In Part III on the Life of Abraham, we will look at his life after he departed Haran at age 75. We will look at both his success and his failures or shortcomings. We will see that his calling and journey of growing in faith, in many ways, parallels our journey. First, we will define what the word "formative" means and why that is vitally important to understand. We have all been shaped by our formative years. The choices and decisions we make during those years will normally determine how successful our life will be. Only for all of us, those years occurred at a much younger age than they did in the case of Abraham. We will also look at an amazing unconditional three-fold covenant promise God made to Abraham at the beginning of his formative years. A covenant promise that God kept in spite of Abraham's shortcomings - a covenant promise that is the reason Great Britain and the United States of America became the two greatest nations on the face of the earth in the time leading up to Christ's return.

Steven Shafer

Elder, United Church of God

Steve Shafer was born and raised in Seattle. He graduated from Queen Anne High School in 1959 and later graduated from Ambassador College, Big Sandy, Texas in 1967, receiving a degree in Theology. He has been an ordained Elder of the Church of God for 34 years and has pastored congregations in Michigan and Washington State. He and his wife Evelyn have been married for over 48 years and have three children and ten grandchildren.