On The Road Again! - 6/1/2010 11:08am

This afternoon 90 LBS students leave for our 18-day Mediterranean cruise. We’ll be flying on Lufthansa from Los Angeles to Munich, and from Munich to Barcelona, Spain. It will be a fabulous teaching tour with a great group of Logos students, a time for study, friendship—and a whole lot of fun!

                        “Logos Bible Study’s ‘home away from home,’ the 5-Star Nautica.”

Once aboard the Nautica we’ll sail for Malta. Recall Paul’s shipwreck on the island. After a fortnight in hurricane-force winds and rain, Paul’s ship finally breaks up. The centurion on board “ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety. Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta” (Acts 27: 43-28: 1). The islanders showed Paul and company unusual kindness, providing hospitality for 276 people for three months, finally bidding them goodbye as spring approached and the group continued their journey to Rome. We’ll be visiting several sites associated with Paul on Malta, including St. Paul’s Cathedral in Mdina, a beautiful example of 17th century architecture.

From Malta we’ll sail to Crete. In his letter to Titus, Paul cautions: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1: 12)! I’m loath to question Paul or to contradict Scripture, but I’ve been to Crete many times, and I’ve found the people to be absolutely delightful! We shall see for ourselves once we get there. Crete, of course, was home to the ancient Minoan civilization, 2700-1420 B.C., the same period as the Egyptian pyramids (c. 2650-1650 B.C.), Abraham (c. 2000 B.C.) and Moses and the Exodus (c. 1500-1400). We’ll be visiting several Minoan sites on Crete.

And then it’s on to Egypt. We’ve conducted many teaching tours to Egypt, and frankly, Egypt is one of my favorite places to visit: it is steeped in history; it has fabulous archeological sites; and we has many close friends in Egypt. On this tour we’ll stop at Alexandria for a visit to the Bibliotheque Alexandrina, a fabulous library built on the spot of the ancient library of Alexandria, the greatest library in the ancient world. Here the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek around 250 B.C., making the Bible available to the Greek-speaking ancient world, which thanks to Alexander the Great, was nearly everyone. This Greek “Septuagint” translation was the Bible that Jesus, his disciples and Paul knew.

After our library visit we drive four hours southeast to Cairo, where we’ll spend two days exploring the pyramids on the Giza Plateau, the Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum, home to the greatest collection of Egyptian artifacts and mummies in the world.

Back on board ship, we continue our journey to Israel, spending two days visiting Jerusalem, Mt. Carmel, the Jezreel Valley and Galilee. Logos Bible Study’s annual 12-day “Footsteps of Jesus” is our “flagship teaching tour.” On it we read the Gospel stories on the very spots where they take place, adding texture, tone and color to the Bible. This brief 2-day sampler will whet our appetites for the “whole enchilada” this October 3-14!

Then it’s on to Cyprus. Paul, Barnabas and Mark taught their way across Cyprus on their first missionary journey, A.D. 46-48. We read: “The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John [Mark] was with them as their helper” (Acts 13: 4-5). Recall that Barnabas lived on Cyprus, and it’s here that the procounsul, Sergius Paulus, received Paul and Barnabas and paved the way for their journey to Pisidian Antioch, their first important stop in the interior of Asia Minor (Turkey, of today).

Leaving Cyprus, we head northwest to Turkey, where we visit Ephesus. Paul spent 2 ½ years of his third missionary journey in Ephesus, A.D. 54-57. Ephesus was Paul’s greatest success, for after Paul’s work here, “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19: 12). Ephesus is a fabulous archaeological site, with its marble streets, huge theater and beautiful library. In Paul’s day Ephesus was the second largest city in the Roman Empire, with a population of 250,000, trailing only Rome itself.

Finally, we end our teaching tour in Istanbul. Founded by the Roman Emperor, Constantine, in the fourth century, Istanbul today ranks among the five greatest cities in the world (in my opinion): New York, London, Paris, Rome and Istanbul. I love Turkey—and I especially love Istanbul. Turkey is one of the most beautiful countries in the world; its people are among the most friendly and hospitable; and Istanbul is the jewel in its crown. I could live in Istanbul in a heartbeat!

I’ve been leading teaching tours of “Bible lands” for over twenty years, typically making four tours each year to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Greece and Italy. It has been an honor and a privilege to lead thousands of Logos Bible Study students on these adventures. Before traveling to these places we read the Bible in black and white: black words on a white page. After visiting these places, experiencing the geography, topography, history and culture; after meeting the people who live in these lands; and after teaching the Bible stories on location where they take place, we read the Bible in living color and Dolby surround sound. On our tours we learn that the stories we read in the Bible really took place; the characters actually lived and walked on this earth; and they did so right here. It is a life-changing experience.

Stay tuned for photos and video iReports!