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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: The Church (12/06/07)
“Avram”

Eh, What? Where? Who..

“Avram”

Get yourself up and get out of that country. Leave behind your kin; come out from your father’s house. I’ve got a place for you!

So, Avram left all that was familiar.

A face with the voice! See all this land, Avram? I will give it to your descendants. To top that off, Avram, I plan on blessing all nations through you, dude. Now Avram was seventy-five when this happened.

On his journey Avram built several mizbe’ahs to honor the voice. He built an altar here and an altar there. Well, Avram goes down to Egypt and it seems after all this he forgets what the voice told him because he’s afraid he’s going to get killed. He kinda traveled in circles because he returned to the place where he built the first altar!

For some reason his nephew Lot had tagged along; when they got back to this place there just wasn’t enough room for them and all their herds and servants. Avram gave Lot first pick; being a self-centered kind of guy, Lot picked the best region.

Once Lot left-the face appeared again.

OK, Avram, now that “your kin” is gone, take a look around you. Take a good, long look! Everything you see I’m giving you and your progeny forever. Look north, south, east and west; it’s all yours. That’s a promise. Take a nice long walk and check it out. Oh, and by the way, Avram-the altars-it’s very, very good.

Whadaya know the nephew gets himself and all his stuff stolen! When Avram heard, he gathered together his army; went and rescued the lad and all his stuff. Then Avram paid his dues to the King of Salem-one tenth of all the spoils. One king had the nerve to ask Avram for the persons! Of course he said, no way buddy-skedadle!

After all this the voice and face appear again in like this techni-color movie. Imagine hearing and seeing No need to fear Avram, I AM going to protect you. I AM your reward.

Avram musters the courage to ask. OK, but I have no son, so where do my progeny come from? The voice says, Don’t worry seed will come from your loins. It’s all in the plan. LOOK UP! Fix those stars in your brain. Vision, Avram, you need to keep the vision before your face.

Years pass, Avram, ninety-nine gets a new name! Father of many nations. Keep in mind, he still has no progeny! Well, there is one, actually, but that one is trouble with a capital T!

The voice gives ol’ Av a promise for us! “..I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”1

Eventually he produces 'the' seed and both of his sons get into this fight after Av leaves the planet still fighting to this day-well, their progeny are still fighting to this day! But the really funny thing about it is…

They’re actually fighting over something that isn’t necessarily really theirs!

“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”2

“For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Avraham by promise. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Avraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”3

“Church is translated from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., "the Lord’s house"), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia, which is synonymous with the Hebrew _kahal_ of the Old Testament, both words meaning simply an assembly…

“All Christians in a particular city, whether assembled together in one or in several places for religious worship, were an ecclesia.” 4

“Ecclesia” means, ‘called out ones’.

Six-thousand years ago God began building His church. “Now the LORD had said unto Avram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” 5



__________
746 words before references
1. Genesis 17:7
2. Galatians 4:28, Romans 2:28,29
3. Galatians 3:18, 29
4. Easton’s Revised Bible Dictionary
5. Genesis 12:1
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This article has been read 1111 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Catrina Bradley
12/15/07
I can hear a youth pastor telling his group this story. I might have used a more modern translation or paraphrase for the verses to go with the "hip" voice you wrote in, and I got lost in the scholarly ending. I like what you did with the topic tho! Keep writing! Blessings, Cat.
Joanne Sher 
12/17/07
Enjoyed the voice of this - and I agree that a more modern translation might have fit that voice a bit better - but a great read. Keep writing!
Jan Ackerson
12/17/07
I like your approach in the first 2/3rds of this--fun voice. Just be sure to stay in either past or present tense, and not to switch back and forth between them.

This was creative and unique.
Yvonne Blake 
12/18/07
INteresting! It has a story-teller feel to it.
I like how you tied "Avram" being called out to the Christians being called out.
Good writing.