Cain and Abel

Apparently, when you add water to small children, it makes them do the opposite of what you tell them to. “Stop!” means “More!” “Don’t splash!” means “Cannonball!” “Don’t drink the water!” means “dive in such that you would be kicked out of Gideon’s Army!” Bath time can be a challenge. I think my grandmother’s plan of spraying us off in the driveway makes more sense. Getting clean is not on any boy’s agenda, so you have to trick them. Melissa has said, and I can vouch, “If I ever snap and lose it, it will be at bath time…”

One of the challenges of doing in-depth Bible study is that people think it is a G-rated book, or that the dominant figures in the Bible are supposed to be morality-tale good guys. I always say the Bible is brutally honest and that’s why so many people have a hard time with God. Straight talk is what we need, but it’s hard to see ourselves the way we really are. Jacob is a conniver. David is by turns violent and adulterous, distant and ineffective. I remember one preacher who said that you can see yourself in the three great patriarchs, and as the story went on, I was praying, “Lord, let me be like Isaac, or maybe Abraham, but not Jacob” because I knew Jacob was the one I resemble most. Joe apparently learned about Cain and Abel in school. It was interesting to see how as he told the story, that he and John were disturbed. Joe asked how did Cain kill Abel. I said, “maybe with a rock?” Joe broke the tension with a bit of humor, “That HAD to hurt.” Joe said that Cain’s sacrifice (he actually used that word) was not accepted because Abel kept sheep and God didn’t like vegetables. Now there is an example of contextual ministry; you could sense a new love for God! Maybe He will come down and stop me and Melissa from making the boys eat vegetables? Dare they dream?