Consider this

            When God called Moses, he gave him a job (Exodus 3) and then he gave him the law (Exodus 19-20).             Jesus started by saying “Come follow me” (Matthew 4) and then he taught those who showed up (Matthew 5-7).             Paul meets a young man named Timothy, decides to take him along on his preaching trip and teaches him along the way (Acts 16).             Later, Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus so that he can be involved with the church there and then he writes a letter telling Timothy what to teach.               Do you see a pattern here?   In each of those cases, and many more, people were invited to participate in the kingdom of God and then they learned the teaching as they went along.             Why do we turn that pattern around?               Most churches work on a principle that says, “If we teach them the right things, then they will want to be part of God’s kingdom”.   Unfortunately, this is not very effective because most people never get

            Thomas was one of Jesus’ apostles.   You likely know him better by his nickname, “Doubting Thomas”.   What he doubted was the resurrection.   When the others told him that they had seen the risen Jesus, he said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).             That is a strange reaction when you consider all the things that Thomas had witnessed.   He heard Jesus’ teaching.   He saw the miracles.   He witnessed dead people (such as Lazarus) being brought back to life.   He was there when Jesus walked on the water.   He was there when Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee.   He saw the arrest, trial and crucifixion as well as the darkened sky and the earthquake that was associated with those events.   He would have heard about how the temple curtain had been torn in half at Jesus’ death (Mark 15:38).   He spent almost three years in Jesus’ presence and saw