You’ve probably seen them…videos of dominoes cascading through multiple rooms, over and under furniture, setting in motion all sorts of events that eventually arrive at a fantastic finale. The narrative story of the Bible is a bit like that. After Adam and Eve’s reach for control in the opening chapters of Genesis, God promises that one day their descendant will deal a death blow to the serpent who tempted them to sin. This is an initial domino in the story of redemption, and many more follow. Later God declares in Isaiah 46, “For I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done… I will accomplish my purpose… I have spoken and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed and I will do it.”
The Big Story
“He told me the Bible!”
Our girls’ car was incredulous. “He what? How long did it take him?”
“About five minutes.”
That was it. The girls spent the rest of the way home, and our family spent the rest of the year, trying to figure out how to tell the story of the Bible to a five-year-old in five minutes. A disciple of Jesus for almost thirty years then, I felt distressed that I couldn’t do it. My biblical understanding was siloed. I could talk about Philippians and 1 Peter and parts of the Gospels, but then there were huge black holes in my understanding of how we got from the Exodus to Galilee. Was it one linear narrative? How could it be made simple enough for a child, or for me? Working together, and with a five-year-old conveniently in residence as a ready test case, we worked at it. The surprise was how deeply life-giving the process turned out to be.
Snakes, Spiders and Bible Fear
Reflections on Teaching the Scriptures “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you … Read More
Hospitality and Heartbreak
Neil likes to say that for many people, their living and dining rooms are designed solely for when the president stops by unexpectedly for dinner. Our western notion of hospitality is drawn more from gourmet … Read More
Growth by Imitation
Is everyone out there brimming with confidence, or, like me, do you find the following exhortations of Paul hard to imagine saying to another disciple yourself? I urge you to imitate me. (1 … Read More
Risking Obedience
Risking Obedience The ‘OH-NO!’ Principle For parents, and anyone who disciples others: What’s one, sure-fire thing you can do to help root the faith in those you are leading . . . to protect them … Read More
Dear Friend…On Anxiety
As a frequent retreat speaker, I often find the conversations that follow a gathering to be the most fruitful. This month I’m taking a break from the Fine Fire topic to share a bit of … Read More
Pray Scary Prayers – Part 2 (The Prayer Lab)
The picture of Jesus surrounded by children is in all our Sunday school books. It’s a tableau so familiar and so tame. Yet somehow in its tenderness, we have lost the sense of what a … Read More
Pray Scary Prayers – Part 1 (God’s Got This)
You think you’ve learned something. You think you know something . . . only to discover that you’ll be schooled in the same truth, over and over, all your life. Our lessons in praying scary … Read More
One Warning and Two Anti-Virals
I’m constantly intrigued with the threads of plot or character that run through the whole of the Scriptures. Like repeating melody lines in a symphony, or themes in a novel, they speak to the unity … Read More
Let Them See!
Psalm 78 voices the strangest declaration. The people of Israel are rehearsing the wonders the Lord accomplished in the Red Sea parting, and in their sojourn through the wilderness. Yet they begin with such an … Read More
The New Book of Common Prayer and Guidelines for its Use
Dear Diocesan Family As many of you know, at our June Provincial Assembly we had the joy and privilege of receiving the 2019 ACNA Book of Common Prayer. May the Lord be praised! This is … Read More
Signpost #10 – Rehearsing Helplessness!
It’s almost over. Moses has died, and so has the generation of Israel who failed to take the land of Canaan when God wanted to give it. This time for sure! Joshua sends in spies … Read More