Summary: “GOD, I WOULD NOT DO IT THAT WAY”<br> Part 2: ABRAHAM AND HIS FAMILY<br> Abraham and his Family – Assume that God is forming an advisory committee. God wants to evaluate the entire process He used to bring salvation to our world. He wants our reactions to His methods and means used to bring Jesus to be our Savior. That includes the way He used almost 1500 years to prepare this world for Jesus, the way He brought Jesus, the way He made Jesus the Christ, the way He brought the church into existence, and the way He informed the world about forgiveness.<br> Abraham and his Family – God selects you to be on this advisory committee. He wants every member of the committee to be very open and very honest. He wants every member of the committee to critique anything in the entire process, and explain his or her critique.<br> <br> * Let’s quietly listen to the first committee meeting. It is your turn to speak.<br> <br> * “God, it has been my experience that if you want to accomplish truly good things you must use genuinely good people.”<br> <br> * “The more important the accomplishment, the more important is it to use people who are exceptionally good people.”<br> * “Simply stated: if you want to change the thinking and emotions of the people of the world, you must use the best people in the world.”<br> * “It is essential that good people of great character be used so they can be an excellent, powerful influence.”<br> <br> * “People, in general, are very skeptical, very critical.”<br> * “If you give people half a reason to criticize, they will criticize.”<br> * “If people have the choice between changing the way they think and live or criticizing the new ways, people will choose criticism almost every time.”<br> <br> <br> * “I think the biggest mistake in your plan to bring salvation to people was this: You used the wrong people when you began.”<br> <br> * “I would never begin producing salvation by using Abraham and his family.”<br> * “That family simply had too many problems to criticize.”<br> * “They did not have the potential for being a powerful influence.”<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> * “Take an honest look at Abraham and his extended family.”<br> <br> * “I would not begin with a man who used his wife to deceive other people as Abraham did.”<br> <br> * “I would not begin with a man who lied about his wife being his wife.”<br> * “I would not begin with a man who allowed a king to take his wife with the intention of marrying her because the king thought the woman was unmarried.”<br> * “I would not begin with a man who had a son by a woman who was not his wife.”<br> * “I would not begin with a man who made his own son and that son’s mother permanently leave his family.”<br> * “I am sorry God, but that was a mistake.”<br> <br> <br> * “I would not use a man who showed enormous favoritism among his two sons as Isaac did.”<br> <br> * “I would not use a man who dearly loved one son and disregarded the other son.”<br> * “I would not use a family in which the blind father’s wife plotted against and deceived him.”<br> * “I would not use a family in which both sons despised each other.”<br> * “I am sorry God, but that was a mistake.”<br> <br> <br> * “I would not use a man who lied and exploited others for his own benefit as Jacob did.”<br> <br> * “He used his own brother’s hunger to take something precious from his brother.”<br> * “He intentionally lied to deceive his own blind father.”<br> * “He took advantage of his father-in-law.”<br> * “He had two wives,
