Ginny Owens - Transcending Mysteries: Who Is God, and What Does He Want from Us?

ENDORSEMENTS

To know the heart of God better, we simply need to open up the Scriptures. Ginny and Andrew go straight to the source, diving into the stories of the Old Testament to help readers uncover who God was to His people long ago, in a worthwhile effort to better understand how He lives inside our stories today. The discovery of God is a lifelong pursuit, but Transcending Mysteries is a good place to start.

Michael W. Smith
Singer-songwriter

Transcending Mysteries puts flesh and bone on the God who seems as untouchable as the wind as we see Him in the pages of the Old Testament. But as I read this book, the lines between the Jesus we know and the God we can only ponder of come together in a powerful way. Ginny and Andrew have created a thoughtful journey, making the Old Testament approachable and relevant to our everyday lives. A fantastic Bible study for any age.

Cindy Morgan
Singer-songwriter and author of Dance Me, Daddy and Barefoot on Barbed Wire

Im a longtime fan of Ginnys and Andrews songwriting and the way they dream up music. Im thrilled these two deeply creative friends have also taken their talents to the written word. Youll love their thoughtful approach to the Old Testament and the way they contend with the harder issues. Transcending Mysteries is an inviting work for those longing to study the Bible alongside compassionate and creative thinkers like Andrew and Ginny. Youll be led closer to the heart of Jesusthe One to whom the Old Testament points.

Kelly Minter
Songwriter and author of What Love Is: The Letters of 1, 2 & 3 John and Wherever The River Runs

Andrew and Ginny have a unique gift of calling us all into the true beauty and mystery that is essential to becoming a true follower of Jesus. Transcending Mysteries is a gift to those of us who need to recapture His true wonder.

Chris Seay
President of Ecclesia Bible Society, pastor of Ecclesia Houston, and author of A Place at the Table, The Gospel Reloaded, and The Gospel According to Jesus

Ginny and Andrew deftly weave Scripture and personal stories to deliver a book that reveals the heart of the Eternal. It is a brave, heartfelt and generous work.

Ian Morgan Cron
Speaker and bestselling author of Chasing Francis and Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me

2015 by Andrew Greer and Ginny Owens

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Voice translation. 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from Holy Bible: New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from The New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are from The Living Bible. 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

* Note: Italics in quotations from The Voice are used to indicate words not directly tied to the dynamic translation of the original language but that bring out the nuance of the original, assist in completing ideas, and... provide readers with information that would have been obvious to the original audience (The Voice, preface).

ISBN: 978-1-4016-8040-4

ISBN: 978-1-4016-8041-1 (eBook)

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For those who, like us, still seek the Mystery.

CONTENTS

More than a co-authorship, this book is the collaborative effort of many people whose walk with faith has breathed life into our own. They have helped us delve below the surface by allowing us to recount the personal details of their stories in an effort to help us tell our own stories as we chip away at the mystery of the story of God and us. We owe a great debt for these permissions.

We are equally indebted to our Thomas Nelson friends for steering the course. Thank you Frank Couch for giving legs to this project and helping it walk the extra mile. Our editor Maleah Bell has pored over every idea and word with thoughtful encouragement, replacing first-time author fears with confidence through prods of affirmation and words of friendship. We are grateful. Thank you Blake Aldridge, Amy Stambaugh, and Kathy Armistead for seeing this project as more than a release date. And to Ashley Linne for bringing us to the table.

Amid the piles of paperwork that substantiate a book deal, our literary agent David Huffman navigated through legal jargon so we could focus on the heart of the matter, of which he also lent his personal investment.

Our oceanside cohort Bob Lackey provided beautiful views and even more beautiful friendship.

And to our openhearted families who invited us to the table of conversation in the first placewe love you most of all.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stopsat all

Emily Dickinson

W e fell in love with Jesus. Then we had to decide what to do with God.

As the most definitive written revelation of who God is, Scripture has always been vital in our stories of faith. The Old Testament has proved especially tough for those of us who have been persuaded by the gracious gospel of Jesus but also desire to surrender to a God we dont fully comprehend. We adore the Son of God. But what about God the Father?

As thinking disciples, for better or for worse, we are in this quandary with you.

Growing up in the evangelical South, we often encountered polarizingand sometimes paralyzingideas and theologies. Legalism was tempered and ultimately trumped by no-strings-attached grace. Doctrines of despair were countered by creeds of deep surrender. When Sunday school answers strengthened rather than quelled our doubts, our hearts remained open.

Week after week, Wednesday after Wednesday, we showed up to discover, discern, and, in the end, worship. Why? Perhaps it was hope.

Whether our problems were out in the open or tucked inside the subtler context of private indiscretions, we knew that all was not right with the world. We knew that all was not right within our hearts. And in our most vulnerable moments, in those very human communities of faith, our hearts were cultivated to seek and know God, the EternalJesus.

Many of our friends were raised in the paralysis of religious legalism. However, the two of us grew up being encouraged to have honest discussions, receiving extra measures of grace along the way. This dialogue is for both parties. In these pages, we want to discover, not dictate, God. And we want Old Testament scripture to be the invitation.