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.