Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

God’s story in videos

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Jane flipped open her Bible. Not being sure what to read, she closed her eyes, fumbled through the pages, and finally opened her eyes to see what verse her pointer finger touched. She winced. It was the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac, a story that had never set well in the pit of her stomach. Jane didn’t understand why God would do that. Wasn’t the God of the Bible supposed to be loving? 

She flipped to the New Testament and read a story about Jesus refusing to stone a woman caught in adultery. Jane sighed. That felt better. But how could she know what story to read next, and how could she reconcile the God of the Old Testament with the New? 

Jane’s not alone. Most of us have thumbed through the pages of our Bible looking for the right thing to hit the spot, not knowing exactly what that is. To make it more complicated, many people have said that the Old Testament is the polar opposite of the New Testament. They say the image of the Old Testament is the tale of a terrifying God raining down punishment on man. Some see the God of the New Testament as a friend of sinners and one to not cast a stone. 

When books or verses of the Bible are read independently, it can be easy to look at them as separate stories when they’re in fact, one cohesive story, the story of God. When you read a Bible verse without knowing what surrounds it, you could certainly come to those conclusions. Without knowing the context the story was set in or all the details that surrounded it, it may be all too easy to sum God up in over-simplified caricatures … instead of looking at the whole story. In order to see the Biblically accurate God, it’s helpful to see the bigger picture.

When we look at it in context, we can see that the Bible is actually one giant story–God’s story–or more specifically, the story of God making and saving the world. 

The Old Testament tells the story of God creating man, man’s fall, and God choosing a people that He would bless who he would use to, in turn, bless the whole world. After Adam and Eve fell into sin, pain and death entered the world. 

But being a good and loving God, He decided to rescue us. Centuries later, He would set apart a man named Abraham. God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3: 

“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

While God did indeed bless the Israelites (the children of Abraham), what Abraham didn’t know was that an even bigger blessing was in store. The savior of the world would come through his lineage. 

The rest of the Old Testament reveals God’s plan for the Israelites, how He chose them unconditionally, and rescued them time and time again. Even when they were unfaithful, God was faithful. Israel struggled, of course, often due to turning away from the Lord, but He constantly helped them. What’s more, he promised a coming redeemer. 

The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming Christ in several passages. One of the most famous (that you may even recognize from Christmas songs) is Isaiah 9:6-7:

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
 and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.”

God’s people the Israelites knew, just as their father Abraham knew, that God would bless the world through them, and that’s what we see come to fruition in the New Testament. 

The beginning of the New Testament tells the story of Jesus because that’s what the Jews would have been waiting for—their promised Messiah—the one who would rescue them. And Jesus did come to rescue His people, but not quite the way many of them imagined. 

Many expected to see a warrior king who would destroy Israel’s oppressors. They wanted to see Him sit on the throne of David and give them victory on earth over anyone who would try to conquer them. 

Spoiler alert: Jesus is coming back one day as a warrior king, but His people were impatient and wanted it right away, not at the end of the world. 

Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies about him in the Old Testament. If I listed all of it here, we’d need an entire book, not just one article. But for starters, He came from the line of David, He was born in Bethlehem, and He was born of a virgin. But when Jesus came not as a warrior but as someone healing the lame, eating with sinners, and claiming that He could forgive sins, it upset a lot of people. They wanted immediate physical salvation from their oppressors, but God knew that they needed to be saved from their sins even more than from the Romans. 

When Jesus died on the cross, he cured our sin problem, the can of worms that Adam and Eve opened up all the way back in Genesis. Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, like the ram that saved Isaac, so he didn’t have to be sacrificed, like the sheep that the Israelites had sacrificed for hundreds of years. Jesus became our sin offering, and mankind’s way back to God. 

When He rose from the dead, Jesus proved His power over death, assuring that we can also have new life in Him, and one day, life forever in Heaven.

The rest of the New Testament is an extension of that story, sharing the history of the early church—much of it a collection of letters they sent to encourage each other. It shows how the gospel of Jesus Christ—the story of God—spread throughout the world.

Reading the Bible in its entirety, and in context, is crucial—so that we can see the big picture—and know the whole story. It’s clear through the entirety of scripture that the biblically accurate God is a God of both justice and love. We know we can agree confidently with what the writer of Psalm 91:2, who said: 

“I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

When we read the Bible today, we have so many tools at our disposal. There are plenty of ways to read God’s story. Perhaps you like to hold the Bible in your hand and highlight it as you go, or maybe you prefer to read it on an app, take screenshots, and share it with friends. But did you know that you can watch videos of the story as well? 

At the Video Bible, you can watch animated Bible stories play out and get a different visual perspective. It’s easily accessible in the app store for both Android and Apple. There is also a wealth of resources and tips in our blog to help you unpack some of your questions about God and His story. 

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Folks at VideoBible.com provided me with this post to share, but I love the idea of the Bible being brought to visual life for people. Video Bible aims to make the Bible more accessible to those who struggle with traditional Bible formats due to challenges like dyslexia and other reading difficulties. Learn more about Video Bible.

Nine Ways to Go for God

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We’ve taken our older kids on short-term mission trips and hope to go on more. They’ve served locally. We support missionaries. We want our kids to be open to wherever God calls them and incorporating missions into our small-town life is one way we, as parents, have hoped to teach that. 

I’m incredibly thankful our church – Hardin Baptist Church – comes alongside us with the same message. The middle and high school youth spent the summer looking at different aspects of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. Youth minister Chase Bright spent the last Sunday of the series looking at nine practical ways that students – yes, even middle and high schoolers – could participate in and pray about going for God. 

Chase shared these 9 Ways to Go with students’ parents, and I asked him for permission to share them with you because even as an adult I want to remember to live on mission – even right where I am. 

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In his final marching orders to his disciples, Jesus beckons all of his followers to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). Today, we refer to these last words as The Great Commission. 

In my experience with students, they want to be faithful to this Great Commission. Many of them are passionate about the gospel being spread to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8), and they want to play a role in this high calling and participate in what God is doing across the globe. Many times, however, they don’t have a very good idea as to where to start. They need something practical. To that end, it’s my aim to provide nine brief yet practical ways for students to “go,” if not now then in the very near future. 

It’s my hope and prayer that students and families would prayerfully consider what God may have them do both now and in the future in order to proclaim the gospel and make disciples among all the nations of the earth. 

1. Share the Gospel HERE & NOW 

You don’t have to be in another culture to make disciples. All followers of Christ are called to make disciples wherever God has us now by sharing the gospel with the people around us. A great way to do this is to “Find your One” and commit to praying and sharing with that person. Who’s Your One? 

2. Short-Term Mission Trips

Each summer our high school students get the opportunity to go on short-term mission trips through our church. Take advantage of these great opportunities. Be on the lookout for any information about short-term mission trips our student ministry will be taking. 

(Note from Kristin: These students went to Chicago this summer and my 15-year-old Cate had a great experience outside her comfort zone serving and sharing. Here’s my post about that.)

3. The Radical Gap Year

After graduating high school, you can take a “gap year” before you begin college or your career for the sake of disciple-making and figuring out what God may be calling you to do in the future to make his glory known among the nations. The Radical Gap Year is an amazing way to do this. 

4. Theological Education

How about going to a Christian college or theological seminary that will intentionally equip you to go on mission and equip others in the local church to do the same? There are so many great options that will prepare you to do this. Here are just a few: 

5. GenSend – Summer Missions 

Even as a youth student, you can already begin to think and pray about how you might spend your college summers and breaks. Why not spend them on mission? GenSend, through the North American Mission Board, is a great option for you to be able to do this. 

6. Go2 – Give 2 Years

After you graduate college, what if you spent the first two years in a big, strategic North American city while beginning your career, serving with a church plant, and working to further advance the gospel? Check out Go2, also through North American Mission Board, and begin praying through what this may look like for you. 

7. IMB Journeyman Program

Similar to Go2, the IMB Journeyman Program is for recent college graduates or young adults who desire to spend two years on missions. IMB Journeymen are sent internationally (as opposed to domestically) to strategic nations around the globe. On top of that, IMB Journeymen are fully-funded! 

8. Full-Time Missionary

May God be calling you to be a full-time missionary? What about a church planter? You don’t have to wait to start praying and seeking where or how God might send you in the future. You can start NOW! 

There are so many ways you can be a missionary or church planter. Here are just a few ways that you can begin to research and pray about: 

9. Careers for Missions 

Teacher. Nurse. Farmer. Businessman. These are but a few of the career occupations you might find yourself doing in the future. But what if you pursued these careers somewhere else, like in a place with little to no gospel presence? Start thinking about what career you might want to do in the future, and begin praying for where God might have you do this career so that you can further advance the gospel to the nations. 

By no means is this list exhaustive. However, I pray that it’s a helpful starting place for many youth students looking for some practical ways they can participate in the Great Commission by going. 

To God alone be the glory!

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Chase Bright serves on staff at Hardin Baptist Church in Hardin, Kentucky, and as a theology teacher at New Covenant Christian Academy. He also is an MDiv student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Kaitlyn, have two children.

God always finds them

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Bedtime is always full of shenanigans around here – and most of the time, I rush through the bedtime routine with my youngest two kids because I’m ready for my own bed. But I have a different story from a recent night. 

I was tucking in my 6-year-old Rachel. And by “tucking in,” I mean getting the blankets right, praying, singing, and answering 85 million questions. She asked if I’d read her story. That’s usually her daddy’s job, but he wasn’t home that evening, so I said okay. She had “The Jesus Storybook Bible” by Sally Lloyd-Jones sitting right here, so I told her to pick out one of those stories. 

“I want to read the pig sty one,” she said as she was already flipping the pages to find it. 

When I saw what she meant, peace washed over me. “Oh, I love this one.” I read “Running Away,” which is retold from Luke 15, better known as The Prodigal Son.

A boy starts thinking he will be happier if his dad wasn’t telling him what to do. He wanted to look after himself. His father was sad, but he didn’t want to force him to stay. So the son went and did whatever he wanted to do until he runs out of money and gets a job feeding pigs. Being in this low spot, showed the boy maybe his dad’s home wasn’t so bad after all.

Then Lloyd-Jones writes: “The dad leaps off the porch, races down the hill, through the gap in the hedge, up the road. Before his son can even begin his I’m-Sorry-Speech, his dad runs to him, throws his arms around him, and can’t stop kidding him.” The father proceeds to have a party to celebrate his son’s homecoming. 

“Jesus told people this story to show them what God is like. And to show people what they are like. So they could know, however far they ran, however well they hid, however lost they were – it wouldn’t matter,” Lloyd-Jones writes. “Because God’s children could never run too far, or be too lost, for God to find them.”

I was teary when I finished. While this Bible story was retold for children, the words brought to mind when I decided to follow Christ on Jan. 20, 1996, after hearing someone speak about The Prodigal Son during a Chrysalis weekend. I nailed some sins to a wooden cross in the sanctuary, representing surrender. I remember thinking of the beauty of the father welcoming his lost son home, understanding how the younger son thought he could hold together his own life, and relating to the older son who stayed and did what he was supposed to and found himself not quite willing to celebrate his brother’s homecoming. 

I told Rachel an abbreviated version of that story of being a 16-year-old girl hearing that story and making a decision that truly changed my life. Here more than 26 years later, I’m thankful God welcomes me home over and over again. I’ve surrendered and squandered and sulked, and God keeps opening his arms, which led me to salvation initially and continually prompts surrender.

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If you don’t know about “The Jesus Storybook Bible,” I definitely recommend it for the kids in your life. Let’s be honest, I love reading too and I’m thankful it’s back in the rotation around here.