Once upon a time in a land a world away…
…there lived a king. The King was also a priest, and he carried out his duties as vassal for his Father, the Lord of the land. On behalf of his Father, the good King maintained order within the kingdom, collected praise to his Lord and protected the land from enemies.

The King walked confidently in the presence of his Father, who descended from His Throne at the land’s highest peek in order to fellowship with the noble King, the one who bore His image. And the King delighted in the Father and the Father in him. And the land enjoyed peace and prospered under the Lord’s protective covering and the rule of His regal son…

Wouldn’t it be nice if the story ended here? But you know it doesn’t. You know the story doesn’t end here because this… is your story.

Your story, didn’t follow the script, did it?

Once upon a time… I met this girl…

Once upon a time… I had my health…

Yes, yours is a familiar story. The truth is… every man has a once upon a time that didn’t work out as planned, a story that didn’t track the trajectory of its original intent.

Once upon a time didn’t work for Adam either, the man who wanted to “be as God, knowing good and evil.”

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked…

Once upon a time hasn’t worked out for you because you were born into a world that is light years removed from its original intent.

It was into this broken and disconnected world of Adam’s invitation that God spoke when he called out to the man, “Adam, where are you?”

Where are you… with God?

Not with your career. Not with your wife.

With God!

This is the first and best question you can ask yourself. Your answer turns the page to the next chapter of your story.

___________________________

copyright 2007 Rilian

THE BORN IDENTITY: WEEK 2
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN A LAND CALLED HOME

Dan Diaddigo continues The Born Identity, with Part I: (Where Am I?) / Once Upon a Time…

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UNC meets weekly at the Atlanta Bread Company in Cumming GA. Each Friday, the morning’s opening talk is posted to the blog. Don’t forget, you can easily subscribe to our RSS feed.

Also, you can subscribe to our Podcast in iTunes. Start iTunes, enter the iTunes Store, and search for “UNC Friday Morning”.

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Life looks very different…

…from outside its original intent.

Just ask Adam.

One day he was walking in the Garden. The next, he was banging on the door to What Might Have Been.

That’s a hard thing to do, to look in from the outside, disconnected from the place you call home.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever disconnected from the place you call home?

The consequences of Adam’s trajectory scorched his world. Weeds and thistles challenged his dominion. Terror and confusion populated his thoughts.

Somewhere in that space between the moment Adam’s eyes were opened and the time God’s voice filled his ears, Adam formulated a rebuttal to his predicament.

Adam used his “you time” to download defective programming to our shared DNA. You might recognize the code:

Denial: I’m not the problem here, it was the woman…

Desertion: I had a problem but then I took some and ate…

Adam wanted to be like God. He wanted to experience life as center. But man is not built to be center. He is not sufficient unto himself. Even the community he creates cannot fill the fellowship for which he was created.

This is the world outside the Garden; it is a broken and confused and twisted place.

A world disconnected from God.

It’s the world into which you were born… worlds away from its original intent.

___________________________

Copyright 2007 Rilian

THE BORN IDENTITY: INTRODUCTION
WHERE AM I?

Dan Diaddigo opens the Fall 2007 season of UNC with a new series, The Born Identity.

Click the ‘play’ button below to listen.
(If you cannot see the audio controls below, click the title of this post to refresh. Flash Player is required, click here to download.)

UNC meets weekly at the Atlanta Bread Company in Cumming GA. Each Friday, the morning’s opening talk is posted to the blog. Don’t forget, you can easily subscribe to our RSS feed.

Also, you can subscribe to our Podcast in iTunes. Start iTunes, enter the iTunes Store, and search for “UNC Friday Morning”.

“Where are you?”

It’s a question we ask ourselves all the time.

We point this question at our careers when we ask, “Where am I in the hierarchy? Am I making enough money? Am I making the right moves? Can the punk with the degree really take my place?”

In our quiet moments, we press this question against the deeper things in life.

“Where am I on the timeline? How much longer do I have? What am I going to do with the time I have left?”

Where are you… is a great question.

It’s also the first question God asks men in Scripture. It’s the opening volley in a tragic exchange between God and the crown of His creation.

[T]he Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

The question echoes from Eden into the deepest corners of our souls. We cannot escape the haunting melody that floats on these words. The question stalks us like a hunter into everything we do.

Once upon a time in a story larger than us, a man named Adam lost his way…

No, rewind that.

He didn’t just lose his way. He lost his Self.

And he’s been searching for the way home ever since.

Adam’s story is our story, the story into which we were born.

___________________________

Copyright 2007 Rilian Publishing

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