This week we look at Balaam and his talking Donkey!

Balaam is a pagan prophet, a seer, and a diviner. He is a smart guy who knows how to “see” the future based off reading patterns in animals. He had to know animals, flight patterns, and even claimed he was able to look at the liver of a dead animal to help predict the future. He was also believed to have claimed to be a sorcerer that could influence human events to bring about his desired outcome. Balak, King of the Moab people, wants Balaam to help him destroy the Israelites because he fears them.

In Legends of the Fall we are taking 10 weeks to look at the villains in the bible, those that everybody considers the “bad guys.” We are looking at how we are not as different from them as we might think. Today, we take a look at THE BETRAYER, Judas Iscariot.

The most infamous traitor in Scripture, other than the Devil, is Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ. Judas is a guy that we love to hate, we often think we are so much better than him, but in reality we have all betrayed Christ in one way or another.

During the summer we did a series titled Coloring Book All-Stars (about the heroes you would find in children’s bible coloring books). We are now in a series titled Legends of the Fall (about all the bad guys in the bible). We travel through these two series in an effort to be able to see how the people in the bible are just like us, lost and in need of God’s redemption.

We are in a series called “Legends of the Fall,” which is all about the “bad” people or the “bad” stories in the bible and how it relates to who we are. We tend to want to look at “bad” guys in a story and say “that could never be me because I’m really a good person,” but we are exactly like those bad guys. Today we look at an incestual story of rape; we look at Amnon.

It is important to remember that the story of Amnon immediately follows the story of David and Bathsheba. Even though God forgives David for his sin, there is still a price that get’s paid (not to God, but when we model bad behavior to our kids). The prophet Nathan in 2 Sam 12:10-12 warned David of what was going to happen for not leaving a proper legacy for his children. David’s sin of sexual abuse now its way directly into his family. We have a tendency to think that our sin only affects us, but it does not, sin permeates all aspects of our life and community.

Today we look at the story of David and Bathsheba. There are two stories people remember about the life of King David, his highest triumph (when David slew the giant Goliath) and his lowest personal defeat (when David gave in to personal temptation and slept with a woman who was not his wife). For every Goliath we seem to be able to defeat, there is a temptation, like Bathsheba, waiting to take hold of our hearts.

Today, we look at the Tower of Babel. The people of Babel were proud of their tower, but the language in the Bible

shows that God was not impressed with their works. Genesis 11:5 But the

LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.

Sometimes we are so impressed with our own works that we think God has to

also be impressed, but no matter how good we think we are, we cannot earn

God’s favor.

This week, we look at the first murder in the world and find out how Cain is exactly like us. Thankfully, identifying with one of the “bad” characters in the Bible points us in the direction of Jesus, our Redeemer!

The first “legend” of the fall is actually two people, Adam and Eve, our first parents. Many times they are cast in a positive light, but all that we know of our fallen world begins with them, it is why Aaron called them “patient zero.”

Welcome to the last week of coloring book all stars, the series where we take a look at some of the most popular stories, or people, in the Bible. We realize that some of your personal favorites may not have been covered during this series, but that is OK, you get to tell your friends, families and kids about them. This week we look at who Jesus is and why who He is becomes so important to our concept of faith.

This is week 11 of coloring book all-stars where we look at figures in the bible who are larger than life, who (usually) make it into the coloring books that kids love to scribble on. This week we look at Jacob’s favorite son, JOSEPH!

Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age.