Here is a picture of the New Testament part of the 22 foot, 6000 year timeline. 1 inch equals 25 years. One observation that is
apparent right away is the amount of time covered in the Old Testament is huge compared to the amount of time covered in the New Testament. As we entered our time of studying the New Testament after not really looking at it much over the
past two years I think there was a feeling of general relief, of coming home, of getting back to the familiar.  But as we progress our newly studied Old Testament knowledge should provide more depth to our New Testament studies.

As we mentally make the transition from being an Israelite to  being a Christian we, hopefully have a little better idea of what the first Christians had to go through. Paul, for example, going from being an extreme Jew and having his whole life changed to become a follower of Christ. 

This year we get to have Christmas with the Gospels, last year we adjusted the schedule a little to have Christmas with Isaiah, the year before was Christmas with Exodus, a bit of a challenge. But God continued to bless His people.

Can you state a way in which our Old Testament study brought a new light to a the New Testament idea or thought?

This is a picture of the Pentateuch section of our 22 foot 6000  year timeline we have been building for the past two years. In November 2009 we,  as a church, decided to become more biblically literate by preaching and studying the Bible from cover to cover. We spent about 18 weeks covering the  five books of the Pentateuch. For midweek studies each family received a CD of
the next weeks reading and I tried to read/listen to the 10 chapters at least 5 times during the week.

 In a way we tried to become Israelites, without losing our  Christianity of course. But we tried to think in a pre-gospel mind set. As a church we did a few different activities during this time. One Sunday we gathered around tables and we built a paper model of the tabernacle. Each family had a specific duty that they were responsible for. Another Sunday, as we studied the Passover, we celebrated a Seder meal together. Another Sunday we arranged the chairs into the marching pattern of the 12 tribes. 
A few things we learned along the way: 
1) The book of Genesis covers way more time than any other book.
2) There was no perfect person in the Pentateuch
3) The events of  the Pentateuch did not happen in isolation.
4) There were many other events going on in the world that are not covered in the Bible.
5) This method of teaching helps us to see a bigger picture of God in and through time.
6) If  we stopped here the story would not be complete.

 I am sure others learned other lessons during our time in the
Pentateuch, if so please leave some comments.

I have not done well with my blog
discipline. This comes not from a lack of something to talk about but more from
the busyness of life. Being a full time pastor, full time student, full time
father, full time husband means my time is full. But hopefully I will record
some of my thoughts on the way.


So here we go again. I will try to blog at
least three times a week, at least that will be my goal and we can go from
there.

Last Wednesday, Tina and I ate at Telly’s Coney Island in Flint,
Michigan.
Now you have to understand, growing up in Port Huron we had two
great Coney Island restaurants, one called Coney Island and one named Teds. I
think they were both started by the same family. They serve Detroit Style Coney
dogs, a nice bun, hot dog with a good snap, homemade Coney sauce, onion and
mustard. Perfect!

Around here they serve
something called a Flint Coney, bun, hot dog (Koegels – Flints own dog, nice)
but with this big mound of dry ground beef, onion and mustard. This is what we
would call a loose burger but it is not a Coney Island. We have spent 10 years
looking for one around here. No go
until…

Telly’s Coney Island on Miller Road in
Flint Township. The place has been open a little while but who needed another
flint loose burger trying to be a Coney Island. The building use to be a Burger
King and it still looks like one but was very clean and better than I expected.
They have a nice menu, lots of choices. But we started with 1 Detroit Style
Coney Island hot dog appetizer. What happened they got it right! 


Wow. Someone in Flint figured out how to make
a Coney Island. Well come to find out the owners are from Marysville, a sister
city to Port Huron, so they knew what they were doing. They had owned the 5 Star
Restaurant and we had eaten there many times over the years. The place was busy
so I hope they can make a go of it in Flint. I know we will be back.

We have eaten in this place several times and always had a good meal. This week
I had combo 15, a taco, enchilada, beans and rice. These nice people put work
into their beans and rice. They are not just filler on the side of the plate but
seem to be done with care.

The only major
problem with this place is they have too many choices! Not a bad a problem to
have.

My own personal problem is that I need to
remember that a taco, in these more traditional Mexican restaurants, means
ground beef, white cheese and some lettuce in a taco shell.  I like more
veggies. Best tacos – Red Pepper or Amigos in Port Huron.

There is a new Chinese restaurant in the Monroe Plaza in Durand. We have had
their takeout 4-5 times already and have been surprisingly impressed. Everything
we have tried was very good, hot and fast. So far we have had Pork Chow Main,
Moo Goo Gai Pan, Chicken and Cashews, Sweet and Sour Pork, Almond Chicken, Pork
Lo Mein, General Tso’s, and Orange Chicken. Lunch comes with Chicken Fried Rice
and Soda.

The Chicken Egg Rolls and Crab
Rangoons are also good. But the Hot and Sour Soup is better than mine! I have
gotten some each time and it is very well balanced. A word of warning – it gets
hotter the longer it sits. I generally eat half the first day and the second day
I take what is left and add to it.

Take two
cups of hot and sour plus two cups of chicken stock plus some water. Then add
more veggies and rice and noodles, whatever you like and you can eat it for two
more days. By then it is time to order out again!

Spring break turned into an eat
out-fest.

Brenners in Howell,
Michigan, only open until 3pm. I have had breakfast here a couple of times but
this was my first lunch experience. The place has a nice décor, friendly staff
and a good menu.  For this lunch I had the Brenner’s Dip, a French dip sandwich.
Thinly sliced roast beef some onion and peppers covered with white cheese and
nicely toasted. Served with beef au jus  and their homemade potato
chips.

Tina had a chicken sandwich, Tim had a
burger with BBQ sauce and Swiss cheese, Sarah had a Cesar salad wrap with fries
and Stephanie had a Gyro. All were happy campers. Two things we learned. 1) The
fries where much better than the chips, so good that we ordered another plate of
fries to split. 2) The water tastes different. Over all a good dinning
experience.

Fuddruckers – Worlds
Greatest Hamburgers  in Flint, Michigan. I don’t know if it had the
worlds greatest hamburger but it ranks up there quite well. This is a fun place.
Retro 1955-65 theme restaurant with games to play. When you first enter you
place your order at the counter. They have different sizes of burgers to choose
from and other things to try as well. I have only had a burger all 10 times I
have been there and this time was no exception. Sarah had nacho’s, they were
different but good.

Anyway, after you order,
they give you a pager and when it goes off you go and get your food. You then
make your way to the fixins bar and make it your way. The fries are good and
they have two kinds of hot cheese to add if you like. You can check them out at
http://www.fuddruckers.com.

Mega
Classic Dinner of Flint, Michigan.  Open 24-7. The place looks like an
classic dinner. The staff is always great. Not a Mega amount of choices but the
ones I have had were all good. This week the Mega Corned Beef sandwich, it is
almost too big for me to get my mouth around but I give it the old college try.
I don’t know if they cook their own corn beef on site but it is always tender
and tasty. I only eat half and take the other half home and make it into corn
beef hash for breakfast and even then two could eat on it. Good burgers, fries,
onion rings and shakes, breakfast specials too. I will be back.