We're Making a Holy Ghost Stories Film
And Day 7 is live.
Hello! Hope you’re well. Here’s the latest:
A Creation Show Film
Big news to share with you today.
A PROBLEM TO SOLVE
You may know that this series began as a live show we toured in Ireland earlier this year. We gathered a team of 8 musicians and brought the story of Creation to audiences in 6 cities, and it was an absolute joy. (You can read more about it here.)
These live expressions of Holy Ghost Stories have been happening for about 2 ½ years now, and they’re always so special.
There’s a problem, though.
So many of you have really wanted to come to a show, but haven’t been able to get to where those shows were actually happening. People often want to know if various shows will be recorded, but we’ve always been hesitant to film anything because the in-person experience is a beautiful one—and approximating it would take really high quality audio and video, which is a whole thing to pull off.
So what do we do for the folks in Michigan and Washington and Georgia and Florida and Colorado until we get to those places for a show? Or the places further afield for that matter? We’ve got a ton of listeners in Australia, and we definitely want to make it over there eventually, but what do we do till then?
WE WERE APPROACHED BY A STUDIO
While we were touring the Creation show in Ireland this year, there was one person who wanted to make the show in Derry and couldn’t. And as it turns out, he happens to be the owner of a well-known recording studio in Northern Ireland. A few weeks ago, he reached out to our team and said “Hey, I still want to see this—why don’t you come to the studio and record the show—we’ll do a discounted rate for you, and we’ve even got room enough for a small audience to join you.” I talked this over with Adam Montgomery (Adam is my partner in Ireland who wrote most of the songs and was the band leader for those shows—Adam happens to be a professional videographer), and he said, “What if I organize visual capture for free? Then we could make this not just an audio recording, but a full-fledged film.”
I said, “I bet the Holy Ghost Stories tribe would be into that.”
So that’s what we’re going to make—the Creation show recorded live in Derry with all of our Irish musicians—an hour-and-a-half of high-quality capture made available as a film you can watch wherever you are in the world.
YOUR PART
So here’s what’s next:
All of the musicians and myself are donating our part in this project, which significantly reduces the cost. However, we need to cover the rest of the costs. Travel for the US part of the team, lodging, studio rental, and mixing/editing are going to put the budget at $10,000.
If you believe in giving people this kind of encounter with Yahweh through the epic story of Creation, head to this page and donate today. We’ll need to raise most of the funds by July 10, so time is of the essence.
I’ve heard from so many of you who’ve been blessed by this Creation series—this is your chance to enable us to share it with you and others in a powerful new way. You can jump in here:
BUSINESS SPONSORSHIP?
By the way, if you’re listening and own a small business, we’re also looking for a few businesses to sponsor this project. It’ll be tax-deductible and you’ll be listed as a sponsor on the final product, which will be seen far and wide. To find out more, email our team at info@hazefirestudios.com.
THANK YOU.
Thank you guys for the way you continually show up to partner with us. It’s a joy to do this work with you.
The Creation Story is Complete.
Well we’ve finally arrived. The last installment of this epic story is waiting for you, and you’ll be happy to know we’ve leaned in a bit and made this episode twice as long as most of the others in the series.
What a joy it’s been to take this journey with you. Thank you for all the notes of encouragement, the photos of where you’ve listened, the reviews you’ve left, the messages with your observations, and the ways you’ve shared this series with friends. You guys are a wonderful tribe.
This final episode takes us into Day 7, a much-neglected and often-misunderstood part of the Creation story. Here are a few quick bits and bobs:
Thinking About Work
Here’s a collection in Plough with thoughts on the nature of work from Tolstoy, Francis of Assisi, Miroslav Volf, and Dorothy Sayers.
Royal Priests?
Genesis 2:15 says “Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Those two terms—“cultivate” and “keep”—are words elsewhere in the OT assigned to the priests’ function in the tabernacle/temple. It becomes clear, as tabernacle worship takes shape, that the tasks given to Adam and Eve in the Garden prefigure key roles of the priests of Israel.
If you’re new to the concept of Adam and Eve functioning as royal priests, you might first check out this collection of passages in Scripture. Pay attention to the jobs of the priests, and listen to how Yahweh sees the earth in relation to a temple.
Next, you might take a look at this video from BibleProject. Don’t miss the way they illustrate the connection between the tabernacle and Eden:
If you want to spend a bit more time, there’s a written article from BP here.
Day 7—Does God Take a Nap?
For many Christians, some version of this children’s coloring page gets stuck in their head with regard to Day 7:
I get it. That language in Genesis 2 can be a little misleading to a modern reader:
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
Genesis 2:2-3
To be fair, that language makes it sound like catching a few z’s might have been involved. We know that Yahweh does not sleep, though, so what are we to make of Genesis 2:2?
Think of “resting” less as a worn out person recovering through leisure or sleep, and more as a a massive boulder hurtling down a mountainside and finally, at the bottom, coming to rest. Think of it as equilibrium, stability, peace. After all the work of creation, Yahweh ceases from that work and comes to rest on His throne, ready to rule and reign. Remember the way Yahweh speaks of Zion in His promise to David? “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it” (Psalm 132:14).
Perhaps this helps as well: notice the beginning of Genesis 2:2—“God had finished the work he had been doing.” What work is finished? The work of Creation. From what work does He now rest? The work of Creation. Is there other work He might attend to now? Certainly.
And, is there a sense in which He’s resting, even now, from this epic endeavor of world-making? Absolutely. In the words of Hebrews 4:3, his works have been finished since the creation of the world.
All of this to say, let’s move away from the “cathing some z’s” coloring page version of Day 7 and embrace the beautiful complexity of a God who rests on His throne to rule His creation.
Day 7 & the Sabbath
Many generations after Creation, when Yahweh invites the Israelites into a covenant with Him, He’ll call back to Day 7 and institute the practice of Sabbath. On Saturday, His people will rest from the labor of the previous 6 days and be reminded that it is Yahweh’s finished work that sustains them, not their continued toil. He will require them to take a day to sit down, to calm their mind, to focus on relationship.
Of course, as with so many spiritual realities, this a layered truth. There is a sense in which humanity joins Yahweh in His rest at the beginning. There is a sense in which the Sabbath invites God’s people into His rest practically in a once-a-week ritual. There is also a very real sense in which we humans, despite the above, have yet to experience His rest in anything more than a tiny measure of its fullness. That day though, praise God, is coming:
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…”
Hebrews 4:9-10
Where is the End of Day 7?
You can’t help but pick up on the refrain repeated throughout Genesis 1: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the _____ day.” Six refrains for six days. But where is this chorus on Day 7?
It’s not there.
What are we to make of this?
As John Walton has pointed out, it seems the text is signaling that Day 7 was meant to have no end. Yahweh’s resting rule (and humanity’s participation as junior co-regent) was to continue uninterrupted. What a beautiful Easter egg.
Of course, the Fall throws a wrench in this plan. But as you’ll hear me indicate in this episode, Yahweh does not give up on His original vision.
He is wonderful.
Epilogue
You’ll hear an extra beat or two of silence before the final scene of this episode. When I gave JL the manuscript to edit, she reminided me of a thought about Eden we’ve found ourselves discussing for a couple of years now. A thought that has to do with the limited reality of time and the deep reality of the unseen and tantalizing glimpses in Scripture of the Garden and Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration. I was so glad she encouraged me to consider nodding to this, and what you’ll hear in the final scene—which functions as a sort of epilogue—explores some of what we’ve found ourselves wondering about.
We finally got a chance to listen to this episode together as a family last night. As the epilogue played, we cried, every one of us, overwhelmed by our Creator’s unfailing love and relentless pursuit. At Eugene Peterson’s funeral, his son reportedly said that for all of his books and sermons, his dad had only one message—a message he’d whispered into his children’s ears every night as they slept. The message was this:
“God loves you.
God is on your side.
He is coming after you.
He is relentless.”
Exactly.
Listen
It’s bittersweet to share this final episode of the series with you. Thanks so much for going on this journey with me; what a joy it’s been to be with Him in this memory. May we return again and again.
LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS | AUDIBLE | WEB
2 Cool Things
Litany of the Cross - This poem/prayer from Ross McCullough is extraordinary. It brought tears to my eyes as I prayed it:
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Signpost of the times,
Gnomon of the age,
Axes of creation,
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Mast of a drifting planet,
Plumb line of a crooked world,
Knife of Caesar sectioning the globe,
Downspout of the blood that waters the earth,
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Caltrop of the four horsemen,
Pestle of the balm of Gilead,
Stalking horse of the hunter of death,
Executioner of the executioners of God,
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Scarecrow of the angel of death,
Clothestree of the garment of life,
Hilt of the sword that pierced Satan
Made haft of the ploughshare that harrows hell,
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Spindle of the scroll of Moses,
Spine of the songbook of David,
Seal of the sayings of Solomon,
Altar, ambo, throne:
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Driest bone in the valley of Ezekiel,
Wettest beam on the altar of Elijah,
Fiat of unspeaking creation to the
bearing of the Lord,
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Looking-glass of Our Lady,
Gallows square of St. Joseph,
Thorn of the apostle,
Quill of the evangelist,
Arbor of the vine and branches,
Skeleton of the skeleton of God:
Save us, O Holy Cross.
Nail in the palm,
Thorn in the brow,
Lance in the side of the world;
Save us, O Holy Cross.
The Creation Show Film - If you’d like to see our Ireland telling of the Creation story, help us make the film by giving here.
That’s the Latest! Thanks for all the love during this Creation series, and thanks in advance for your partnership in making the creation show film!
Gratefully,
Justin