Traveling through Athens and beyond with my family was unforgettable. Together, we stood in the places where Apostle Paul once walked and preached. Where the world bowed to idols, yet he stood firm in faith. Seeing it with my own eyes, and through the eyes of my family, made the Scriptures come alive in a deeper way. It reminded us that the same truth Paul carried still calls us to stand with courage and conviction, no matter where the world bows.

This photo shows a portion of ancient Delphi, once the site of the famed Oracle where the priestess, called the Pythia, claimed to speak for the god Apollo. Yet in Acts 16:16, Scripture reveals the deeper reality behind such practices, a slave girl possessed with a “spirit of Python,” the same term used for the serpent spirit of Delphi. When the Apostle Paul commanded that spirit to leave her in the name of Jesus Christ, the false voice was silenced, and the true power of God was made known. What once represented human pursuit of hidden knowledge met the authority of the living Word. “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” - Acts 16:18

Behind this marker lies the ancient port of Kechrees (Cenchreae), the eastern harbor of Corinth. It was from this very shore that Apostle Paul sailed to Ephesus in 53 AD, after fulfilling a vow before God. Scripture records, “Paul… sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.” - Acts 18:18. This act reflected the ancient vow of consecration described in Numbers 6:18: “And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.” From this quiet harbor, Paul’s obedience became a living testimony, a journey guided not by mere winds or tides, but by the Spirit of the Living God, carrying the Gospel to new shores. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” - Matthew 28:19

On this stone engraved in Greek and English is the eternal truth written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Corinth, Greece, words born from trial, yet burning with hope: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” - 2 Corinthians 4:17. Paul wrote this letter while in Macedonia, after enduring persecution and hardship for the Gospel (2 Corinthians 7:5). From a heart tested and refined by suffering, he reminded the Corinthian church, and every believer since, that the pain of this present life is temporary, but the glory awaiting us in Christ is beyond all comparison, eternal, and sure.

Stretching between two seas, the Isthmus of Corinth formed the narrow land bridge connecting northern and southern Greece. Though the Bible does not name this place directly, the Apostle Paul lived and ministered here in the city of Corinth, teaching the Word of God for a year and six months (Acts 18:11). He would have crossed this very land between Corinth and Cenchreae, its eastern port (Acts 18:18). Along these ancient roads, the Gospel once moved through Paul’s footsteps, a living reminder that the Word of God travels every path to reach every soul. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” - Romans 10:15

Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

Proverbs 1:5 (ESV)