had a lot at stake. We learned about Polycarp who was the most famous martyr from Smyrna. At 86 years old he had a dream that he would be burned by the Roman's, and sure enough he was to be arrested. When the Roman guards came to arrest him he prayed fervently for several hours. Upon seeing his faith and conviction the soldiers didn't want to arrest him but he insisted and went willingly with them. They tried to burn him but God saved him and after being told he could live if he would turn his allegiance and hail to ceasar. He replied with "86 years I have served the Lord and he has never done me wrong. How can I deny him now." His faith was strong and he died rather than denounce it. 2nd Timothy 3:12 tells us that all who believe will be persecuted.

The questions Josh left us with were:

1. Would Jesus be enough if I lost it all? For the resident's of Smyrna, their dilema was that they lost all BECAUSE of their faith.
2. How can I support the persecuted church today?

The thought of take-away for this lesson was DO NOT FEAR, BE FAITHFUL

Next stop was APHRODISIAS

Though this site is not mentioned in the Bible, we still learned a lot. This city was named after Aphrodite and was a city of Art, Beauty and Sensuality. It was a large gathering place for the artistic community and was built as somewhat of a showplace to display the art. There were many beautiful buildings, carvings, and displays but the major take-away came during our t visit to the stadium.

Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to run with endurance the race that is set before us. We were encouraged to remember that we are all God''s workmanship and we each have our owns race to run.

The question posed to us was this..... What are the things, the sins, the hindrances that are keeping you from following Christ?

We were then given the time to pray, lay our hindrances aside, and "run our race" using the stadium at Aphrodisias.

We ended our day with a very fun, unique experience. We visited a Turkish rug factory and watched two women actually weaving rugs on a loom. We watched in awe as they double knotted every strand, tightened each row and began the next. Very intricate work! We also saw how the silk is removed from the cocoons, and how delicate the silk actually is.. as several "helpers" broke the strands as they were being pulled. We then saw the finished products in many different styles, shapes and colors..... Words cannot aptly explain the experience, this is something you can't truly appreciate without seeing it first hand. A very appropriate bucket list item.

After a very full day we arrived at our hotel for dinner and hopefully a good nights sleep... to be ready for another great day tomorrow.