Wow, I just love that story of the burning bush. I have a photograph in my living room entitled "the burning bush" by Fatali. It reminds me of this story - a story about God's call on the life of Moses. And the call that God has on my own life. I need reminding because I'm not very good at trusting. And when God leads you have to trust in order to follow. I also need to keep reminding myself to "pay attention" and watch out for "the burning bush." The story makes note that Moses had to "turn aside" to go over to the burning bush. It wasn't directly in his path, he had to be looking around. When God leads you have to be paying attention in order to follow. Good on Moses for paying attention. Although it still took a lot of convincing on God's part to get Moses to follow. I'm sure all the excuses seemed logical to Moses. My excuses alway sound logical too. But when God leads you have to submit in order to follow.

Wow, that story about Dinah is quite something, eh? Startling in its violence and harshness. Perplexing in what it's trying to convey. Anybody have ideas why this story would and should be included in the story of redemption? I guess the Bible doesn't flinch when it comes to dealing with the sin and misery of our lives. And the question of 34:31 ("was it right to let our own sister be treated that way?") is almost haunting. I mean, the reaction went beyond what would be called for - certainly in terms of human justice measurements, wouldn't you say? And the deceit - ohh - just like their father, Jacob. Seems like a central characteristic of that family - maybe even of God's family in general. You think?

Anyway. As you might tell, I have to get reading to stay caught up here. The above was reflection on reading from last night. Hope you are hanging in there. Let me know what you are thinking about reading these big chunks of the Bible.

The story of Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 16) is so dark and haunting, but when you see God's love in that story it becomes more hopeful.

What would it be like to learn to live with the same compassion that compels God to reach out to people on the outside? What kind of ministry is it when we think merely about how comfortable we can be in the pew – or in the pulpit, for that matter?

There are people, who like Hagar, with lives so full of misery, shattered by circumstances that maybe they have even brought upon themselves. And they need to hear God calling to them, “Where are you going?” and “Where are you coming from?”

Do you think we could be God’s voice in this community? I think so. That’s why our motto for ministry is “Touching Lives with the Transforming Love of Jesus.” That’s what makes the huge commitments of time, talent, and money worth it – to be able to hear people speak in some fashion the words of Hagar: “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

I hope you've had some good reading experiences in Genesis so far. It kind of reads like a Shakespearean tragedy so far. A wonderful set up - but you just know that it's going to get bad. And it does! From sibling rivalry that ends with murder - to the whole world doing evil and getting wiped out for it - to human beings conspiring to reach God - that is, seeking to control him.

You just don't want to read anymore, except that you have to find out what happens. And actually there are hints already about what's going to happen. I was thinking about that verse in Genesis 3:15. I know it's an important one because Bible teachers and professors told me so. But as I read it again it struck me that God had to put a division in place between good and evil. "I will put enmity between you and the woman." God says. Otherwise we would have carried on living in this world without a thought to whether something was good or bad.

Sometimes I'm struck at how even best intentions are stricken with evil. I usually lament that. But I guess we should be glad we can notice that kind of thing. And then turn to God to save us. That's what the stories of Cain & Abel, the flood, and the Tower of Babel are about - not just retelling the tragedy, but turning our faces back to God who meets us not to condemn but to save.

Week 1

Hey, I'm really excited about the responses I've received on this summer reading project. There are quite a number of people following through with the readings. Excellant. Sorry if you have tried to follow on the blog and can't comment. I'm no expert in these things and don't know what the problem is. You can email me, like Olaf Marcus did. He wanted to comment on the Van Egmond comment on the blog. Here it is.

Wanted to answer the Vanegmond note . . . By telling them that they can
find the geographical place of the tree of life right around their diningroom
table , When they read their Bibles.

That may well be the best answer since attempts to determine Eden's geographic location are pretty unsuccessful. The description of Eden in 2:10-13 seems pretty detailed, but we just don't know the rivers that are called Pishon and Gihon. We do know about the Tigris and Euphrates, and assuming that they were downstream from the river that flowed through Eden (see vs.10) a best guess might be that Eden was in northern Mesopotamia or Armenia.

I hope you enjoyed reading the creation accounts again. I did. Putting aside all the controversey about "creation-science" (which I don't think Genesis 1&2 are at all about) I found it inspiring and worshipful. I liked that experience.

This post marks the beginning of another message series at New Life Church: "Ploughing through the Pentateuch." Let me suggest some questions that you might want to answer and post back. But I'll answer them first for myself and give you a sense of what I'm thinking and anticipating with this series.

What do you think of reading through the first five books of the Bible in one summer?

I want us to know the story of salvation. The good news shows up in the
Bible already "in the beginning" not just in the New Testament. I hope we
get a sense of that story - maybe in a fresh way. To read the Bible
as a story helps us to avoid treating it like a rule book - which is how it
often is applied - especially the Old Testament.

What about reading through bigger chunks of the Bible - or do you normally read 5 chapters at a time?

I get kind of annoyed with myself that I can sit and read a good novel - big
chunks at a time. But when I read the Bible I can't wait to finish my daily
reading so I can get on with the day. So this is going to be some
discipline for me. I also have to realize this isn't a modern novel.
The modern novel has been perfected for marketing and movie-making purposes
(think about the term, "a quick read" - something the Bible isn't!).
It definitely helps to have the observations of others to guide us in that
reading. For example, in reading Genesis 1 it helps to recognize a
structure in the chapter otherwise it doesn't make sense. If God created
light on the first day, what was he doing creating light on the fourth
day? Well otheres have observed that the chapter starts off with a
comment - "the earth was formless and empty" (vs. 2). Then the rest of the
chapter outlines how God formed the earth and filled it. Days 1-4 have to
do with structure (forming). Days 5 & 6 have to do with filling the
structures of creation. Recognizing this feature helps me to
read the chapter with a sense of greater expectation, that it's not just a
newspaper article. Something bigger is being told here.

Are you scared about getting to Leviticus?

Yes. I read the whole thing once before in seminary and I only remember having a
miserable time with it.

Well, let me know what you are thinking. I'll do my best to keep you inspired to read, but I'm going to depend on your comments back to keep me inspired to keep on blogging. Whew. It's going to be quite the summer! Keep on ploughing!