No (,) God

The article caught my eye, not because I knew the actor it was referring to, but because of the wretched misery that was contained in the short title: “I don’t believe in God.”
That was it. This actor set himself up as a god and said, “No, no, no!” when asked if he believed there was a God. He went on to say, “I’m probably 20% atheist and 80% agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You’ll either find out or not when you get there, and then there’s no point thinking about it.[i]” (Atheism blatantly denies that there is a God, while agnosticism says that it is impossible to even know if certain things about theology, the afterlife, and ultimate reality are true.)
Such apathy shocks me.
You have probably also heard of bestselling books like The God Delusion and God is not Great, the titles of which are enough to make my fingers stiffen on my keyboard. Psalm 14:1-2 says, ‘The fool has said in his heart, “[There is] no God." They are corrupt…. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.’
The question is, when He looks down what does He see?
According to surveys by the Barna Group, the percentage of atheists and agnostics in each generation stays virtually the same. Thus, the generation of those 61 and older contains about 6% atheists/agnostics, close to what it was fifteen years ago. My generation, on the other hand, is 19% atheist/agnostic[ii]. We will live our lives with these people for maybe seventy or eighty years, brushing shoulders with them, making small talk, perhaps never seeing the same “man on the street” twice, and probably never giving them a second thought.
What was I saying about apathy?
According to the Barna Group, less than half of one percent of those in my generation (18-23) have a biblical worldview[iii]. While we idle, however, those who reduce our great God to a delusion are united in viewing Christianity as a threat. “Most atheists and agnostics (56%) agree with the idea that radical Christianity is just as threatening in America as is radical Islam.[iv]”
Perhaps our sin is greater even than those who turn their back on God. We know the truth—we know the greatness of our God, and we know the consequences for those who reject Him. And yet, what do we do?

David Kinnaman, who directed the survey I have been referencing, said, “There are nearly 130 million American adults who describe themselves as Christians, but who are Christian in name only; their behavior includes little related to experiencing and expressing their alleged faith in Christ." Check out the poll on the sidebar--not everyone has voted yet, but the results are very interesting. Furthermore, what would our answer be if asked if we had witnessed even more recently? Last week? Yesterday? My own answer would show indifference, to my shame.
Here is our challenge and the promise to those who reject God. Here is the antidote to our apathy:
‘“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior….Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one. Those who make an image, all of them are useless….I have sworn by Myself…that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath….To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him….Though one cries out to [gold], yet it cannot answer nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and be men, take courage.'

(Isaiah 43:10-11, 44:8b-9a, 45:23-24, 46:7b-8a)

[i] http://www.thefoxnation.com/entertainment/2009/07/23/brad-pitt-i-dont-believe-god
[ii] http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians
[iii] http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/21-transformation/252-barna-survey-examines-changes-in-worldview-among-christians-over-the-past-13-years [iv] http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians

Running

This morning, I slammed my hand on my alarm and rolled out of bed. Still half asleep, I pulled on nylon shorts and an Old Navy t-shirt. I brushed my hair back into a ponytail and located my MP3 player. Meeting Lauren downstairs—we were the only two awake in a still, cool, dim house—I pulled socks on, shoved my feet into shoes, and tied them. Together we stretched in kneeling, upside-down, and I’m-just-about-to-fall positions. Then the long walk down the driveway in the already-hot air. We placed earbuds to ears, carefully aligned our feet with the mailbox—our start and finish line—and with eyes on her watch, Lauren gave the countdown: 3…2…1…GO!
And so I run, reminded again on this beautiful morning of why I run. With my legs moving automatically, and my breathing coming steadily, I feel the hymn “This is My Father’s World” rising in my soul. I am on a mountaintop, and life is good.
Halfway! I turn around, prepared to rerun what I just ran. The rest of the way stretches out before me, because I can unfortunately visualize every inch of the familiar road. What lies ahead is a battle with no room for complacency. My calves are burning, and my lungs seem to have suddenly shrunk like a wool sweater in the dryer. I have a mind game to deal with as taxing as any chess match, debate session, or persuasive essay. It is me—my spirit, soul, mind, and will—against me—my flesh!
Soon, I have managed to eat up the distance until I reach the neighbor’s house that stands in for the ¼-mile marker. A quarter of a mile left. And all uphill. With the sun out and shining cheerfully. This fight is grueling as I push every step of the way. I am fighting gravity, resistance, friction, and myself. I am stretching out my legs, opening my mouth, panting, and craning my neck to the sky. I am on fire, with sweat streaming down my body, and my mouth tasting like blood. I am running…running…running…for my home: the prize! Are you?

Keep them drums rollin'!

Well, N.B. apparently must be on a blog fast for now, because I never heard back from N.B. after we did our contest and drew that name. Unfortunately for him or her, but fortunately for someone else, we had to redraw. So I mixed the names up and had Jonah pull out another slip of paper.
This time, it was Jacqueline! Yay! I hope you enjoy the gift certificate to Sacred Audio, Jacqueline, and Mikaela is e-mailing it to you right now!
Thanks again to all of our followers!

Hurricane World

We were on a seven year old’s dream vacation. Waking up at six a.m. to collect shells, running on the beach all day, building sand castles you could sleep in, digging to China, and being lulled to sleep with a cup of hot cocoa were all on my agenda when we went to the beach with some friends over a decade (-: ago.
One stormy night, my mother had promised a walk to all of us kids. The weather outside was really quite atrocious from a grown-up’s perspective, but to our minds it was perfect beach-strolling conditions. Our friends’ dad decided to come along as well, so he grabbed a jacket and we all headed down the sidewalk to the beach. When we finally made it to the beach, my comrades and I made some wonderful discoveries. 1) It was terribly windy 2) We weighed about 70 pounds each and 3) If we “let ourselves go” the wind actually blew us down the beach! This of course was much better than any hot cocoa, and we screamed with delight as the wind swirled around us and forced us backwards. That is the seven year old’s perspective, but being 18 now, it might be interesting to also look at it from the grown-up’s point of view. 1) These are 80 mile an hour winds! 2) These kids aren’t strong and could get blown away!! 3) There our kids go like the nannies on Mary Poppins!!! Wait—come back! And with those words our fun ended. We had to plant our feet down on the ground, but even then we sort of drifted backwards. “We’re going home NOW!” one of the parents yelled above the wind, and so we began to struggle forward. Our heads bent against the blowing sand, our progress was slow but steady. However, as soon as we stopped to take a rest or look around, we began to drift backwards again. When we finally arrived back at the house, we were exhausted and sandy, but we took our hot cocoa and lay down in front of the fire, and, boy, did we have a story to tell!
I can’t help remembering that story when I think about the world and our perpetual battle against its sin. We headed out to the battlefield of life as baby Christians—tiny, weak, and naïve. In many areas we remain still tiny, weak, and naïve. How often we even revel in some of the world’s neon pleasures and allow ourselves to be blown in whatever direction the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2) would blow us! Hebrews 10:32 says, “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings.” It is only when our loving Father calls out to us that we stop, our ears tingle, and we breathlessly resume our journey towards that loving voice. At first we pause, wanting to change but unsure of what to do, and the wind still batters and blows us back. It is only when we begin the struggle through the temptations and cruelties ahead that we can actually resist going backwards.
Know this: if you are stalled in your Christian walk, you are backsliding. These winds that we face, they are not light breezes. They are not even 80 mile an hour gales. No—we face hurricanes and typhoons, the strength of which is unfathomable. Ungodly friends, sinful books, secret sins, and lustful thoughts all make up this force that seeks to blow us down. We are helpless in our feeble struggle up the beach unless we do it through Christ who strengthens us. “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.(Heb. 2:18)” And when we finally reach heaven, where crowns instead of hot cocoa await, we can at last see our Lord and bask in the warmth of His glory, and, boy, will we have stories to tell! So bend your head against the temptation, keep your eyes on Jesus, and join me in this struggle against Hurricane World!

Note: Picture from http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/17/massachusetts-oks-10-wind-power-requirement/

Family Camp

Last Friday through Sunday was Heritage Bible Church's 2nd Annual Family Camp on Loomis Lake (about ten minutes from the Pacific Ocean). Friday evening started off with singing around the campfire and a rather zany special music

courtesy of our family.

S'mores were then enjoyed by all...

...including our speaker, Dr. Murphy (at right trying to control his blazing marshmellow)! Of course, music was a large part of the whole weekend, and we often found it difficult to stop singing once we got started!

l-r: Joel, Mikaela, Lauren, and Joshua accompany the singing on Saturday.

Throughout the weekend, Dr. Murphy spoke on God and Jesus, with sessions titled such things as "God Is..." and "Jesus Is..." and "He Is Worthy." The deeper understanding of God that I gained through this weekend was even more precious because of my recent study on God's glory (see "The Glory of God: How it Changes Your Life"). We learned about His attributes, which are infinite. Knowing that God is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal life, perfect, and unchangeable should change the way we interact with others, eat, sleep, entertain ourselves, spend our time, worship, live, love, pray, talk, and die. God is everything: I am nothing. Yet, somehow, He has allowed me to live because of and for Him, and what a privilege it is!

Dirt was the main attraction for the younger set (that's Jonah, Caleb, and Christiana l-r). I even caught Jonah instructing a younger, less-experienced dirt-player in the art: "Aidan," he said, "there's certain dirt for certain things!"

As the rest of us tried to avoid dirt, we had good, old-fashioned fun on Saturday with 1 1/2 hours of team games. As you can see by the two pictures above, Susanna is neither competitive nor determined. ;-)




Top left: Lauren, Christiana, and Mikaela; Top Right: Micah jumping off the dock; Bottom: Jonathan, Abbie, and Joel.

Of course, meals had to be prepared and cleaned up. Everyone did it in great spirits, and I don't think dishwashing has ever been so fun!

The night owls (and even some of the not-so-night-owls like me) stayed up into the late hours of the night lobbying for their favorite word in Bible Apples to Apples, or slamming down cards just in the nick of time in Dutch Blitz, or even learning how to play the card version of Monopoly. Friendly comaraderie, competition, and creativity reigned.

Sunday was a very special day in the life of my sister Melanie as she chose to take the next step of obedience in her Christian walk. She was baptized on Sunday, July 19th as a symbolism of Jesus' burial and resurrection, her new life in Christ, and her willingness to identify with Jesus. Because baptism is not the means of salvation, but rather a public testimony of salvation, Melanie shared with everyone that she had indeed been saved and was prepared to take this step.

She emerged smiling and triumphant as everyone on the shore began to sing "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" with smiles and a few tears.

Sunday afternoon provided time to play a blistering game of soccer, pack up, clean the facility, and then get three final games of volleyball in before leaving for another year. I left family camp with a renewed commitment to glorify my great God and with strengthened friendships with many precious brothers and sisters in Christ.
l-r: Susanna, Susanna, Esther, and Abbie

Back Row: Mr. Murphy, Lauren, Melanie, Papa, Mama, Mikaela

Front Row: Mrs.Murphy, Micah, Susanna, and Jonah

All pictures are courtesy of Mama except for pictures #1, 19, and 21, which are courtesy of Jonathan.