Well, the GSB Viking Study Tour is underway.
The Plan?
Fly to Oslo, Norway where we will spend a few days before boarding our cruise ship.
After a few days of cruising around the coast of Norway we will head west toward the Faroe Islands, where we will make a stop before heading on to our final destination, Iceland.
What, you might ask, has any of this to do with the kingdom of God, its history, and the other things this blog is about?
The answer: The Vikings.
We discussed the Vikings in last years Scotch-Irish Cruise Journal and their prominent role in English, Scottish, and Irish history. This time we will study their conversion to Christianity, how Christianity spread to Iceland, and beyond that we will just have to wait and see what develops.
We got off today to good start. In the airport as were leaving town. We were walking toward our gate when we heard live jazz music. As we neared the source of the music I looked and to my surprise I saw band on a stage, and the saxophonist was none other than David Careers. David was our praise and worship leader years ago when we launched our church in a movie theater. David is an accomplished saxophonist and is has produced two albums. We live in one of the largest cities in the country. What are the chances of running into him in the airport?
After we boarded the plane and before they told us to put our electronic devices away, I called a young man I had mentored over the past few years to find out how he had been since moving to Florida. He played Division I football, got a graduate degree, and then was the youngest manager in the non-profit company he worked for before God called him into the full-time ministry and he moved to Florida. The university where he ministers is a perennial Division I football power. He’s only been there a few months and has already led 8 players on the football team to the Lord. Good news on the expansion of the kingdom of God in the States before we depart for Europe.
Our flight departed behind schedule, but it was a long flight, and I was confident the pilot would make up time in the air so we could make our connection in Frankfurt, Germany to Oslo, Norway. That was not to be. As it turned out we have spent the day in the Lufthansa Lounge in the Frankfurt airport.
We will now go through Düsseldorf, Germany and catch a connecting flight to Oslo. By the time we arrive in Oslo we will have been up for 32 hours straight–no problem for this hearty bunch.
From the Lufthansa Lounge in the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. GS