Have you ever wanted to go Old School?

You remember, back in the day when some of the biggest questions you had were:
What should I play during recess – dodgeball or kickball?
What should I drink with my brown-bag lunch – plain milk or chocolate?
What dessert that will never go bad tastes best – a Twinkie or a Ding Dong?

Regardless of what time period was Old School for us, we look back on those times and smile at how simple and silly it all seems. Sometimes we wish we could go back, at least for a little while. That’s because we remember all of the fun but not much of the education.

That’s often the way that we look at the Old Testament. A lot of us had these Old School stories served to us in a Sunday School-style setting while we were munching on stale pretzels and sipping on watered-down Kool-Aid. It may be easy for us to forget the cheesy flannel-graph presentations we saw then, but it’s even harder for us to remember the timeless lessons they held. So in this series we are going Old School. Accompanied by a cast of characters from the Old Testament and their encounters with God, we will find answers to today’s questions in yesterday’s stories.

I was old school when it was still new school (word to your moms, I came to drop bombs). It was so new, in fact, it wasn’t even considered school (so you guys are way behind). Granted, I was pretty young, but we all want to be like the older kids, right? So, in my mostest humblest attempts to be part of a (slightly older generation’s) movement:

• I had an Atari 2600 – one button of pure pixilated magic (Combat anyone?)
• I had a Members Only jacket (If you don’t know, I’m not telling)
• I had an uber-zippered Michael Jackson jacket (pleather)
• I tried to moonwalk and glide everywhere I went (awkward)
• I had a bad haircut (Also called a “wave” – but nothing like Flock of Seagulls)
• I popped my collar (words cannot express my humiliation)
• I wore aviator glasses (these actually looked really cool on me, and I mean really cool. I still wear them.)

ALAS . . . If I only knew then what I know now. . .

• I would have bought stock in Apple when they were awful (Believe it or not, Apples used to be a lot like how PCs are now – don’t be a hater)
• I would have never let my picture be taken when my jeans were tight rolled (embarrassing)
• I wouldn’t have gone to that NKOTB concert (shame) . . . or bought the hat (double shame)
• I wouldn’t have settled for easy answers – I would have looked for bigger questions