I'm alive, I promise!

Anyway, this past week was a lecture week, with Steve Fail (New Zealander by birth, did his DTS in Montana, and now on staff in Hamburg, Germany) teaching on "The Father Heart of God".

What an awesome week!

There is a distinct reason why I loved this reason so much. That reason is my earthly father. This week was really hard for some girls, who don't have dads that really model God as a father to them. I am so amazed and thankful that I was born into my family.

I don't think I ever really thought about how God loves us as a father. Yeah, I'd heard the term before, but I didn't really get the full implication of it until I really did start comparing it to my dad. My dad, who stays up until I get home to make sure I'm safe, my dad who saves me when I run out of gas at 10pm on the other side of town. My dad who has moved that solid wood table up and down flights of stairs so many times. My dad who tells me he loves me and gives me a big hug.

And God is so much more than that. To me, that's just mind blowing.

We had a bit this week where Steve asked us to bring something that reminded us of our dads and share our experiences growing up. Obviously, this was hard for some, but I'm happy to report my dad passed with flying colors. I brought two things, a blanket and a picture of him I keep in my wallet. (He probably doesn't even know I have this picture!) Nicole used a blanket for her object, so I really just used the picture. It's a picture of my dad in his Army uniform from back when he was in the reserve, so I might not have even been born yet. Actually, I'm pretty sure I wasn't. Basically, my dad is my protector. I never have once doubted that he would fight for me, that he thought I was worthy of protecting and loving.

Once again, my mind is blown that God loves me even more so. I can't even imagine that.

To sum up, my dad passes with an A+.

Thank you God, and thank you Dad, for loving me so incredibly much.

Love you both.

(I know, this isn't about Manchester. I'll get to that sometime, I promise.)

So I was thinking in my God time this morning about the Good News. I always used to wonder "what is that, anyway?" It's a very "churchy" term, you know. One that everyone says, but I'm pretty sure not everyone knows the definition. I mean, how many different answers would you get if you asked around your church "What, exactly, is the Good News?" I figure you'd get a bunch of "Well, Jesus died for me!". While that's certainly true, the Bible says the Good News is for everyone and when people heard it they rejoiced. Now, if I was an unbeliever and didn't know anything about Christianity, someone coming up to me saying some dude with a funny name died for me millenia ago wouldn't really have me rejoicing, it'd have me weirded out.

Acts 10:36 says "This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel-- that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ". That's better than just saying Jesus died-- that there is peace. But what would this statement look like for today's people? I mean, wandering around saying it's for the people of Israel wouldn't get you very far.

What if the Good News was simply this: You don't have to live this way anymore.

What? You mean I don't have to worry about my future, or finances, or worry about relationships and if I'm ever going to get married? You mean I don't have to live with the guilt of that mistake?
Sign me up, please!

Jesus came to people where they were, using language they understood. He didn't go and start using terms only the priesthood knew, he knew he would've gotten nowhere with that. So why don't we do the same?