Travelling Pioneers

Pergamon (or Pergamum as many spell it) is the last congregation of the book of Revelation on our road trip. The people of this city were once the “ Temple-keepers of Asia .” Hence the city has 5 major temples for different purposes. So we wondered, ‘Which of these was considered the infamous “throne of Satan?”‘ Most people think it was the temple of Zeus. I want to put forth reasons why this is likely NOT the case. It is actually a different temple that Jesus refers to in Revelation. But before I get into this, I must admit that there is much controversy as to exactly which temple there corresponds to this throne. On our tour we noticed that of the 5 large temples erected here, there is no clearcut answer. After all, Jesus did not specify. But there is a key clue to determine which one it likely was, and it’s in a Bible verse. Here is the text from the New World Translation. 12 “To the angel of the congregation in Pergamum write: These are the things that he says who has the sharp, l

Sardis is our next stop on our road trip through Turkey to see the seven congregations of Revelation. Just like on our visit to Philadelphia , we again see some really interesting connections between what we see in Sardis and what Jesus writes to the congregation in the book of Revelation. When addressing the seven congregations in Revelation, Jesus used language and metaphors that the residents could relate to. So in this post I want to share three things that will make more sense to you when reading Jesus’ words to this congregation. You can connect them with things that you see in or around the city. But first, let’s see the text from the New World Translation. In bold are the connections we will make:  1. “To the angel of the congregation in Sarʹdis write: These are the things that he says who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds, that you have the name that you are alive, but you are dead.   3. Therefore, continue mindful of how you have received

Ancient Philadelphia is in the modern day city of Alasehir, Turkey. I want to share with you where it is, what it looks like today, and three amazing things we found that you should not miss if you go there. Where is Philadelphia, Turkey today? Philadelphia is located in western Turkey on a hilly plateau just south of the Cogamis River in the modern day city of Alasehir. The exact location of it’s ruins are here though they consist of only a portion of a city block. The remainder of the ancient city is underneath the modern city of Alasehir, Turkey. The location of Philadelphia in relation to other congregations. What Do the Ruins of Philadelphia, Turkey Look Like? Walkway through ancient Philadelphia You can see the whole site in about 20 minutes. The reason is that it is quite small. Philadelphia has had a long habitation and there is a mish-mash of buildings over centuries of time, including the modern city of Alasehir, Turkey. We saw ancient Greek writing, Armenian script and

The ancient city of Laodicea confirms exactly what the book of Revelation says about it. I would like to show you three interesting finds that you can see in Laodicea today that confirm what the Bible says about it. The city is well excavated and is on the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey as of 2013 * . The ancient city has a church that was built sometime after 300 AD and is one of the earliest known churches in the world. Where is Laodicea? Laodicea is in Turkey, not far from the modern day city of Denizli. During the first century, it was located in the province of Phyrgia . It’s exact location on Google maps is here . Three Interesting Finds in Laodicea First, here is the passage we use as our guide. ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or else hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold , I am going to vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, “ I am rich and have acquired riches and do not need anything at al

Antioch of Pisidia has some real gems that you must see. We stopped to see this ancient city on a road trip to Sagalassos . In this article, I want to show you. 1.) The actual spot that the Apostle Paul likely gave his famous speech recorded at Acts 14:19-23. 2.) A stone mentioning Sergius Paulus from the book of Acts. 3.) A tour of the nearby town and 4.) Some beautiful stone work that you can see there. 1. The Exact Spot Where Paul Spoke When in Antioch How do we know it’s the actual spot? The truth is we can’t say that with all certainty. But there is good reason to believe that we know where it was. First let me show you the spot. Fourth century Byzantine church. It doesn’t look like much. It’s the base of an old Byzantine church. It’s location in Google maps is right here . Sign explaining Byzantine church. English on lower half. Here is the sign that is standing directly in front of it. If you can’t read it, here it is. I apologize in advance as the English is very bad. I im

Sagalassos, Turkey is an amazing place to see. So to help you, I want to tell you the 24 best things to see when you visit. Or better yet, allow you to sit back and enjoy everything that you would see at the city itself. This is how it’s structured. In this blog I will try to give you four things for each item. A good picture of the site. Tell you what is interesting about it. Show a picture of the actual sign in front of it that explains it (in English, German and Turkish). Show any good photo opportunity spots. Getting to Sagalassos Sagalassos is quite remote in comparison to other ancient cities. We came from Konya, so we decided to span the trip over two days, stopping first in Egirdir . Wow! What an unexpected surprise that was. Besides the beautiful peninsula, there were caves, a castle and stunning views. But alas, I will leave that for another post. Map of Turkey showing Salagassos Distances from Salagassos to: Isparta – 48 km (30 miles) Antalya – 118 km (73 miles) Izmir – 42