My friend Dennis is blogging through a Christmas reading plan. The first section just happens to be part of the story I tested today. So I decided to blog about that passage too.
You’d think after yesterday’s fantastic testing session, I wouldn’t be worried about today’s. But I was. Perversely, I was also really bummed when only one guy came to test with me. I figured, well, the stories are starting to conflict with their religion, so they’re not coming. But, maybe that’s ok. Because I’ve heard that people from this guy’s religion think that Christ followers worship three gods instead of one, that they don’t get the idea of the trinity at all, and that it offends the snot out of them.
Course, I don’t have a ton of experience with people from this group. Good to actually talk to some and hear from them what they believe. (This blogger thinks so too.)
We’re sitting in a smallish room, filled with books. Since it’s just the two of us, I have a window open. We’re at the corner of a busy street, so there’s lots of traffic. The open window makes it noisy, but keeps it appropriate.
So, after I putz around and procrastinate, we got into the story.
…So Mary had the baby in Bethlehem…eight days later, Joseph brought him to the place where people worship. A man was there who had been waiting to see the promised savior. When he saw Jesus, he took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Now I have seen the promised savior with my own eyes.”
Why was this man waiting for the promised savior?
Well, God said that he would send him, and he always keeps his promises. And this man was close to God. He took Jesus in his arms and started praising God. Praising him, Jesus. Praising Jesus is the same as praising God. Jesus and God, God and Jesus, they’re the same thing. You can’t believe in God without believing in Jesus. You can’t believe in Jesus without believing in God.
I think to myself, huh. Might have to tweak the way we tell this one. I’m not sure that’s what the story said. I am positive that you are not supposed to believe what you just said.
But you do.
And when we finished with this story, you said “There’s more coming, right?”