Scarlet Thread : Tracing God's Incredible Plan - Softcover

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Martha McCallum is an experienced discipler, Bible teacher and Christian leader. She has served since the '70s in Xenos Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational church started by two of her four sons on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio. She grew up in Kenya, where her parents were missionaries. Martha graduated with a Science degree from Wheaton College, and worked as a microbiologist.

Keith McCallum is an accomplished Bible teacher and Christian leader in Xenos Christian Fellowship in Cleveland, Ohio, where he lives with his wife and three sons. He works as a software developer. Keith has a degree in journalism and has done graduate work in theology.

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God Is Involved!

Although God is infinitely sovereign, how remarkable it is to discover He is not aloof or indifferent to the human condition. He is above and outside of creation, yet intimately involved with it, and out of love He exposes Himself to the same violence and suffering. He knows you in detail, to the extent that "the very hairs of your head are numbered," it says. He did not leave us to grope in the dark alone.

Keep Looking Down!

Among the billions of heavenly bodies in the universe, it is thrilling to discover that God chose Planet Earth as the epicenter of His Kingdom Plan. There may be other worlds and places, but only on Planet Earth has God established His Eternal Throne and will finally eliminate the obscenity of injustice and suffering.

God has a plan for the Universe which affects everyone

Here the fractured universe is at war with itself a violent rebellion in progress and here God heals it. The Bible proclaims this from cover to cover, and God is moving his-tory toward an inescapable conclusion:

"I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. " Rev. 21:3 (NLT) (emphasis added)

This is the essence of God s kind intention for creation: a desire to indwell and fellow-ship with His created beings. "God is love," the Bible declares, and His Kingdom is held together by loving, viable relationships. We were created with a deep longing for such a kingdom.

To understand God's plan for Planet Earth, we must go back to the beginning even before the beginning. It is overwhelming to grasp that shadowy, veiled continuum we call Eternity Past where the genius of God s Incredible Plan begins with events before and behind time itself. Yet, God reveals it to us. It is vital to consider God's point of view in order to discover the significance of creation.

Real purpose comes from God, not our brief activities. The details of our lives overwhelm us so easily; they leave some people with an unnecessary sense of hopelessness, and others with a false sense of confidence.

God offers a concrete view of reality that transcends fleeting events:

"This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary." Heb. 6:19

His expansive viewpoint enables us to "Keep Looking Down" on this brief interlude between Eternity Past and Eternity Future. Our 70-plus years here are only long enough to make a few significant decisionsand then God continues on with His Eternal Plan. If we "Keep Looking Down" we can grasp the vast and coherent viewpoint of God:

"We are asking that you may see things, as it were, from His point of view, by being given spiritual insight and understanding." Col. 1:9