18. Telling The Gospel Through Story by Christine Dillon

I am a big proponent of teaching the Bible from Creation to Christ. This is a very good book for someone who has never done storytelling and needs a basic book to get started. For the most part, I did not learn anything new except storyboarding the stories to help in the process of remembering. While I have not storyboarded, I have written pictures in my mind that have helped me tell them, especially the seven days of Creation story!

I am part of a MUG (Meet Up Group) that tells stories to each other every Monday, and it has been fun for me to have a basic set of Bible stories. It so encourages me to tell these stories and see God's wonderful plan with the Scarlet Thread of Redemption running through the whole thing. 

I have loved revisiting the story of Creation, the Fall, the Flood, Abraham, and Moses so far! So, if you are local, ask me to tell you one!

She recommends a basic set of 14 stories. I am expanding it to include the story of David (establishing the kingly line in the Scarlet Thread) and Jonah (This being the connector story to the New Testament and what what Jesus said about the "sign of Jonah" in Matthew 12). I also love to include more Jesus Stories from the Discovering God Discovery Bible Study that I lead on a regular basis.

She quotes J.O. Terry quite a bit, and he came to where we lived in Asia in 1997 or 98 and led us through a book called Jesus and Women that I am also using to help me tell stories. I like how Christine has less stories. I think J.O. has ninety in his book, and that was a bit overwhelming! 

Part of what you might have seen on this blog are my stories. She recommends not writing them out, but I do a preliminary step of a "Obedience-Based Study" on my own, and I have been typing them out here. The actual story I tell is not "word for word" like what I have written here though. Someday, I will video me telling the stories, just for fun. In the meantime, I have a goal of telling each story at least five times between now and Christmas! :) ("Achiever" is one of my Strengthsfinder strengths. What can I say?) 

Here are my Creation to Christ and Jesus Stories so far. I have more, but most are written out in my journals, and they are not typed up on here.

This has been a great spark for my growth in the Lord and more deeply appreciating His marvelous plan. I have a whole blog devoted to this called the BIBLE BOOK CLUB. I am on my third group of people who have read through the entire Bible in three years. The "Basic Set" of Creation to Christ stories are an overview of what I do more in-depth in this blog. LOVE ME SOME WORD OF GOD any way I can get it! 

Christine has many videos on Vimeo too that are also helpful to watch. This last week, I practiced the story of Sinai, and it went really well! :) I modified Christine's story a bit (she does from the Wilderness Wanderings to the END of the Old Testament in 6 minutes where I will add David and Jonah stories), but it was helpful to watch hers for pointers. 

This would be great to do with olders kids as part of the Bible part of homeschool too. 

17. Understanding Dreams from God by Scott Breslin

 This is a good basic primary on dreams. It goes through the different ways that we see dreams in the Bible, and their purpose. I was hoping it would go into more detail about interpretation, but it is a good starting point. 

Retreat

6B: SINAI & THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM - Leviticus 4:1-35

The story of the tabernacles starts at 1:15 

The story of the tabernacle for this storyteller starts at 2:50:

https://vimeo.com/groups/240885/videos/27894308

HIS WORDS: Leviticus 4:1-35

MY WORDS

The LORD spoke to Moses and said, "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'If a person sins unintentionally by straying from any of God's commands, breaking what must not be broken, if it's the anointed priest who sins and brings guilt on the people, he is to bring a bull without defect to GOD as a sin offering. [Heb. 7:27,28] He must bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting in the presence of GOD, lay [both] of his hands on the bull's head and kill [it] before the Lord. Then he shall take some of the bull's blood, bring it into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord before the veil (curtain) of the sanctuary. He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet (fragrant) incense before the Lord which is in the Tent of Meeting; and all the rest of the blood of the bull shall be poured out at the base of the altar of the burnt offering at the door of the Tent of Meeting. He is to remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering that covers and is on its organs, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall take away with the kidneys (just as these are taken off of the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings), and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, its head, its legs, its organs, and its dung - he is to take outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are dumped and burned on a wood fire. [Heb. 13:11-13]

'If the whole congregation sins unintentionally by straying from one of the commandments of GOD that must not be broken, they become guilty even though no one is aware of it. When they do become aware, the congregation must bring a bull as a burnt offering for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be killed before the LORD. Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before GOD in front of the curtain. He will smear some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting and pour the rest of it at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. He shall remove all the fat from it and offer it up in the smoke on the altar. He shall do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering;  The priest would make atonement (cover over their sin), and they are forgiven. Then they will take the bull outside the camp and burn it just as they burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

'When a leader sins and unintentionally does any of all the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done and he becomes guilty, if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he must bring for his offering a goat, a male without defect. He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slay it in the place where they slay the burnt offering before the LORD; it is a sin offering. Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put in on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. All its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. Thus the priest shall make atonement (cover over the sin) for himself in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven. 

'Now if any of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done; and becomes guilty, if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, than he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed. He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. The priest shall take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of it blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a pleasing fragrance to the LORD. 

'Thus the priest shall make atonement (cover over the sin) for him, and he will be forgiven. 

'If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. He shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and all the rest of the blood of the lamb he shall pour out at the base of the altar. And he shall take away all the fat of it, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar upon the offerings made by fire to the Lord; and the priest shall make atonement for the sin which the man has committed, and he shall be forgiven. [Heb. 9:13,14]

MY STUDY

Here are a couple of helpful posts I wrote about the offerings.

Leviticus 1 & 2

Leviticus 3 & 4

I WILL

Be in awe because Jesus is the perfect lamb sacrifice who has made atonement for my sin and through Him, I am forgiven! :) WOOHOO! I want the whole world to know! 

6A: SINAI & THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - Exodus 20:1-21

This includes Pharoah pursuing the Israelites and the Wilderness Wanderings of Sinai: 

https://vimeo.com/groups/240885/videos/27894308

HIS WORDS: Exodus 20:1-21

MY WORDS

God spoke all these words:

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery.

1) You must have no other gods but Me alone.

2) You must not make any carved gods of any form and worship them, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Do not bow down to them and do not serve them because I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and even the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I am very loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.

3) You must not use or repeat the name of the LORD your God lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who uses His name that way. 

4) You must earnestly remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God). You must labor and do all your work in six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your children, or your servants, or your domestic animals, or the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days GOD made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; He rested on the seventh day. Therefore GOD blessed the Sabbath day; He set it apart as a holy day.
_______________________________________________
5) You must treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the LORD your God gives you.

6) You must not murder.

7) You must not commit adultery. [Prov 6:25,26; Matt. 5:28; Rom. 1:24; Eph. 5:3]

8) You must not steal. [Prov. 11:1; 16:8; 21:6; 22:16; Jer. 17:11; Mal. 3:8]

9) You must not give false testimony against your neighbor. [Ex. 23:1; Prov. 19:9; 24:28]

10) You must not lust after your neighbor's house -- or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Do not set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's. [Luke 12:15; Col. 3:5]

All the people were afraid when they experienced the thunder and lightening, the trumpet blast, and the smoking mountain so they pulled back and stood at a distance from Moses. They said to him, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not have God speak to us or we will die!"

Moses told the people: "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you and instill a deep and reverent awe of Him within you so that you will not sin (you will not want to!)."

The people kept their distance while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. 

I WILL

I have NOT been keeping the Sabbath lately. I know that I am not bound to the Law, and Jesus is our Sabbath rest, but I know that REST is a part of the cycle God had when He created the world. I did take Tuesday off (earliest day I was able to do it because Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were pretty packed with things). It is hard when your "work" is also your ministry. I LOVE what I do, and I have learned to abide in His presence while I work (because that is what He desires for us to do so that our ministry is overflow). So, I do not get worn out that often (God has been teaching me MUCH about the ABIDE-RIDE-REST cycle!). But this week, I pushed the envelope going from 8 am - 6:30 pm without a break, and the next two Saturdays do not look any different. Lord, speak to me about that. I want Saturdays to be more restful because that is our only day as a family too since George is up in Hillsboro during the week. Give me wisdom God. I want to honor YOUR Sabbath and keep it set apart for you. Hmm. Hearing that Friday can always be that "set apart" day as I already have it as a 1/2 day or full day prayer time every other week. Just always make Friday free of any meetings or anything. Hmm. Unless I have a free Saturday. Awaiting and listening on You instructions about that God! 

5: MOSES - Exodus 1-12

This story starts at 5:00 minutes

Here is another storyteller: https://vimeo.com/27650160

HIS WORDS: Exodus 1-12 

MY WORDS

Remember when God promised Abraham he would be the father of a great nation? Well, God kept that promise. Abraham had Isaac, and Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob had twelve sons. Through one of his sons, Joseph, God brought all of the sons of Jacob to Egypt so that they would not die in a famine in the promised land of Canaan. In Egypt, they had grown from just Jacob's family into a large nation of twelve families or tribes. They were called Hebrews, from a word that means beyond, on the other side.  

God had also told Abraham that one day His people would live in a foreign land and become slaves. But God would punish the people who enslaved them, and that is exactly what happened. The king of Egypt feared that the Hebrews would turn against him because they were great in number so he made them slaves. 

Even after that particular Pharaoh died, the Hebrews were still suffering in slavery.  So they cried out to God, and He heard their cries and sent Moses to tell Pharaoh, "The God of Israel says, 'Let my people go!'"

But Pharaoh refused to let them go replying, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him and let the Hebrews go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let the people go.  After this, he made it even harder on the Hebrews. 

God wanted to show His great power over Pharaoh and all the Egyptian gods so he sent ten plagues before Pharaoh would let the Hebrews go. 

In the first plague, He turned the water into blood so no one could drink it and all the fish died. 

In the second plague, He sent frogs that came from the Nile River, and they got into everything! This made Pharaoh ask that Moses pray that they go away, and they did, but when they were gone, he hardened his heart again and would not let them go. 

So God sent a third plague of insects that made them itch, and Pharaoh's magicians were powerless to help, saying that this God of gods was more powerful than anything that they could do. 

Then God sent a fourth plague of flies and a fifth plague that killed all the animals of the Egyptians. Then he sent a sixth plague of boils and a seventh plague of hail that destroyed their crops so that God's full power could be shown throughout the whole earth. With this, Pharaoh repented and said, "I have sinned, and the Lord is right and my people are wrong." But when the hail and thunder stopped, Pharaoh sinned again and hardened his heart. 

Then God sent an eighth plague of locusts to finish eating the Egyptian crops. Even Pharaoh's officials were telling him to let the people go. So he said the men could go but not the women and children. But God was not pleased with that arrangement so He sent a ninth plague of three days of darkness over the land. The Egyptians worshiped the sun god, Ra, so this was a major thing for them to see God's power over this god.  Then Pharaoh said, "You can all go, but you must leave your cows behind." 

But Moses said, "No, everything must go with us." So Pharaoh was very angry and told Moses he never wanted to see Moses again. And Moses said, "You will not see me again." 

The tenth and most terrible plague came. God said that the angel of death would come and destroy the firstborn of Egypt, both humans and animals. So, He told Moses to tell the Hebrews they must take a perfect lamb and kill it and take the lamb's blood and put it at the top and side of the frame of their doors so the angel of death would passover their homes. So, the Hebrews did as they were told. That night, the angel of death killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians, even Pharaoh's son, but death did not touch the firstborn of those who did as the Lord had instructed them. 

So, Pharaoh said that they could go with their livestock. That night the Hebrews left with great joy. And they even asked for gold and silver and clothing and the Egyptians gave it to them. They left very quickly.  

God told them they were to celebrate the Passover feast every March or April to remember their deliverance from Egypt and when the angel of death "passed over" their homes because of the blood of the lamb.

So they went on to the promised land, and we will see in our next story what happened to them there. 

I WILL 

Have a time of thanksgiving and praise for His blood that covers me and has delivered me from bondage into freedom in Christ. Tell someone my story of bondage to freedom this week before I meet with my Monday MUG! 

I love . . .

I LOVE . . . 

blue sky out my window
wind blowing through giant evergreens
Ritter Sport milk chocolate with butter biscuit
neighbor Nourieh who gave me lentil stew and cinnamon pudding
PBS NewsHour with Judy and Gwen
an adjustable bed
friends to split a Key Lime Pie
missing a big white truck by about 1 minute
Jamie who is not crazy
a little heel life in my red shoes
dreams of Jesus
the story of Moses
the "oh my gravy" cowboys
causes to stop evil (#BringBackOurGirls)
the Unshakable Kingdom and E. Stanley Jones

4:ABRAHAM - Genesis 12:1-25:11

Part 1 of Abraham is at 12:12 of the top video 

and the first part of the second video

Here is Abraham part A (Genesis 12-21):

https://vimeo.com/groups/240885/videos/98904461

Here is Abraham Part B (Genesis 22) 

https://vimeo.com/groups/240885/videos/98904462


HIS WORDS: Genesis 12:1-25:11

MY WORDS

Many generations after Noah (or Adam, if that was your last story), there was a man named Abram who lived among idol worshipers in what is now modern day Iraq. One day, God called Abram to leave his country and his father's house to go to a land that He would show him. God promised Abram that he would be a great nation (that is to have many descendants) that He would bless Abram and make his name great, and that through Abram all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. The first part of that promise was hard to believe since Abram was 75 and his wife Sarai was 65, and they had no children! But Abram obeyed God by taking his wife, and his nephew, Lot, and went to the land of Canaan.

Later, God came to Abram in a vision, and He told him He would protect Abram and greatly reward him, but Abram asked, "How can You reward me when I have no descendants?" 

But God said, "You will have a child." He also told him, "Look to the heavens, your descendants will be as countless as the stars." 

So Abram believed God's promise and he was made right before God because of his faith. 

With that, God changed his name from Abram, which means noble father, to Abraham, which means father of many nations. He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah which means princess. 

It had been almost 25 years since God promised Abraham and Sarah a child, but one day three men came to their tents, and one of the three men was an angel of the Lord, who said, "This time next year, your wife will have a new baby." When Sarah overheard this she laughed because she was 89 years old at that time.

But the angel of the Lord said, "Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" And Sarah had a baby a year later when she was 90 years old. 

(This can be a separate story.) 

Several years later, God told Abraham, "Take your son, your only son whom you love and go to one of the mountains in the land of Moriah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. So Abraham obeyed God and took two servants, his son, and the materials for the burnt offering to Mount Moriah. 

When they got to the point where he saw the mountain in the distance, he told his two servants, "Stay here with the donkey while my son and I go up to worship and afterwards we will return to you."

So Abraham gave the wood for the sacrifice to his son, and he took the fire and the knife. Then his son asked, "Father, the wood and fire are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"

Abraham replied, "God will provide the lamb." So they went up to the mountain, and Abraham built an altar and placed his son on the altar. When he lifted the knife to kill his son, an angel of the Lord called from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham! Do not harm the boy. Now I know that you really fear God because you have not withheld your son, your only son." 

Just then, Abraham looked up and saw a male sheep caught by its horns in a thicket. He took the sheep and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called that place, "The Lord will provide."

Then the angel of the Lord said, "Because you have been faithful in not withholding your son, your only son. I will greatly bless you, and will greatly multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and the sand of the seashore. And through your offspring (seed -- Galatians 3:16) all peoples of the earth will be blessed." 

I WILL

Believe God for something that just happened today!

16. A Wind in the House of Islam by David Garrison

Informative book about what is happening in the Muslim world. I could not put it down!

15. The Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English by John Bunyan

This is my fourth or fifth time reading this. The first time I read it in the children's version to my kids, the second and third time I read it in the English of the time it was written for two different classics lists, then I taught it to a British Literature Class I led (but not sure I read the whole thing that time), then I read it in this Modern English version for my current Book Dames Book Club. Whew!

I loved this version, and it might be a better place to start for people. John Bunyan quotes Scripture throughout the book, and I love that this version has all the cross-references in the footnotes. This is a classic that everyone should read. I wish I had the time to quote some things from it. I have quotes from when I studied it for the Well-Educated Mind, but I have not transferred them from my old computer to my new one. I need to do that before I lose all of them forever. 

This time something did strike me about the book. Christian was not accompanied by the Holy Spirit in His journey. There was no direct contact with God. Consequently he was often left without guidance and guessing. God always guides! That is the thing that is missing from Pilgrim's journey! We are never alone in our journey!



I am also listening to the final chapter (of part I). It is the Blackstone Audio version. The narrator is excellent!

Mark 5:1-20 -- Gerasene Demoniac

HIS WORDS: Mark 5:1-20 

MY STUDY: Great exposition of the passage HERE

MY WORDS

They came to the other side of the Sea of Galilee where the Gerasenes lived. When He got out of the boat, a madman, with an unclean spirit who lived among the tombs and graves in the cemetery, came up to Him. No one could restrain him-he could not be chained up or tied down with ropes because he always broke them. He was screaming in the cemetery and in the mountains on a night and day basis, slashing himself with sharp stones.  

When he saw Jesus coming from a distance, he ran up and bowed before Him and shouted in a loud voice saying, "What is there in common, Jesus, Son of the Most High God, messing with me? I swear to God, do not harass me!" (For Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, "Out! Get out of the man!").

Jesus asked him, "Tell me your name."

He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are great in number" (a Roman army legion was anywhere from 3,000-6,600 men). Then the man begged Jesus not to banish him and the demons away out of the region.

A big herd of pigs were feeding on a nearby hill. The demons begged Jesus, "Send us to the pigs so we can live in them." Jesus gave the order and the unclean spirits entered the pigs, and the herd of two thousand stampeded over the cliff into the sea and drowned. 

Those who herded the pigs ran away and reported what happened to the people in the town and country. The people came to see what  had happened. They came to Jesus and saw that the man who had been a demon-possessed madman was sitting down, clothed, and calm. This made them frightened. 

Those who had seen it told others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. Then they began to beg him to leave their region. 

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was begging to come with Him; but Jesus would not let him. Jesus said, "God home to your own family, relatives, and friends. Tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." The man went back and began to preach in Decapolis (the region of the ten cities) how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were amazed.  

I WILL

From my "listening time" with the Lord, God pointed out that I did not give glory to Him for how I came out of the frustration I was in from my freewrite in the last post. I forgot to mention the spiritual dynamic of the day, and how I gave the devil a good swift kick. I believe that most of my problem yesterday was spiritual more than anything else. I will give glory to him by editing my freewrite that I wrote this morning to acknowledge the spiritual dynamics of yesterday. 

Interesting that there were also some spiritual things going on with our friends in Phoenix at the same exact time, and I did not know it until our Skype meeting a few hours later. 

God also pointed out to me that I could be a "low-maintenance" project for the enemy, and that is not His will for me to be so.