Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Starting at the Begining...

So as classes here are zooming along! There are so many different kinds of classes going on- each class is a module that lasts from a few days to a month or two. My current favorite is called Foundational Bible Teaching. its based on a course called "Building on Firm Foundations" BOFF for short... I know I know. When I was little they called it Chronological Bible Teaching- Chron for short. BOFF or Chron... hmmm.

The basic idea is that man has a wrong concept of God, and since God is the foundation of everything :). So the teaching starts at the beginning- in Genesis, and then teach through God's Story in order. We're learning about finding and teaching themes that God brings out throughout Scripture: such as that He is our Creator/Owner. His is Holy and Righteous and demands death as payment for sin, He is loving merciful and gracious. Man is a helpless sinner and has to come to God God's way. Teachers do the first couple lessons and then the students take turns teaching the rest so that we get a chance to practice.

One of the lessons that really popped out to me this time was Cain and Abel. It's not just a story about two brothers, where one lucked out to pick what God wanted him to do. It's a clear example of man trying to come to God his own way. But there's only one way to God- and that's the way God said- He said death was required as payment for sin. Cain brought his best works to God -but that's not what His Creator/Owner required. When God gently pointed this out to him, did Cain admit that he was wrong? no- he went and murdered his brother instead.

I was so struck by that deep level of hatred towards God. God loving reached out to Cain after he tried to come his own way, and instead of being grateful and turning back towards God- Cain sprinted the other direction! wow. But even though Cain did that, humanity did that, I did that- God is still all those things I listed a minute ago. That's what I really like about hearing the whole story in order- it brings a lot of those out for me :).


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