Welcome to the John Mark Comer Teaching's Podcast by Practicing the Way.

This teaching was first given at Bridgown Church in Portland, Oregon as a part of the community practice.

There are a few logical places to start off a conversation on scripture.

We could start with all of the questions and problems late modern Western people in particular

Portlanders have with the Bible itself. Have anybody here read it the whole thing?

It's full of weird stuff. You know, why does Ruth sleep at Boaz feet and

how does Jacob not recognize Leah on his wedding night?

Have you read that one? Or who in the world are the Nephilim in Genesis chapter six?

It has lots of cringe-worthy stuff,

from polygamy to sexual assault to all sorts of holy war.

It's full of the miraculous, which is really hard

for late modern secular people to trust and it's full of teachings

that are at odds with both the progressive left and the conservative right so no

matter what side of the spectrum you fall on you're unhappy once in a while.

And I have come to realize over the last decade now at Bridgetown Church that we are living in a

generation-wide breakdown of trust in the Bible. So many young people

see the Bible as more of an obstacle to faith than an aid, whereas my parents

generation could read the story of the Battle of

Jericho and say yes God is for me and what's my Jericho and let me turn this into

allegory which it's not and march around my Jericho or whatever.

We read that and we think,

how is that not genocide in the name of God?

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