Wednesday, February 14, 2007

FYI

Well, some big changes are headed my way; and I'm pretty darn excited/scared/happy/sad. The following is a letter that I read to my church this past Sunday:


February 11, 2007

To the Redwood Chapel Family,

The past nine years have brought so many blessings from God into my life. I have had the opportunity to work with great and talented servants of the Lord both in the music and children’s ministry; I met and married my beautiful wife, Rebekah; we purchased our first home; we welcomed Karis Sophia into our family; and soon we will be saying hello to yet another Baby Richardson.

Our family and Redwood Chapel have been intricately woven together for many years, and we are so thankful for the friendship and love we have shared with you all. However, the time has come for my family and me to trust God as He takes us into a new chapter of life. This has not been an easy decision by any means, but we know that it is the right one. We will be moving to Southern California sometime this spring so that I can further my biblical and pastoral studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. As well, I have been invited to join the staff as a pastoral intern of a young church, where I will serve in the Music and Children’s Ministries… imagine that!

Please know that we love you and will miss you all dearly (Rebekah in particular has made some very special friends over the years). We also covet your prayers as I take my growing family to a new place full of uncertainties. Pray that we will make new friends quickly, and that opportunities for ministry and growth will abound. No matter what happens in the future, we know that God has been completely faithful in the past, and that His promises for what lies ahead are just as sure.

For King and Kingdom,

Andrew Richardson
Pastor of Children's Ministries
Redwood Chapel Community Church

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Saturday, February 03, 2007

Who Wrote the Bible?

A friend of mine (who happens to be in the hospital right now in a lot of pain, and could use your prayers) and I frequently get to talking about what the Bible is. We have lamented how so many Christians consider the Bible to be a sort of magical book that just fell out of the sky, or that some deistic god just took over the minds of various authors, and forced their hands to pen the words that we find in the Old and New Testaments.

Another friend of mine recently asked me what I thought of N.T. Wright's book, Simply Christian, and I told him that it was disappointing. After having given this low view of one of my favorite author's books, I thought I better reread it afresh to make sure that I still agreed with my assessment. To my delight, I found it a wonderful read the second time. To make a long story short(er), while rereading this book I found a passage where Wright puts so eloquently what I have been trying to express regarding scripture, so I thought I would post it here:

Supposing scripture, like the sacraments, is one of the points where heaven and earth overlap and interlock... In particular, it enables us to say that the writers, compilers, editors, and even collectors of scripture were people who, with different personalities, styles, methods, and intentions, were nonetheless caught up in the strange purposes of the covenant God--purposes which included the communication, by writing, of his word. It enables us to speak about God the creator (the one we know supremely through the living Word, Jesus) being himself (so to speak) a wordsmith. [It] enables us to insist that, though words are not the only thing God specializes in, they are a central part of his repertoire. It also helps us see that when this God is going to work within his world, he wants to work through his image-bearing human creatures, and that, since he wants to communicate with and through them verbally--in addition to, but also as a central point within, his many other ways of getting things said and done (182).
Any thoughts?
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