Thanks for visiting and reading our blog! As Shannon said, it is good to see you on here.

Shannon,

You make some wonderful comments. I think it is important to read the Old Testament with a community mindset. Let me explain. When God called Abraham, he did so not to have an individual follow him, but to birth a nation dedicated to him — a people — a community. It is the same with the church today. I am not the church. I am part of the church. When we take the western mindset of individualism and read the Bible through that lens, that lens obscures important aspects of the narrative of Scripture. The result is a church that focuses more on how our services “look” than on the health of the people attending that service — more on what we do to be attractive than who we are to reflect Christ.

For instance, the judgment that God gave Aaron’s sons seems extreme. But, maybe that judgment wasn’t merely for their sake? As I have stated previously, I need to do more research myself to understand more about Leviticus, so this is merely a hypothetical observation.

Blessings,

Dee

Upon first entering the kingdom, and sensing a call (burden) for ministering to others, I succumbed to the view of preparing for ministry in more of a professional sense. And this is not to disregard formal training, ordination, etc. However, now my understanding of ministry is a bit different (and hopefully more biblical), I guess one could say. Meaning, I look at being part of the local faith family as doing-life-together as opposed to gathering on certain days of the week in order to have a tremendous “service.” I think corporate gatherings of worship/teaching/sacrament/etc are vital. However, in our tradition, we have under-emphasized how to follow-through with following Jesus as a faith family outside the context of a church service; pushing past fragmented spirituality and embracing the engulfing call to be a disciple of Jesus.

Also, the tragic story of Aaron’s sons is a bit challenging for me. How does this relate to the witness of the NT concerning Jesus (the ultimate revelation of God)? How does such an occurrence impact one’s understanding of violence, especially concerning God and his church? These are questions with which I wrestle and continue to ponder as we journey through the Scriptural witness.

Love ya! :biggrin:

By the way, it’s good to see Mama on here leaving comments!