Italy is a great place to visit if you enjoy history. Seeing places I’ve read about has been fascinating and I’ve also learned more about events I’ve studied for years. The most impressive ancient sites we toured were without question the Colosseum and Pompeii. The size of each is massive and give a sense of life here 2,000 years ago. Seeing art work on walls in Pompeii that had been buried for centuries by the eruption of Vesuvius highlights both the beauty of many ancient buildings and the suddenness of that city’s destruction.

But the most meaningful historic site for me was the Circus Maximus. There really isn’t much to see today. Excavations on one end have started but otherwise all that is visible is the outline of the course where the chariots raced, the raised barrier in the middle where monuments once stood similar to what you see in the movie “Ben Hur”, the banks surrounding the track where stands that once held 300,000 people once stood. Today it is a public park. Yet as I stood on the dirt where the chariots once raced, I encountered God. This is the place where the first mass execution of Christians occurred. Knowing that our brothers and sisters in Christ died there touched me deeply.

We visited other historical sites as well but one lesson that stands out is this: a great past does not guarantee a great future. That is true of nations, companies, institutions, churches, and individuals. Thus it is very important that we do today what God expects us to do TODAY.

I look forward to worshipping with you in Rock Hill this coming Sunday.

Pastor Steve Hogg

Street view of the Colosseum

Monieca outside of the Roman Colosseum

Underground passageway at the Colosseum

Interior of the Roman Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

Raised platform in the middle of Circus Maximus, with the lanes for racing chariots on either side.

Cast of a person whose skeleton was found when they excavated Pompeii

Monieca at Pompeii

Mount Vesuvius crater behind Monieca