ReDiscovering God

There are many things we can do without in life but hope is not one of them. It is essential to have hope for life to be meaningful. In fact many who give up on life do so because they have lost hope. We take a careful look at hope in this episode and differentiate between hope, wishing, false hope and fantasy. God's unfailing love is the source of hope and is a gift from Jesus. Hope comes fro...

There is a lot of confusion around what faith is and how to define it. In this ReDiscovering God episode we take a serious look at what faith is and what it is not. We uncover the reality that faith is a gift of the Spirit, that is has no merit, its relationship with Works, and that it is grasping God's reality as opposed to our reality. The PDF is found on the website: www.rediscoveringgod.ca

In this final episode on Genesis 22 and the account of Abraham and his attempt to Sacrifice Isaac, Ian, Sascha and Warren provide a alternative way of understanding this troublesome story and suggest that Abraham thought it was God's voice but was deceived by his own devious nature. Join us as we consider the evidence for such a position.

We consider the 5th of the ways to understand this unusual story. We wrestle with the statements in Jeremiah that make it very clear that it never crossed God's mind to command someone to sacrifice their child. So how can we resolve the dissonance that this verse creates? If God was not asking Abraham to do this, how is it that he proceeds to take Isaac and some servants on several days journe...

As we wrestle with the moral issues of this story we consider four of the five options for understanding this story that places God in a very challenging light if it is understood simply as it is written. There are many passages where God is clear he would not even think of encouraging someone to sacrifice their child. Join us as we continue to prayerfully understand this story.

We take a close look at the difference between tempting and testing in this episode. We discover that while at times God may test he never tempts us to do wrong. That comes from within our selves. This is important to understand as we look closely at what Abraham believed he was asked by God to do. Join us in part one of this careful and prayerful look at this challenging story where Abraham attem...

In this second part to Genesis 21 Abraham is confronted by Abimelech, who has been generous to allow Abraham and his tribe to live on his land, and asks him for a covenant that he will not turn on the Philistine people and overpower them. We suspect that Abraham's tribe and flocks have become rather large and could become a substantial threat to the people who live in the land.

Finally the promise of 25 years ago is fulfilled and Isaac is born to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah is 90. There is no doubt this is a miracle child come to fulfill the promise of God. But there is trouble in the camp. Sarah is aware that Hagar's son, Ishmael has been mistreating her child, the child of promise, and she will have none of it. She demands that Abraham sen...

Abraham and Sarah have to move and find themselves in a compromised situation where they lie thinking they will protect Abraham's life. But God intervenes and comes in a dream to the pagan King Abimelech and saves him from violating Sarah who had already been brought to his palace. Apparently she is a very attractive woman at the age of 90 that would prompt the king to send for her. This is a...

We conclude our study of Genesis 19 as we review the Principle of prediction does not mean causation as it relates to this story and realize that God was aware of what would happen and so warns Lot and his family so they could escape. Even though the Bible writer attributes the cause to God it was most likely an event that was a result of natural causes.

In this episode we address the challenge of seeing God as non violent, and Jesus taught us, in the light of this story where the Bible is very clear that God sent the fire to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. The template we talk about in this episode can be used to explain all other situations in the Old Testament where God is described as violent. It is becoming more and more obvious that Moses, David...

Two angels arrive in Sodom and Lot invites them to his home. He knows it is not safe for them to spend the night in the city square. Sure enough a group of men from the city come to his home demanding that he give them the strangers he had taken in. We discover that this verse that has been used through the recent years to support a condemning stance against homosexuality actually is focused on gr...

A son is promised to Sarah who is by well passed child bearing age. It brings laughter to a mother's weary heart who had given up believing she would ever become a mother. Abraham urges three guests to stop and take a rest while he prepares a meal for them. In time he realizes he has been visited by God and bargains with him for the lives of those living in the cities of Sodom.

God has reaffirmed the covenant with Abram and changed his name to Abraham. Now he establishes a sign of the covenant with the practise of circumcision to remind him and future generations that God does not need our help to fulfill what He has said He will do. He then gives Sarai the new name of Sarah. The thought of becoming a father at the age of 100 and with his wife Sarah at the age of 90 brin...

This is the first of two episodes on this chapter. Abram is now 99 years old and invites him to be faithful and live a blameless life. The word blameless is not the same as what we understand as perfect. It is to be understood in relational terms rather than transactional terms. God declares a covenant or promise with him that he will be the father of a great nation with countless descendants. As...

As Abram and Sarai struggle with the reality that they have no children to carry on their legacy, they devise a plan that involves their servant girl, Hagar. In this lapse of faith in God's ability to provide, they head down a path that will not only bring pain and sorrow to them, but is still felt today in the unrest between these descendants in the Middle East. In this story we are introduce...

In this episode God comes to Abram and reaffirms his promise that he will become a great nation even though he is without a child and is a wonderer in a country that is not his own. God "cuts" a covenant with him and promises that if he is not faithful to this covenant He will be cut in two. This is a fascinating ritual that they practiced in Abram's day to show the seriousness of th...

As Abram rescues Lot who has been captured by an army from the north, he acquires vast wealth as he takes the spoils these 4 kings had take in their mission to plunder the inhabited cities. He also meets Melchizedek. And meet Melchizedek, a King and a Priest. Jesus was also a priest after the order of Melchizedek.

In the conflict between Abram and Lot we discover some important insights into conflict resolution and the cost of being a peacemaker. Having completed the 7 signs of John we are now back in Genesis and pick up the story of Abram the 13 the chapter.

In the last sign we discovered a principle that enables us to understand the book of Revelation. When Jesus does exceptional miracles there is a response that reveals the wickedness of mankind. This happens many times in the gospels and then again in Revelation when the 7 bowls are poured out and the response is recorded that casues distruction. Without understanding this principle people conclude...

The last of the seven signs is the capstone of them all as Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. This sign was a definite statement that He was the Messiah.

In the second part of this story we discover a God that is eager to open our eyes and discover the joy of being in a relationship with Him rather than being shackled by the rules surrounding the Sabbath.

In this sixth sign Jesus heals a man that had been born blind. Follow closely and you will discover that most translations would lead you to believe that God made him blind so that Jesus could heal him and bring good into his life. Is that what God does? Listen and find out.

John shares this fifth miracle of Jesus walking on the water and Peter asked to join Him to be sure it was really Him. How reassuring of Jesus to respond to their fear and uncertainty of seeing this form walking on the water in the midst of the storm that is threatening their lives with the words don't be afraid. These are the words we need to be reminded of as we encounter the storms of life....

The Fourth Sign in the Gospel of John is the feeding of a great crowd of people who had shown up and interrupted Jesus time alone with the disciples when they wanted to process the news about John the Baptists death. Jesus is concerned about these people and their need for food while they are still in the distance. The abundance that Jesus provides is consistent with he abundance of wine for a wed...