Tag Archives: the Days of Our Lives

From One Soap Opera to Another

Posted on July 12, 2023 by expressyourself4him

If Jacob’s Trouble was a premiere Soap Opera competing against The Days of Our Lives, this show would begin with Rachel’s plan to deceive her husband into giving Jacob the blessing of the first born. This back story would soon be replaced by Laban teaching Jacob the lesson you reap what you sow. While this is a good opening season, Sister Wives will take center stage and when this gets old throw in a couple secondary wives to stir the pot. Finally, the jealous brother enters this Soap Opera with threats of revenge and a Cain like execution.

Then Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s army! So he named that place Mahanaim [two armies]. 3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, Genesis 32:1-3.

If I were still a high school Bible teacher today, I would develop the curriculum for a new class entitled the Soap Operas of the Bible. The purpose of this class would have two key objectives. First, bring to life the personal dramas characters in the Bible faced daily. Second, to close the door on any thoughts planted into the minds of teenagers that the Bible is out of date. The desire to make the Bible relevant to modern times was conceived in me as a student at the Tentmakers Youth Ministry Leadership Trade School in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

And he commanded them, Say this to my lord Esau: Your servant Jacob says this: I have been living temporarily with Laban and have stayed there till now. 5 And I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find mercy and kindness in your sight. 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau; and now he is [on the way] to meet you, and four hundred men are with him. 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups, Genesis 32:4-7.

This training introduced me to the Serendipity Study Bible. Serendipity refers to the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. If you want to learn how to take a deep dive into studying the Bible, this is a great place to start. I was so inspired by the Serendipity Bible that I led a Bible Study at a local McDonald’s in Columbus, Indiana for my Junior and Senior High students. If you’re curious about what other Soap Operas exist in the Bible, they are waiting for you to explore as you study the lives of Joseph, David and Daniel.

by Jay Mankus

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How Close Is the End?

Posted on January 25, 2019 by expressyourself4him

The introduction to each episode of the Days of Our Lives shows an hour glass flipped over.  The narrator of this soap opera follows with the words, “like sand through an hour glass, so are the days of our lives.”  The assumption made here is that life on earth is limited.  Eventually your time will expire, resulting in death.  The only question is how close is the end?  This fateful anticipation inspires cast members to live for the moment, without any care for tomorrow.

But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear], 2 Timothy 3:1.

The apostle Paul sheds light on the question above in a letter to a teenager.  Apparently, this first century pastor experienced a series of hardship.  Troubled by what he saw, his mentor Paul reached out to Timothy in the form of a two letters.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul unveils a list of events that will occur prior to the second coming of Jesus.  These acts, behaviors and outcomes highlight the fact that many will fall away from God in the last days.

For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, 3 [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them, 2 Timothy 3:2-5.

After hearing about what happened to students at Covington Catholic High School last weekend, it appears the checklist above is nearly complete.  Students wearing Make American Great Again hats were unknowingly targeted by a group of protesters.  This set up switched the facts of what happened, edited video to a couple of minutes to define a specific narrative and posted these on social media.  Once a couple of posts went viral, these teenage victims became the instigators.  Like chum in the water, cable news anchors, journalists and twitter followers created a feeding frenzy.  If this dishonest hit piece isn’t a clear sign that the end is near, it’s a foreshadowing of future persecution that Christians and conservatives will face.

by Jay Mankus

 

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