House of the Lord

I just recently returned from 1 week in Italy and Switzerland.  My sister planned a trip to Europe and twisted my arm to go.  Ok, it didn’t take a lot of arm twisting.  My trip began in Rome. They say when your in Rome, to do as the Romans.  Well it turned out that there was a big football/soccer game between intracity rivals Roma and Lazio. The game was held at the great Olympic Stadium.  The staium is ringed by giant statues of ancient Roman athletes. The game was quite the spectacle with it ruckus fans, with their flags, banners, song, cheers. smoke and even fire. 

Next I visted other historical, cultural and architectural wonders such as the Pantheon with its domed ceiling and oculus and the and the ancient Colosseum.  I also saw great sacred Christian sights at the Vatican including St. Peter’s Basillica and the Sistine Chapel.  

After several days in Rome, we moved onto Florence and the great Uffizi Museum which houses works from the great Renaissance masters Rafael, DaVinci, and Michelangelo.  Florence also houses the magnificent David at the Galleria dell’ Accademia.  

My trip moved from Italy to Switzerland.  In Italy you visit churches and museums.  In Switzerland, you visit their mountaintops. In Lucerne, there is the beautiful Lake Lucerne, surrounded by lush green hills, dotted by bell-wearing cows, and flanked by the majestic white-capped Alps. Lucerne is neighbor to a majestic Alp named Pilatus. Not do the Swiss build high-speed train tunnels under and through the Alps, they have a system of cog railway, gondolas, and trams to the very top.  And at the peak, they have 2 hotels, cafe and restaurant. 

Finally, I ended my trip in Bern, or Zollikofen to be exact. One of my nephews just received his mission call to Santiago, Chile. He went through the temple in Switzerland for the first time which served as the climax of our trip. Of all the amazing, spectacular, opulent, and majestic sights I had seen; I only truly experienced God’s presence accompanied by a quiet reverence in His Holy House. I am reminded of the story of Elijah who witnessed the fire, earthquake, and wind on the mountain top, but testified that God was not in the fire, earthquake nor the wind, but only a later still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12). 

It’s tragic how the good and honorable of the Earth disagree and dispute with each other based only how to solve the problems of poverty, social justice, and war. But according to Isaiah 2/Micah 2, we learn that in the Last Days before Christ’s Second Coming, God will establish His temple (Mountain of the Lords House). And that it is by this house that nations will finally beat their swords into plowshares and learn war no more. In the Last Days, instead of building temples only to one kingdom, nation, tongue, and people; the everlasting gospel will be available to all kingdoms , nations, tongues, and peoples.