Sex in the City

This week we cover chapter 34. Many teachers like to skip this chapter. Even some commentators skip it. James Boice says, "This is another proof of Divine origin. Man would not have included such a sordid story."

Dinah, Jacob's daughter by Leah is raped by the prince of the neighboring village.

Her brothers go off the deep end while her dad never gets out of the wading pool.

Do you think her brothers acted correctly? We'll see this Sunday.

Is God really in this?

Jacob, now with his problems (Laban) behind him, must still face his problems ahead.
Remember, it was because of his brother's (Esau) threats that Jacob left. His mom said, "go to my family in Haran for a few days. When your brother cools off I'll send for you." That was 20 years ago!
Now, as far as we can tell Jacob's mother is dead and it's time to see Esau, the brother Jacob cheated and stole from 20 years ago. Will Esau meet Jacob with open arms or a drawn sword?
As we look at Jacob's actions this week (Genesis 32:1-21), we will note how he fluctuates between faith in God and despair over seeing his brother.

Back in the Saddle

After taking the month of August off, we now continue with our journey. Last week we spoke of Jacob's desire to leave his Uncle/Father-in-law Laban. If you were there you will remember that we looked at the three things that led Jacob to his departure: 1. He had the desire, 2. He had the right circumstances, 3. He had a word from God. Any two of those are good enough, but Jacob had all three.
This Sunday we will look at the interaction between Jacob and Laban when Laban catches him in Gilead.
How do you handle your problems? Do you run like Jacob or handle them head on? On we go...

This is a crazy story!

Most people want to take sides when they read Genesis 27--- the story of Jacob stealing Esau's blessing. What do we make of such a crazy story of senility, deception and loss? Who is in the right? Who is in the wrong?
In his book, "The GENESIS of ETHICS" Burton Visotzky asks these questions:
Is it okay to put aside personal morality for the greater good?
Is it okay to deceive your spouse if it furthers God's plan?
Is it okay to teach one son to lie and steal from his brother?
AND,
If God has spoken, is there any need to justify what otherwise seem to be unethical actions?
All of the above questions arise from the story. We will try and answer them this Sunday. I welcome your comments to this post.

Goodbye to a faithful generation

This past week we said goodbye to both Abraham and Sarah. They both died at a ripe old age and were "gathered to their fathers."
Now we say hello to the "account of Isaac," but in fact the story quickly moves to Isaac's son Jacob.
Will Jacob be faithful? Will he follow in grandpa Abe's footsteps? Will he commit the same mistakes? We will see now over the next several weeks.
I invite you to be a part of our services, or listen to the podcast.

The Promise Continues

It's been a while since I posted here. I even thought I would cancel the blog altogether. But, I decided to keep it going a little bit longer.

This week Isaac finds a wife. Well, actually Abraham's chief servant finds her. Well, actually God prepared her (probably from birth) and led the servant to her. This is a story of God's never ending activity as He guides the promise to fulfillment.

This week we hear the last recorded words of Abraham. He comes into the story with a promise of God. He goes to his grave with the promise on his lips.

The Break is Over

It is always good to take a break from what you are doing, but always good when you come back. We have now been two weeks out of our journey. Palm Sunday you enjoyed a visit from Justin Kron and Chosen People Ministries as he shared "Christ in the Passover." I hope you enjoyed Justin and what he had to share. I enjoyed listening for a change, to a friend of mine as I visited the church he serves.

Then last week, "Easter Sunday," we received a visit from the Apostle Peter himself as he reminisced of his time with Jesus.

This next Sunday we get back to our journey. As we discuss a minor player in the story (Hagar) we find that God is not only concerned with the "important people," but the down and out and oppressed as well. I don't know about you but this is good news to me. I've got to admit, I probably feel like Hagar more often than I do Abram.

See you Sunday.