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by Susan C. Howell (Author)
Discovering what life was like for people in the first century churches became a passion for Susan Howell. Her research is focused on the first century lives: what were the "behind the scenes" things we don't know from casually reading the Bible? Focused on lessons from these churches, we ask how they apply to modern times. What can we do to avoid the trials and challenges of those in the first century? She questioned why the letters were written to those locations, which are in modern day Turkey, and not in Israel. As a man, Jesus never visited these churches, in fact, He never left Israel. Yet these churches open the book of Revelation, the final book in the Bible, given to John in a vision on the island of Patmos near the end of the first century. We know that Jesus was a great communicator. As He spoke to those who fish, He used fishing terms and to those who bake; baking terms. Susan wanted to know what Jesus was saying to the first century churches. What was happening in those towns, those churches? What did Jesus say to them in language and phrases they would understand? Susan has visited the excavated ruins of each of the seven churches in Turkey and studied each letter to the individual churches. She separated the letter verse by verse to learn what Jesus was saying. Her hope is that you, the reader, will discover what He is saying to them and in turn, to us. This will allow the reader the opportunity to spend quality time with Jesus.
