Iceland Mountains…

I arrived in the middle of the night almost, getting to the ship after midnight and not seeing much of the scenery on the 45 minute ride from the airport. There was much to do, people to meet, meetings to attend, interviews to conduct, but as soon as I got the chance, I took a walk around the port to take some photos.

The Reykjavik harbor has a beautiful view of the Iceland mountains, although they are more like the foothills here in South Carolina. Volcanic in origin, they appear a lovely lavender color from the deck of the ship. You get a little glimpse of them in the photo below. I’ll post better views later.

The city is a mix of historic and modern, tall office buildings and tourist traps, construction cranes towering over city streets everywhere you look. Walking down a street near the port – which is right in the middle of capital city of Reykjavik – I was very much reminded of old Charleston, the older sections of the city nearest the ocean.

I took a shot of the Logos II while technically trespassing on Coast Guard territory (to avoid having fence lines in the picture). The gate was standing open and there was no-one nearby to ask permission, so I strolled inside far enough to get this view, then strolled back out again.

One afternoon several crewmembers and I walked into the downtown area and window shopped. Prices are about fifty percent higher than here in Florence, especially considering the 24 percent sales tax! If you have your passport, you can drop into a convenient duty rebate office and get a refund. Here’s one of the intersections.

One of the local people told us that Iceland used to have a law that you would not travel more than 25 km. without finding a church. There are many churches on the island, and the most famous is right in the center of the city. It looks to me like a pyramid that someone grabbed from the top and stretched up. I did not enough energy left to make it up the hill to look inside.

Leaving on a jet plane…

My plane tickets came today! Here’s a couple more photos of my destination…

Unless they are sent…

Romans 10:15 asks a thought-provoking question: How they shall preach unless they are sent?

Well, lots of people preach without being sent. Or they send themselves, which is pretty much the same thing. No church group or denomination sends them; endorses their credentials and gives them a seal of approval; commits to pray and support them materially; receives them back again with reports of accomplishments or needs.

The New Testament pattern, however, is sending. Of course, not everyone who is sent is called to preach the way we define it – we see a preacher as someone on a platform standing behind a pulpit. But preaching really means proclaiming, declaring what God says in his word, the Bible, about His will, His pattern for living, His punishment for failure, His provision for rescue.

Lots of proclaiming goes on that we don’t immediately recognize as preaching. Music, drama, listening to cries for help, rebuilding homes, hugging a child, teaching basic classes, distributing food, digging a well, all offered in the name and love of Jesus with a brief explanation of why this is being done – all those are proclaiming, too.

And so is writing up interviews, accounts of God’s work in the practical world, pointing out the miracles of connections, the examples of Godliness, the displays of His handiwork in the faces of people helping and receiving help. That’s what I have been doing as long as I could hold a pencil.

And as I have been sent by churches in the past, so I am being sent again, not to preach and teach Bible classes this time, but to observe, listen, ask questions, learn, and write.

From August 15 to 28th I will be on board the OM Ship Logos II doing those kinds of things. I’ve been sent to other towns in South Carolina and as far away as Florida in the past, but never to Iceland, which is where the ship will be. Being sent is always exciting, if you go where God sends you, but it’s really that He is going there and just invites you to go along… This will be an adventure for me!