I grew up in the church. I’m glad I did. Though many Sunday’s I made the “Lords day” more like hell for my parents. I would have rather spent my Sunday mornings sleeping in until pregame started and then pure football all day.
Given some time with good influences, some within the church and most once a made a decision to go work with some wonderful people at a summer camp for a couple summers I found that the Christian life had strong merits. I’ve always been emotional about the gospel of Jesus. I cried at church from time to time as a child when we sang my favorite hymns.
Every now and then my dad, the pastor, would give a sermon that really got me. And I would ask Jesus into my heart, again. I think I got saved at least 100 times as I was growing up. After summer camp I went to YWAM. I found out later lots of people feel that YWAM is a cult. Really its actually just an inter-denomination, multicultural, worldwide missions organization and its roots are actually in the Assembly of God Movement. But again, it is inter-denominational. I don’t have to speak in tongues if I don’t want. 🙂
It wasn’t until after my DTS that as I and my good friend Justin Lechner were preparing to head out to LA for the School of Ministry Development, that his mom, gently encouraged us to check out the CSBS now starting in LA. We actually said we would go look at it and we both felt strongly that we were to go for the Bible School instead.
I did not realize that I was about to make one of the best decisions of my life. I also did not realize how much I needed the story, (That’s what I may now refer to the school as). I needed the beginning all the way to the end. I needed it in order too. And for the first time in 30 years of this school being run in YWAM it was going to be put in Chronological order.
I did not feel academic enough to start this fairly rigorous course. They said it was at least the equivalent to the study of a 2 year collage course crammed into nine months. They said, I would be graded, and that it was a school in which you could fail. Regardless, I was so ready to do this.
We began with the Gospel of the John; “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
How better to begin the story to find out that your central character God was incarnated in the Word and then later in flesh. So that you know that what you are engaging with is not a dry old book but the incarnated God later to be revealed in flesh.
Cliff Davis our school leader. A brave man who took on way too many teachings pushed us as students all throughout the OT, to look to Jesus without the name Jesus, to anticipate a messiah without injecting everything we think we know about him until you meet him afresh as a student. Though all of us Christians with his Holy Spirit in us guiding us through the school we entered the shoes of the Original Readers, the Original Audiences of the OT message. We became a little stiff-necked in the process. When we reached the book of Matthew we, along with the 1st Century original audience we wrestled with this new character who claimed he was from heaven, who spoke beautifully, and challenged the leaders of the synagogue, who was eventually crucified, and stories of a Resurrection began to spread. As students we had truly entered the ancient world of and allowed our thoughts to conform to theirs.
I needed to see the story unfold in a powerful way, and more than seeing, I needed to study it in context as if I was a part of the story. Because at the end it became clear to me. The story I worked hard to try to inject myself into really was a story that I was a part of. The crazy thing is that this is not just a story for the few who might like to engage in it as I have. It is ‘the’ story; That takes us back to the beginning. The ‘good news’ for all humanity needs to go back to the very beginning. So that all of humanity can be sure that this message is not just for certain people.
Crazy enough, the God who created all things began with a garden called Eden. Located in modern day Iraq. God created man and women. He began to create and co-create humanity with Adam and Eve. Two people capable of co-creation. All nations came from God, all nations came from those who he created. The narrative of Genesis 1-3 shows us that Gods purpose for humanity was pretty simple. Co-Create, and Co-nurture. Gods two jobs given to Adam and Eve where to create more people, and to have dominion over the things God created. In dominion is implied not what is often misunderstood about this word. That man can do whatever he wants because he has dominion. Rather he is to nurture, to understand, to value, and help make what God created even better. It is no wonder why man has grown to love science so much, why conservation groups are growing more popular. One of the primary roles of man is to care for nature. One of the other primary roles is creating other men and women. We tend to think of things with a naturalistic framework. That makes man and woman’s role in child making purely physical. But if you take a step back there is much more of a dimension to co-creating. God made man in his image. Part of the role in co-creation is following the example of God in parenting the child in order that they too learn to function as a caretaker of nature, and creator of life. Of course one last crucial element was that God had perhaps a third role of man. That was continued allegiance to God the ultimate creator. This is demonstrated in Gods warning not to eat of the “Tree of Knowledge of good and evil” for the day you eat of it death will come into the world.
This brings us the reality we are more familiar with. Death, murder, disasters, chaos, random chance. We know that Adam decided for all of humanity that death we be a normal part of our lives. From the time of Adam man has looked in hope to the idea of a resurrection. When one dies what will bring them back. Death though is a reality was not meant to be.
The reality we are familiar with may be such a strong reality it blinds us from the hope of a Resurrection, or simply from a full life. According to the story mans hope is not in vain. Nor does the story leave out this common hope. God is not silent as to this resurrection hope. Though death is the common reality that seemingly has nothing good to do with it. It is not all bad. For when a plant dies its seeds fall to the ground and produce more life. Death is a reminder that man has fallen. It is a reminder of the garden, and there is hope for a resurrection.
All this to say, the bible in Genesis is helping us to see who we all are, what we are to be doing that brings fulfillment, why certain things don’t fully fulfill any more, and what we are looking forward to. Man has always been faced with yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Every moment is fleeting. But there is always past, and always future. Knowing where we came from and what we can rightly look forward to can help us make decisions in every moment.
The power of this story is a reminder that human choices have a special power endowed by God for creation, nurturing, building up. That our choices are however are own, that we can choose not tear down, infect, and destroy. Morality or ethics.
The Story; Origins of All, Purpose of All, Morality of All, Destiny of All
The story touches on all of these things not just for those like me who feel like giving it some time. But this is the missing link for all peoples. No one single piece can bring your life into perfect harmony. But together knowing where you came from, where your fulfillment is found, what your responsibility is, and where it is all leading is what we all need.
Christian or Not. The bible has answers for what it means to be a whole person, and what it means to be a real Christian.
Bible on Tap 