As thousands in the Lodi community walk through the journey called "The Story," we can rejoice in its effect. At Emanuel Lutheran, the number of people involved in Bible studies has quadrupled. This story is repeated in similar fashion at First Baptist, Ham Lane Church of Christ, Temple Baptist and Vinewood Community Church ... God and His people are on the move.
As thousands in the community dig deeper into "The Story" and, of course, the Bible, we find that God's people have been exiled from their own land and have now returned, as Pastor Steve Newman, First Baptist, wrote about last week from Chapter 19.
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Andy Crowder posted at 3:46 pm on Thu, Feb 14, 2013.
Purim, the Jewish holiday derived from the book of Esther, is a celebration of the preemptive slaughter of 75,000 gentiles, including women and children. Esther is the book of the Bible that Orthodox Jews use as justification for slaughtering anyone even suspected of harboring ill feelings towards the Jews. Esther is the only book in the Old Testament that was absent from the Dead Sea Scrolls and does not mention the Hebrew god. Its later inclusion seems politically motivated. It seems odd that the pastor would encourage local families to celebrate the ancient slaughter of 75,000 men, women, and children. The cookies he thinks might be fun for children to make and eat are supposed to be representative of Haman's ears. Haman is the villian in the Purim story, and I guess symbolic cannibalism is a grand excitement for Sunday Schoolers. To each his own.