Sarah Nyhan

Hello, my name is Sarah Nyhan. I currently stay in Texas. And I have not been able to find the kind of community I’ve been looking for in order to celebrate what I believe is the best news: that God is better than what I was taught for years. So for now I am doing this: my Already Included series. 

I am not a spiritual authority over anyone. I am just participating in the conversation. Truth is the only real authority. And John quotes Jesus as saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the light.”

Elsewhere Matthew, Mark, and Luke quote Jesus as saying that the greatest commandment is to Love. Even ourselves. 

So studying the Bible is not the most important thing. But it was the foundation of my entire existence for most of my life.

And so I appreciate the tradition of meeting together with like-minded individuals. Meaning those that believe in a Creator who is Love. And who base their Life on that linchpin.
And who are interested in exploring what that means for themselves.
And who meet together to discuss all of that. 
And who more importantly hopefully eventually gather to do community and Life with based on shared values.
Especially Love. In Truth.

As much as I don’t believe studying the invitation to relationship with God, ourselves, and others is the point of Life, I believe this book and its predecessors have been a defining influence for centuries. Along with its interpretations both for better and for worse. 

So although I think it’s more helpful in a practical sense to just do as Jesus commanded Legion and simply share person-to-person what good things God has done for me, on an intellectual level I hope somehow to at least share the good ways my mind has been changed in regard to how I now understand things in this book that were previously taught to me very differently. Just because this book has impacted my life so much. And also because I think it continues to impact so many people in the world now and probably to come. 

There is no shortage of voices in the opposite direction. So I at least hope to add mine to the stream who will hopefully one day be the prevailing message of the truly good news.

That being said, this isn’t us versus them. Jesus will meet you on whatever road you are on. The easy way or the hard way. That’s why Jesus said to seek with all of your heart. Ask and you will receive. Knock and the door will be opened. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. The Jesus who leave the 99 to go round up even that last one.

So I welcome all those who question genuinely. And I am not here to win a war of words. 

I am not the only one with plausible thoughts. And certainly not perfect words or a perfect life.

I try. And I give a damn. But God wanted a kingdom of priests. So don’t make me your leader. I have no desire to have any power over another. And you will be disappointed. 

I am just a traveler sharing my thoughts along the way. Trying to leave nothing on the table before I roll out this human experience like the last car in a demolition derby. And seeking conversations specifically about God with similar folks. 

So on that note, I decided to start with Hebrews because the women at one of my former community of Jesus followers have just started a series on Hebrews on Monday nights.
https://www.youtube.com/live/MrKeIvsIoQE?t=1202&is=nsyaOkLihR3UtFh0

So as fitting a place to start as any. 

Although I will say I believe strongly that how you begin your story of God says a lot about your theology. And so before I get started with Hebrews, I will quickly quote a few words from the beginning of John’s testament: 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

And then skipping ahead a bit: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

And so before I go on and into Hebrews, I’d like to start by asking Trinity to be with us in this. 

Thank You, God. Thank You, Father. Thank You, Holy Spirit. Thank You, Jesus. Please be with me. Please be with us. In this. And where it probably matters most as we go out after. Please help us see You, ourselves, and each other as You see us. Please help us see Your heart. Thank You for Your great mercies. We celebrate You. And we also carry hard things that we don’t understand. Please help us see all as You see. And how to go forward. Thank you again for this time. For who is with us. And for our opportunities. Please help us become like the little children to You, Jesus. Please help us come as your friends. Please help us come as your brothers and sisters. For healing. For rest. And for your best, Trinity. In and for all. Thank you again, Jesus. And in your Name we say Amen.

Okay, so Hebrews 1. 

And I laugh preemptively because I might lose a lot before I even get started. Knowing the ears of those I previously was under. 

But it is what it is. So I’ll start with Hebrews by sharing something I heard that I find very interesting to consider. 

So many times I have heard that the author of this book we call Hebrews is unknown. But in preparing what to share here, I ran across something that I never heard before. It was in the introduction of the translation of Hebrews in the Mirror Bible by Francois du Toit.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll summarize what he said by saying that there are a line of folks who seriously consider that the author of Hebrews might be Priscilla – a woman. And that the author, and her name, might have been blotted out on purpose, instead of simply being mistakenly omitted or forgotten, in order to, in the words of Francois, “either to suppress its female authorship or to protect the letter itself from suppression”. 

Now that makes sense to me.

Just like when I heard William Paul Young, author of The Shack, say (https://youtu.be/6ZAi_VNdqs4?t=850&is=9dbmIoMnGUnFFifz) that Holy Spirit/God is referred to in the feminine form in our Bible. I had never heard that before! And it was that simple phrase that changed everything for me.

I joke now that I always knew Jesus didn’t have two gay dads. 😁 But seriously, learning that Holy Spirit was referred to in our Bible in the feminine was the door that opened everything for me. 

In any event, I find it quite humorous that men across the world for ages basically worship this book named Hebrews. While they never probably would have done so if they knew it was written by a woman. The genius of God.

And I guess quite fitting to start my return back to “Bible studies”. Especially knowing my former community of Jesus-following women are also doing the same.
https://www.youtube.com/live/MrKeIvsIoQE?t=1165&is=NaHRNygCJDIE3Kar

Now would probably be a good time to say that although I aim for truth, I am not married to needing to change anyone else’s mind. Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting. In the words of Baxter Kruger, I wouldn’t dare speak if I didn’t believe Holy Spirit was already working in you and through you. 

It doesn’t depend on me, yet everything we do matters. Here I am as I am just participating in the conversation. Trusting how much God Loves you.

There will be many who my words are not for. But God is well-able to get it to whoever needs to hear it for whatever season they are in.

So it’s okay, truly okay, if you disagree with me. This is all just an invitation to a deeper relationship with your Creator. That’s as far as I hope it gets. That will be the definition of success for me for this.

So, please – I encourage you to double-check everything I say. Not with your pastor or your preacher. But with Holy Spirit above all. Ask, seek, knock.

Your relationship with your Creator is the point. Not me being “right”.

And on that note, since I believe Jesus is THE Word, I allow myself to read and reference different translations of the original texts. Translations that we now refer to as the Bible.

In my past life, I had more of a relationship with the Bible than THE Word. Now the opposite is true. Now I see the Bible as an invitation to relationship. As an invitation to the celebration, to the real party, per se.

So although a perfect translation would be nice, I don’t think God allowed one on purpose. Because we already worship the imperfect ones. We’re already distracted by the imperfect ones. Men already lose their lives entrenched in well-meaning intellectual navel-gazing of the imperfect translations.

A “perfect” translation would only separate our hearts from Christ even more. As prone as we are to insisting on self-sufficiency in spite of our great needs and inadequacies. Jesus said, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!”

See, I think the genius of God is that Trinity absolutely leaves things out, like identifying authors of important books, just so that there will be questions. Not to torment us. But also yes, to torment us. So that we will seek God for answers. So that deeper relationship can be experienced in and through revelations we fight for and receive. 

It’s not about right answers. It’s about what the process of pursuing those answers does in us. The good it gets us. The healing, the freedom, the peace. The Life. The real Love.

So I am not afraid of being wrong. Or being seen as wrong. I embrace the questions.

Even if I don’t have the answers. The hard questions have always been the key to my next levels of deeper healing and thereby deeper freedom. Peace. All of it.

In plain words, I don’t need anymore for there to be a perfect collection of books with perfect translation and perfect interpretation. Jesus is THE Living translation and interpretation of all we need.

I still value the Bible. I still believe God uses the Bible to invite people to relationship with Trinity. And that is special.

But I don’t worship the Bible or worship the people who wrote it. I think they were ordinary people like you and me. Who encountered an awesome God.

I think some got it wrong. I think some got it right. But I think the genius of God is that Trinity will meet you wherever you are with whatever you are reading or listening to. Bible or not.

And if you think about it, the copy of the book of Hebrews wasn’t even available to all the people mentioned in the Bible prior to it. How did they experience relationship with God, with Jesus, with THE Living Word without this text?
Is that same God alive today?
Does that same God care about you as much as Trinity cared about them?
Does God only communicate through this book?

The church folk will tell you to have a relationship with God but then act like God isn’t potent enough to be able to communicate with you any other way than through a Bible, a preacher, or a man in authority over you. 

Hey, keep doing what you’re doing if it works for you. I’m just throwing the questions out there because they were important for me. If they are also important questions for you, then don’t listen to me. Just, again: ask, seek, and knock.

Okay, so finally the first verse of Hebrews. I grew up using the New King James Version, so that is the translation I will start with. 

And it says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,”

There it is, folks. Mic drop. That’s exactly what I just said. Various times. Various ways. Spoke in the past by prophets. And then finally through Jesus. That’s it. Simple.

By the way, I just want to stop there and ask a few questions.

What is a prophet?
What is the original word that was translated to prophet?
What is the original language of this book of Hebrews?
What does the word Hebrews mean?
Is the word Hebrews ever used in this book?
Is it ever used anywhere else in the Bible?
Is the same word used in the same language that is translated to Hebrews?
Or are there different words translated all to Hebrews?
Can the same be said for the word or words that are translated to be prophet?
Are there prophets today?

It looks like the original language of this book named Hebrews is Koine Greek. And it looks like the original word that was translated as prophets is something I cannot read or pronounce: προφήταις. And that Koine Greek word is transliterated as: prophētais. 
https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/prophetes

What is Koine Greek?
What does transliterated mean?
And how do you pronounce prophētais?

AI can be wrong, but Google’s Gemini tells me that “Koine Greek was the common, everyday form of the Greek language spoken and written throughout the Mediterranean region from roughly 300 BCE to 600 CE. The word koine (κοινή) literally means “common” or “shared” in Greek.”

It goes on to say that “In the 4th century BCE, Alexander united various Greek city-states and conquered the Persian Empire… The soldiers in his armies spoke different regional Greek dialects… As they mixed, these dialects blended into a single, unified language… As Alexander’s empire spread… this simplified version of Greek became the standard language for trade, diplomacy, government, and literature. Even when the Roman Empire took control of the region centuries later, Koine Greek remained the dominant everyday language of the eastern Mediterranean… If Classical Greek… is like Shakespearean English, Koine Greek is more like modern conversational English… Koine dropped some of the most complex grammatical features of Classical Greek, making it easier for non-native speakers to learn… It shifted away from elaborate, dense literary structures toward a more direct, clear way of communicating… Because Koine Greek was spoken by rich and poor alike across multiple continents, it was the perfect vehicle for spreading new ideas… When early Christians began writing the Gospels and letters (like the Book of Hebrews), they chose Koine Greek… because nearly everyone in the empire could read it.”

Again, the genius of God. Not only do we have a spiritual revolution around the time when the Greeks and Romans were making information more quickly and easily communicated physically by transportation and communication technology and methods. But also verbally, linguistically. 

I think it was no mistake that our spiritual history books are filled with stories during the times of other technological advances such as the printing press. 

I say that to bring to mind that our current world is exploding with technology at such a rapid pace that hardly anyone can keep up with it all. And yet we lament a derth of adherence to our former religious traditions.

But I have not lost hope in us yet. I think these times where almost every human on earth holds a little communication device. And where information can cross the globe and reach millions and billions in a second is a ripe time for a spiritual rEVOLution. I don’t see this unease many of us feel as a reason for despondency. 

Yes, people watch cat videos on TikTok and binge Love Island, but I think many are also quietly processing that the world they were told exists actually doesn’t. At least not anymore. If it ever did. 

I think many spent the last twenty five years realizing that corporations and governments masqueraded surveillance and manipulation as online social connection.

I think the dream we were told and sold has fallen flat. I think the kids know it. The working generations know it.

And maybe it’s just those last few travelers from Egypt that are literally crossing over to the other side. Specifically our elders, the ones who keep reposting junk on Facebook, who tried so hard to convince us to settle for at least the desert… maybe once they pass on then our awakening will happen. Collectively.

Maybe then history books will be written in the future about how the people on earth were given and had access to information that helped them see that better was not only possible but also probable. 

I have always prayed to be like Joshua and Caleb. I pray often that God would help me not to settle just outside Trinity’s best for me. And for us. I don’t want to have fought this far for this long to just die in the desert. To get out of Egypt but refuse to let Egypt get out of me. 

I’m not better than anyone. But I am damn sure hungry. I not only want, but need a better Life. That’s always been my motivation. If God is really real then I want to experience all there is from Trinity. From Jesus. I’m not content with just a religious performance. I need a real God for my very real Life. This isn’t words for me. This is everything. This is my getting up and out of bed in the morning. And making it through the day in this rough-ass world.

I don’t need anymore pandering. I don’t need anymore pretty empty words. And I don’t think I’m at all alone. I think most people feel this way.

But I think they’re all scared to say it. Because if the only thing keeping us all holding on is the story passed down for the last few generations, then what do we do if we lose that?

I feel a stir. I feel a rumbling. In the people. In the world. We are becoming more and more ready for a new story. Something real. Something tangible for our real lives. Our real struggles. Our real hurts. Our real questions. Our real hearts. Our real souls and spirits.

We are tired of just being endlessly “entertained”. Lulled into distraction in order to be fleeced.

By even the religious elite. Even the preachers in our neighborhoods as well as the ones on TV.

AI was the nail in the coffin. Turns out there actually is Life enough in us to reject it when it tries to replace what is best in humanity. Even in our brokenness. We want it as a tool, but I think most of us are beginning to see we actually matter. Even as we are. To ourselves. And especially each other. 

Yes, some things have to change, but we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bath water. 

The kids aren’t listening anymore. And I’m thankful for that. The pendulum swings. Sure they go too far in other directions. But the genius of God… When we are ready, school will be in session. 

I pray it won’t be painful. But my personal experience doesn’t promise that.

Dross. The hope is that the refiner’s fire burns away all that needed to go. And only the gold remains. Me, you – we are that gold. There will be hell to pay, but we won’t be destroyed – the essence of us – individually or collectively. Even if there is a passing to the other side. 

This is a very good God. The angels sing “Holy! Holy! Holy!” not because Trinity is obsessed with rules. But because They are so patient! They are so merciful! There is endless grace for us who in our delusions and fear murder The One sent to heal us. To save us from ourselves and those who messed things up for us. 

When The Great Physician does surgery, it is restorative. Not destructive. But we’ll get to that later. 

For now, I see that even a conqueror full of ego can set the stage for The Good News to spread faster and farther than any man-made kingdoms. And the AI little-l lords of today are no different. They are on a leash, in a way.

All will not be lost. Even as I’m sure we can expect a washing. Correction begins in the house of THE Lord. Especially for those of us who pray for it. 

As Peter said, please give me all there is to get, Holy Spirit. As much as I know it will be painful and scary to let go of what I leaned on for so long. Without knowing what will be next.

Except as we walk with You, God, we learn Your character. We become like those horses that settle down in the ring.

We learn that they lied to us – that You’re not scary. That they did the best with what they knew, but it still wasn’t true. Now I know there is nothing to be scared of with You.

And I don’t need a book to confirm it enough for anyone else’s approval – I’ve experienced You for myself. You are real, You are alive, You are great.

And I can’t wait until other people experience You more and more the same. I can’t wait until I am able to celebrate The Truth with others together in person some day hopefully soon. On this side before whatever is on the other.

This is all for now. More another time.