The Scriptural Deacon

This is Part 6 of our “Bible Basics 101” series and we have come to the first genealogy of the Bible. People often just skip over these seemingly boring passages for what may come next. But, if one does this with this text, then he will miss a vital clue about how the story of the Scriptures and God’s plan for rescue actually work. Remember in the first eleven Chapters of Genesis we are learning the full effects that sin and death have had upon God’s good creation through the Fall. Meaning that for us the fully understand the cure that is coming, we must first know the problems that are being dealt with. And it is here in this genealogy that we find proof or confirmation of the biggest problem that God will handle when he steps inside his own world. The genealogy begins: “This is the book of the generations of Adam . When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2  Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were crea...

For the last two Sundays the family and I have done something unusual after church, we have gone out to lunch. Normally we either head home or go over to Joanne's parents house. But these two weeks we flipped tradition and went the extra mile by eating out. On both of these occasions something unexpected happened. The shocking part for me is that it involves someone making a nice comment about us as a family. Now if you have ever dined out with five kids, ages 8 or below, you will surely understand why this was so unexpected. The first event happened when we stoped in at Bruegger's Bagels. After all of the chaos of trying to order, pay for the food, getting everyone seated and feed. As I was cleaning off the table/floor, Joanne was taking some of the kids to the bathroom, oh does she hate public bathrooms, and yes we all know why. A young man who worked at the restaurant came up to me and said, "I think its great that you all have a large family." Looking rather sho...

I have ofter wondered what Peter, James, and John, expected to find when they climbed the high mountain with Jesus. Did they think this was going to be just another one of Jesus' private prayer times or something more? Had they any idea that they were about to stand in the middle of God's Holy Fire? The very Fire of transfiguration and transformation. I think there was growing tension between the twelve disciples at this time in Jesus ministry. Again and again, he is telling and showing them that the pathway to glory travels directly through the heart of the Cross. As our Lord tells them six days before he makes this journey up the mountain , "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matt 16:24-25) But, what are the disciples doing half the time, they are  quarreling   and  fighting about who is the greatest of them. ...