Purpose...

Ummm...purpose... not porpoise. Or cow.

But this pic does kinda fit the lesson. How? Well, throughout the book, the characters all seem to be headed in a certain direction; a direction set for them by the Sovereign.

In this pic you see one animal that fits the scene and one that doesn't. Raise your hand if you know which one.

Captain Obvious knows that a cow would have as much chance surviving in the ocean as a dolphin (or porpoise) would living in a field.

OK, are you still confused about what this has to do with "purpose?" Yeah, so am I.

So, let's start over. Watch this video.

So what does a sheep dog have to do with a porpoise? (I mean purpose...)

Glad you asked.

A good friend of mine used to have a farm and some sheep. He also had a border collie named Lika (pronounced lie-ka). I was fascinated by the way that dog commanded the sheep but even more so by how the dog acted when it wasn't herding. Whenever he took the dog out of the sheep pasture, Lika stood at the fence and watched...and waited...until she could get in there and start herding again. You see, the dog was designed to herd and it was miserably frustrated until it got to do what it was born to do.

It's the same with you. You have a purpose that God designed you for. In general terms, you are put on the earth to live and worship Him. But more than that, you have specific purpose...a mission that no one else has and one that your life experience is preparing you to do.

You may say, "What? What purpose? I'm young, I'm not experienced, and I don't know how to herd sheep!"

And you would be right. But, so was the puppy in the video...until it was trained and exercised properly. It had the instinct and the drive, but with time and training its owner brought out the dog's potential.

Look at your life and look at what you are naturally good at. What are the instincts and the drive God has given you? Discuss with the group what talents you have. See if anyone can identify other abilities you have and the potential to use them for God's purposes.

Here's a good training ground...

That'll do, pig. (from the movie "Babe")

Blessing...

In chapter 10 of Book One, there is a scene where Ronoh separates from his family. Before he says goodbye, he encourages his son and says words that will sustain the boy for many years to come. In short, he blesses him.

Years ago, my wife gave me a book that changed the course of my family. It is called The Gift of the Blessing, by John Trent and Gary Smalley. Through that book I learned that there are two kinds of homes: blessed or cursed; and there are two types of people: blessed or cursed.

The authors base their premise on a story from Genesis 27. Stop and read this.

That was a lot of reading but that one section of scripture set the stage for a conflict that remains unresolved to this day. You see, Jacob (father of the Jews) took the birthright and blessing from his older brother, Esau (father of the Arabs). Those two groups of people have been fighting ever since...and the world has suffered with them.

The blessing was (and is) part of the Jewish culture. A father's blessing was a powerful catalyst that literally shaped the future of a person.
Are you blessed or cursed? The fact is, if you don't know the answer you may be cursed. Here are some indicators:

• Is your life full of serious conflict or are you at relative peace?

• Do you have a good relationship with your parent(s) or is your home an emotional minefield?

• Do you have destructive habits (smoking, drugs, self abuse, etc.) or do you handle stress with grace?

• Do you feel fairly good about yourself, or do you feel worthless?

Of course there are unique situations and family dynamics and not everyone frolics around like a magical pixie horse, but overall there are definite signs of blessings and curses.

Regardless, we need to start spreading more blessings... there can never be too many! Here's what YOU can do. YOU can start blessing other people. To do that, you need to learn how. There is a process that the ancients followed and it was made up of five elements.

Click here to learn about the five elements...

"You may say, "Hey! this is for old dads with long gray beards lying on their deathbeds..." and you would be wrong. Just as anyone can receive a blessing, anyone can give a blessing.

You can bless your parents (this will freak them out, in a good way) and your friends. In fact, you can do it for your group RIGHT NOW! Try it and get some Kleenex ready.

Be Blessed - R.

The Sword...

I love a good sword fight. And I loved writing Chapter 11 of Book Two; it is not by mistake that I made it my sample read for the whole book. "The Hounds," as this section is titled, contains a couple of good fight scenes, some suspense, some humor, and some mystery. It has nice pacing and is fun to read, if I must say so myself!

Anyway... one the concepts I introduce in this section is the power of the sword, a metaphor for "the word" as found in Hebrews 4. The main character finds himself in a circumstance where his own power fails him, his own weapon is useless; only the weapons of the Sovereign can do damage to the enemy.

The same is true with us. Sometimes (most of the time) we try to fight spiritual battles with physical, earthly force. One prime example is temptation. We continually swing our man-made weapons at the enemy only to find him laughing at us. Eventually, he will strike a devastating blow as we reel from exhaustion.

Stop it... Christian person. Speak to the enemy with scripture, call out perversion, depression, and fear...cast them out in Jesus name. Word.

Discuss with group what "man-made" weapons are. How will you attack the enemy next time?

Faith...

If you've never read C.S. Lewis' seven books The Chronicles of Narnia, you should. In the seventh book, The Last Battle, a fascinating character named Emeth is a believer in the god "Tash". The man is seen as a noble figure and his devotion to his god impresses the big-hearted lion, Aslan. Tash turns out to be a demon but Emeth is redeemed as his misdirected sincerity is righted and Aslan becomes his focus.

C.S. Lewis' genius teaches that though someone is sincere, they can be sincerely wrong. He also suggests (in my opinion) that there are second chances for those seeking God but seeking with the wrong road map. In The Arrow I chose "emeth" for the name of "the great river"; emeth is the Hebrew word for "faith."

Faith is believing without seeing...trust, that all the promises are true; simple as that.

Here is an interesting statistic: the word "faith" appears 15 times in the Old Testament, and 231 times in the New. Look it up. This disparity might make a good discussion topic for the group.

Miracles...

Charleton Heston as Moses in "The Ten Commandments"
See it at least once!

MIRACLES

The Arrow contains plenty of supernatural events. Have you ever experienced a miracle? Ever seen the power of God at work in amazing ways?

There was a time when I thought these things; healing, visitations, spiritual manifestations, and other paranormal events were just that...paranormal or at least something that used to happen during biblical times. I secretly hoped, though, these acts were real and that we could really see signs and wonders.

As I said, I used to think this way.

Since then, I have personally witnessed a woman who severely sprained her ankle instantly healed simply from the touch of a pastor/doctor. This wasn't on TV. This wasn't on youtube. It happened right in front of me. I was recently one of a group of people that prayed for a man's back to be healed: the next report he received from the doctor was "no surgery needed." Other miracles happen where I worship and there is testimony upon testimony of God's tangible presence. Addictions are over come, depression is banished, bones grow back, lifelong debilitating diseases are cured, cancer is eradicated; all the acts Jesus said we could do.

While we are warned in scripture the that we should not put all our eggs in the miracle basket, it sure helps me to personally see a healing every once in a while.

Have you ever seen a miracle? Would you like to? Discuss this with your group and what can be done to increase the likelihood of God's personal touch.

Adamah...

OK ppl. Chapter One is chocked full of allegory; well I guess the whole book is, but this chapter really gets the ball rolling. At the beginning of the second half of the book I introduce a new land, Adamah, which represents "Christendom." In this land, a place of nice people and beautiful landmarks, bad things are happening. It is here that Nori reminisces about a female soldier he had saved in River Emeth.

The soldier, Bath-Yadiyd, is a fictional character based on several real people. Terrible, evil events happened in her life at the hands of adults she trusted. It is said that fact is stranger than fiction and in this case it is certainly true. I would never be able to write the shocking truth of the real person's history; I would have to put my book in a brown wrapper and sell it behind the counter at the gas station. I retell the story with metaphor so that the reader can imagine what they will...if they imagine the worse, they would probably be right, and perhaps, not even evil enough. Her character also is a compilation of common problems (sadly) found in young Christian women... eating disorders, self abuse, addictions and so on.


Hey you, nice Christian person, who appears to have it all together, who is hiding terrible secrets, look at me and listen: if you have had evil like this befall you...God wants to help, He wants to heal you. Someone near you is trustworthy. Find that person and talk to them; get on the road to healing. Evil happens...it's not your fault.


Of course, I'm talking to the guys too.


Find HELP
Find HELP


Discuss with the group way to help people that you know with these problems.

Angels...

A N G E L S:

We name baseball teams after them. We brand toilet paper after them.

We think that putting wings on skinny, bikini clad models will somehow make them angelic.

How did we (the world) come up with this stuff?

In The Arrow, several characters come in contact with giant creatures called the Mal'ak. For all intents and purposes, these are angels; frightful, friendly, and blissfully unconcerned with the enemy. Throughout the book they do unusual things (no spoilers here). Hmmm. How did I come up with this stuff?

Discuss your idea of angels with the group.

What does The Bible say about angels?

Music Video - Train: "Calling All Angels"

The same can be said for demons. The world paints an entirely different picture, than does the scriptures, of fallen angels. Consider this: if you wanted to entice the human race to follow you, would you appear as a hideous, creepy, monster; or an attractive, sexy, model? Demons are much more clever...I have one word for you: porn.

Porn is a multi-billion dollar business that has touched everyone reading this... either you are engaged with the enemy or know someone who is. Porn has whacked more Christian leaders than Islamic terrorists could ever hope to. More on porn later...

Holy Relic...

The Arrow is about an arrow.

But what is THE arrow? Is it just a common piece of metal tied to a stick with some feathers attached to make it fly straight?

Well...yes.

And no.

The common piece of metal is made uncommon by the permanent blood stain, blood from an execution, an execution that took place a long time ago, an execution on a hill, outside the walls of an ancient city... OK, alright, I'll just say it: the arrow head is supposed to be made from the nails from THE cross. Hence, it has power to heal and its ability to grant visions comes from the blood stained metal.

If this arrow was actually real, it would be considered a holy relic.

What is a holy relic? It is a physical, tangible artifact that was reportedly touched by someone considered holy. Check it...

Even with the notorious history of relics, people still seek them, still enshrine them, still buy and sell them...

• own a genuine copy of one of THE nails...


• be one of 100,000 owners of the Pope's robe...


• the mother lode...


• the Holy Hand Grenade (very silly)
  

Discuss with your group what the purpose of relics is... and what God says about them. Here are some scriptures to aid in your discussion.

Publisher's note: links are for educational purposes only. Do not bid on the holy nails!

Slaves...

The Arrow opens with the story of three slaves and how their lives are drastically changed.

Ebed and Nori and Levosh; they were beaten, branded, and owned. (not pwned)

S l a v e r y.

Think about that word. What do you see in your minds eye? You probably see pictures of plantations and civil war... things you see in the history books. But look closer; history repeats itself...

Slavery back in the day...

Slavery now...

Slaves in the US...yeah, right now. (human trafficking - prostitution)

Slavery in The Bible: From Genesis to Maps, slaves play an import role in Judaism and Christianity. Hagar, Joseph, the Hebrews in Egypt, the slave girl in Phillipi...slaves were part of the biblical landscape. God used slavery as a powerful image of what sin does to people, to nations. Slavery is a human condition and God has the power to free...us.

Hey you... Christian...slave! (NT scriptures on slavery)


Discuss with your group how YOU can fight bad slavery and what YOU can do to be a good slave.

"Remember my chains..." -Apostle Paul

*publishers note: Links are provided for informational purposes. Adamah Press does not necessarily endorse, or promote featured agencies.