For God who said,
“Let light shine
out of the darkness . . .”
has shone in our hearts
to give us the light
of the knowledge
of the glory of God
in Christ Jesus.
(2 Corinthians 4:6)

When I look around my life with my eyes wide open, I notice the glories God has created both in the heavens and on the earth. When I look further, I stand amazed at the variety of beauties and wonders revealed in the wide variety of trees, flowers, birds, animals and fish—all good gifts from our Creator and Father. When I look even further into the eyes and the hearts of people around me, I cannot but recognize God’s Glory shining forth in the uniqueness of each of God’s own children created in His Image to praise and know and be blessed by Him through lives of obedience and faith. God truly does all things well. His Creation, His divinely designed nature, and every person, reveals all clearly and powerfully declare His Glory. So, when it comes to history, both my heart and my mind, recognize what seems to be the truth—wise and godly people speak of His Story and not of history. If you understand my thinking, you will not be surprised at my last two lists: My Ten Most Pivotal HIS-torical Events and My Ten Most Admired HIS-istorical Figures.

Psalms 104:24-25 ESV
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.

Among so many other gifts from his heritage, my father gave me a love for history. In fact, I almost chose history as my major rather than English while I studied at the University of Montevallo.  In the end the more creative side of me won out as I majored in English and minored in history. I actually took almost as many history courses as English, and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. In fact, as I have studied the Bible more and more over the years, I have marveled at the historicity of the Good News as divinely inspired and written according to God’s Spirit.

My Ten Most Pivotal Historical Events

1. God created the world, blessing Adam and Eve with the perfect Garden of Eden, and yet they fell into disobedience through disobedience and sin.
2. As people outside the garden spread out and multiplied, they increasingly ignored the Good Will of God and committed disobedience and sin against Him and each other. God stepped in and flooded the earth so that they, through Noah and the Ark, could begin again.
3. God called Abraham and his family out of a pagan land and led him toward the Promised Land.
4. God redeemed Moses and used him miraculously to call out the Children of Israel and freed them from their slavery in Egypt.
5. God delivered to His People and the world the Ten Commandments, establishing the foundation of the Law; loving God and honoring Him, and loving others as we love ourselves.
6. Jesus, the Son of God/Son of Man, was born to live the Perfect Life, die the necessary Sacrificial Death, and rise victorious, providing victory forever over sin.
7. God gifted humanity with the ability to observe, ponder, learn and discover—providing the foundation for science and the opportunity to grow continuously in knowledge of this world and beyond.
8. God gifted humanity with the potential to serve as stewards of the earth and all her riches, to bless all humanity.
9. Horrific wars have historically destroyed some empires and nations as others were raised, imposing horrible suffering on humanity, all because monstrous leaders have selfishly set out to establish their own kingdoms in opposition to the True Kingdom of God.
10. Those wars will end, as will sin when Jesus triumphant returns again so that New Heaven and New Earth will be eternally established.

The more I read both history and His Story, the more convinced I become; Jesus is at the heart of both. So, the Bible begins and ends with God’s eternal plan to reveal His glory through the process of Jesus serving as the unique focus of those looking forward from Creation and the Fall. Then some of those blessed to look personally upon Jesus in-the-flesh, recognize Him as God among them. Now we look forward to the culmination of all history and His Story, when New Heaven and New Earth are established—and we see God and the redeemed in Jesus at last living in the midst of His Glory and in the sharing the perfect joy they experience together because of His Love.

My Ten Most Admired Historical Figures

1. Jesus Christ effectively divided history, before and after His birth, and established the Kingdom of God among men to eventually triumph over all who would sinfully and foolishly oppose Him.
2. George Washington unselfishly and heroically served the United States as they fought desperately for freedom.
3. Abraham Lincoln unselfishly and heroically served the United States on behalf of those who had been enslaved.
4. Winston Churchill stood strong for England and inspired the free peoples of the world to fight and defeat the terrifying might of Adolph Hitler and Germany.
5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt put the United States back to work after the Depression, and led his country to join England in fighting to defeat Germany and Japan.
6. Ronald Reagan faithfully served the United States in bringing to an end the dangerous Cold War.
7. Margaret Thatcher courageously and boldly served England as Reagan served the United States in giving democracies victory over Communism.
8. Martin Luther King Jr. fought and literally gave his life to begin to overcome racial inequality and bigotry in the United States.
9. Missionary women around the world served selflessly and courageously all over the world with their husbands and/or all alone, to serve unselfishly in taking the Gospel to all peoples in all lands.
10. Harriet Tubman served as one of many African Americans who at great risk to themselves, brought freedom to their enslaved people.
    
    So goes the story of His Story, along with a tiny fraction of the people He used in the telling. Come to think of it, each of us, we all play a part in His grand Story; for He calls each of us to take advantage of His redemption, and to faithfully serve among His people as He transforms this fallen world through growing His Holy Kingdom throughout the Earth. What a wonderfully and thoroughly beautiful purpose for each of our lives: We have the eternal privilege of being His created, His redeemed, and His resurrected children.

NOTE: Of all my writing efforts, my attempt at naming ten most admired historical figures proved most difficult. So, I would in no way suggest that my choices as written, reflect anything more significant than very personal preferences and perhaps, prejudices. In HIS STORY or in HISTORY there are far, far too many people who have lived admirably—being used by God to continue His progress in redeeming His world. Often God has used rather despicable rulers and others to accomplish His Purpose. After all, He is God and they are not. Nebuchadnezzar comes to mind. The point is: our faithful God is faithfully crafting and shaping HIS STORY and HISTORY for His eternal purpose—REDEMPTION and SALVATION. Someday in GLORY we will all be surprised as Process and His People are revealed. After all He is the ALPHA and the OMEGA. 

Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Jesus is the same
yesterday, today and forever.