Asia

They're found in Sumatra.

Sumatra? You mean that Indonesian island in Asia?

That's right.

And you think the teachers there can give me some hints on how to set up my class?

You're, you're...

Basically can be in one continent, and you go over the bridge, you're in Europe, and then you end up in Asia-

Wow

... across the bridge.

[laughs]

... is he...

What, does he letting you, like, spend a little bit? Why don't you try and get a little bit of AirAsia into your, uh, business class to AirAsia?

Yeah, I'll have a chat to him.

Now, another one of Columbus's, it seems almost comical, misconceptions was that he was going to sail to China in these ships.

Therefore, he brought translators with him ready to interpret Chinese once they reached Asia.

Where did he get these ideas from? Well, like everybody in Europe at that time, he got them from Marco Polo's popular travels.

Marco Polo went over land rather than sea for the most part and dictated a very popular account of his adventures.

Some of it was embellished.

Some of it was drawn from other accounts that he'd heard that he included in his own.

In general, it painted a picture of this mythical China or Asia that Columbus thought he was reaching as a place of great luxury, of gold and sensual gratification.

The idea was he would go there and bring back spices, which were very important and easy to transport, gold, a little more difficult because it had to be mined or stolen, and much, much more ominously, slaves.

It's, uh, arguably one, my favorite after Asian cuisine.

After the entire continent of Asia.

[laughs]

After every-

Asian dish you could possibly have

... country in Asia is Asian.

Then there's Italy.

Right, okay.

That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

There were a couple of men from Colossae who had traveled 80 miles to the city of Ephesus where Paul spent three years preaching and teaching in the household of Tyrannus, speaking, explaining, leading people to Christ, so much so that in those three years, it says, all those who dwelt in Asia, both Jew and Greek, heard the word of the Lord Jesus.

A couple of those men were Epaphras from Colossae and Philemon from Colossae.

You've read the book of Philemon in the New Testament.

By 1450, they had conquered the entirety of the Balkans.

However, Constantinople, that little city right where the Black Sea, right where Europe and Asia meet, still remained in the hands of the Byzantine Empire.

And that was because Constantinople was practically impossible to take.

The city is situated on a triangle of land.

John reveals a world where earthly powers appear unstoppable.

For the seven churches in Asia Minor, everything they know and understand and can appreciate is this Roman Empire that always has been.

It's existed for generations and is perceived to be all that will be.

They appear unstoppable, yet heaven declares that God remains sovereign and Jesus reigns.

There's a massive mystery to it.

There's a massive mystery to it.

But for these first churches, these seven churches in Asia, there was an invitation to imagine over and above and beyond the Roman Empire and the tyranny and evil and violence of the Roman Empire and to imagine something that was the Garden of Eden but somehow so much more and beyond the Garden of Eden as the age to come where there's no more tears, no more pain, no more heartache.

And that's good news.

Here beginneth the first chapter of the book of the first epistle general of Peter.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And what is really interesting is the original studies were done based on U.S. equity and And yet they have now been replicated all around the world.

So not just in the US, but in Europe and Asia and Latin America, and not just in equities, but also bonds and currencies.

And there is a really clever paper which looked to back in the 1200s, at the time of Genghis Khan, the peak of the Mongol Empire, the year of the first English parliament.

They didn't trade stocks back then, but they traded wheat and barley and gold and other commodities.