Have you ever felt if you were part of the Bible your story would be the one tucked in between the exciting parts? It is easy to feel this way, but the truth is far more complex. Join me on The Broken Journey as we look into a little story tucked away in Genesis 4 and learn how no matter how small we feel our story is there is still a call for us to answer.  Recommended Reading: Lord of the Rings by JRR TolkienFinding God in the Lord of the Rings

Rabbi David Fohrman has written an excellent book wrestling with the narrative of Cain and Abel entitled "The Beast that Crouches at the Door". This episode dives into this narrative of desire and its role in this story and our lives largely guided by Rabbi Fohrman's work. I pray you enjoy and our encouraged by the episode.

This episode is a discussion between my good friend Andrew and I around the book by Dr. James Littles entitled "More Like Him". We discuss the second chapter in particular addressing some of the questions Dr. Littles poses in the chapter around the topic of spiritual transformation and spiritual disciplines.

Genesis opens with a poem about creation. More than a history of origin, or evidence of our material existence it is an invitation to trust the story the Spirit is telling.  It is a poem ultimately about finding our Sabbath in Him.

In this episode I walk through Larry Crabb's excellent work on prayer, The PAPA Prayer. I highly recommend his works. PAPA is an acronym  guiding what he describes as relational prayer which should serve as the foundational motivation for prayer. The aim of prayer is to get God not just answers/blessings. Present yourself as you are with all honesty and no spin. Attend to who His word says He is not your images or faulty understandings built off bad examples from authority figures in our pasts. Purge anything hindering intimacy. Then finally you can approach God with your heart set on what matters most and what your heart most deeply wants...Him.

This episode is a Q&A with students from a Pneumatology class. The primary focus is on the role of Sabbath in shaping our understanding of spiritual formation. Some of the questions addressed are perspective vs practice, being called to minister not "the ministry", can we be spiritually formed without community engagement, what should we share about our gifts, callings, traumas with others...

Exodus 3:14 Brings the reader of the text into a powerful conversation between God and Moses where God utters the much discussed phrase "I AM that I AM". This is a message which delves into the statement, with a specific interest on how it is translated and how the statement indicates what the Spirit of God is up to in the Biblical Narratives and into our lives. God has a name and He desires to put His name on each and every one of us.

The Aekdah, or The Binding of Isaac, is a powerful story that sits at the heart of the Genesis narratives. It has been a controversial, difficult, challenging, inspiring tale of faith, sacrifice, worship. In this episode I wrestle with the text and try to demonstrate how it has great import for our lives today and reaches into the New Testament shaping our understanding of who God is and how he is at work in our lives. Thank you for joining me on The Broken Journey.

Genesis 2 relays the narrative of Adam and Eve prior to the Fall. The picture is painted of man and woman dwelling naked and unashamed, for this is our original state. Nothing to hide, nothing to gain, just alive in His presence. This week The Broken Journey examines the invitation to trust in Him, to live vulnerable and open before God and others and rest assured that He is with us and a life of intimacy is available.Recommended Reading:A Stranger to Self Hatred - by Brennan Manning

Follow up to Trust the Story (https://youtu.be/nPT9riFVhFQ)Recommended Sources:BEMA podcastGenesis: A Parsha Companion by David FohrmanThe Naked Bible PodcastGenesis by Robert AlterChrist Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene PetersonTrust the Story Part 2 - https://youtu.be/N1L_7yX4Id8

Genesis 1 invites us into the narrative of Scripture resting on the concept of Sabbath. More than a historical accounting it is an invitation to trust the master storyteller and the redemptive history which will follow.Recommended sources:BEMA podcastGenesis: A Parsha Companion by David FohrmanThe Naked Bible PodcastGenesis by Robert Alterhttps://youtu.be/nPT9riFVhFQ

We all need people in our lives who provide us with help, encourage us in hope, and compel us to change.  My Pastor Lee Jackson was one such person in my life.  After many conversations, sermons, and interactions over the last 16 years with Lee Jackson it is quite evident to me that his pastor, Rev. Kenneth Reeves of Granite City, IL was an integral part of Lee Jackson life and ministry.  In this episode I only scratch the surface of who Kenneth Reeves was and his connection with the Oneness Pentecostal movement and one of its pioneers, Howard Goss.  I hope that by sharing of his life and honoring him it will also honor my Pastor, Lee Jackson, while blessing others as well.

We do not make this broken journey of life on our own.  We certainly will not make it through this life with any measure of success without the care, concern, and compassion of others.  This episode is special to my heart as it tells the story of one such person in my life, Pastor Lee Jackson.  It is only a small portion of his life, but I hope the telling of it blesses you as much as it has me.

When we begin with Genesis and start with the story of God’s oneness it will lead us more fully into the story of salvation tethering the two in a way that is richer and more reflective of the whole word of God.  The true essence of salvation is a restoration of intimacy, the restoration of an intimate stroll through a beautiful garden flourishing in unity.  Life here and now does not flow towards intimacy, but from intimacy with him.  Salvation is about bridging the distance created by sin that keeps us from walking with him as we did in the garden of Eden.  If we want His life to course through our being we must enter the story of His oneness and discover the salvation which recovers intimacy.

“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one…”  The oneness of God contains a wealth of meaning framing a vast foundation upon which to build our lives.  Creation is our beginning and it is here  we gain a holistic view of His Oneness forming with Him an identity of interdependence and concern while restoring relational intimacy for this is what broken people most desperately need.  Genesis opens with a simple statement.  “In the beginning God created…”   The heart of creation beats with the rhythm of One.  Creation is the drum beat of our living providing the pacing and direction for our lives.  The one God of scripture is our foundation for the hope of intimacy.  Recommended Reading:The Unseen Realm by Michael HeiserLife Death and the End of the World by David NorrisIn a couple of weeks we will begin a book club discussion of the book, More Like Him by James Littles Jr.

Discipleship is a process, a trajectory of knowing, being, and doing together which shapes us in His image.  This series is a journey into the opening pages of Scripture where we discover in Genesis how creation helps us understand His story while guiding our efforts to become more like Him.  We must trust that Christ’s decision to be openly broken is enough evidence for us to pursue living which models His approach.  We must settle for nothing less than a restoration of the garden.  As Apostolics we approach the Word of God as His very breath in our lungs.  It is His words for our lives and we give it a primary place in informing how we live and be in the world.  Therefore, when we interpret for intimacy we will live in oneness, be restored in salvation, covenanted in community and focused in mission discovering healing for brokenness and a return to relational intimacy with God and others.Truth must first be interpreted if it is ever to be integrated.  Interpretation is not a choice; it is an inevitability interwoven into every fiber of reality.  When God first spoke in the garden, long before sin and the Fall had entered the picture, the act of interpretation was begun.  Interpretation is the activity which initially engages us in our pursuit of knowing Christ.  In and of itself interpreting another’s words in the search for their meaning is an incredible act of intimacy.  We believe the Bible to be the very words of God for us.  With this in mind it is imperative that we take great care and consideration with how we read Scripture guided by the proper ‘why’ we interpret.

Intimacy requires intentionality. There are no shortcuts or loopholes through our stories if we long to experience the joy and purpose found in the space between God and our longings.  Journey into your hardest places and discover that when we are broken open by grace we find the intimacy our hearts desire.

.  In this first episode we will taste and see that the Lord is Good, discover a connection between the account in Luke of Christ on the road to Emmaus and the epic saga of Don Quixote, and embark on a beautifully broken journey.