The Floating Zoo

The Floating Zoo

Genesis 6:5-9:17 (HCSB)

How hard is it to do everything the Lord commands of us?  I bet if you were to ask that question to a child they would say, “Not very.”  I know when I asked my oldest daughter (who is 5yrs old) that question she replied with the “not very” answer.  Ah, faith like a child.  And if we as adults could only hold onto that kind of faith, just imagine what amazing things we could do for God! 

Like maybe...

Building a rocket

Or fighting a mummy

Or climbing up the Eiffel Tower

Discovering something that doesn't exist

Or giving a monkey a shower

Sorry, I had a little Phineas and Ferb moment there.  Remember I have a 5 year old.  However, with faith like a child or even as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20) we could do so many great things for God.  We could do everything he commands us to do…even if that means building a massively large boat.

Story Time:

Along time has now passed from when Adam and Eve sinned and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  Sin was running rampant in the world and God was very upset.  How upset?  Well the Bible describes it as, “the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:6).  How upset?  God decides to totally destroy all of mankind along with the animals and birds.  God is going to take a do over.  Safe to say God was pretty upset.  However, there was one guy who lived right.  Noah was so good and loved God so much, he and his family would be spared.

God informs Noah of the wickedness that has corrupted every creature He has made.  He tells Noah to build an ark.  Not like the Ark of the Covenant that the Israelites will eventually carry around, but a big boat.  (Side note: if you get a chance, listen to Bill Cosby’s comedy routine on Noah and the ark.  Funny!)  Have you ever thought about exactly how big the ark was?  I know in most translations when the measurements for the ark are given they use cubits, but the Holman translation gives the dimensions in feet.  Needless to say the ark was huge, and Genesis 6:15-16 explains just how huge.  “This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.  You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within 18 inches of the roof.  You are to put a door in the side of the ark.  Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.” 

So let’s try to picture this in our mind.  Take a football field and remove the end zones.  You are now looking at a 100 yard field equaling 300 feet.  So the ark was one and a half football fields long.  The width of the ark is almost half of the football field wide and as tall as one and a half goal posts.  So in other words…big.

And now your thinking, “Yeah that is big, but not every single animal would fit.”  Remember, God told Noah that all creatures were corrupted with wickedness.  So the ark only needed to fit a small amount to be used to start over with God’s do over plan.  And according to verses 19-21 of Genesis chapter six, there was two of every kind of animal on the ark plus food.  Plenty of room, right? 

Before we continue on I want to take a look at the last verse in chapter six.  “And Noah did this.  He did everything that God had commanded him.”  This will not be the only time we see this language used, when referring to Noah.  We will talk about it more later.

Chapter seven starts off sounding a little familiar to what we just read in chapter six, but with a little more information.  So why not compile it all together and just say it once?  Hebrew writing builds on itself.  If you look back at Genesis 1 you get the creation story, but at the beginning of the next chapter you get it again with a little bit more.  It is the same here with the story of Noah and us reading in chapter six that Noah was going to be saved on the ark with two of every kind of animal, male and female.  The beginning of chapter seven repeats most of chapter 6 in the first few verses but adds a little more information.  We now understand that Noah and his family will enter the ark.  We now see that there was more than just two of every kind of animal.

Here is a fluff moment.  You were probably told as little kids that Noah took two of every kind of animal on the ark.  You may have even been told this as an adult.  But we see here in Genesis 7:2-3 Noah was instructed to take “seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky — in order to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole earth.”  Why the extra?  God said in the previous chapter, when just two were mentioned, they would be used to keep everything alive, but now more animals have been added.  Take a look at Genesis 8:20.  Do you see what it says? “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”  Noah used the extra animals in order to offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord. Why then do we teach two of every kind?  Simply because it is easier for us and for our children to understand and remember the number 2 than to have to be taught 7 pairs of clean, 2 of unclean and 7 pairs of birds.  Then you might have to get into the whole clean and unclean thing, and that would just add even more confusion.  So now you know the correct numbers and you can retell the story however you want.  Either way, it does not misinterpret what we can learn from Noah.

My apologies for the brief de-fluffing moment we just had, but hey…that’s what this book is all about.  Continuing on with the story…  Noah and his family and all the animals enter the ark.  They wait seven days and then the flood comes.

It starts to rain for 40 days and 40 nights.  During that time the waters begin to rise covering everything on the earth, even the very tops of the mountains.  The ark rose with the waters and floated on top of the water as the floodwaters rose higher and higher.

If you were to ask most people how long the flood lasted, what do you think they would tell you?  A) 40 days and 40 nights B) About 6 months or C) Just over 1 year?  Do you know the answer?  If you guessed “A” then you would be wrong, but you would more than likely be in the majority of people who chose that answer.  If you guessed “B” then…well I don’t really have anything to say other than you would just be wrong.  If you guessed “C” then give yourself a high five and pretend it was from me.  If you were to go through and count up all the days from when Noah entered the ark to when he opened the doors to get off it totals over a year.

7 days on the ark before the rain

40 days of rain

150 days of the water rising

150 days of the water receding and the ark coming to rest on Mt. Ararat

40 days till Noah sends out the raven

? days till Noah sends out the first dove

7 days till Noah sends out the dove again and returns with the olive leaf

7 days till Noah sends out the dove the third time and it does not return

+? days until Noah leaves the ark

401 days (plus a few extra)

If we go by a 365-day calendar, then Noah was on the ark for 1 year 1 month 6 days.  From most of the research I did to confirm my math, I found most others diving into the question coming up with any where from a 1 year 1 week to 1 year 1 month.  Any way you slice it, Noah was on that boat for a long time.  And one more thing, you can see from the description in the days above that Noah sent out a raven as well as the dove.  He also sent out the dove several times.  A lot of times this story is told that Noah sent out a dove one time and it came back with the olive leaf or branch, but nothing is mentioned about the raven or the dove’s multiple trips.  Why?  Because it is easier to just mention the most significant flight when the dove returns with the evidence the water was going down.

God now tells Noah to get everybody and every animal off the ark and to get to work in repopulating the earth.  But don’t worry, God instructs Noah in this using the PG rated Biblical language of “be fruitful and multiply”.  Noah then builds an altar to sacrifice to God and worship.  He takes all the clean animals we talked about earlier and presents them as a burnt offering and God goes into the promise of never to flood the earth again speech at the end of chapter eight and the beginning of chapter nine.  God also places the rainbow in the sky as the sign that he will never destroy the earth again by means of a flood.

My Thoughts:

Do you think you could build a big boat if some random person asked you to?  Do you think you could build a big boat if God asked you to?  I know I would definitely try if God asked me to, but me trying to use tools to build anything would be a pretty funny sight.  Besides God said he would never flood the earth again, so I’m good.

Like I said at the start of the chapter, imagine the things we could do if we had faith so strong we did everything the Lord commanded…if we had faith like Noah.  We briefly mentioned at the beginning of the story the scriptures said Noah did everything the Lord told him.  As far as we can tell Noah followed those commands without hesitation or question.  At least the Bible doesn’t say anything about Noah questioning God as to why he had to build an amazingly huge boat. 

Take a quick minute and look through the chapters in the Bible that we are focusing on.  Try to find all the places where the Bible references Noah following God’s commands.  Did you find them all?  Let me help you out…

Genesis 6:22, “And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.”

Genesis 7:5, “And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.”

Genesis 7:9, “…just as God had commanded him.”

You will discuss this more when you get to the questions, but why is it so hard for us to do everything God asks us to do?  The simple answer is because we are adults.  The deeper answer is once we turn a certain age and stop looking at the world through rose colored glasses, we take on a mindset and a thought process that help us look out for ourselves.  Not in a selfish kind of way that gets in you trouble because you were being a jerk, but in a selfish kind of way that causes you to protect yourself.  We develop logical reasoning and a conscience that forces us to look at all the outcomes of a given situation.  Sometimes that reasoning brings us to say no, even if that no goes against the Lord.

Look at this way.  As a father I always have the best interest in mind for my daughters.  I would never ask them to do anything that would bring them harm.  We are at the pool and I can ask my 2 ½ year old daughter, Brynn, to jump in from the side to me and she will do it without hesitation.  Why?  Because she fully trusts her daddy will catch her.  Now, I can ask my 5 year old daughter, Natalie, to do the same thing and sometimes she hesitate and tells me no.  Why?  Because her mind is able to process one of two things, “Either my daddy will catch me and I will be ok, or he won’t and I could drown.”  If you were to ask Natalie, “Would your daddy ever let anything bad happen to you?”  She would say no as fast as would answer “not very” to the how hard is it to do what God asks question.  However, in the pool situation where she has to act, sometimes fear takes over and sometimes she jumps into my arms before I can even finish asking her to jump.

The same applies to God and us.  There are times God asks us to build a boat and we do whatever He asks to be done to the last minute detail.  And then there are times God asks us to do something big and we hesitate.  We begin to logically rationalize all the possible outcomes of moving forward with God’s plan and we stand at the side of the pool with some fear.  Our Father is holding out His arms asking us to jump, and we say no.

But why does it seem so easy for Noah?  Was it because Noah always dreamed of owning his own boat?  Was it because God knew Noah was feeling sad and needed a project?  Was it because God spoke directly to Noah and asked him to build the ark?  It wasn’t any of those.  Look at Hebrews 11.  This chapter that explains how people like Noah were able to accomplish such greats things for the Lord.  Faith.  “By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7) 

Noah had faith mixed with godly fear.  That combination helped Noah to know what God was asking him to do was right and purposeful.  The godly fear Noah had wasn’t like the fear my daughter sometimes has about jumping into water deeper than she is tall, it is a fear that produces trust and respect for God.  This fear is developed through love for God, a relationship with Him and having faith that God’s ways are better than our own.

Never stop making your faith stronger.  Always have a healthy fear of God.  Do your best to do everything the Lord commands of you.  You never know when God is going to ask you to build a really big boat.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why is it hard for us to do everything God commands?
   
2. We could list the things that can be done to build up your faith, but what do you personally need to do to make your own faith stronger?
   
3. Do you think God should speak to us today like He did with Noah?  Why or why not? 
   
4. How would it make things easier if God spoke directly to us?  How would God speaking directly to us negatively affect our faith?  Or would it?
   
5. How do you hear God’s voice speak to you?
   
6. Why does our faith and relationship with God need a healthy does of Godly fear?  What would they look like if we didn’t have a Godly fear of God?
   
7. What kind of boat do you think God is asking you to build?
   
8. One last thing…make sure you end in prayer.

Just a Little Bite

Just a Little Bite

Genesis 2:15-3:24 (HCSB)

We are all tempted by different things.  It depends on the person and what they are tempted by the most.  Some people are most tempted by food.  Some people are tempted by possessions.  Some people are tempted by sex, power, and money.  The list goes on and on.  Me personally, I’m tempted by the desire to own more DVD’s.  A temptation I am sorry to admit I give into and have accumulated probably higher than I can count.

What people are tempted by can also depend on the situation they are in or where they are in their walk with God.  The story we are going to look at today involves two people who were tempted with something they were led to believe would make their lives better.  Because of their situation, Satan knew exactly what to use and what to say to get them to give into his crafty ways.

Satan may not be the smartest guy in the world, but he is most definitely top five.  Meaning, you and I are not smarter than he is; and there is no way, when we are being tempted, we can outwit him by ourselves.  We need God’s wisdom and discernment to overcome temptation so we don’t fall into sin.

Story Time:

After God created everything, he gave the man (aka Adam) instructions on how to live.  Life was pretty easy for Adam in the beginning, just three instructions by God.  Wouldn’t it be nice if all we had to live by were three rules?  Adam had to 1) take care of the land, 2) make sure everything ran smoothly and 3) eat from everything but one tree found in the middle of the garden.  Must have been nice to be the guy who got to come up with all the names of the animals.  Do you think he had a checklist to make sure he didn’t double up on a name?  There’s an app for that, right?

The Garden of Eden was full of everything Adam could possibly need to survive.  There was water, vegetables, and fruit.  The guy had more pets to take care of than the lonely old lady down the street with more cats than we have fingers.  Adam also had a special tree know as the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  God asked him not to eat its fruit.  God even told him if he did, he would die.

As Adam was naming all the animals God realized that Adam didn’t have anybody to hang out with.  According to verse eighteen (Genesis 2) he didn’t have a “helper as his complement.”  So God took Adam’s rib and created woman who Adam later named Eve.  Genesis 2:21 says, “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.”  This has always put the idea of out there that men have one less rib than women.  The fact is both men and women have a total of twenty-four ribs, twelve on each side.  Maybe man had one extra before the world’s first surgery was performed?  Maybe when God took one to create woman, he snapped his fingers and formed a new one in Adam to replace the one he took?  But why even take one at all?  If man was made from dust then why not woman as well?  A thought we will talk about after the story is over.

Satan now comes onto the scene and asks a very simple but twisted question in verse one of chapter three,  “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”  Satan knows full well the answer to that question, but begins to plant the thought in Eve’s head of possibly eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Eve corrects him by saying in verses two and three, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.  But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”  But of course Satan works his magic again by informing Eve the death God talked about will not be a physical one.  He tells her that she will become more like God in knowing good and evil.  BAM!  Satan delivers a whammy!  Eve gets hit with the temptation of obtaining wisdom like God.  Be like God and know what he knows.  Who could pass that up?! 

So when Eve realizes the fruit can make her smarter, her stomach starts to rumble and she takes a bite of that delicious banana.  I mean delicious plum.  No wait, delicious grapefruit.  Oh, I got it…apple.  She took a bite of a delicious apple.  The fact is, we don’t truly know what kind of fruit was on that tree, but we always default to an apple.  Why is that?  Here is my theory, and it is just a theory, fairy tales.  Tales like Snow White have used an apple to represent evil.  So why not use an apple to represent the evil poison (sin) used to destroy the relationship between God and us.  However, just like a fairy tale always has a happy ending, we will reveal the good news about this story later.

But where is Adam in all this?  Right there with her.  In Genesis 3:6 it says that after Eve took a bite of the fruit she “gave some to her husband [who was] with her, and he ate [it]”.  When they both took that sinful bite they gained the knowledge Satan talked about and realized they were naked.  They took fig leaves and made clothes for themselves to cover up their nakedness and then hid from God.  This has always made me laugh.  I mean, who plays hide-and-go-seek from God?  Wouldn’t he be the ultimate hide-and-go-seek player?

Adam explains to God they were afraid and hid when they heard him walking in the garden.  Here again is a part that has always made me laugh; God, who already knows the answer, asks how they knew they were naked and if they ate from the tree they were not supposed to eat from.  Instead of just saying yes, Adam starts the blame game.  He blames Eve.  Eve blames Satan.  It’s a mess.  The thing is, when we fall into temptation, nobody is completely blameless.  Satan is at fault for tempting Eve.  Eve is at fault for not obeying God.  Adam is at fault for not obeying God and not being the leader of his family and stopping Eve from eating the fruit.

Due to the fact that sin has now occurred, God has to dish out the punishments.  To each he gives the following:

Then the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,

you are cursed more than any livestock

and more than any wild animal.

You will move on your belly

and eat dust all the days of your life.

I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your seed and her seed.

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.

He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;

you will bear children in anguish.

Your desire will be for your husband,

yet he will rule over you.

And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.

You will eat from it by means of painful labor

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow

until you return to the ground,

since you were taken from it.

For you are dust,

and you will return to dust.” (Genesis 3:14-19)

God now has to make Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden because they have sinned.  He gives them clothes and blocks the entrance to the garden with cherubim and a flaming sword so they can’t eat the fruit from the tree of life and live forever.  Adam and Eve now have to work the land, grow their own crops and raise their own livestock.

My Thoughts:

A few things I think we can learn from Adam and Eve.  I think this short story most commonly known as the “fall of man” teaches us about sin, relationships and God’s love for us.

On the outside this seems like a sad story, and for the most part it is one, but if we slap a “to be continued…” label on the end it really perks up.  Why?  Because this is the beginning of God’s plan to send his only son, Jesus, to die for our sins.  Of course Jesus dying on the cross is also sad, but the reason behind it is the happy part.  Adam and Eve damaged our relationship with God by disobeying and eating the fruit.  Now that sin entered the world, it meant people could no longer be in the presence of God like Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden.  God is so holy and perfect he cannot be around sin.  In order for sin to be taken away, something has to die.  Which was why the Israelites had to sacrifice animals that were without blemishes and defects, because only perfect blood can wash away sin.  Enter Jesus.  Jesus offers himself as a sacrifice on the cross so his super perfect blood can be spilled and used to wash away sin.  Jesus’ blood being so perfect covered all sin till the end of time, hence the reason why we don’t currently sacrifice animals.  I know a set of twins who are highly thankful we don’t have to do that today.  It means a lot less crying for them.  But what it really means is Jesus restored the relationship between God and us.  Now with a prayer of forgiveness we can enter into God’s presence and be a part of him.  Jesus’ death on the cross is a sad thing to think about, but it is such a beautiful display of how much God loves us.

Not only do we see the relationship between God and man and his love for us, but we also see parts of how the relationship should work as a family.  Eve was made from a part of Adam, not from dust.  Meaning man is supposed to be both the physical and spiritual leader of his family.  Paul explains this very nicely in his letter to the Ephesians by saying, “Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:22-25).  There is an equal balance of love and respect between a husband and a wife, but a healthy understanding man is the leader.  Have each other’s backs and help each other out.  But men, you need to lead, teach, guide and direct your family in the ways of the Lord.  If Adam would have stepped up in being the leader of his family, maybe Satan would have had to come up with another way to tempt them and make them sin?

As a pastor I have talked with a few people who feel bad when they are tempted and of course feel worse when they give into the temptation.  But here’s the thing…it’s not wrong to be tempted.  What is wrong about it is when we give into the temptation and therefore sin.  Now being tempted doesn’t feel good because we know what it can lead to if we give in, but we need to remember what it can lead to if we don’t concede to temptation.  Not falling into the temptation is hard, but rewarding when we don’t.  It brings us closer to God and makes our faith and walk with him stronger.  Plus it makes God happy and proud.  Bonus!  But, it’s so hard (said with a whiney 4 year old voice).  And you are right; it is hard – very hard.  But we have a God who lives inside our hearts that gives us the strength and wisdom to overcome temptation.  Remember this verse (one of my personal favorites) next time you are faced with temptation.  “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the things you are tempted by the most?  Why?
2. What are some steps you can take or preventative measures you can put in place to help you not fall into temptation?
3.  Even if we don’t give in, why do we feel so bad when we are tempted?
4. Read the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 10 out loud (don’t worry – it is not that long) and keep your Bible open there, the next few questions are going to be based on this chapter.  What can we learn from Adam and Eve in the garden and the Israelites traveling in the desert about overcoming temptation?
5.  What do verses 14 – 22 remind us about ourselves when faced with a situation?  Can we handle it alone?
6. Discuss what verse 23 means.  Keep in mind things in your life that may or may not be a temptation for you and how it could affect those around you.
7. Looking at verses 31-33 how should we go about our lives in all we do?
8. If you are married and your spouse is with you, turn and face them and respond to each other with answers to these questions.  Men – in what ways can you step up and become a better leader of your family.  Ladies – how can you support your husband to help encourage and respect his efforts of being your family’s leader?
9. One last thing…make sure you end in prayer.

Creation with Purposeful Order

 Creation with Purposeful Order

Genesis 1:1-2:3 (HCSB)

Creation is a beautiful thing that is full of God everywhere we look.  Majestic mountains, flowing streams, grassy fields and annoying bugs are just a few of the things God created.  It is pretty safe to say God created everything we see, taste and touch in this world.  Well, except Miracle Whip.  Now for those of you who enjoy Miracle Whip, don’t worry…Jesus still loves you.

Have you thought about each day of creation?  I’m sure a lot of us could list all the different parts of creation, but I think there would be a good number of people who would not be able to list them in order.  Now I know you are wondering why it even matters if we know the proper order of creation.  What If I told you God has a purpose in the way he goes about things?  Well duh!  Of course he does, but I think it’s important to remember this quality of God’s personality.  It’s reassuring to know God had a specific plan in creating the world and didn’t just randomly toss things together.  If he did, then we would probably have an animal with the body of a zebra and the head of elephant, and Adam would have had to name it a zebraphant. 

Tell you what; let’s look at the creation story.  However, try and be aware of the order things are being created.  I will check back with you at the end and see if you picked up on God’s reasoning for his creation with purposeful order.

Story Time:

In the beginning the heavens and the earth were created by God, but the earth was just there without any real form or definition.  It was dark, empty, and kind of a bummer place I guarantee nobody would have wanted to call home.  God is moving around over the water in the dark and wants some light; so he speaks for light to shine and it does.  What we don’t know (and this is true for all the creation days) was how long it took for the light to be made.  Did it slowly get brighter and brighter like a small fire growing into massive flames of light, or was it instant like a flash of lightning.  This we don’t know.  This is one part that makes God so fun.  He leaves some things to interpretation and it doesn’t matter if we think one way or the other.  Either way, day one comes to an end.  There was no sun at this point, but there was an established night and day.

Now I can only assume God didn’t want the earth to be only a ball of water, so he creates sky - an expanse between all the water.  It is not specifically written in scripture, but I think our minds can wander that along with the sky being created oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and all those other atmospheric elements were made.  God split water in half (something he’s enjoyed doing a few times) and placed the sky in-between the water.  With another morning and evening, day two is complete.

I also assume God didn’t want all of the life he was soon to create living under water, so he made the land.  Now if you look in verse nine you will see it says the water under the sky was gathered in one place so land could be seen.  Here is a place that brings up a debated question over the years.  When the land appeared did it pop out of the water in places that each of the seven continents are today or were all the continents somehow placed together and over time split and drifted apart?  The answer is, who knows.  Today all the great oceans are connected to each other with the current placement of the continents.  So it could make sense the land was already separated with verse nine talking about the water gathering in one place.  It also could seem the continents fit together at one point if you look how they are shaped (theory of plate tectonics that builds on the concepts of continental drift).  Try this at home – print out the continents and cut them out.  Then, like a puzzle, piece them together.  Do you see it?!  They seem to fit.  Ultimately, however, probably doesn’t really matter how the continents came about as far as their placement.  What matters is God created dry land in the midst of a world covered in water.  God then continues his day three creation by making vegetation of all kind - plants and trees.  Plants that grew to produce seed that created more plants, vegetables and fruit.  Tress that grew to become maple, oak, palm, pine, orange, apple and grapefruit.  The earth was now full of land, vegetation, plants and trees on the third day.

Now came the time in day four to create the sun, moon, and stars.  We are always told God made these to be the objects that determine the day and night.  But there is a second part of verse fourteen that sometimes gets overlooked.  “They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.” (Genesis 1:14b)  Do you see what else God created here?  The seasons and means for us to eventually create the calendar.  Days, months and years were all determined by the placement of and the duration we see the sun, moon, and stars.  Which also brought about the seasons and our weather patterns.  We see the sun less in the winter, which in turn makes it colder.  The summer has the sun hanging in the sky longer during the day making things hotter.  Which in two places I have lived (Las Vegas and Houston) is no fun.  I also feel for those who live in Phoenix.  Day four was now done.

Day five is the day that brings joy to all those seafood lovers out there.  I know I have a lot of friends in Maryland who like this day because the Maryland blue crab came into the world.  It was also a good day for bird lovers and not such a good day for people who have Ornithophobia (or-ni-tho-phobia: fear of birds).  On this day, God made eagles, doves, ravens, hawks, sparrows and even pigeons.  He made whales, sharks, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and clownfish.  He made bees, dragonflies, hummingbirds and woodpeckers.  He made jellyfish, stingrays, salmon and eels.  And when he was all done, morning and evening fell on the fifth day.

The water and skies were now populated and it was time to put the land God created to use with more than just plants.  Day six brings the creation of animals.  Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  He also made turtles, worms, spiders, lizards, sheep, dogs, cats, and emus.  God is almost done as it now comes time to create man.  The part of his creation that made him sit back and say it was very good.  The final piece to his purposeful order.  How much did God love this last part of creation?  Well I could just tell you very much, but I think reading it for yourself does more justice.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.  They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”  So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.  God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.  Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”  God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed.  This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth — everything having the breath of life in it.  [I have given] every green plant for food.”  And it was so.  God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.  (Genesis 1:26-31)

Day six comes to an end.

God had now completed his work and there was nothing more to create.  Nothing more to do than to kick up his feet, grab a nice cold glass of ice tea, sit back, relax and enjoy everything he created.  Day seven became special.  Genesis 2:3 says, “God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.”  God took a Sabbath.

My Thoughts:

Did you notice the purposeful order?  Here is a quick list of creation just in case you need to see it again.

Day 1: Light

Day 2: Sky

Day 3: Land and Vegetation

Day 4: Sun, Moon and Stars

Day 5: Fish and Birds

Day 6: Animals and Man

Day 7: Rested

Do you see it now?  Just about everything in this world survives off of light.  Things would die if they didn’t have light.  Since light is such a crucial part to life, God creates it first.  Next comes the sky (and safe to assume stuff like oxygen and carbon dioxide).  Unless every living thing was going to be sea creatures and water plants, God needed space where water wasn’t.  He needed to create a space where oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide existed so plants, animals, and humans could live.  Next came the land and vegetation.  Plants could not have come before the sky because they would have been underwater and would not of had the proper elements found in the sky to exist.  The plants came before breathing life because they help with the whole carbon dioxide and oxygen circulation in the air. They provided for the living creatures to come.  If animals came before plants, they wouldn’t have any food.  Next came the sun, moon and stars for proper light during the day and night.  The weather and water tides are now properly controlled for life to be sustained.  Then came the fish and birds.  The first of living creatures who ate what was already created.  Now the animals were created.  They came after plants, fish and birds since land animals needed these for food.  Finally, God created man who was placed as the ruler over everything and needed everything God created prior in order to survive. 

There is purposeful order in how God created and when he created it.  Being God, he could have created these things in any order he pleased.  He instead made them in a purposeful order that makes sense.  And to top it all off, he took a break and rested at the end of it all.  Do you live your life inside of purposeful order or inside of randomness? 

Order brings purpose.  “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).  If we live inside of randomness we miss things.  We skip over needed steps and life becomes confusing.  Life becomes chaotic and disastrous.  We were never meant to live in chaos or disaster.  A life full of hope and a future is one that has a purpose and plans.  The Bible describes this life in Jeremiah saying, “For I know the plans I have for you” – [this is] the Lord’s declaration – “plans for [your] welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (29:11).  Part of our life plan also needs to include a seventh day, a day of rest, a Sabbath.  On this day we do not work.  We do not go into the office and neglect our family.  We do not consume our heart and mind with work and forget about God.  On this day, we rest.  We spend time in communion with God and with our family.  A fellow pastor and friend, Kevin Odor, once challenged me with the idea of taking a Sabbath (Thanks Kevin).  It doesn’t have to be a Sunday; it just has to be a day you are going to give to God. 

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.  You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates.  For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.  (Exodus 20:8-11)

Live a life with meaning and purpose.  A life that follows the plans God has for you.  Because if you do, it will be one God sits back with his glass of ice tea and says, “Very good.”

Discussion Questions:

1. Talk/Think about the idea of purposeful order.  Do you think it is God’s desire for us to live a life with purposeful order?
   
2. Where in your life do you see God working with purposeful order?  Where do you need to seek out the plans he has for you and apply them to part of your life that may starting to become or may already be chaotic?
   
3. What are some things in your life you need to let go off because they are or could be leading you away from God’s plans?  How would life be different if you surrendered these things to God?
   
4. What are your days off from work?  Do you treat one of these as your Sabbath?  Do you have a full 24hr time period where you are work free and off limits?
   
5. What would your life look and feel like if you worked diligently during your work time but at then end of the day felt good about what you had accomplished and felt good about having the rest wait until tomorrow?  What would your life look and feel like if you intentionally took a Sabbath?
   
6. One last thing…make sure you end in prayer.

Introduction

Introduction:

First, allow me to tell you a little about myself so you understand who I am as the writer of this blog.  My name is Anthony and I am follower of Jesus Christ.  I have an amazing wife, Jennifer, who loves and supports me in every possible way.  The biggest thing that makes me fall in love with her over and over again is that she loves Jesus more than she does me.  She also loves football.  Did I not get the most perfect wife ever?!  I have two wonderful daughters, Natalie and Brynn, who bring joy and laughter to my life everyday.  I am a pastor and have been one for many years doing just about everything from youth ministry to adult ministry.  Las Vegas, NV holds claim to my hometown and Milligan College in Tennessee gave me my education.

When I was kid I was always fascinated by stories.  Stories my mom would read to me at bedtime.  Stories my dad would try to make up when I was sick to make me feel better.  Stories my grandfather would tell about when he was in the Air Force.  But more than anything I was enamored by Bible stories.

I was never much of a reader (and here I am writing a book - figure that one out), but I loved listening to and learning about the stories in the Bible.  Stories of Noah, Samson, Gideon, David, Job, and my personal favorite, Jonah (you will read why later).  However, being the curious kid I was, I always had certain questions about some of these stories.  Questions that whoever was telling the story never seemed to answer.  Questions left to your imagination because the scriptures don't refer to it.  Questions that arose because I was being told one thing and then reading something else in the Bible.

Sometimes as storytellers, teachers and preachers we leave certain facts out or add tiny little nuances to make the story easier to understand or digest.  I like to call if fluff.  Is that wrong?  Doesn't the Bible warn us in the book of Revelation that nothing should be added or taken away from the scriptures?  Are we committing a spiritual crime by telling some of the Biblical stories with fluff?  The answer is no.  There is nothing wrong with telling a Bible story in such a way that makes it easier for your audience to understand.  Where it starts to become shady is when we use the fluff in such a way it completely changes what God wants us to learn.  At that point the fluff factor is just way to high.

So why write this blog?  Well, an honest question deserves an honest answer.  One, I hope when I am done writing this it becomes a published book.  Not so I can make money, but so it can hopefully become a useful tool.  A tool that can be used in small groups, family bible studies or personal devotions.  Two, every single thing in the Bible can be used to learn something.  I want people to learn what God has in those stories, even the ones we don' know very well.  Three, I want to tell the stories they way they are told in scripture.  Now I am a pastor who has told stories in the past with the fluff, but I have learned over my many years how to tell the stories without the fluff and still make it easy to understand.  I will be honest again and tell you sometimes people get pretty shocked to find out a certain part of a story that has been told to them a certain way for so long might be a little different when read directly from scripture.  I have even had people feel like they have been lied to.  You have not been lied to, I promise.  You have simply been told in a way that makes the story easy to preach and understand in order to better take in what God is teaching us.  I want to tell the stories without the fluff.

If I were to look back as the moment the idea for a book like this first came to me, it would have to be back when I was still a youth pastor.  We were having our normal Wednesday evening youth group time, but this night had a little twist.  The week before we had just finished a series so I decided to take a week off and just hangout this night and see what my students knew about the Bible and the stories it held.  (Sneaky way to help determine what I was going to teach on next.)  I had a blast from the past evening and played old school bible baseball!  I know, I know, you can barely contain your excitement and wish you were a part of my rocking youth group!  Anyway, as the night went on I had a girl come up for her turn at bat.  I knew this girl didn’t know much and as I suspected she chose a single (easy question).  I gave her what I thought was one of the easiest questions I could think of on the spot because I knew she wouldn’t get the question on the card correct.  This young lady needed a boost of confidence and I was trying to give it to her.  I figured we all knew the Christmas story as told to us over the years, so I asked her to name one of the three gifts Jesus received from the wise men.  As I waited for her answer I said over and over in my mind, “Please say gold.  Please say gold.”  She took a minute, cracked a nervous smile and said…”sheep”.  The other students in the room immediately busted out in laughter.  I was heartbroken for this young lady.  I quieted the room and informed her of the right answer and moved on, but at that moment my mind started spinning.  I decided I was going to begin to teach these students in a way they learned what was in the Bible while at the same time being able to apply it to their lives and live like Jesus.

My teaching and preaching style changed from the typical three points and a poem approach to a more story telling and conversational approach.  And several years later when I became a small groups pastor, combining these stories and using a conversational small group format to allow discussion and group learning just made sense.

As you read through these posts, I want you to feel like you are being told a story and we are having a conversation.  I will not just copy and paste scripture; you can pull out your Bible if you want to read it that way.  I am going to tell you the stories in a conversational format.  I will inject my humor here and there (which if you don't find funny won't hurt my feelings) as well as my personal thoughts to make it more conversational than preachy.  The scripture I am pulling the story from will be listed at the beginning so you know where to find it and can read it out of the Bible if you want.  And jut so you know, I will be using the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).  I have my reasons as to why the HCSB, trust me.  At the end of every story, I will include discussion questions that hopefully will get you thinking about what this story means for you and is trying to teach you.

I hope this blog (and eventually book) clarifies any questions you may have had about certain stories you grew up being told.  I hope it brings a clearer understanding of what did and didn't happen.  I hope you learn some new stories you may have never heard before and be re-amazed by the ones you have always known.  I hope you enjoy what you read...without the fluff.