To Blog or not to Blog

Why blog?  I have been thinking about my lack of blogging the past weeks and keep wondering, why blog?  So get ready, if I have a next post - instead of why blog --- it will be a clear reason to keep blogging --- or --- maybe this is the end.

If you read this, I am curious - why do you read blogs?  What draws you you into a blog and why do you bookmark it and keep going back?

Reading thru the Bible

A few weeks ago I started a 90 day read through the Bible, my pace has slowed down a bit the last few days but I hope to catch up this weekend.  At the same time, we are in a series at Hope that is looking at different stories from Genesis 1 through Acts 2.  I always enjoy reading the Bible cover to cover and am always surprised at things I find that I missed or did not stand out before even in books like Dueteronomy and Leviticus.  As I read those books last week, I saw the principle of stewardship jump out in the founding of the nation of Israel.  God clearly laid the foundation that all was His and he was giving Israel the responsiblity of taking care of what He was entrusting to them.  Sort of sounds like Genesis 1 and 2.  How often do I remember that?  I am responsible for the things God has entrusted me (I don't own them, they are His!).  The home I live in, how am I the best possible steward; the car I drive ... and on it goes.  It impacts my attitude and my view on the things I 'own'.

A long time, one short story

Going through the Story of God has been great so far!  This week we move from the Old Testament to the New Testament.  The jump actually feels much larger than that since we jump from Moses to Jesus with on story.  What is interesting is that even though it is one story, that time period of Bible history sort of feels like on story with revolving characters.  The people are close to God; the people fall away from God; God allows the people to experience hardship - they fall out of His blessing; the people cry out; God responds.  Throughout each story we see God's continual desire to have a relationship with people despite the people and their actions.

That is pretty powerful for me to think of in the context of my own life.  God is at work through my situation and the situations of those around me to be revealing Himself to me and those around me.  How can God use what is happening in Zach's life to impact Zach or others?  God pursues me regardless of whether I pursue Him.  God can use all that happens - probably even snow storms, though that is hard to believe - to restore the Good that was and will one day be again.

Some scattered thoughts from a story that covers a lot of time but yet is very relevant toay.

Abraham

Yesterday, I read through the record of Abraham's life in the book of Genesis. I noticed a few things that I had not noticed before.  I have always sort of pictured Abraham as a nomadic sheep herder with a unique relationship with his God.  As I read through Genesis, I read about a wealthy man - even refered to as a prince by some - who was powerful enough to defeat large armies.

I am not exactly sure where my picture of Abraham had come from - Sunday School lessons as a child?  Honestly, I do not remember any lessons on Abraham.  My family, growing up, read Bible Stories every night and they had pictures --- maybe.  Regardless, it was not very Biblical.

As I think about Abraham and my misconceptions, I wonder what else I miss when I read the Bible?

Jen's Birthday

Today is Jen's birthday.  Part of the adjustment to married life was learning to celebrate birthdays together.  It is not that my family growing up did not celebrate, we just did not do it the same way as Jen's family.  Part of it may also just be the different between a guys perspective and that of a woman ... but either way birthdays and celebrations have been the source of tension in our marriage in the past.

Sadly, for Jen, today is a pretty lame birthday celebration.  She is off to the doctor with her mom to get blood drawn to compare against recent tests that came back for Zach.  We did sing to her "Happy Birthday" this morning while she was just waking up - plus one for me.

It is interesting that we all have different experiences of the same things, such as celebrating birthdays.  Our past experiences impact our expectations and views.  Sometimes that can cause tension in relationships, sometimes it can make us laugh, and sometimes we can both experience the same things and walk away with very different opinions.

At church, we are in the midst of a series called "The Story of God."  We have been moving through different stories in the Old Testament thus far and often I have observed that in the same story - people have very different observations because of who they are (past experiences, expectations, different interests).  I have enjoyed hearing those different perspectives because they make me re-think my norm.  Just like Jen has impacted my view on birthdays,  I always walk away with a greater appreciation for God and the body as we interact together on His Story.

Happy Birthday Jen.

Today's post tomorrow

Story of God, week #1 with groups is in the books.  I heard several groups had great discussions yesterday!  I also heard that there is a lot of material from the leaders.

I had the opportunity to walk through the creation story with some of the student ministry leaders.  When we were talking about what we learned about God from the story, one leader mentioned how creative God is.  I guess it is not a shocker that the creator is very creative but since that comment I have noticed His creativity in many ways.  One of the best parts of this curriculum is that we are doing it together and have the opportunity to learn from each other.

Tomorrow, I will have a post and an email for group leaders with some ideas and tips on handling the vast amount of materials.  As for today, I hope you have time to enjoy the creativity of a creative creator.

Why would we take 8 weeks to go through the Story of God

For the next 8 weeks at Hope we will be in a series called "The Story of God".  This series will walk through 20 different stories from the Bible starting in Genesis and ending in the book of Acts.  Many of these stories will be familiar and known to regular church attenders.  Yet, I think this series has amazing potential. 

Last night I read the following quote while reading The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns: "I believe that we have reduced the gospel from a dynamic and beautiful symphony to God's love for and in the world to a bare and strident monotone.  We have taken this amazing good news from God, origianally presented in high definition and Dolby sterio, and reduced it to a grainy, black-and-white, silent movie.  In doing so, we have also stripped it of much of its power to change not only the human heart but the world." 

It is my prayer, that as we go through this series people's hearts will be changed.