Who Wrote Genesis?

I minored in Christianity at a small private school that was affiliated with a major church denomination. I remember my excitement at the start of my first Christianity class - I thought it would be like Sunday School. We would just read and talk about the greatness of God.

How wrong I was! The aim of the professors and textbooks was to convince us that the Bible was not accurate, original, or even fully inspired! I took the bait (sounds kind of like she gave me the apple, eh?) and began to question my faith and distrust God's Word.

The Lord was faithful to me even in my faithlessness and He called me back Home very quickly. Now as I have started classes at DTS, I am so thankful for the seminary's absolute belief in the inerrancy of the Bible.

In my first class on Genesis through Judges, we discussed who wrote the Pentateuch. Tradition holds that Moses wrote it, but many scholars today believe it was composed by four different authors 1500 years after Abraham lived. My professor examined both theories with the class and then dismissed the latter idea. He said, "At DTS, we believe Moses was the author." It was a great moment.

One of the reasons we believe that Moses authored Genesis is the amazing unity found within the book. After the initial creation story, each story in Genesis starts with the Hebrew word toledoth (pronounced toll-e-dot) which means the history of, the result of, the account of, from the birth of. Here are the ten toledoths found in Genesis:

• Toledoth of Heavens and the Earth - Gen 2:4-4:26
• Toledoth of Adam - Gen 5:1-6:8
• Toledoth of Noah - Gen 6:9-9:29
• Toledoth of Shem, Ham and Japeth - Gen 10:1-11:9
• Toledoth of Shem - Gen 11:10-26
• Toledoth of Terah - Gen 11:27-25:11
• Toledoth of Ishmael - Gen 25:12-18
• Toledoth of Isaac - Gen 25:19-35:29
• Toledoth of Esau (Edom) - Gen 36:1-37:1
• Toledoth of Jacob - Gen 37:2-50:26

It would be pretty difficult for four different authors over 300 years with different perspectives to arrive at such a powerful and unified framework or table of contents for the first fifty chapters of the Bible. But it does provide a powerful way to study the book of Genesis in a methodical manner.

It is such a blessing to be at a place where our chief job is not to argue with the Bible but study it and draw closer to God through it.

Promise from Prison

Paul's letter to the Philippians is saturated with hope, joy, thanksgiving and promise. Interesting attitude from the Apostle Paul since he was not only in a Roman prison but chained to a prison guard at all times. In this short letter, Paul expresses deep affection for the church at Philippi and he capitalizes on his suffering situation to outline the way mature, committed Christians should act.

I believe that Philippians 1:27 is a summary for the rest of the letter. Paul writes , "whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Throughout the letter, he then focuses on conduct that is worthy of the good news Christ brings: thanksgiving, suffering, serving, pursuing, and peace.

The most important words in this verse are the first two - "whatever happens." Paul's message has great impact and integrity because he is in prison - certainly not the best of places. His situation silently underscores the idea that we can act in a manner worthy of the King no matter what happens to us or where we are.

But how is that done? A lot of it involves the depth of our relationship with Christ. From behind bars, Paul opens his letter by expressing thankfulness for the Philippians and sharing that he often prays for them with joy - in spite of his circumstances.

The Christian is called to suffering and service because of the model of Jesus Christ:
"who . . . made Himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a
servant . . .
He humbled himself
and became obedient to
death ---
even death on a cross!"

Christ's humility and suffering are the model for Christians seeking to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the Risen Lord.

The next issue for Christian conduct is pursuing Christ above all else. Paul expresses the infinite superiority of knowing Christ to anything else on earth. He makes the famous statement that "to live is Christ and to die is gain." Paul properly understands the order of priority for his life - in life he is able to serve Christ but in death he gains the promise of eternity with the Christ he knows and loves so deeply. He also writes that he "considers everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." Few Western Christians show this level of readiness, but instead cling to this world for all that it is worth.

Finally, Paul shares God's promise of peace and contentment that is available through prayer, whatever the circumstances. Interestingly, he begins the letter by sharing his prayer of thanksgiving and closes with the promise of peace through prayer. We can only imagine that Paul spent great amounts of time praying to His Father while behind bars - where else could his immense peace and joy come from?

Philippians is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is encouraging but it is also convicting. If you're like me, Paul's call to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ brings a bright light into some dark places. Do I give thanks? Am I willing to suffer? Am I serving Christ? Is He my chief pursuit far above all else? Do I have the peace of Christ? Am I content in Him, whatever the circumstances?

The willingness to suffer, serve and pursue God is ultimately found in a faith-filled, dynamic relationship with Him. Few of us would suffer for someone we don't know well or at all. Or serve the man behind a curtain. But when we, like Paul, draw close to the Savior and King we are filled with such love and grace that we want to give all and serve all in our pursuit to glorify Him - whatever happens.

Our New Apartment

Drinking from a firehose - take two

This is the second time I've tried to write down all that swirling within me right now. Class doesn't start until this Wednesday, but I'm already reading a couple of assigned books. And I am overwhelmed with new thoughts and ideas. So instead of trying to assimilate and apply all that I am thinking, here is a sampling of what I am reading:

From John Piper's "Let the Nations be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions":

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."

"Love is helping people toward the greatest beauty and the highest value and the deepest satisfaction and the most lasting joy and the biggest reward and the most wonderful friendship and the most overwhelming worship - love is helping people toward God. We do this by pointing to the greatness of God."

"God has given us prayer because Jesus has given us a mission."

"Persecution can have harmful effects on the church, but prosperity it seems is even more devastating to the mission God calls us to."

"God ordains suffering because . . . it displays to the world the supremacy of His worth above all treasures."

"Worship means cherishing the preciousness of God above all else, including life itself. It will be difficult to bring the nations to love God from a lifestyle that communicates a love of things."

I know little about missions and have never felt the desire to do missionary work. Heather would tell you that I am Mr. Comfort Zone. But these thoughts are penetrating some deep areas in my life. I hope they give you something to think about as we continue on our journey to glorify our risen King.

God With Us

We arrived in Dallas on Friday! We made the 800 mile trip in a 16 fot truck pulling our car. During that time we only passed nine cars! But God really showed His hand during our trip.

When we picked up the moving truck, the young woman ringing us up said she was going to try to get us a discount. Our total was supposed to be almost $1,000 but she only charged us $400. What an amazing way to start the trip!!

When we arrived here, the truck rental people told us that the car carrier was not securely latched to the ball of the truck's hauling unit. This could have resulted in a major accident with the car carrier actually pulling away from the truck. Through 800 miles, speeds averaging 60-70 mph and the bumpy roads we traveled on, it was only God's hand on that car carrier that kept it in place!

To God be all the glory!

When we arrived, we looked at a number of apartments. We found The Village, a neighborhood with fourteen apartment complexes and a country club. We rented a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment with a fireplace. Its great. There is a lake about 2 minutes from our apartment with ducks and other animals. There are jogging trails and it is a very active community! We feel very safe and are close to everything! Come and visit sometime!

We signed the lease on Friday morning and were moved in by Friday at 3:00 pm. Again, God showed Himself strong and met our intense need for a home.

Just one week ago, Heather and I were saying goodbye and setting out on this adventure. It was a time of great excitement and anxiety. But we have experienced God's involvement in the most intimate details of our lives this week and it has deeply moved us. We know that many of you were praying for us as we made this move. Thank you so much. We saw God move with our very own eyes.

Class starts next Monday, Heather starts the job search tomorrow. We miss you. We are praying for you and hope that you will continue praying for us as we continue this journey.

We are so thankful to have seen the goodness of our God in this place!

Guiding Thoughts for 2007

In the last week, the Lord has led me to two ideas that I have been pondering ever since. I believe these two ideas may define this new year as our lives undergo radical transition.

The first comes from the sermon I heard yesterday at the Atlanta Vineyard Church and was quoted by guest speaker Larry Tomczak:

"In one year you will be the same person you are today except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."

Based on my experience, this is very true to life. And what is so exciting for us is that we are moving to a place where we know very few people so we will be meeting lots of new friends. And I will be reading dozens of new books to expand my understanding of God and ministry. Sounds like a powerful formula for transformation.

The second idea comes from Brother Lawrence, a monk who lived in the 18th century, in a book of his compiled writings called "The Practice of the Presence of God."

"In the spirit-life not to advance is to fall back."

This is a powerful truth that has really helped my crystallize my thoughts on spiritual growth. I have experienced this truth in powerful ways, both for good and bad. As an infant Christian, I took my Bible into church on Sunday and then tossed it in the back seat of the car on way home. It sat there until the next Sunday. There were seasons when going to church was not on my priority list. In those seasons, I did not advance. But I thought deep down that I would remain where I was in my walk with the Lord. But when I returned to our Father's loving arms, I would find that I had fallen back - often almost to the beginning of my walk.

The reason this truth pierced my heart is that I know many people who claim to believe in Christ but do not take those outward actions to worship, serve or spend time with Him. It has always bothered me. I wondered if I was being legalistic, a modern day Pharisee. God's word says He looks inward at man's heart not His outward actions. So I prayed to him early in December and asked why such outward acts were so important to me. Then I read Brother Lawrence's book. And it helped me understand. My fear for those who know Jesus but are not advancing is not that they will lose the promise of Heaven, but that they will miss the rich grace and love found from growing in relationship with our God.

So, its 2007. A new year. A clean slate. My prayer for myself and for those I know and love is that it would be a year of transformation - of new friends and mentors, of books that stretch our understanding of Jesus Christ and our response to His love, and of advancement in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

May God bless us in this New Year and use us for His purposes.