2. Welcome to the director’s cut
Had I two hours, I would have wanted two and a
half, so I grabbed four more examples for the
website.
Most links go to an online, parallel Bible. Mouse over
the link, and Ppt will take you there. Sometimes,
I’ve linked an entire chapter, sometimes the
individual verse.
In writing this, I am assuming a familiarity with the
citations.
4. Elijah
Sarcastic. Bold. Unkempt. When I think “prophet”,
this is the image. Elijah is that.
On Mt. Carmel, he issues a challenge to the prophets
of Baal. 450 of them. (1Kng 18:16-45)
He mocks all of them during the challenge.
A personal hero.
5. Elijah
Yet a few days later, he runs and hides in a cave from
Jezebel and considers himself a dead man.
He thinks he is alone, but God informs him
otherwise. He finds Elisha and is able to confront
his fears. Elijah needed that teammate.
7. Joseph
Joseph was certainly up and down.
Sold into slavery by family and became Potiphar’s
chief of staff. A false rape charge to two year’s in
prison (after the cupbearer leaves…)
Pharaoh’s dream released Joseph from prison. He
then rose to Vice President of Egypt (Gen 41:41-43).
Following, he gave his family great wealth in a
famine. (Gen 42-45). His decision to toy with them
was brilliant.
8. Joseph
Joseph’s life looked like a stock chart. God’s greater
plan needed Joseph’s life to look like this, to get the
Israelites into Egypt in the first place.
Does God need our lives to be bad sometimes for His
greater Calling?
God gives wisdom liberally to those that ask.
Proverbs mentions patience. God’ll give you
wisdom, alright. Don’t ask if you don’t want it!
10. Gideon
5 times in Judges does Gideon ask (and tell) God
that he’s not the man for the Midianites. It is for
this reason He picks Gideon: No one can take
credit! “(If you are still scared, take your servant
Purah)”.
God only gives Gideon 300 people. God throws the
180,000 Midianite army into disarray. Gideon does,
literally, nothing!
11. Gideon
As reluctant as Gideon is to take on any leadership, he
does take leadership. He then is judge of Israel for 40
years, many wives and children.
For an example of this, read Parable of the Two Sons (Mt
21:28-32)
13. Esther
Esther won a year long Miss Persia contest (Es 2:12).
She was confident, intelligent, beautiful.
Esther showed up at the king’s door, uninvited, at
the behest of cousin Mordecai. Xerxes is pleased, if
not for the bravery alone.
To ask the question to save the Israelites (up for
genocide), she gets Xerxes drunk, twice. (Es 5:6-8,
7:1-10)
14. Esther
God works throughout the situation on all factors. In
economics, it is similar to “the invisible hand” of the
marketplace (see the notes at the bottom).*
While God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, she is
clearly operating on faith alone and taking advantage of her
unique circumstance.
You always take an opportunity. The answer is either, “Yes” or
“No”. God will bless our choice; we must not allow
indecision to handcuff us.
15. In closing
We hold Bible characters on a pedestal sometimes.
The disadvantage to having print is that we lose
the emotion these real people had.
The Bible is not some theological book. It’s a history
book, with archaeological evidence. We must read
it and remember all this stuff happened.
The Wednesday night lesson follows. Thanks for
reading.
16. When asking God, “Why?”
To summarize “my people”:
1. Jesus is credible. He gets it.
2. Job recognized God’s sovereignty.
3. David knew God was listening.
4. Paul was thankful for forgiveness and guidance.
17. The question: Why, God?
1. God already knows the answer.
2. God already knows the question.
3. The precedent has been set.
If you’re going through hell, keep going. – Winston
Churchill
18. Come on, God. Really?
I dislocated both shoulders in an accident at the
aluminum factory in college*. God was testing my
resolve & my faith. I am certain I still benefit today.
Life isn’t what happens to you. It’s what you do
about it.
19. God wants His people to ask.
Church has become a collection of clichés and mission
statements. It’s too nice. It has lost that strength with which
it was designed. The American way has become “I want it
now”, and this idea of entitlement has crept into the church.
We’ve lost patience with God.
God is not our employee. He does stuff for our own good.
22. Jesus
Jesus asked Peter, “Why, why did you doubt?”
(Mt14:31)
Jesus wanted an answer from Peter, and I think He’s
legitimately unhappy with Peter’s doubt. He does
acknowledge that Peter has “little faith”, unlike his 11
counterparts, who had none.
Consider the chronology: What happened six hours
before? Did Jesus not feed 5000? Nay. This numbers
only men. Let’s say a wife and 8 kids come…50,000+?
23. Jesus
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mt
27:46.
Has that question ever crossed your mind? It crossed
Jesus’. Jesus knew the heart of everyone around Him.
How can He wonder if God is listening?
Hebrews 2:14-18. Jesus gets it. On the day of
Judgment, He will tell God, “I’ve been there”.
24. Your Savior knows how you feel!
Jesus felt abandoned, because God had to leave.
If Jesus felt like this in His life, you will, too.
26. Job
Job had a list of questions…I, too, would have many
of these questions.
Job says, ‘I am innocent,
but God denies me justice.’ (Jb34:5 to Elihu)
Job 38-42, God chews Job out, as the next slide will
show.
27. Job 40:1-7
1 The LORD said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the LORD:
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
28. Job, paraphrased
Job: You’re right, God. You are in control. You are
just.
God: You’re interrupting. I wasn’t finished.
You can read this exchange on your own. It’s intense.
The Brick Testament
29. Job
God was angry with Job for questioning Him, no doubt.
Notice He didn’t kill Job? In fact, Job got double what he had.
All because he recognized God’s sovereignty. God told
Job’s frinemies, “Let Job pray for you, because he told the
truth about me. I might listen to him concerning you three.”
God will not zap you because you can’t see into the future. He
didn’t create us with that feature, for a reason. He will be
merciful with you. Ask Him with humility and knowledge
that it’s been worked out already on your behalf.
31. David
David started as a great person, and ended as a
terrible person. Murder, lying, stealing, adultery,
cover ups, chasing women. The guy defined scandal.
Yet the Bible presents him as an ideal?
He was merciful to others, because God was merciful
to him. That’s why he was “a man after God’s own
heart”. That’s why God thought so much of him,
compared to other humans. (Hs 6:6)
32. David Ps 13:1
1 How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the LORD’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
33. David
David is king over the premier nation of its day. He’s
asking God this question?
David can’t see the forest for the trees, but he knows
God is on the other side, somewhere. David
recognized that God knows the end of the story.
35. Paul Rm 7:21-25
21
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil
is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in
God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging
war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner
of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched
man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is
subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me
through Jesus Christ our Lord!
His body and his mind are at war, with the body winning.
He’s struggling, but thankful Jesus is there to forgive.
36. Paul - Phil 4:12-13
12I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it
is to have an abundance. In any and every
circumstance I have learned the secret, whether I am
well-fed or hungry, have plenty or am in need. 13 I
can do all things through the one who strengthens
me.
Jesus is here to help. The Holy Spirit will guide
you.
37. James 1:2-4
2 Consider it sheer joy, my brothers, when you encounter
various kinds of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of
your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance carry out
its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in
nothing.
That’s a true message, but it’s not fun. To have life make some
semblance of order, we must realize that life is a hoop to
jump through.
For salvation, God says, “Trust Me and do what I tell you”.
That’s it. But we have to level up to continue.
38. Halo
At TN Tech, we gathered at church on Friday and
Saturday nights and played Halo.
We had to defeat the Covenant. It’s
a team effort to beat Satan, also.
You can’t be by yourself.
39. Suggestion
The Bible is grouped by theme and not chronology. I
have enjoyed my chronological Bible, compiled by F.
LaGard Smith. Fine local book retailers have them. It’s
split into 365 sections. Feb 29, you get the day off.
If you make it through the Law, you’ll cruise.
40. People
The Bible is full of people asking hard questions: Elijah,
Peter, Gideon, Moses, Abraham, Jonah, Thomas, the
entire nation of Israel (they complained, a lot). God has
listened for thousands of years. He won’t quit listening
now.
32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us
all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us
all things? Romans 8:32
Gideon gave God every reason to move on and find someone else. God was not going to give up on Gideon.
Jar JarBinks was Persian; in the background.
*The theory of the Invisible Hand states that, if each consumer is allowed to choose freely what to buy and each producer is allowed to choose freely what to sell and how to produce it, the market will settle on a product distribution and prices that are beneficial to all the individual members of a community, and hence to the community as a whole.* If we let the free market handle the big picture, the community is better off… By letting God handle the big picture and us handle each crises as they happen, the church as a whole becomes better.
This graduated to the front of the powerpoint from the Wednesday night lesson. You may continue, but it’s crazy to scroll all the way down to gain the important points.
*I was getting by on my good looks. No question. God knew I needed some discipline. I would have rather had learned these lessons through buying a puppy from the pound, while bird watching, writing poetry, etc. While the question was “Why, God? What’s the problem”, time has taught me to ask, “What else, God, will come from this?” When asked in my MBA interview, “How have you handled adversity”, how do you think I answered?
As I looked out over the expanse below me, that, if God made this, what are my problems to Him? He’s bigger.
Lest we forget the passage where Paul says he “does what he doesn’t want to do, and doesn’t do what he wants to do”. Paul struggled like you and me, but he places it in the right context. Only Jesus was able to not sin. Humans can’t do it.
As I walked into the hospital, everyone is making phone calls or paperwork. I am left, alone, to walk myself to the ER. I very nearly passed out from the pain. I hear, “Jared, we need to go.” Jesus was letting me know I had the strength to get to the hospital room to answer a bunch of ridiculous questions about the amount of (logarithmic) pain I was in. (BTW, they were complimentary to my dad about me at check out. “Considering what happened”, the nurses said, “we thought his language would be much worse.” I finished cussing before we left for the ER.
Broad Street Church of Christ started Dixie College, a CoC college, in the first decade of the 1900’s. In the teens, it was sold to the state of Tennessee, where the governor decided to make it the state’s first Technological college. Broad Street still saw TN Tech as its baby. Students would walk the two miles to downtown Cookeville for church from school. The elders decided to plant a church, “beside the college” in the 1950’s. Thus CollegesideCoC and the University Christian Student Center were born. We students had our own building to come and go, and be, together. Not that Christianity was some secret at TN Tech. I went to church with several professors and our group was the second largest CoC college group in the country, second to Auburn. TN Tech has grown from modest beginnings to 235 acres and +10,000 students. I loved my time there, and grew spiritually more there than anytime.
