Salama, friends,

Have you ever had a block of time where you devoted to reading and studying a large section of the Bible? It is quite an experience. Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been spending most of the day preparing for lessons I will be teaching to pastors in northern Uganda in a couple weeks. To do this, I’ve been turning every page of the Bible, reviewing every story in the Bible, drawing out the theological implications behind each story. From these I will select the ones that seem most significant for giving pastors a solid grasp of biblical theology.

This is quite an undertaking, and I’m thoroughly LOVING it. So far, I’ve gone through the entire Old Testament, and contrary to what the title of blog suggests, I’m certainly not “overdosed” but instead feel filled up to overflowing with God’s truth and the joy of knowing my Lord. Over and over the faithfulness and provision and grace and compassion of God come out, as well as His justice and passion for purity and covenant loyalty. The stories of the Bible are truly incredible, and have so much to teach us about God and His will and ways. For the orally based cultures of Africa and other places, this method appears to be the most effective way of training – share the story, then draw out the implications and applications through questions at the end. I’m very much looking forward to the training, and even the preparation is truly a blessing.

Thank you for your prayers as the time for training approaches. And I encourage you, if at all possible, to take a block of time sometime and spend a few days working through a large chunk of Scripture and marvel at the flow of God’s truth as it fills your soul and you worship our awesome God.

Pressing on by His grace, Eric