{"id":290,"date":"2007-12-20T01:02:47","date_gmt":"2007-12-20T01:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/a-dream-cruise.html"},"modified":"2007-12-20T01:02:47","modified_gmt":"2007-12-20T01:02:47","slug":"a-dream-cruise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/a-dream-cruise.html","title":{"rendered":"A Great Christmas Post and A Dream Cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Great Christmas Post<\/strong>
\nMarcus Goodyear, my colleague in the H.E. Butt Foundation, has become one of my favorite bloggers. Marcus has lots of fascinating things to say about all sorts of topics, but I love his commentary on family life most of all (see this post from a couple of weeks ago<\/a>).
\nThis week Marcus put up a post called: “You Know You’re Celebrating Christmas with a Three-Year-Old When . . .”<\/a> Lots to laugh about here, and some things to ponder as well. Plus, I absolutely love the picture of Marcus’s children. Priceless!
\nHere’s an excerpt:<\/p>\n

You know you\u2019re celebrating Christmas with a 3-year-old when\u2026.
\nYou find yourself saying, \u201cIt\u2019s time to decorate Christmas cookies, stop chasing your sister with the vacuum.\u201d
\nYou splurge on a Lionel Train set to go around the tree because you\u2019ve always wanted one and your three-year-old probably wants one, too.
\nHe thinks the naughty list sounds like more fun, but finally decides, \u201cI\u2019ll be on both lists, Daddy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks, Marcus, for sharing your family experiences with us. You make me laugh and you make me think (and you make me miss the times when my own kids were young).
\nA Dream Cruise <\/strong>
\nAs you may know, I’m a big fan of cruises, thanks to Hugh Hewitt, who invited me to tag along on a couple of his, including one last summer<\/a>.
\n
\nI recently received word of another fantastic Mediterranean cruise. It’s called “A First Century Voyage: Retracing the Missionary Journeys of Paul in Turkey and Greece.” The trip host and teacher is the Rev. Earl Palmer. (Photo: Earl Palmer and his wife in front of the library in Ephesus.)
\nMany of my readers will be familiar with Earl, who is one of the best-known and best-loved Bible teachers in the world today. He combines intellectual brilliance with deep insight into Scripture and rich illustrations from literature and culture. Earl is currently the Senior Pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, one of the largest and finest Presbyterian churches in the country.
\n“A First Century Voyage” happens next summer, from June 18 through June 27. It begins in Izmir on the west coast of Turkey, and ends in Istanbul. Stops include: Ephesus, Patmose, Santorini, Corinth, and Athens. The cruise is on the Sea Cloud, an extraordinary “tall ship” type vessel. For more information on this ship, check out the “Sea Cloud” website<\/a>. (Photo: The Sea Cloud at sail.)
\n<\/a>
\nAs you can well imagine, a cruise like this costs a pretty penny. But I can’t imagine a more wonderful experience. Like I said, a cruise of a lifetime. (No, I won’t be there. My summer is pretty much taken up hosting and\/or teaching retreats at Laity Lodge. By the way, we’ll have Earl Palmer with us at Laity Lodge next summer, July 24-27. If you’re interested in attending, check out the Laity Lodge website<\/a>.)
\nWe won’t have classic architectural sites at Laity Lodge, however. For these, you’ll have to go on Earl’s cruise. For more info, check out the brochure<\/a> on the First Century Voyages website<\/a>.
\nMy Interview at tothesource<\/em><\/strong>
\ntothesource<\/em> recently interviewed me on the topic of my book Can We Trust the Gospels<\/em>? The interview is now “up.”<\/a> Be sure to check out the tothesource archives, and then subscribe to their excellent newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Great Christmas Post Marcus Goodyear, my colleague in the H.E. Butt Foundation, has become one of my favorite bloggers. Marcus has lots of fascinating things to say about all sorts of topics, but I love his commentary on family life most of all (see this post from a couple of weeks ago). This week…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recommendations"],"yoast_head":"\nA Great Christmas Post and A Dream Cruise - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/a-dream-cruise.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Great Christmas Post and A Dream Cruise - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Great Christmas Post Marcus Goodyear, my colleague in the H.E. Butt Foundation, has become one of my favorite bloggers. Marcus has lots of fascinating things to say about all sorts of topics, but I love his commentary on family life most of all (see this post from a couple of weeks ago). This week…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/a-dream-cruise.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}