Interview - Storyteller & Author David Edgren!

Welcome back, I'm David Gibbons. Now everyone loves a good story, whether it's in a book, a movie, or recounting a funny experience around the dinner table. But my guest today believes that stories are more than just great fun. David Edgren is a pastor and author, but has also taken on the badge of that most ancient of professions, the storyteller. Welcome, Dave.

Thank you very much, lovely introduction.

You like the storyteller part? Yes, hello. The best role you've ever played? King Herod, I guess. I like the beard.

Yes, I had a big beard. Road to Bethlehem in Melbourne is becoming this massive thing. 10,000 people go through every year.

King Herod for us.

Yes, I played King Herod this last year, and he comes out and sees 3 ladies talking about him, his servants, and saying, "I heard he killed his sons." And my opening line is, "What was that? You weren't talking about me, were you?" And they go, "Oh no, of course not." So yes, I love telling stories, acting in stories, and writing stories.

Jesus told a lot of stories.

He did.

He would go into a town, heal people, and then he would tell magnificent stories. In fact, the Bible is full of stories.

Yeah.

So why is it that Christians so often go to the Bible because they're wanting just to get theological content out of it instead of going looking for the stories?

I think we're busy and we look for a quick fix. And so we go to the Bible and look for the to-do list and then we try to go get busy for God and we miss the epic narrative that is God's involvement with his people, his grace and his mercy, and through through the people. And what happens is when we lose our story, we lose our identity. And that's largely what's happened to people in the way they treat the Bible is they're looking for the quick fix, the bullet points, rather than involving themselves in the narrative and then going, "Wait a minute, this is my story." And you're right, we've all got a story of our own of coming to faith as a Christian.

You've got a story, I've got a story. We should be sharing those stories as well because they're our testimonies and we should be getting immersed invest into the Bible and looking at those stories and sharing those stories with their children and their grandchildren and the like. Now you've written books, but foremostly you're a storyteller. So how do those two things work together, the telling of stories and the publishing of stories?

Well, as a minister, I found the most effective form of communication is a story. And so I've been traveling telling stories to kids all over the place. And I have parents come up all the time, "I wish you'd write your stories down." And so you can't write what you tell because you tell, like you act and stuff. So I thought, well, if I was gonna write a book that taught the things I would like to teach kids, what would I write? And that's where the books have come from.

So what books have you written? Now this one here has just come off the press.

Yep, this one's actually not a Bible story. It's just a parable I wrote to teach kids the values of community and humility, Giant Boots. And then this one's for grownups. It's Bible stories and personal stories, but it teaches them the process of being Nurturing Evangelistic and Worshipful People, so the new church. And then this series of Bible studies actually begin with stories, and each of the 28 stories or studies has a Bible story at the beginning that I've rewritten.

Oh, so you've actually gone in, found 28 fundamental beliefs from the Bible, and actually then written stories around that.

Exactly. So I use a story to introduce the topic, Then I say, "Now let's look at the story." So we dig into the story. "Now let's look at your story. Now let's look at the Bible and see what these verses teach us about our heart, our head, our hands, and our horizons." So what are we going to do about it? How do we feel about it? What do we know about it? And how does it change the way we see the world around us?

So we've got the address on screen here right now, but you tell us as well.

They're free. That's right. These are actually free online. You can go and download them, journal, write your answers, or use it for small group Bible study. Family Bible study.

And the URL?

vickids.adventist.org.au/28stories.

Download them and ready to go.

And then my favorite books.

Yeah, the trilogy, but there's only two of them.

The trilogy of two. Now the third one comes out in April and we're going to get a sneak peek of that in a little bit. But when parents said, could you write the Bible stories for our kids? That's when I came up with the scroll series. And the Serpent Scroll says, where did evil come from? Where did good come from? And how can— what's God's answer to the evil in the world? And the way that the storytelling mechanism that I've used is these 3 children, which are actually my 3 children.

All right.

But I've used their middle names and their main character strengths. And so they're not exactly my 3 kids, but they're in my imagination. It's what my kids would say if they were having a good day. And they go and explore the theme of serpent through the Bible. So they start with the tree with the serpent, and they finish with the great red dragon in Revelation, and they see that epic story of good versus evil.

And the Lamb's Scroll continues on the same sort of a theme.

It does. It teaches baptism and following God.

Ah, okay.

But again, using Bible stories and the 3 kids asking questions of the text from within the story.

So, is this a book that children just read for themselves, or can parents read the stories to the kids and get involved?

Every chapter, there's an example, every chapter has questions at the end. The chapters are no more than 10 minutes reading time, and then the questions should lead to a 3- to 5-minute discussion. So parents can have morning worship with their kids reading the stories and digging into the great teachings of the Bible.

So tell us about the third one, can you? About the Kingdom Scroll.

Oh, the Kingdom Scroll is my favorite of the three. After we've seen the reason, the good versus evil, and in the Serpent Scroll and God's solution, and after we've said, I want to be a part of this, I want to be baptized, follow Jesus, then we say, how do I live in the kingdom now?

Okay.

And that's what the Kingdom Scroll is about.

Get into character for us. Tell us a little bit of the story.

Okay, I'll read you a snapshot out of the middle of the first Bible story they're exploring. Before Arioch could announce Daniel to the king, an anxious voice came from the throne. "Belteshazzar, Arioch tells me you know my dream.

Is this true?

Can you tell me what my dream means?" Paul, James, and Hannah— that's the 3 kids— walked up next to Daniel so they could see the king. In the light of the torches, they could see the deep lines on the king's face, and his eyes looked puffy and red. "He looks very tired," James whispered. "And like he's been crying," Hannah added. 'He's very stressed about this dream,' Paul explained. 'Stressed enough to threaten the lives of his wisest men and religious leaders.' Daniel replied, 'There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune tellers who can tell the king such things.' The king thrust himself forward on his chair. He was on the edge of his seat. His eyes were bulging in anger. 'Why would Daniel say that?' Hannah asked. 'He knows the dream.' 'And its meaning,' James added. 'He's a smart man,' Paul said. 'Smart?' James hissed in rebuke. 'He's going to get himself killed.' After a dangerous pause, Daniel continued, 'But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw in your bed.' And I'll let you read the rest in April when the Kingdom Scroll comes out.

Good. So how can people get hold of this, these books, this trilogy?

You can go to the Adventist bookstores around the country. You can go to AdventistBookCenter.com. And order any of my books. And you can go to my blog and read about what I'm doing now, what I'm writing now, which is— pastordaveonline.blogspot.com.

Okay, great. Thanks, Dave.

You're welcome. Good to be here.

I've been speaking with Pastor David Edgren, author and storyteller, and we'll be back after the break. Great. Thank you very much.