God's Presence as Our Identity Marker

God answered Moses's first question by pointing to Himself. Moses asked, "Who am I?" and God simply replied, "I will be with you." God's response at this point should be fundamental to the way we view ourselves. From the very beginning, God's people are known as those whose God is with them. We belong to Him, and there is no way that we can define ourselves apart from God. It is His presence with us that enables us to accomplish the tasks He gives us.

--Francis Chan, with Mark Beuving, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2012), 130-131.

The Ordinary Human Language of Scripture

If we say that we shouldn't take God's words at face value, that we need to discover some sort of hidden meaning beneath the plain meaning of the words of Scripture, then we are saying that God is using human language in a way that is different from the way human beings use language. But we have absolutely no indication that this is the case. To the contrary, when God spoke to human beings in the Bible, they understood Him and acted according to the plain meaning of His words. When God told Israel to build a tabernacle, they didn't perform some sort of dance as a spiritual interpretation of His words. Instead, they took His words at face value and created a tabernacle in accordance with the plain meaning of God's words. Our approach to Scripture should be the same.

--Francis Chan, with Mark Beuving, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2012), 130-131.