What is your name? What are you called? Why do you have that name? Why do things and people need names?

Giving a name is part of the creative process. Think about it. Your parents “created” you, so they gave you a name. People give names to their books and movies and products. It seems as if the creation isn’t complete until the thing has a name.

We see in the creation accounts that when God creates, he also names. He called the light “day” and the darkness “night;” he called the land “earth” and the water “sea.” But when it came to the animals, God let that job up to man. Whatever name man gave to an animal, that’s what it was called. God involved man in the creative process by letting him appoint names.

A name completes the creation. It is given by the Creator (or one whom the Creator appoints). A name gives purpose, meaning, significance, uniqueness.

Fast forward to the story of Moses when he encounters God in the burning bush. Moses asks God what name he is to give to the Hebrews. By what name should Moses call this God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? The Egyptians had thousands of gods, each with his/her own name given them by the Egyptians (e.g. Ra, Amun, Annubis, Isis, etc.). Moses wants to know which god is sending him on this mission.

I AM. This is the name given to Moses. It is the verb “to be.” It’s not even just the present form. It literally means, “I was; I am; I will be.” Or as our Israeli tour guide said, “Is-was-will.” This is the name God gave himself. This is the name by which he was known to the Hebrews. This name was not given to him by anyone else. He was not created. He was. He is. He will be. This is the God, YHWH. This name, YHWH, contains the fundamental element of God’s nature.

What’s in the name, “YHWH?” Everything.

So I was thinking the other day about this idea of personified evil in the figure of “Satan.” I have a difficult time understanding this concept. There is no mention of “Satan” or “the Devil” in the Old Testament as we see him in the New Testament. Each time the Hebrew word for satan is used, it is in reference to the accuser, which was most likely a position in the heavenly court. Read Job again with this understanding, and it makes a little more sense.

This idea of personified evil was not developed until the Babylonian exile when the Jews were exposed to the new religion of Zoroastrianism. The religion is still around today, though it is not widely practiced. The religion is not monotheistic, rather it is dualistic. There are two gods, one good, one evil, and they battle each other over the souls of mankind.

The Jews took this dualistic concept and Judaized it. They remained monotheistic, but they developed the concept of Satan as personified evil. He is not as powerful as God Himself, yet Satan does hold much sway here in the earthly realm.

Then along comes this man named Jesus, whom we know as the Son of God. We read stories of Jesus encountering Satan who takes him around to different places to tempt him. We read in some of the epistles that Christians are to take up the armor of God so that we can stand against the Devil who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. These passages are extremely dangerous, however, when they are coupled with a misunderstanding about Satan.

The point of these passages is not to make us afraid of Satan, but to give us confidence that his power is no match for the power of God. In fact, many Christians are so focused on what Satan is trying to do to us that we lose sight of what God is trying to do through us!

The point of including this Satan figure in the gospels is to show that Jesus has destroyed whatever power Satan might have had! The gospels do not necessarily give proof that Satan is a true entity, but they reassure those who did believe that way that evil no longer has any hold on us if we are in Christ!

Stop using the excuse that “Satan is attacking me.” Instead, dive head-first into the loving grace of the Almighty God and He will protect you from what evil there may be.

Don’t get me wrong. I am NOT saying the devil isn’t real. What I AM saying is that God is infinitely more powerful.

This summer for my youth internship I’m going to be teaching the Sunday morning teen class. My topic? Genesis 1-11

Sounds crazy, but I really felt a pull towards going back to the beginning. It probably has something to do with the fact that I was studying the Old Testament a lot. But nevertheless, I am totally excited about walking the kids through the first eleven chapters of the Bible.

Genesis is all about beginnings.

We all have our beginning sentence in describing our own spiritual journey. “In the beginning _______” For instance, “In the beginning there was my family,” or maybe, “In the beginning there was my mentor.” These are the starting points which mark the trailhead of our spiritual journey. These words recall the earliest memory of a relationship with God.

If Scripture is viewed as a spiritual journey of the world, then Genesis 1:1 shows the starting point of that journey: “In the beginning God created…”

That’s it. That is the foundation for everything we believe. That is the heart of our faith. If either one of those two words (God / created) are incorrect, then our entire belief system is nullified. Genesis 1:1 is the pivotal point on which everything else depends.

Those few words also give us much of the information we have about God:
-God was before the beginning
-God chose to create
-God is creative
-We, the creation, are not God
-We did not make God
-The fact that the creation was no accident means that God has a purpose in mind
-God is powerful
-God is intelligent
-God is relational
-God exists apart from creation
-God is universal

This is the first impression we get from God, and he continues to live up to that impression. That the Bible begins with Genesis and not Exodus speaks volumes to the universality of God and his creative/redemptive interaction with the world, not just specific individuals and nations.

These are just some thoughts I wanted to get down in writing so I wouldn’t lose them and so I could get some feedback maybe.

It’s amazing how quickly an entire month can fly by. I hardly even realized that the entire month of April has gone by without one single blog post. Hopefully I’ll do more once finals have calmed down.

One of the highlights of April was the trip we took to Dallas with my Living World Religions class. About 90 of us spent a weekend visiting eight different religions:
Friday – Hindu Temple, Buddhist Wat (monastery type place), Mosque, and Sikh Temple
Saturday – Synagogue, Bahai Center, SGI (another sect of Buddhism)
Sunday – Church of Christ (predominately African American)

That was an awesome experience and I will definitely share some more thoughts later.

There was also Spring Sing/Easter, which was cool as always.

I got to visit with the congregation where I will be interning this summer. They have an awesome group of kids, and I can’t wait to get to hang out with them and spend the summer sharing my faith.

One cool surprise just this week was the random visit of an old friend. He was just stopping in for a few days and we got to talk (over coffee) for a few hours last night. It was really good to catch up and reminisce about old times. After that conversation, I feel like God has laid it on my heart to try and mend some broken relationships from the past, or at least get some things off my chest and release the bitterness I have inside me towards them.

Exciting things are coming this summer, and I can’t wait. I will definitely keep you posted.