“In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?” ²¹ tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. ²³ But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. ²⁴ The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. ²⁵ And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”"

Let’s dumb this story down. When someone asks what the meaning of the law is…what do you do? The first thing Moses does is tell a story of God’s greatness. Only then does he give instruction. It’s like the story gives a reason to follow the instruction. It gives truth and legitimacy to God’s decree. Love it.

What are your exodus stories? How has God brought you out of Egypt?

“Most leaders are compelled by the future, fascinated by vision, and obsessed with changing the status quo. But when we focus too much of ourselves on what we’re trying to accomplish, what is to come, what will be, or what change we’re hoping for, we can miss right now. And being able to live well in right now is critical to effective leadership.”

I don’t need to say much more.

Your story is currently in Play mode. Not Rewind. Not Pause. Not fast forward. In our culture we are usually in that last spot. Take a minute to slow down and realize that life is happening in the present. By focusing too much on the future and the vision we can miss out on the stories happening every day around us. Pay attention.

This is Timur (on the right if you can’t tell). Timur is 23 years old, and a student at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC). He was born in the Ukraine, but was given to an orphanage right away. While there, he amazingly became a Christian. At the age of 16, (yes, he grew up in the orphanage for 16 years), he was adopted by a Christian missionary family.

Timur and I met at an InterVarsity (IV) conference the week after school ended. He will be helping plant an IV chapter at DMACC in the fall. What’s crazy is that his adopted aunt and uncle helped start a church in Ames, and has friends in common with a couple of IV staff members in our region. The more people I meet, the more I’m convinced that the whole thing about 6 Degrees of Separation is true.

There were about 140 people at that IV conference, and by the end of the week, everybody knew who Timur was. That’s because he’s passionate. He is in love with rap music. Back home in the Ukraine he works with Christian rappers and on creating a mainstream genre of “positive music”. He is in America for two years getting a marketing degree so that when he goes back he will know how to spread the word to the lost people of his country.

He has immersed himself into the world of rap music without all the negatives that come with it. He’s familiar with more American rappers and Christian rappers than I could possibly hope to be. When we walked to dinner, or back to the dorms, he was constantly free-style rapping about Jesus. It was an incredible week getting to know him.

What can we learn from Timur?

• Everything and everyone is connected more closely than we think. Timur and I have some mutual friends because of people he know at DMACC and the church he attends.
• Passion fuels influence. Had Timur not been so passionate about rap music and Jesus, he would not have made the impact he did during that week-long conference.
• The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to immerse ourselves into a given culture without being tainted by it. Timur loves Jesus more than rap music, and that’s why he’s not rolling in bling and out with ladies every night. Rap music gets a bad rap (pun intended, haha), but he finds ways to make it about Jesus and change the world with his passion.
• Find what you love, and use it for Jesus.

Have a story to share? Let me know.

Life can often seem mundane and insignificant. In reality however, we are all part of a story. Everything we do in life, big or small, is contributing to this grand narrative. From my Christian worldview, I believe the story is one of God and the Bible. We usually see the Word of God as individual books. Taken as a whole though, it is a story of creation, despair, murder, hope, obedience, redemption, and love. The exciting thing is that we get to be a part of this.

The day to day aspects of our lives are often forgotten. It is the great stories we experience and share that mark significant points in our own personal timelines. A life-changing moment always equals a great tale. I am here to tell those stories to the world.

I have a passion for great books and movies and television shows. Before, I thought I was just a big nerd. Now however, I realize it is my love for a moving and exhilarating story that fuels these passions. My hope is to share with you stories that have changed me and shaped me, and are continuing to do so. Some will be fictional, hopefully most of them will be from real people sharing real God-moments.

Do you have a story you want to tell? Let me know.

http://www.twitter.com/everythingstory
jeremy.anderberg@gmail.com

Thanks for joining me.

P.S. A lot of my inspiration for this comes from Ben Arment. Don’t wanna end this without giving him some credit.