This week we took a break from our study of the formation of Christianity as it it portrayed in the Bible -- and just read a story.
The story is from the new book by Rachel Held Evans, titled Inspired, and is her personal story about believing in scripture, then not believing, and then believing again. There was no sermon, no scholarly notes from the pastor, just a part of the author's story as she tells it in this book.
I am a compulsive reader - have been all my life. I love learning and love hearing other people's takes on almost anything. As a pastor, I often run into something I want to quote in my sermons -- no problem - except when I want to quote too much, simply because the author says it so darn well. This was one of those times. The author doesn't present anything here that is earth-shatteringly new -- she offers nothing newsworthy to the biblical scholar. She just tells her story in such a way that it is well worth reading - accessible and interesting to the layperson.
The author's chapter on "Origins" is written so simply, so openly, that I just decided the congregation needed to hear it. So I gave myself a Sunday off from writing and read them a story - Rachel Held Evan's "kitchen table" story of our ancestors and the origins of our relationship with God.
I'm not going to quote it all here - there are such things as copyright laws - but I heartily recommend the book to any and all.
The story is from the new book by Rachel Held Evans, titled Inspired, and is her personal story about believing in scripture, then not believing, and then believing again. There was no sermon, no scholarly notes from the pastor, just a part of the author's story as she tells it in this book.
I am a compulsive reader - have been all my life. I love learning and love hearing other people's takes on almost anything. As a pastor, I often run into something I want to quote in my sermons -- no problem - except when I want to quote too much, simply because the author says it so darn well. This was one of those times. The author doesn't present anything here that is earth-shatteringly new -- she offers nothing newsworthy to the biblical scholar. She just tells her story in such a way that it is well worth reading - accessible and interesting to the layperson.
The author's chapter on "Origins" is written so simply, so openly, that I just decided the congregation needed to hear it. So I gave myself a Sunday off from writing and read them a story - Rachel Held Evan's "kitchen table" story of our ancestors and the origins of our relationship with God.
I'm not going to quote it all here - there are such things as copyright laws - but I heartily recommend the book to any and all.
- Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, (c) 2018 by Rachel Held Evans
RSS Feed