Monthly Archives: December 2008

Day 3 Istanbul (cultural)

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Hello everyone,

What happened to days 1 and 2? They are gone…used to travel from LAX to Istanbul. It didn’t take 48 hours but about 24 hours divided between two days (and a 10 hour change in time).

We arrived in Istanbul last night, about midnight. I’m not sure why we always seem to come to this country in the evening. It makes for a short night’s sleep and I think we are all feeling the effects of too many days with not enough–wait a minute–this is a group of students. They are used to not sleeping!

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey

The building above is called the Blue Mosque. A mosque is where those who practice Islam come to pray. Today we stopped in between prayer sessions and learned about the practice and symbolism represented in this old, ornate structure. It is called “blue” because of the 24,000 Iznik tiles that cover large portions of the interior walls. I didn’t count them so you’ll have to take our guide’s word that there are actually that many individually hand-painted tiles with the beautiful shade of blue the French called “Turkey blue” (turquoise).

There was one interesting fact that gave me a “hook” as to when the building was built. It took seven years, from 1609 to 1616 AD to complete this Royal Mosque. What was the hook? In 1611 what has become the most well-known translation of the Bible in English was completed (the King James Version).

As our guide talked, I compared the Blue Mosque with God’s Word.

The Blue Mosque is filled with expensive Iznik tiles. The Bible is filled with the priceless Words of life.
The Blue Mosque was originally built for a select few (the Sultans). The Bible is intended for everyone.
The Blue Mosque displays “verses” from the Koran with such beautiful script that some only recognize these as art. The Bible’s words are simply and plainly spoken.
In all mosques a cleansing ritual is first required. The Bible explains the cleansing that comes only by the finished work of Jesus Christ.

The Blue Mosque and the King James translation began about the same time. God’s Word to man has existed much longer and still is His Truth.

Tomorrow we finish our tour of Istanbul then fly to Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes river) and begin our journeys back west and then on to Greece.

Jim

Tis the season (for me to be brief)

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Looking up…God like us; God with us; God in us. Why?

“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.” —Timothy Keller

Looking back…In one sense, this has been a forgettable year. But I better not.

To be connected with thirty-six deaths in one year, of which six were from the church and five were in our family, is unsettling. What can I say? God perfectly timed a lengthy study of I Corinthians 15 that, punctuated with each death, reinforced my understanding of what Jesus Christ’s resurrection means and its application for believers.

Looking ahead…While I would like the clock to slow to the calendar’s pace, the opposite is occurring.

On December 29, I will accompany the Rigsbys and the Talbot students as we follow the journeys of the Apostle Paul in Turkey, Greece, and the city of Rome. We return January 23, 2009. I’d be grateful for your prayers for us and for the church and those who will be ministering in our absence.

Looking down…It is time to be still.

Merry Christmas…Happy New Year…Until we meet again the end of January.

Can I have a witness?

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I was witnessed to today. I probably needed witnessing to. I would have liked to engage with my witness-er a little more but he was only 12 years old. Nearby was his adult mentor who let the line go out only so far. I could tell my witness-er was scared and merely wanted to get through the few lines he had memorized. I tried to be gracious in listening and I hope I succeeded in planting a couple of little “seeds.” I suppose they have hopes in accomplishing the same.

The witness-er said we can live in a “peaceful new world” (as pictured on his tract) then asked if I would like to live in that kind of a “peaceful new world.” Skeptic that I am, I responded with a question (while trying to return the tract), “who says that there will ever be a world like that?”

When the witness-er said, “the Bible says there will be a peaceful new world.” I interrupted and asked, “where in the Bible does it say that?”

The witness-er said he didn’t know but wondered if I had ever heard about Noah because that is the kind of world he lived in (where the animals didn’t fight with each other) and that kind of world is coming soon. I figured I’d better re-read the account of Noah to make sure I hadn’t missed something.

The mentor stepped in, confirmed that I had a Bible at home, and admonished me to read it, comparing the Bible with the verses in the tract. I thanked them both and said I just might do what they suggested. My witness-er insisted that I keep the tract “as his gift” to me.

The beloved disciple, named by his parents “gift of God” recalled the account of another “witness-er.” “There was a man sent from God, whose name was [also] John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe…. John bare witness of him….”

In that moment I better understood the impossible responsibility John had been given in heralding Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ. Anything I might have said contrary to my witness-er would harden his belief in the doctrines he had been taught. Nothing said to my witness-er and his mentor would only validate their faith in something other than Jesus Christ. My witness-er would describe that “peaceful new world.” I would tell of the Prince of peace.

“He (Jesus) came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

I also realized that neither my witness-er nor his mentor truly wanted to dialog with me. Of course, that I was holding a large pipe wrench in my hand at the time didn’t help. I should have thought to set it down.