To weigh anchor is when a ship pulls up its anchor and starts traveling. We're all about traveling, but we want to do so in "The Way" - that is by following Jesus in all that we do. Jesus is The Way
WE INVITE YOU TO START YOUR DAY WITH US IN "THE DAILY WAY"
WE INVITE YOU TO START YOUR DAY WITH US IN "THE DAILY WAY"
I want to live my life in The Way following Jesus and putting God first. It's going to take some change. My typical day is to wake up, stumble to the kitchen to make coffee, watch the news on T.V. or the computer, then proceed with my schedule of work, errands, chauffeuring kids, and honey do's. No More! I will start my day with God's Word, a verse to think about while I make coffee. No more news to start the day. Regardless of which political party you support, the news is always frustrating and depressing; and, for that matter, so is having a schedule. No more schedules! Yeah, yeah, I still have to work and chauffer, but as I physically do those things, I will mentally have an itinerary. Itineraries are much more fun than schedules. Itineraries come with vacations, and cruises, and tours. Schedules suggest work to be done. It is much easier to remain spiritually in The Way when you are mentally traveling to Christian sites on a virtual "itinerary" than when you are just physically completing your mundane secular "schedule".
It's better if we do this together. Each day we start by reading the passage of the day. (we follow a "read the Bible in a year" plan on Christianity.com) Then, with coffee in hand, we can contemplate our virtual "itinerary" for the day. We are going to parallel an actual tour that we could actually physically take some day. This is not just perusing different vacations. We're going to take this one day at a time. If the tour is a 10 day tour, we're going to take 10 days to "virtually" complete it.
My contribution is to provide some BS (Back Story) about one of the sites we'll see that day. I'll even make a BS video if it works for the story that day, but this is a group tour, I'm not trying to teach you something; rather, I'm inviting you to join the discussion. You can comment on the verse of the day, coffee, the trip, or the destination. Let's keep it positive though, you don't need to tell me that I'm wrong. I already know that. I did say it was BS. And Back Stories are always suspect. In fact, the lack of certainty about Christian sites is what makes them great topics of discussion: Every relic, every artifact is questionable (there is enough wood and nails from the "true cross" to build the ark), multiple sites claim to be the location of major events (Jesus' tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb) or the site is likely wrong (the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is most likely not where Jesus was actually born), When Mary appears the site is questioned by Catholics and rejected by Protestants (Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, Knock), great cathedrals are built to the glory of God or... (St. Peter's was paid for by selling indulgences), a lot of famous artwork is Christian (Last Supper, David, Sistine Chapel), AND... Back Stories are always suspect ("legend has it" is code for "here's a story that someone made up").
The Way Anchor Way traveler doesn't believe the Back Story, but also the Way Anchor Way traveler does not reject the Back Story. We believe the Bible. Any story, or part thereof, that furthers our Biblical beliefs is accepted, and any story, or part thereof, that conflicts our Biblical beliefs is rejected. This is basically (as I understand it) the treatment given by the Catholic Church to sightings of Mary. If the message of the event is Biblical then it's safe. If the message is extra-Biblical then it is rejected. We can apply this to every artifact, site, cathedral, artwork, and back-story that we encounter in our travels. Look "beyond the bricks" and evaluate the message that is being put forth.
This concept of a group tour works when you participate. Consider the verse of the day, the itinerary for the day, take a look at my BS, read up about the destination, and then click on comments where you can submit your ideas, opinions, and comments as well as read those of others. It's not a debate, we're all on the same side. No need to refute others, just accept those ideas that further the Biblical beliefs that you already have.
My contribution is to provide some BS (Back Story) about one of the sites we'll see that day. I'll even make a BS video if it works for the story that day, but this is a group tour, I'm not trying to teach you something; rather, I'm inviting you to join the discussion. You can comment on the verse of the day, coffee, the trip, or the destination. Let's keep it positive though, you don't need to tell me that I'm wrong. I already know that. I did say it was BS. And Back Stories are always suspect. In fact, the lack of certainty about Christian sites is what makes them great topics of discussion: Every relic, every artifact is questionable (there is enough wood and nails from the "true cross" to build the ark), multiple sites claim to be the location of major events (Jesus' tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb) or the site is likely wrong (the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is most likely not where Jesus was actually born), When Mary appears the site is questioned by Catholics and rejected by Protestants (Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, Knock), great cathedrals are built to the glory of God or... (St. Peter's was paid for by selling indulgences), a lot of famous artwork is Christian (Last Supper, David, Sistine Chapel), AND... Back Stories are always suspect ("legend has it" is code for "here's a story that someone made up").
The Way Anchor Way traveler doesn't believe the Back Story, but also the Way Anchor Way traveler does not reject the Back Story. We believe the Bible. Any story, or part thereof, that furthers our Biblical beliefs is accepted, and any story, or part thereof, that conflicts our Biblical beliefs is rejected. This is basically (as I understand it) the treatment given by the Catholic Church to sightings of Mary. If the message of the event is Biblical then it's safe. If the message is extra-Biblical then it is rejected. We can apply this to every artifact, site, cathedral, artwork, and back-story that we encounter in our travels. Look "beyond the bricks" and evaluate the message that is being put forth.
This concept of a group tour works when you participate. Consider the verse of the day, the itinerary for the day, take a look at my BS, read up about the destination, and then click on comments where you can submit your ideas, opinions, and comments as well as read those of others. It's not a debate, we're all on the same side. No need to refute others, just accept those ideas that further the Biblical beliefs that you already have.
All good tours end with a gathering on the final evening to share wine and break bread. To keep with this tradition, we will post on the last evening of our virtual tour itinerary. At this time, we will open a bottle of wine from the Revel Wine Club and post our comments about that wine. You may post any last comments or opinions you have about the entire trip, any of the verses, Volcanica coffee, or the wine that we are featuring. If you want to join in our wine tasting in real time, you can join the Revel Wine Club and the featured wines will be delivered to your home in time for each end-of-tour wine tasting.