Day 14 Revisit - Corinth and Traditional Dinner

Day Fourteen Revisit - Saturday June 19th - Corinth and Traditional Dinner

Corinith Canal

Today we were on the bus at 8:00 and headed toward Corinth. This city is not too far from Athens, about an hour and a half via bus from our hotel. We saw the Corinth Canal, which is cut from the rocks, connecting the Aegan Sea with the Ionic (or Adriatic) Sea. This canal is 4 miles long, 290 feet deep, 78 feet wide, and the water is 28 feet deep. It was pretty impressive. Interesting fact is that there are bridges at both ends of the canal that are the opposite of draw bridges, instead of raising up, they lower down below the water allowing the boats to pass over them.

We stopped at the Canal for a rest break, then proceeded on to the Ancient Corinth. There was a nice museum at the location of the ancient Agora (marketplace) of Corinth. There was the Bema seat where the Jews brought Paul before Gallio in Acts 18:12-17.

The Bema Seat

Pastor Wayne did some teaching there from 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 and after talks about the Bema seat judgement and how all believers will be brought before the Bema seat by grace, while non-believers will appear before the Great White Throne judgement described in Revelation. Since we are saved by grace, we have an implied duty to live by grace. Everyone who is saved by faith is justified (v15) but what we have done with our lives (sanctified v12-14) will determine the rewards we have in heaven. Also in 1 Cor 6:19, Paul describes that our bodies are bought with the price of Jesus Christ, and so they are not our own, they are the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is very poignant here in Corinth, since there was so much immorality here, but it is also very convicting. One day we will stand in front of the Bema seat and God will judge how we spent our time, our energy, the blessings of health, wealth, and wisdom that He has given us, and we will give an account of our actions. Pastor Wayne encouraged us to spend some time in prayer to seek God's wisdom on what kinds of changes we should make in our lives.

One last item at Corinth: We walked out of the museum and agora area, and downhill to a small valley. There we saw a block of marble on the ground with a Latin phrase. The first word was 'ERASTUS' and the translation is 'Erastus, commissioner of public works, laid this pavement at his own expense.' Why is this important? This is probably the same Erastus that is mentioned in Rom 16:23. Archaeology has shown once again that the Bible is talking about real people in real places.

Cenchreae Beach

After finishing at Ancient Corinth, we got on the bus and headed for Cenchreae, the beach where Paul had his hair cut off (Acts 18:18) to fulfill a vow. 

Greek Dancing

Tonight we had a special dinner at a Greek restaurant, with traditional Greek dishes - Greek Salad, Souvaliki, wine, and baclava. There was traditional Greek dancing. We presented Susan with a special gift for organizing the trip so well.

The next morning was our return to Dallas. It was a very early morning and a very long day. We had our large luggage out of our rooms at 3:45 and we were on the bus at 4:30, so that we can make it to the airport in time. We flew for approximately 3 hours to Madrid, have a layover, and then another 10 hours to DFW, target time for arrival is 4:45, so with the 8 hour time change, that is a 20+ hour day, and that is just to DFW. We all made it safely back, Praise the Lord!

Prev: Day 13

Dale's Pics for Day 14 - Ancient Corinth: here

Dale's Pics for Day 14 - Traditional Greek Dinner: here

Approx Miles Traveled Day 14/15: Bus 139, Plane 6,439

Travels Day 14: Corinth

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