A lot of stories people tell over and over take on a mythic quality. The story of the first American Thanksgiving is one of those. Happy Pilgrims and happy Indians planning out a feast of turkey and pumpkin pie is a fairy tale, not a history.

Many of the stories from scripture are the same. What we are taught isn't what you read. Sometimes the things you read are colored by your expectations and sometimes bits are skipped to make the story say what the narrator wants it to say. The REAL stories are often better, deeper, and maybe more uncomfortable...

One example is the story of King David getting involved with a woman who was the wife of one of his warriors...

"Jumpin' Jehoshaphat!" has been a humorous non-swear swear for a long time. But who was Jehoshaphat and why was he so jumpy?

This week I'm going to tell you a story from the Old Testament which highlights the difficulty of remaining at peace during times of way and how fight or flight are not the only options. There is a third way, a choice we can each make, one that involves following the Way of the LORD.

Which way did Jehoshaphat jump and which path will you choose?

We live in a world full of violence and pain. Our culture celebrates retribution and preemptive strikes - the destruction or at least submission of our enemies as payback for what they have (or might have) inflicted on us.

The Bible certainly contains many stories of the same kinds of struggles, of harm being done to the people of God and of their responses. Obviously, this provides a righteous path for us to respond to those who would harm us or our families or friends with the same kind of brutality and death they visited on us, right?

Our final Horror Story of the Bible for this season is one of the deep craving we have to visit the pain we feel onto those we hold responsible for it and anyone associated with them. What does God call on his people to do in the face of violence being done to them?

It may be that Old Testament vengeance isn't what you think it is.