"I think this book, it is all about love."
Mary came to this conclusion after a couple weeks of struggling with the fall of man and the flood.
I can't say it any better than that.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Discussion over Dinner
Surprise! At our next meeting we heard the knock on the door, opened it, and there was Lisa and a new friend of her's. The new person, I'll call her June, said "Hello, I want to learn the Bible too!"
"Great, come on in" I welcomed them into our home.
This meeting was being squeezed in between School and Work for them, so Supper time was the only time we could me. Sara and I had planned on having two people over, but June showing up rather than Mary was a surprise.
I had given Mary and Lisa handouts to introduce them to Abraham for the last week. Lisa brought hers with her and we went over them briefly. After that, I wanted to assess where the students were at through discussion. Having a new student with us, it was important to know what she knew. Surprisingly, she was fairly familiar with the material. Some of her time using the Bible was in her native country, while in the US she has studied a little with Mary and Lisa.
About 20 minutes into our time together, Mary showed up, so we all squeezed into our tiny kitchen and began a review of the past few weeks so everyone could be on the same page. Before moving on we got stuck on the "fall of man" topic again. Sara and I tried to encompass the free will of man as well as the sinful nature of man to describe the paid God experienced at the time. I could tell Mary was still having a tough time with it, trying to understand how God, our Creator, could also be God, the destroyer of life. I told Mary I'd be happy to find some more material on the issue from experts who understand it more than i do.
Before we knew it, our time was up. I pray we can get past this and that God will provide understanding of this tough part of man's history.
"Great, come on in" I welcomed them into our home.
This meeting was being squeezed in between School and Work for them, so Supper time was the only time we could me. Sara and I had planned on having two people over, but June showing up rather than Mary was a surprise.
I had given Mary and Lisa handouts to introduce them to Abraham for the last week. Lisa brought hers with her and we went over them briefly. After that, I wanted to assess where the students were at through discussion. Having a new student with us, it was important to know what she knew. Surprisingly, she was fairly familiar with the material. Some of her time using the Bible was in her native country, while in the US she has studied a little with Mary and Lisa.
About 20 minutes into our time together, Mary showed up, so we all squeezed into our tiny kitchen and began a review of the past few weeks so everyone could be on the same page. Before moving on we got stuck on the "fall of man" topic again. Sara and I tried to encompass the free will of man as well as the sinful nature of man to describe the paid God experienced at the time. I could tell Mary was still having a tough time with it, trying to understand how God, our Creator, could also be God, the destroyer of life. I told Mary I'd be happy to find some more material on the issue from experts who understand it more than i do.
Before we knew it, our time was up. I pray we can get past this and that God will provide understanding of this tough part of man's history.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The Fall
The third meeting we discussed a very hard topic that Christians today struggle with so much, death and destruction.
Genesis 6:7 says ...
So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."
This did not sit well with Mary. She came to the comment, "I don't think it is right that everyone should die." A follow up question was, "If God created them, why couldn't He make them do good things?"
The prompt led to great discussion on how we are consequences of our choices since the fall of Man. Thankfully God does Love so much to give us His son to free us from those consequences. We explained that without choice, there would be no love.
This opened up a new way of thinking for them. I feel God's leading is very strong because they are asking significant questions to reveal His true nature. I'm excited for what is next, though I know they have more questions about why God wiped the Earth of all His people. I've given them a week to read for themselves without any worksheets, we'll see what questions they have next week.
Genesis 6:7 says ...
So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."
This did not sit well with Mary. She came to the comment, "I don't think it is right that everyone should die." A follow up question was, "If God created them, why couldn't He make them do good things?"
The prompt led to great discussion on how we are consequences of our choices since the fall of Man. Thankfully God does Love so much to give us His son to free us from those consequences. We explained that without choice, there would be no love.
This opened up a new way of thinking for them. I feel God's leading is very strong because they are asking significant questions to reveal His true nature. I'm excited for what is next, though I know they have more questions about why God wiped the Earth of all His people. I've given them a week to read for themselves without any worksheets, we'll see what questions they have next week.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
In The Beginning
We started off our study of the Bible using worksheets that would help guide them through the first few chapters of Genesis. They like using the worksheets because it gives them an idea of what they should be getting out of the chapter. Most of our time was spent in discussion about the text and less on the worksheets. They posed many really good questions, yet one question became the center of some good discussion:
Why does it say "Let us man man in our image? Who is 'us'? Who is 'our'?"
There are many theologians who are still debating who this verse is referring to, Sara and I took the Trinity approach and attempted to introduce God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I know they could hear what we were saying, but I trust understanding will come with more time. I assured them that the concept will make more sense as we study more.
In the end they understood God as the creator of Earth and of Man, which is a very good start. Next week we get into the fall of man.
Why does it say "Let us man man in our image? Who is 'us'? Who is 'our'?"
There are many theologians who are still debating who this verse is referring to, Sara and I took the Trinity approach and attempted to introduce God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I know they could hear what we were saying, but I trust understanding will come with more time. I assured them that the concept will make more sense as we study more.
In the end they understood God as the creator of Earth and of Man, which is a very good start. Next week we get into the fall of man.
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