by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
As we begin the letters to the churches of Asia, again I share a couple of brief quotes from DeSilva’s ‘Unholy Alliances’ (pgs. 11-12).<\/p>\n
Concerning Ephesus, he wrote:<\/p>\n
“Another prominent facet of the life of their cities, and indeed the corollary of the first, involved the many cult sites of the traditional Greco-Roman and local gods and of the emperors, the representations of Roman imperialism. Ephesus was famous throughout the Mediterranean for its Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders, a source of great civic pride and focus of civic identity.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Then, concerning Pergamum:<\/p>\n
“The Acropolis of Pergamum was studded with prominent cultic sites of the traditional Greek divinities. A vast altar dedicated to Zeus, surrounded by columned porches and all sitting upon a raised marble platform, crowned the brow of the hill, overlooking all the territory below. Just above it on the hill stood a temple to Athena, which overlooked a vast amphitheater carved into the side of the hill. At stage level, halfway down the hill, a temple to Dionysus stood in close proximity to the theater whose productions were often connected with the worship of that god. On another slope of the hill sat a large temple sacred to Demeter, with a central altar and stadium seating running along one of its longer sides.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Paul described the disciples and their conversion experience in this way:<\/p>\n
“… how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 1:9-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Our ‘idols’ are mostly worldly goals and practices, but we too must turn from these and serve the living and true God. How accurately does that description describe your conversion and life?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Hugh DeLong As we begin the letters to the churches of Asia, again I share a couple of brief quotes from DeSilva’s ‘Unholy Alliances’ (pgs. 11-12). Concerning Ephesus, he wrote: “Another prominent facet of the life of their cities, and indeed the corollary of the first, involved the many cult sites of the traditional…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1876,279,304,1877,102],"class_list":["post-92437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-ephesus","tag-history","tag-idolatry","tag-pergamum","tag-revelation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18286,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-seven-churches-in-asia-still-waiting-for-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":92437,"position":0},"title":"Are the seven churches in Asia still waiting for Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If what you speak is true in \"Peter can't be referring to the physical elements being destroyed, can he?\", then are the seven churches in Asia still waiting for Christ? Answer: I'm puzzled by your line of thought. Whether the churches in Asia are still awaiting Jesus or not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83701,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-is-written\/","url_meta":{"origin":92437,"position":1},"title":"It is Written","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson My dad kept a small notebook in his pocket for writing reminders of appointments and things to do. Why do we write notes to ourselves? Because we all know how fallible human memory is. When Israel was at Sinai, Moses would climb the mountain to receive God's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40872,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-the-men-at-ephesus-be-disciples-before-they-were-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":92437,"position":2},"title":"How could the men at Ephesus be disciples before they were baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First of all, I would like to thank you for the La Vista Church of Christ website. I love how you attach a link to the Bible verses you quote. I have studied many of the topics you have and I have learned a lot. Thank you again! Second\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20614,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-there-be-only-one-eldership-per-country\/","url_meta":{"origin":92437,"position":3},"title":"Should there be only one eldership per country?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, greetings. Please, I need your views on this idea that is being taught by a very influential brother in Ghana. According to the brother, all the churches in one country were under just one eldership. His argument is that the churches in the apostolic age were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-life-of-the-apostle-john\/","url_meta":{"origin":92437,"position":4},"title":"The Life of the Apostle John","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 20:20-28 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Early life \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Matthew 4:21-22 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His father\u2019s name was Zebedee. His brother was James. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was a fisherman by trade, working with his father and brother. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mark 1:20 - His father was prosperous enough to have hired servants \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Luke 5:10-11 - They were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95179,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/guard-what-was-entrusted\/","url_meta":{"origin":92437,"position":5},"title":"Guard What Was Entrusted","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Paul was passionate about defending the original apostolic teaching that was given by the Holy Spirit. He wept about men corrupting that original teaching and passionately appealed to the elders at Ephesus to be on guard for themselves and that of others who would creep into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}