Where Do We Begin? Part 1

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God's <abbr>EPIC</abbr> Adventure
One might think of the Bible as a book that demonstrates how God has acted in a relationship with his people. According to Dr. George Ladd, the late Professor of Theology at Fuller Seminary, “Scripture is the word of God written in the words of men.” [ref]George E. Ladd, New Testament and Criticism, 1966), 12[/ref] For him, acts and words are an inseparable unity.[ref]Ladd, Criticism, 27[/ref] God has delivered these acts and words in a variety of literary forms, among them narrative. According to Fee and Stuart, narrative or story comprises about forty percent of the Old Testament. [ref]Fee and Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, 89[/ref] Narrative is the primary genre of the Gospels, [ref]Fee and Stuart, How to Read, 127[/ref] and an underlying substructure of the writings of Paul according to Richard Hays. [ref]Echos of Scripture in the letters of Paul. xixx-xxv[/ref]

My argument is that the church’s understanding of the Story of God in Scripture is, for the most part, seriously fragmented. Understanding the whole Story is not a concept that is celebrated in the church at the in our present timeframe.

I have deep concerns for the church moving across a cultural divide, that members on each side of the divide (Modern and Postmodern) have ample opportunity to have a holistic look at the overarching Story of God as it is presented in Scripture. These blogs are intended to be a challenge to the church to understand what her story is and how to become the people of God living as his recreated humanity, as a light to this present evil age. Knowing the story will help in answering the question: How are the people of God to advance the gospel as they improvise the Story of God for the sake of the world?

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Jesus Followers

 

There are many synonyms to use for the word believer, which is the most common word for a person who has "converted" to follow Jesus. I have chosen "Jesus follower(s) or follower(s) of Jesus instead of the word believer in these presentations to allow the reader an opportunity to move away from the idea of believer which conjures up the possible thought of "ascent" to a set of doctrines that have been assembled by different groups over the centuries and show up in this day and age as a set of statements posted on web sites and other written material. These sets of beliefs are suggested by many as the ones that one should ascent to so that upon death the one who assents can go to heaven, i.e., just believe and you are good to go. Jesus followers/followers of Jesus suggest an action that one should take. Remember, Jesus told his disciples to follow him. Yes, belief is important, but one must move beyond belief to action.

 

(See "Discipleship" Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. 182-188.)