Open Mutiny - Numbers 14

Hebrews 11:6 says "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." In today's reading, we see this kind of God-pleasing faith fleshed-out in the lives of two men: Joshua and Caleb. I love these guys. I love their passion for God and I love their willingness to speak up for God and trust in him in the face of overwhelmingly difficult circumstances.

In the first several verses, we find groupthink at its worse. Based on the negative report from ten of the twelve spies sent to scout out the land that God had promised them, "all of the Israelites" turned on Moses and Aaron. Picture the scene - at the very least - this is thousands and thousands of people who are VERY loudly rebelling against what God had said. These very same people had just recently seen and experienced God's power and miracles and deliverance... but even with that, it seems as through their faith had a "but" attached to it. As in, "Sure I know that God promised this land to us, BUT have you seen the size of the people/armies/cities there?!? Let's just pack it in and go back to Egypt."

Joshua and Caleb would have none of that. Their faith had no "buts." Reread verses 7-9. What do you see there? Do you think these two men were ignorant of the obstacles that awaited them in the land? Do you think they were just naively optimistic and in denial of reality? What you see in these verses are not so much two men who had big faith - but two men who had faith in a big God. They knew what God had promised, and they were ready and willing to act on it.

Let's keep our faith away from our buts... and keep it focused on our big God who will ALWAYS do what he says, even if everyone around us thinks (and says) otherwise.

- Ken Jackson

Numbers 11 - Trial by Desert

I sometimes wonder how we so quickly lose sight of God’s faithfulness. The Israelites had just departed from the mountain of the Lord, on a journey of three days, and they began to grumble and complain. “God, we’re unhappy. This trip to the Promised Land is a lot harder than we thought. We don’t feel like you’ve provided like you should have. We’re sick of this manna. Remember Egypt? Yeah, that was better. Much better.”  Seriously? Did you guys forget that whole being enslaved part of your Egypt days? That was better? You’re really going to doubt God after all of the incredible ways he’s provided and protected you? Hmmm.

As I was reading, God reminded me of a season where I was quick to complain. I was living in Mexico as a missionary, and life was not going the way I thought it should. My checking account was consistently carrying a balance of about $2, adjusting to a new culture was difficult, and daily life was providing plenty of challenges. I wasn’t happy and I let God know it. I was having a bit of a temper tantrum, similar to the Israelites. How quickly I forgot that while my bank account said I had nothing and life was hard, God was providing for my every need.

When faced with trials, how will we respond? Will we grumble and complain or trust God to strengthen and help us?

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”  -Philippians 2:14-16 (NLT)

-Gina G.

Leviticus 26 - Legal Matters

Alright is this some joke...really. Does the rest of the staff have this "new guy" policy that I don't know about? The only chapter we read from Leviticus and I have to blog about it. First, Lot's story in Exodus 19 and now this. Oh well I love challenges.

In this chapter God has two hands. On one hand God says to the Israelite nation, obey my commandments and there shall be many blessings, and on the other hand if you do not keep my commandments you will suffer my justice. 

This concept/formula seems pretty fair, right? I mean growing up as a child what are you told; Do good in school you get A's, do bad you get F's, You exercise a lot you stay healthy, if you don't exercise you become unhealthy, and if you don't play with fire you won't get burned, but if you do...yikes. (that last one I wasn't so good at....kinda a pyro as a kid) This is a simple formula God was giving the Israelite nation if you think about it. Kind of like Adam and Eve in the garden. God says, I give you EVERYTHING in the garden, but 1 tree. All this seems pretty easy too, but we know as Christ followers sometimes that is not the case.

So fast forward a bit, and find out the Israelite nation doesn't do well with this formula, and Jesus has to come and redeem, not only for the Israelites, but all mankind. He sets the record straight for us all. He cleans the slate.

So this begs the question what hand are you sitting in? Are you in the act of obeidence to God or are you wandering in the disobiedence. Are you living a life that is producing fruit and a harvest or are you a dry and desolate country?

Hear me out. I am not saying that if you have been going through a dark and empty time in your life that your faith is  weak or you are living in disobeidence. Dark and empty times will happen even when your on a mountain top with God. Ask the memebers of the 1st church if that is truth or not. I merely ask this question, so that you can search your heart, and see where you stand.
 I have sat in both hands at some point in my life, and I can honestly say that the life of obedience does bring a havest. It may not always be riches and wealth, but it will always produce peace, joy, patience, kindness, Goodness, humbleness, Long suffering, self control, and LOVE.       

John  

Exodus 32: The Dream Dies

This is a hard chapter to read.  God seems harsh and people die.  What are we to make of this?  Two thoughts.

First: here we see God as a righteous judge because justice is what’s called for.  God’s people have witnessed the miracles in Egypt that set them free.  They’ve crossed the Red Sea on dry ground.  Now when Moses is gone longer than they’d like, when they’re a little bored with waiting, they fall down in worship before a golden calf, proclaiming that this is the god who freed them from Egypt.  Afterward, it says, (in the more poetic language of an older translation), “the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”  And “play” doesn’t mean croquet.  What they did was wrong on so many levels.  There are times when we all want justice; we know it’s called for.  That doesn’t mean it’s easy to watch.

Second: at the heart of this chapter, Moses comes down the mountain with the Ten Commandments, the Law, and before the day was over 3,000 people died.  By contrast, the first time Jesus was proclaimed 3,000 people were saved ( Acts 2).  The Law tells us the truth about how we should live, but it’s a truth we never live up to.  And there are consequences when we break the Law.  In the end, the Law brings death.  By contrast, Jesus brings life and grace.  In him, we don’t find justice, we find forgiveness.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1).  As you read Exodus 32, remember – the same God sent them both.

- Paul Abbott

Exodus 20 - Ten Commandments

Some hold up the Ten Commandments as God’s highest standard, but in reality, the bar here is set pretty low.  I mean—really—here’s what God is basically telling us to do:

“Can you not take each other’s stuff?”
“Can you just not kill anybody, please?”
“Can you just worship the one real God and ignore the fake ones?”
“Can you two just build up your own marriage and not tear down someone else’s?”

And yet, even so, none of us can keep them all.  And James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

Check out how the apostle Paul unpacks this for us in Romans 8.

Reuben Smith

Miracle at the Red Sea – Exodus 14

“Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians”.  Sometimes we become so comfortable, we don’t want to know what else is possible.  Even wen we are not in the greatest of circumstances, we get used to it, it is a known quantity.  And the way out, or what might lay ahead for us, it is just so unknown that we are just happy to stay where we are.  The Israelites were in slavery in a foreign land, and yet they wanted to stay put rather than follow Moses out of there current circumstances and into the unknown. 

I have to admit, that sounds oh so familiar.  How often are we satisfied with our current circumstances, and like the Israelites, we say “leave me alone, I’m good”.  If we do that, what could we be missing out on?  If the Israelites had stuck with that, they would have missed out on the miracle at the Red Sea, not to mention the Promise Land! 

What could we be missing?  Are we willing to “fear not” and let the Lord lead us, through potentially scary situations, to get to where He wants us to be?  To live into everything he has for us.

Mathew McCabe

Exodus 10 & 11 - The Ten Plagues

As I reflect on these chapters, I keep coming back to the question that God asks of Pharaoh early in chapter ten: "How long will you refuse to submit to me?" As plague after plague befall his people, I wonder: what is Pharaoh waiting for before he decides to obey what God is asking him to do? How could he be so stubborn in his refusal to listen to Moses? Why would he continue to "dig in his heels" even when it was obvious that ignoring God was going to lead to nothing but pain?

I am not sure that the answers to these questions lies only in some deep, profound, hidden biblical truth (although we could explore where and how God's sovereignty intersects with Pharaoh's free will - but I will leave that for one of Paul's blog posts!). I think the answer to my aforementioned questions may be painfully simple: Pharaoh refused to submit to God because he is a lot like me (and you).

I don't like others telling me what I have to do - and my guess is that you are not all that crazy about it either. Pharaoh was used to being the one who made the rules, gave the commands, and called the shots. He did not like being told what to do - even when it was God doing the telling! He simply refused to acknowledge or believe that there was One who was greater or wiser or had more authority than he did.

His life - and the lives of others - would have turned out so much better had he simply obeyed what God was calling him to do. The same is true in my life - and yours. When we read the Scriptures and hear God calling us to do something, how will we respond? Will we resist or submit? 

Ken Jackson

Exodus 3 - Time for Action

Time for Action

Exodus 3

I imagine that when the day started, Moses wasn’t expecting anything out of his normal routine. He’d be tending his father-in-law’s flock and lead them to the far side of the desert. Easy enough, right?  But what started as an ordinary day wouldn’t stay that way for long. God had bigger plans – probably much bigger than anything Moses had anticipated for the day.

I love that about God. He meets us where we are, in the ordinariness of our lives, and shows up to do great things.

Reread verses 7-10.

No big deal, just go to Pharaoh and tell him to release the Israelites. And as I place myself in that story, I would probably respond in much the same way as Moses. Wait, me?  Who am I? Don’t you remember what I’ve done? I don’t really have what it takes to complete such a task, a calling. There’s probably someone better for the job. And God gently reminds Moses that it isn’t about him. Don’t lose sight of what this is about.

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (v. 12)

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is with you.  He’s with me. Let’s live that way and see what burning bushes are awaiting just around the corner. 

-Gina G.

Genesis 45 - A Long Forgiveness

I cannot imagine the emotions that were going through Joseph’s mind all these years he was away from his family. I wonder if he had a sense of angry, revenge, and/or hatred?  I know for me, when I finally became 2^nd in command in all of Egypt, I would have been looking for some payback. Joseph obviously took the high road.

Let’s put ourselves in the brother’s shoes for just a second. Can you imagine how heavy would that moment have been? Just think, you have just been served a huge piece of “humble” pie, and your brother now has the authority to make you slaves. How ironic is that? I think if I had been standing in that circle, I would have pointed the finger at someone else. I would have said to Joseph, “Hey bro it was their idea, not mine.” 

It’s weird to me how protective the brothers were of Benjamin, but not of Joseph. Benjamin was the youngest and was treated differently by Israel AKA Jacob, but instead of them being jealous of Benjamin and selling him onto slavery, they protected him. I wonder if they had regretted what they had done many years earlier. To see there father respond the way that he did to the news of Joseph’s death, must have truly haunted them.

This story is filled with great little nuggets that we can take and apply in our lives, but let’s focus on just one application that we get from this story.

Forgive – to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, ect.). To give up all claim on account of a debt, obligation, ect.

I think we can assume some blaming was going on in that room. In verse 24 after Joseph tells them to return to their father, he says, “do not quarrel among yourselves.” It’s like Joseph knew the whole way back to Canaan they would just yell at each other over who decided to sell him into slavery. It’s like Joseph wasn’t just forgiving them he had completely released them.

Right now ask yourself, whom do I need to forgive?? Who have I been holding this grudge against for years, and I need to totally release them. Also,  Matthew 6:15 says, “ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not…I repeat…will not forgive your sins.” That is some pretty powerful stuff right there.  Actually that’s darn right scary.

So, again I ask, whom do you need to forgive?

John  

Genesis 41: Behind the Scenes

If I put myself in Joseph’s shoes, he must have felt forgotten – by friends, family, even God.  Sold into slavery by his own brothers then betrayed by his owner’s wife, no one who knew or cared about him even knew he was there.  There was only one guy who promised to help, a former cellmate.  And once the cellmate got out of jail, it says, even he “never gave him another thought; he forgot all about Joseph” (Genesis 40:23).  That’s pretty forgotten.

Joseph sat like this, rotting in jail for two years.  But (as we say in our house when playing a game of hearts) “fortunes can change.”  And Joseph’s did.  Before the next chapter in Joseph’s life was over, he had become Pharaoh’s right hand man.  And a husband and father.  His son’s names tell a story all their own.

Here’s the thing: even though everyone else may forget – our sorrow, our struggle, our needs, our chains – God never does.  Never.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.  Isaiah 49:15-16.

- Paul Abbott

Genesis 37 - Family Battles

From time to time, over in our children’s ministry, we’ll bust out the dominoes to help illustrate the all-important principle of cause and effect.  After reading this passage, it sounds like these guys could’ve used some dominoes…

Just watch them fall.  Isaac lets himself pick a favorite son; Joseph’s ego swells, and so does his brothers’ resentment.  Joseph boasts about his position; his family splinters.  His brothers act out by attacking him; they cover their tracks with lies and deception.  Their father falls into depression... And still the dominoes fall.

What effects are you seeing in your own family?  Can you trace this back to a cause?  Is God asking you to break this chain of dominoes by living out His grace in the details?  If we doubt he can use us to redeem the worst situations, we’d better keep reading; Joseph’s story is not over yet!  And neither is yours...

Reuben Smith

Genesis 28 - Something Undeserved

Oh to have a dream like this!  This is one of my favorite passages in the old Testament.  One can only imagine the fear and perhaps even guilt that Jacob must have felt after his deceit in Genesis 27.  I think it is safe to assume that not only is Jacob running from Esau under fear of death, but there is most likely an element of running from God.  And then, here in the middle of nowhere, God shows up in a powerful way and speaks to Jacob.  Reassures him, regardless of what or how it went down, the plan I laid out with Abraham, it is still going to happen, through you!

Jacob’s statement after waking up is very telling: “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was unaware”. (sound familiar Peru Team 2010??)  This assumes that Jacob was pretty confident that he could run and hide from God.  Had he not heard that Adam and Eve tried this, rather unsuccessfully in the past?

And then there is us.  How often do we think we can run from God, escape his presence, when we have done wrong? If that is you, the gig is up!  (See also Psalm 139:7-9)

And for me, the main take away from Jacob’s statement is this: how often am I completely oblivious to God’s amazing and powerful presence in any given situation?  How often am I completely distracted so I miss it, miss his hand in it all.  Unfortunately, more than I’d like.  What about you?


Mathew McCabe

Genesis 27 - Jacob Gets the Blessing

Today’s chapter furnishes us a peek into one of those biblical families that put the “fun” in dysfunctional! There is so much that is going wrong in this family: we find selfishness, scheming, manipulation, deceit, lying, stealing, bitterness, and murderous anger. Reading about this family will help most of us feel a lot better about our families!

Rather than attempt to untangle some the unhealthy dynamics that we see at work here, I want to highlight one important thing that the dad gets right. He blesses his child. I observe three ingredients of Isaac’s blessing that I want to unpack very briefly. I would encourage you to reread verses 27-29.

·      Meaningful touch: Jacob moved close to his father, who almost certainly touched his son as he tenderly kissed him. It is a fact that appropriate touch communicates affirmation and affection in a way that words cannot.

·      Words of love and affirmation: Now I am not sure that either of my sons would consider it a compliment to be told that they smell like a field! But to an old outdoorsman like Isaac, the smell of a field ready for harvest was a great smell. It was a compliment, a positive message that communicated his love and affection. As parents, we are often too quick to criticize or remind our kids of their faults. We need to speak words that affirm, value, and nurture our children, and they need to be spoken over and over again.

·      Vision for their future: Look again at verse 29. Isaac is helping Jacob raise his sights and see that his future is bright. As parents, we want to speak words that help our children discover who they are and how they have been made. We want to help them discover, develop, and deploy the gifts and abilities that God has given them. We want to speak words that will help them pursue their calling in life, not just a career.

Imagine, what if these three ingredients of blessing were present and practiced consistently in our homes? How might our children be impacted?

- Ken Jackson

Genesis 22 - Final Exam

Wow…intense chapter! The most striking thing to me from this passage is Abraham’s immediate obedience. Check out verses two and three: “Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.”

What a test of Abraham’s faith! Would he choose his son, the only son that he had waited years for, and whom he so deeply loved or would he choose God? And his response blows me away. He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t argue. He doesn't fight. He doesn’t ask questions. He doesn’t demand explanation. Instead he promptly obeys.

Whom will you choose – your son (whatever that may be in your life) or God?

Gina G.

Genesis 19 - A Catastrophe Sent By God

After I read this chapter I thought of a Jerry Springer episode. There are a lot of CRAZY and WEIRD things happening in this chapter. I in no way am going to try and tackle everything that happened in this chapter, but I will share what stuck out for me the most.

I feel kind of sorry for Lot’s wife. The Bible is unclear of why see looked back, but she paid the ultimate price for that mistake. Who knows maybe she was devastated that people she knew were going to be destroyed, or maybe she wanted to see God’s justice reign down on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, but whatever the case was the angels told them not to look back, and she disobeyed and paid the price.

One of the hardest things for a Christ follower is we have a tendency to look back. We get caught looking back on our past sins or looking back on the things we can no longer have. We spend way too much time wondering what might have been or saying things like, “if I could go back and change that, I would.” Sure most of us would enjoy a “do over” every now and again, but that’s not happening. We have to accept that our past is just that.

Satan knows his enemies. Satan knows that most Christ followers are not all of a sudden going to turn from a life of Christianity to a life of hell. This is one of Satan’s best weapons against us. He uses our past to stifle our growth and commitment level. He will whisper things like, “you’re not good enough” and “you’ve made to many mistakes to be used by God.” We have to remember that Christ’s death gives us freedom, just like the angels were doing for Lot’s family. He gives us freedom from our past and His freedom should also remind us of our future.

John

Genesis 15 - The Plan

God spoke to Abraham, telling him to leave his home and go to a far-off land where God would make him into a great nation with countless descendants.  He promised, “in your descendants all the peoples of the earth will be blessed.”  You don’t have to think very long before you realize one of those “descendants” was Jesus.  It was quite a plan.

When they arrived, his nephew Lot, who’d come along for the ride, took over the rich bottom land, leaving Abraham with the left-overs.  Then Abraham found out his wife couldn’t have children.  But even with this rough start (and after some reassurance from God), Abraham never stopped believing God was going to keep his promise. 

Twenty centuries later God spoke to a man named Paul on the road to Damascus.  Up until then, Paul had been racking up brownie points as a super religious guy, keeping every rule he could find.  But after God literally knocked him off his horse, he realized that God didn’t accept you because of what you’ve done, but because of what Jesus did for you.  (This was the point of The Plan.)  From that day on Paul told anyone who would listen that being on good terms with God – being right or righteous – wasn’t about earning brownie points, it was about trusting God’s grace.

When some said this was too good to be true and wanted to see it in writing in God’s word, Paul went back to the day God gave Abraham The Plan. (You can check it out in Romans 4.)

 “Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

- Paul Abbott

Genesis 8 - The Rainbow

The other night, my wife and I watched the classic movie Raiders of the Lost Ark together.  Afterwards, this always gets us talking about what relics of the past are still out there to be unearthed.

So where is Noah’s ark?  Is there any chance this wooden structure has endured these thousands of years, high up on a mountain range somewhere?  It would be pretty extraordinary if it had.  Given the situation and time that's passed, it seems more likely that the ark would have been disassembled to build a post-flood city, or simply lost to decomposition.

Yet the case is certainly not closed.  Two prevailing theories on the location of the ark suggest that it is most likely in one of two locations in modern day Turkey:

1.) Encased in ice atop Mt. Ararat, or

2.) Petrified on a mountain range adjacent to Ararat

If you’d like to dig further, you can check out an article with photographs HERE.

Question: How significant would it be if the ark was actually found?  Would this have any impact on your faith?

Reuben Smith

Genesis 7 - Under Water

Anyone over the age of 40 (and perhaps a few under 40) will know what I am talking about here, but I can’t seem to read the account of Noah and the flood without hearing Bill Cosby’s voice in my head playing both the roll of Noah and God. But when I get past Bill’s voice saying “how long can you tread water” I am left with some profound statements in this chapter that I can’t shake.

Statement #1 from verse 1 is:

      “I have found you righteous in this generation”

It is a simple statement and easily missed.  But God’s declaration to Noah was that God found him to be righteous among the generation.  When I read scripture I love to imagine myself in the story so I can try to contextualize what is happening.  In this statement I can’t help but think…what would God have said about me?  Would I have even been in consideration for the ark job?  Then as I come out of the story and into my reality now, the same question is staring me in the face.  Would God consider me to be righteous in my generation?  Right here, right now, am I striving to be righteous within the culture and time I have been placed?

Statement #2 comes shortly after in verse 5

“And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.”   *Emphasis added

Once again, whether I am thinking about being in the actual story or thinking about my reality here and now, the question I face is the same:

Am I doing all that God has commanded me?  He hasn’t yet asked me to build an ark, but there are many other things he has commanded and called me to do.  Am I doing them, or sometimes running from them?

And the questions are out there for all of us:

-Are you in the running for the ark job? AKA: Would God consider you to be righteous in this generation?

-Are you doing all that God has commanded and called you to do?


Mathew McCabe

Genesis 4 - Crouching at the Door

As the curtain goes up in Genesis 4, we discover that it did not take very long for the effects of sin to show up and start causing heartache for humanity. We look on and watch as sin distances our first family, not just from God, but also from each other. Sin fractures community.

In just a few verses, we see how insidious and damaging sin is. Cain was disappointed, then he was jealous, then he was angry, and that anger led him to murder. For many of us, this is a familiar Bible story, maybe a little too familiar. I wonder if, in our haste to grab the “moral” from this narrative (anger is bad!) we miss an incredible picture of the relentless mercy of God.

Look carefully at verses 6 & 7. Can you see how God patiently and tenderly seeks to reason with Cain? He doesn’t bash Cain verbally; he doesn’t detail the list of commandments Cain is thinking about breaking. Instead, God gently asks him three questions in an attempt to get Cain to step back and reflect on his emotions and repent of the sin he is contemplating.

Cain had a choice: he could humble himself before God, and confess his sin, seeking to open himself to God and become right in God’s eyes, or he could choose to indulge in what he wanted to do, with no thought to God or consequences. He chose poorly.

How will we choose? During this Lenten season, let us choose the path that Cain refused. Let us respond to God’s tender mercy towards us by creating space to open ourselves up to God through reflection and repentance. Doing so will go a long way towards helping us master whatever sin may be “crouching at our door.”

Ken Jackson 

Genesis 3 - The Crash

I’m still reflecting on the worship time we had on Sunday morning and all that God stirred in my heart. I’m not sure about you, but I have a tendency to get so caught up in life and all that is going on or needs to get done, that I can easily lose sight of truth. I doubt. I get distracted. I forget.

As I was reading Genesis 3, I kept coming back to verse one.  It says: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Satan was so subtle as he tempted Eve to distrust God and the truth of His word. She quickly believed the lies and forgot what God had spoken. How could she do that? I would never do such a thing.

But as we sang “You Are For Me” on Sunday, I realized I do exactly that. I believe lies. I don’t always trust. I’m too busy to think about the things that I’ve let creep into my heart. I rush through my time in the Word and don’t remember the truth that God has spoken. Yikes.

Have Satan’s lies subtly crept into your life or are you trusting God and standing on His truth?

As we kick off the One80 this week, I’m excited for us to slow down, dig deeper into God’s word, listen to His voice, and let truth transform our lives.

-Gina G.

Genesis 2 - One Shining Moment

When I read this chapter I think about my wife and my children. When I am around Sherra, (my wife) I am so thankful I have one less rib. I am thankful that there wasn’t an animal suitable for Adam, and WHOA-MAN was formed. Guys could you imagine if some hairy beast would have been suitable in the beginning. I am sure some ladies are reading this and thinking, “Yeah I married/am dating one.” With that said, man and woman will leave their families to be joined in love, and that is a beautiful thing.

With my children, I think about those first few seconds that they came into this world. Something crazy and beautiful happens in those first few moments. We immediately would lay down our very lives for our kids. What is even more beautiful is that when God created man from dust, He knew He would have to lay down His life for His children. Let’s all be honest, if we knew we would have to die for our kids, a lot of us would not sign up for parenthood. When God breathed life into man’s nostrils, He saw the cross, and when I think of that I am overwhelmed.

So, when I read Genesis 2, I read God created LOVE.

-John Gist

Genesis 1 - A Book of Beginnings

Genesis 1 tells us who created, but not why.  God does not need this world and nothing caused or forced him to create it.  The “why” is forever lost in the mystery of his being.

Neither does Genesis 1 tell us how he created, though many wish it did.  The truth is that wise, godly people have come to wildly differing conclusions about how God created precisely because Genesis does not speak definitively about the process.  It does record one inescapable fact: all we see is in some way a product of his creative power. The four dimensions of time and space and all that is in them came into being through the power and will of God.          

The most important issue at stake in the doctrine of creation is not the origin of all things, but their destiny.  The critical issue is not the mechanics of creation, but the goal and meaning of our existence.  If God is not Creator, then we are a fluke, an accident, a meaningless dance of atoms.  But if God created, then we are made – a product of design – made for some purpose.

I believe at the heart of that purpose is worship.  If there is a right response to creation, it is to worship the Creator.  The sea resounds.  The mountains exult.  The rivers clap their hands.  All creation worships its Maker.  And so should we.  It’s what we were made for.

Paul Abbott