Up Close and Personal

So here we are in Genesis…back at the beginning. I actually love the Old Testament. When we did the Core Course in South Africa (a 3-month school very similar to the SBS), it was while studying Deuteronomy that I knew I wanted to get to spend more time doing this. Sometimes we have this weird view that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New. We think he was big and scary and that he really enjoyed killing people. I think it’s impossible to read through the Old Testament and still walk away thinking that. We serve an AWESOME God, and he’s more loving than we can even imagine. I’m ready to get to know him better in Genesis and through the rest of the books from now until June (and, of course, for the rest of my life as well).

Talking to a fellow SBSer last week, I was struck (not for the first time) by the realization that this experience is not just for me. I’m not learning about God just so I can have warm fuzzies about him, or so that I can have a lot of knowledge crammed into my head. HE is the point. He’s the reason for everything that we do. He’s the One who called us here and the One who gives us the strength to finish it. This knowledge of Him and passion for Him are not just for me—they’re gifts to pass along.

This is where you come in. Whether you’re a financial supporter or someone who prays for us, or someone who just gets encouraged by reading what we’re doing—I’m doing this for YOUR benefit. If you need a little more Jesus in your life, I want to pass something on to YOU in return for the love and support you’ve given to US. Feel like you need to spend more time in the Word and kind of stuck on what to read? Feel like it’s really dull to read the same stories over and over again? Tell me about it. Ask for a reading plan. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I do claim that chasing after God ALWAYS leads to growth in relationship with Him and greater awareness of who he is and what he’s doing in our lives. Join me in that chase?

If you're not convinced you want to chase him, go read AW Tozer’s Pursuit of God and come back to me when you’re done. You’ll be convinced.