The Scriptural Deacon

Bible Basics 101 – Seven Days of Order and Function What is the story of creation all about? Is it a “scientific” account of how God created the world? Yes, we can believe this, and many people do, which is fine. But in the first chapter of the Bible I see something far greater than a technical scientific manual, I see God’s road map for how his creation is to function and operate, according to his plan, not ours. I want to be clear, yes God made the world, but with the Bible we get the more important story of why God made it, not so much of the how. Let’s take a walk together along the road of creation and see what we can find and learn. Day One: “And God said, “Let there be light ”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness . God called the light Day , and the darkness he called Night . And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” (Gen 1:3-5) With Day One God brings forth light into the darkness o...

Bible Basics 101 – Chaos and the Squeaky Car One reason for writing this blog is I think many people need a bit of “Bible Basics” in their lives. If we as God’s people are going to act in his world, then we must know what he wishes us to do. We can only understand this with a basic grasp of the Biblical Story. The great questions of life: why did God make me? What does he desire from me? What does the story of creation have to do with me? Why does it seem that half of the time or more, my life is a mess no matter what I do? All of these and many more questions are answered in just the first three Chapters of the Bible, with Genesis. Why should we start there? Why not just jump right to the Gospels or the Letters of Paul? A short answer is the New Testament, its thoughts and teachings, build upon what is found in the Old Testament. Meaning that short words like “salvation” and many others, have a very long history and to realize their full meaning, we need a firm foundation, a ...

Emmanuel – God is With Us God gave the greatest gift he could give to his creation just over 2,000 years ago. The gift of his only begotten Son. As we read is Matthews’s Gospel, the angel of the Lord, tells Joseph in a dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:20-21) Matthew then reminds us all that this was God’s promise to his people from long ago, “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.” (which means, God with us).” (Matt 1:22-23) How often do we really think about what these powerful words mean for us, “God with us”? Is this just a nice story we happen to read around Christmas time, or does God mean what he says to his faithful people in Matthew’s Gospel? Do we live ...