Anatomy, and history...

    Are you a lifer? And by that, I mean, have you been in and around the Church your whole life? Have you run the gamut of the Church experience, from being a kid in Sunday School making Christian macaroni art and watching Flannelgraph stories, to being an adult trying to subtly dispose of your own child's macaroni art on the grounds that there's no more fridge space? If you've been around the Church forever, chances are good that you've heard the Old Testament stories about a jillion times, unless you grew up Episcopalian. I worked at an private Episcopalian high school for a few years, where the chaplain prayed to the "Spirit of Light and Truth", instead of actually saying God. No chance of an actual Bible story making its way in, there. Don't get offended, now...My Grandpa was an Episcopalian bishop, so I'm allowed to poke fun. If you know someone, that makes it okay to make fun of whatever they are, right?

     But most of us have heard the Old Testament stories more than a few times...And even if you're brand new to God, and thus the Church, you're familiar with David and Goliath, and some of the more well-known Superstars of the Scriptures. And somewhere along the way, they change from being Stories to stories. Big "S" to small "s". They lose their power. That's actually a huge problem in the Church, in my humble opinion. We have a terrible sense of history. It's become small "h" history. The Old Testament is reduced to the creation story, the Psalms, a few terrifying reminders of God's wrath here and there, and that's about it. Let's move on to the kinder, gentler New Testament. And along the way, the record of God vibrantly moving in and through the lives of His people has been reduced to a few sound bites. And so, since we don't really have a great sense of what God has done, we don't really have a great sense of who God is. And since we don't have a great sense of who God is, we don't live as though He's lived up to His potential. You know potential - if you're anything like me, it's the word that showed up on every single report card since you started school. "Brian has so much potential, if he would just stop carving scenes from Star Wars into his desk top and apply himself to his school work." But we act like God's the same way - His power's just a rumor. His authority in this world, in this day and age? Just a glimmer here and there. He's got all the potential in the world, but He just doesn't seem to care anymore. Except that He does, and it's recorded for all to see, all the way throughout History. His Story. And that power to change a life, that authority to imprint a different story onto our page is still there. Just waiting to be recognized.

     That's why, for the next six weeks, we're doing a series called "Anatomy of a Life with God." It's simply that - a look at some of the most incredible, amazing stories ever recorded...Stories that God thought would be good for us to hear, so He included them in the Bible. Stories about life-changing encounters with God - encounters with the living God, who still lives today...Stories about the crazy ways God works, and the "impossible by human standards" things He's chosen to do, through screwed-up, lost, confused, arrogant, hard-hearted, mean, directionless human beings. Some of these stories you may have heard...Some you may not have. All of them unforgettable, if we let them be. Let's become people who let Him continue the Story in us that He started writing back then...Let's do this! Peace...

Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past— stories we have heard and known,
 stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. Psalm 78:1-4 (nlt)