An In-Depth commentary by Pastor Chuck Smith looking into the Book of Genesis.

Threatening clouds and fierce storms besiege the city of Tyroc. More frequent and powerful than ordinary storms, young Elowyn, a weaver’s daughter living in the outskirts of the city, senses something disturbing and unnatural about them. She soon realizes that the storms are but a warning sign of much more frightening things yet to come. Terrifying wolf-like creatures emerge from the depths of the wilderness at the bidding of a dark master. His name found only among the crumbling pages of ancient texts, the re-appearance of Alazoth and his Hounds is a dark omen for the people of Tyroc and beyond. Only legends remain of the heroes and prophets whose blood was shed ages ago to banish him into the abyss, which should have remained his prison for all time. How he has been released is a mystery, but all the old stories agree that death and destruction are sure to follow. With the Hounds inching closer each day, the city of Tyroc caught up in religious and political turmoil, and her home life no less turbulent, Elowyn has nothing left to rely on but her meager courage and a budding faith in Aviad, the Creator. She and her sister, Morganne, set out on a remarkable journey that challenges everything they have ever known about themselves, the world, and the path that Aviad has laid out for them.

My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. – 1 Corinthians 2:4 From many hearts there is rising a cry for more power – more power in our personal conflicts with the world, the flesh, and the devil, and more power in our work for others. The Bible makes the way to obtain this longed-for power very plain. The Bible tells us how and the Bible was intended to be understood. If we will only make personal trial of the power of the Word of God, the power of the blood of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer, and the power of a surrendered life, then we will know the fullness of power in Christian life and service. We will make this clear in the following chapters. There are many people who do not know that there is a life of abiding rest, joy, satisfaction, and power. There are many other people who, while they think there must be something beyond the life they know, do not know how to obtain it. This book is written to help them. List of ChaptersThe Power of the Word of GodThe Power of the Blood of ChristThe Power of the Holy SpiritThe Power of PrayerThe Power of a Surrendered Life About the AuthorReuben Archer Torrey traveled all over the world leading evangelistic tours, preaching to the unsaved. It is believed that more than one hundred thousand were saved under his preaching. Torrey married Clara Smith in 1879, with whom he had five children. In 1908, he helped start the Montrose Bible Conference in Pennsylvania, which continues today. He became dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University) in 1912, and was the pastor of the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles from 1915 to 1924. Torrey continued speaking all over the world and holding Bible conferences. He died in Asheville, North Carolina, on October 26, 1928.

Each Gospel in the New Testament aims to accomplish something unique. Matthew: to show Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and the fulfillment of every promise. Mark: to get every person swept up into the drama of God’s coming kingdom. John: to convey the scandalous love of a relentless God. Luke has a different approach. Rather than simply learn about Jesus through his book, Luke wants his readers to develop a skill. A habit. Whereas Matthew, Mark, and John write to get us to see Jesus, Luke writes to get us to see as Jesus sees. The subtle difference is a cosmic shift when played out in reality. Luke’s Gospel is less of a textbook to be studied and more of an invitation to be accepted. Therefore, we might say his purpose is the following. Luke: to magnify the minority, as Jesus does. There’s a modern analogy which I think parallels what Luke was trying to accomplish all those centuries ago when the world first began to be invaded by the kingdom of God. When I was in grade school, my mom bought a picture for the wall in our basement. It was a repeating pattern of blue and green swirls interrupted by black and orange dots. She hung it right above the couch and then motioned for my brother and me to come stare at it. As we stared into the very odd picture (which did not match anything else of my mom’s “style”), mom stared back at us. She was just waiting there, anticipating some reaction. Not wanting to disappoint, I told her “yeah mom, I really like it – all the blue and stuff”. “No” she replied, “what do you see in the picture?” I literally had no idea what she was talking about. Hadn’t I just stared at the picture for the last minute? What else was there to see? Mom came over, placed her hands on the side of my head to direct my gaze, and told me to look into the picture. “Don’t just look at the swirls” she said, “what are the swirls hiding?” So I concentrated and stared as hard as my little brain would allow me to. And then…it happened. The picture shifted in my mind’s eye. I started to see the outline of a horse. Just barely at first. But then I got it. I saw the picture beyond the picture. If you’ve never seen a stereogram (which is the name for this optical illusion), it can be pretty frustrating the first time you try to break through the patterned image. But once you do, once your brain makes the shift between what is out in front and what is underneath, it’s almost impossible to go back. You see the hidden image every time. Your brain adjusts to the new pattern. The deeper picture. This is what we find in Luke’s Gospel. A stereogram in writing form. On the surface, another perspective of the same Jesus stories. Beneath, an invitation to do everything differently. To see and act and spend and fight and preach and serve in a whole new way. So how does this radical shift take place? Not by explaining to us a what, but rather, by introducing us to a who. Welcome to the story Luke tells, about the people Jesus loves…