Attributes of God – Page 6 – Hope and Passion Ministries

The Scent of Autumn

Posted on September 18, 2010 by admin

Sitting in my backyard on a gorgeous autumn afternoon, I reached down and picked up a handful of leaves from the ground. As the brown and yellow leaves crackled in my hands, I remembered days of my childhood. I would rake a pile of autumn leaves and carve out a hole in the center. I would then sit there, delightfully surrounded by the leaves as I read book after book. Days seemed simple then, and my memory of reading in the leaves is amazingly vivid. As I lay in the pile of leaves consuming my books, my heart would leap as my imagination ran wild with all the possibilities of life.

Now a grown adult, I was tempted to smell the crackling autumn leaves in my hand. Knowing that our sense of smell is greatly related to memory, I took time to hold those leaves close to my face and breathe deeply. Ah . . . the comfort of childhood days came rushing back.

What amazed me was the constancy of the smell of the autumn leaves. Though my childhood reading in the fallen leaves occurred decades earlier, the scent of those leaves is exactly the same. I know not much of the biology and chemistry behind dying leaves, but I know this: they smell the same today as they did then.

Much else has changed in the decades between my experiences, but the scent of autumn is constant. God promised in Genesis 8:22 (NASB), “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

The changing of seasons and all the accompanying details continue on unhindered because God is a God of constancy.

He is a Savior on whom we can fully rely. The God who said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation, plants, and trees” is a God we can trust. His way of cycling the leaves through life and death – and all the reactions producing the smell of autumn – will continue on as long as the earth endures.

And when earth no longer does endure – when this broken planet has to flee from the presence of a righteous God (Revelation 20:11) – our Savior will still be reliable. He is the one constant in all of life. He will re-make this earth into a home of righteousness for the redeemed.

As the earth and its current regularity remind us of God’s constancy, so the return of Jesus and His re-making of this old earth remind us that only God is unchanging. Though the scent of autumn goes on and on in this life, the God who created autumn will outlast this world.

He alone is the One on whom we can depend to usher in the next world, and carry us there.

This is (Not?) Too Much for Me

Posted on September 14, 2010 by admin

I know the tribulation of life can feel this way, but – for the Christian – it cannot accurately be said that a trial is simply “too much for me.” Oh, I have surely felt at my literal wit’s end in deep places of despair and struggle, but the Word of God stands true forever. Paul said triumphantly in I Corinthians 10:13 (NASB), “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Either we believe in the God of the Bible or we do not. As a Christian who trusts God for my salvation, I must certainly also trust Him for my survival through difficulty. How can I claim the miracle of Him saving me from the wrath my sin deserves, but I cannot also believe the miracle that He provides my way to escape the temptation to sin or to give up?

I Corinthians 10:13 outlines five important facts to remember:

1) Every trial we undergo is common to the human race

2) God is faithful even though we are not

3) God will not give to us more than we can endure

4) God always provides a way of escape

5) God’s plan is that we endure, not be destroyed

Yes, our hearts break under the weight of anguish and difficulties of many kinds. However, let’s take God at His Word. Let’s memorize and ponder and live out the truth of I Corinthians 10:13. Then we can say, “This is not too much for me, for my God is faithful.”

Magnanimous Mercy

Posted on September 12, 2010 by admin

One of the saddest sentences in the Bible is this one: “Then all the disciples left Him and fled.” (Matthew 26:56b, NASB) Wow. Just as Jesus was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, His closest friends and followers abandoned Him.

Jesus had faithfully kept His word for three earthly years, serving alongside His disciples. Now, at this time of deepest despair – right when Jesus was about to begin this period of unimaginable suffering – His followers walk away. Shame on them! Should not they have realized what was happening? Should not they have understood that Jesus had predicted this event and its outcome? Should not they have stood by Him because of their love for Him? Should not their own fear and selfishness have been set aside for the sake of the Savior?

No, I cannot say, “Shame on them.” For each one of them is me. I walk away at times. I am faithless more often than I like to count. I abandon my Lord at various times of difficulty. I forget His promises. I am much like each disciple; I often fail my Jesus, though I hate the thought.

Thank God that “He Himself knows our frame; he is mindful that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14). For though the disciples fled right before His crucifixion, Jesus still died for them.

Jesus did not choose to go back on His promise of redemption even though His closest friends abandoned Him right as He was about to embark on the darkest moments of His earthly life. We can barely understand that kind of love. However, finite understanding does not negate this love’s reality.

Forty days after His Resurrection, Jesus looked at the same disciples who had forsaken Him and boldly proclaimed, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

A second “wow” is fitting here. The ones who had been faithless were now entrusted with the greatest task imaginable: being a witness to the world by the power of the living God inside of them.

God, may we, too – though we have failed you at times – be entrusted with Your calling. May we grasp the depths of your magnanimous mercy.

Those disciples went out more invigorated than ever because they experienced the profound forgiveness of Jesus. The ones who had fled the scene in fear now gave their own lives away for Jesus’ sake.

His mercy changes things – for the better.

Does Everything End with Us?

Posted on September 8, 2010 by admin

Genuine Christianity results in a radically countercultural worldview. There is no way around this fact. The heart of Biblical Christianity is “God first.” The heart of today’s culture is “me first.” One need not be a philosophy scholar to recognize the law of non-contradiction at play here. Either it is God first or me first, but it cannot be both at the same time.

I recently fell into the cultural trap when I found myself praying that God would reveal to me what His plan for my life was in reference to certain circumstances swirling about me. I basically kept begging God to show me what he has for me. Feeling stressed and at times sorry for myself, I wanted to know how God would help me. This seems innocent at the surface, but the truth hit me like a brick after many months of praying in this general way and not receiving peace. The Lord then showed me, “Shelli, it’s not about what I have for you, but what you have for me,” He seemed to say. I realized that God was impressing on me this thought, “My life is to be spent for His sake – no matter the cost. The answer is not in finding how God fits into my plan and my life, but how I fit into God’s plan!”

Stepping back from my own encounter with the false worldview of self-centeredness, I began to ponder what has happened in recent times. Most of the marketing to which we are constantly exposed urges us to buy what will help us feel better about ourselves and give us a sense of fulfillment of our self-determined needs. We are prodded to buy gadgets that can be customized to our lifestyle and our personality, and that can satisfy our every whim. As Christians, we need to discern the empty philosophy behind this strategy, and boldly determine to think as God will have us think – even if that means dismantling in our own lives the pull of the marketplace. I know it can be difficult to imagine that the general marketplace could be wrong, but remember that we do not use the world as our compass. God’s unchanging Word is our standard.

What is the source of the “me first” culture in which we find ourselves? I believe it can be traced back to a pantheistic view that followed the period of modernism. A New Age type of thinking recently invaded our culture. The crux of this pantheism is explained well by Dean Halverson (2003, 177),

As the existence of a transcendent God who created all things is denied, which is what the New Age movement does, then the objectivity – the solidness, the otherness – of external reality is diminished. When that happens, then the role of the individual in shaping reality increases in importance.

Pantheism is a belief that everything is God. Divinity is one, and people are an emanation of that “oneness.” Pantheism dangerously says that God is not “other than us” or “outside of us,” but that He is the same as us. Since we are divine (of course, it takes much contemplative meditation and striving to realize this), we have much to do with reality. In fact, Pantheists believe that we – in essence – create our own reality.

A pantheistic framework flowed easily into the idea of hyperindividualism that is so prevalent today. Matthew Vos (2010/2011, 22) explains,

Another social change influencing schools and students hails from the hyperindividualism saturating the Western world. Television advertisements promote products that can be created, customized, and ordered to reflect the “real you.” Cars, iPods, computers, and pizzas can all be fashioned to your image and to your liking.

The culture’s worldview shifted easily from a general paradigm of pantheism to the specific problem of hyperindividualism. We humans have a much too inflated sense of ourselves and our role in reality when compared to God and His role in reality.

People in general have largely come to believe that the stuff of life is supposed to reflect us and be what we want it to be. We have come to feel that everything ends with us. Actually, we are not the end of the line. We are designed to point to God; the purpose of our lives is to glorify Him. Though we are yet sinners, we were created in His image (Genesis 1:26). The point of living is to make God the most important thing. It follows that the stuff of life is to reflect Him, too. Romans 1:20 declares that the entire creation tells us things about God.

Do we see the difference in thinking presented to us? It is not that the stuff of life points to us, but that we point to God. In turn, we harness this creation and use all He has given to bring glory to Him.

I realize now that the purpose of my life is to be used by God for His renown. My purpose is not to conform my experiences and circumstances to fit what I deem as a good or comfortable life (hyperindividualism streaming from pantheistic thought). The culture can present to me whatever slick marketing messages it wants, but I know that the Maker of Reality is my Maker. I am not an emanation from God; I am a creation of God. My life will be spent bringing glory to Him for as long as He gives me the strength to do so in this world, and then He will supply the strength for me to do so forever in the world to come! May we quit trying to manipulate circumstances to “create the reality” we desire, and –instead – gratefully endure all things as God is exalted.

References:

Halverson, Dean. 2003. The Illustrated Guide to World Religions. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers.

Voss, Matthew (2010/2011). “Kids These Days” in a World of Change. Christian School Education, 14 (1), 21-23.

Darkness Dispelled

Posted on September 1, 2010 by admin

In the darkest of nights
And the brightest of days,

God is at work all the while.

No candle He needs,
No fumbling about,

Though murky and deep be the trial.

For God is light,
So where He is
The way stands clear and sure.

We yet perceive darkness
As we struggle with sin,

But God’s view of things is most pure.

Light chases darkness until it is gone,
Dispelling confusion and fear.

In an instant,
A beam cuts through shadowy night,
And suddenly things become clear.

In a moment,
Jesus charges through all time and space,
And swiftly our answers are near.

Effective Educational Assessment Is Rooted In Biblical Truth

Posted on August 25, 2010 by admin

A proficient educator will utilize two types of assessment: formative and summative. Formative assessment is used to evaluate a student’s progress so that instruction may be modified for purposes of improvement. Formative assessment is not a final evaluation, but rather a feedback process whereby the teacher can make proper adjustments with the goal of increased comprehension. Formative assessment keeps student improvement at the forefront.

The goal of summative assessment is to determine a student’s mastery level after a specified period of time. Summative assessment is often used to issue a final grade or mark at the conclusion of the instructional period. Summative assessment is somewhat final and culminating in nature, as the period of instruction has ended, and final evaluation of mastery of content is made.

Careful educators engage in formative assessment more frequently than we might realize. Walking into the classroom, they immediately gather feedback via body language as to whether or not a student is apt to participate or will need significant motivation at the outset. An attentive teacher decides minute by minute which student should be called upon, based on confidence level and other factors. Teachers ask questions, give quizzes, engage in discussion, monitor guided practice, and utilize many other methods to gauge the success of instruction on a weekly, daily, and hourly basis.

The constant barrage of feedback an educator receives enables him to adjust instructional methods in order to improve student learning. If teachers teach simply to assign grades, the paradigm is both useless and ugly. Assessment should happen – whether or not accompanied by a grade – in order to make changes as necessary for the success of student learning. An educator ought to take in the streaming feedback and use it to modify instruction. Sometimes the formative assessment assures a teacher she has reached the goal of student mastery, and sometimes the assessment prods the educator to re-approach the method of instruction in order to see a greater – or broader – level of student mastery reached.

If I think I have taught a brilliant lesson with the objective of students being able to solve a quadratic equation, but at the conclusion of the lesson only ten percent of the class is able to actually solve an equation, then I need to make adjustments. Perhaps I moved too quickly through the material (as quadratic equations excite me!). Or maybe I did not provide enough guided practice. Whatever the case, I know that I must work again toward my objective, for my goal is to see my students able to solve quadratic equations. Their success is my vision.

Though the subject of assessment is popular in both Christian and non-Christian educational settings, the fact is that assessment’s truth is rooted in the Bible. All truth is God’s truth. Whether humanist educators acknowledge the fact or not, a proper view of assessment is drawn from God Himself; for He is the Creator of the world and all its learners.

Amazingly, both formative and summative assessments are seriously Biblical in nature. Does God test His people? Absolutely! When He tests people, what is His goal? Is His goal our destruction? Never! His goal is that we grow in grace and knowledge and become more like Him. In I Peter 1:7, we are told that God’s desire is that our trials result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though testing is often painful in a multitude of ways, God’s goal is that we grow. He desires we become stronger and better in Him (James 1:2-4). He assesses us – not in order to modify His ways – but to see us modify our lives – that we might be complete in Him.

Just as much as formative assessment flows from the heart of God, so does summative assessment; though this fact is more sobering. While God tests us in this life in order that we might grow, there is coming a day when every person will face God’s summative assessment. He will finally – at the end of history – demand an accounting of each one of us and assign us to our final destiny. Those who have rejected Him will face eternal damnation (Revelation 20:11-15). Those who have clung to Him will face a final evaluation of their lives for the purpose of ultimate reward (I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Corinthians 5:10). At this point, there will be no chance for improvement – no time for modification. God’s summative assessment will have taken place.

We see that effective educators will be adhering to Biblical truth when they employ both formative and summative assessment, demonstrating once again that all truth is God’s truth. May educators reflect the grace and love of God in their employment of formative assessment, and may teachers reflect the reality of human accountability to God when they utilize summative assessment.

The Only Thing We Ever Really Have

Posted on August 13, 2010 by admin

All the money in the world. Fame beyond imagination. A body to be envied. Success of unbelievable proportions. All of this is meaningless the moment we take our last breath. And, perhaps, all of this is meaningless right now. The world is filled with people who are scared on the inside because life on the outside does not provide security whatsoever.

Think about this: we cannot even guarantee we will have a heartbeat in the next five minutes. When we strip away all the pride and self-sufficiency, we realize we are helpless creatures – completely unable to secure our destinies. What do we ever really have?

All we ever really have is the opportunity to connect with our Creator. We are at His mercy; and His mercy provides the opportunity to reach out to Him and react to His desire to hold us tightly.

I cannot control the world. (That is quite an understatement!) I cannot control tomorrow. I cannot control people. I cannot control the continuance or discontinuance of my very earthly life. The Word of God makes clear that God alone owns everything and controls everything. In Psalm 24:1, David penned, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

We may rebel against God’s ultimate ownership and control, but the truth remains unchanged no matter our disagreement. Many people’s ongoing denial of the sovereignty of God keeps them up at night, causes them internal and external distress, diseases their minds with discomfort and confusion, and saps them of the energy to live.

When a person comes to terms with the simple truth that the only thing he or she has is the opportunity for relationship with God, then a person is on the road to a life worth living.

David also said in Psalm 111:10 that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” In other words, to stand in reverent awe of God – to recognize we are at His mercy – is the ultimate starting point for the wisdom necessary to navigate this world.

What is the way to the only real life there is? Admit that you are helpless in the shadow of the living Lord who created you. Ask Him to make things right between you and Him by the sacrifice of Himself – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Godhead. In this sincere plea, we ask God to cover with the righteousness of Jesus our sin and inability to please Him.

What then? We rest. Isaiah proclaims in Isaiah 30:15, “In repentance and rest is your salvation.” We rest because we now finally and clearly see that the only thing we ever really had was the opportunity to connect with our Creator. Believing we are in control is a delusion, and one can never really rest in a lie. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Electrons and Questions of the Heart

Posted on August 9, 2010 by admin

Do you ever feel like even you cannot figure out what you’re really thinking? Have you ever wished you could express to someone the deepest ponderings of your heart? Does your mind get tired as you try to decipher the meaning of circumstances? Is the rush and demanding pace of the culture overwhelming your brain?

The good news is this: there is an answer. Preceding a recent time of prayer, all of the above noted feelings swirled about me. As I prayed, God brought me back to foundational truth.

Please do not allow the mention of science to dissuade your continued reading. After all, if God is real, He is the Maker of all things scientific. The alignment of scientific fact with the ways of God is most heartening.

Our foolish childhood inattentiveness in physical science class notwithstanding; protons, neutrons, and electrons are core components of atoms. The material world consists largely of electrons spinning around nuclei of protons and neutrons.

More amazing than even the seemingly ubiquitous existence of these unseen particles is the precision of their weights. The mass of an electron is 9.11 X 10^-31 kilograms. Now, that is the number 911 with thirty zeros in front of it! What a tiny, tiny particle! The electrons whirl about the nucleus of each atom. Of what is the nucleus made? It is made of protons and neutrons.

Though the electron’s mass is so miniscule it seems immeasurable, the mass of a proton is 1,836 times greater at a diminutive 1.6726 X 10^-27 kg. Amazingly, though we are dealing in masses so small they stagger the mind, the neutron weighs just slightly more than the proton and electron combined. By how much, you ask? By the number 1,389 with 29 zeros before it! Yes, a neutron outweighs the combination of a proton and electron by 1.389 X 10^-30!

Why are we amazed? (You should be amazed, by the way.) Here are the mind-boggling facts:

“If the combined mass of electrons and protons was not slightly less than that of the neutron, the two would unite to form neutrons, leaving the world devoid of electrons and protons. If the combined mass was more than the neutron, then neutrons would decay into protons and electrons, leaving the world devoid of neutrons. Neither scenario results in a life-sustaining universe.” (Meister, 74)

Do we get it? The numbers and differences in weights are so small they seem almost meaningless to us. Yet, at a level that deep, everything must be right on for life to exist. The Creator is that meticulous, that overwhelmingly exact and involved in what He has made.

Similarly, the Creator is that meticulously involved in our hearts. Following are two passages from God’s Word to consider:

“Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:4-6, ESV)

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thought and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)

As I prayed the other day, thoughts of the precision of the mass of atomic particles spurred me to ponder the amazing accuracy of God’s understanding of every part of my mind and heart. He is not confused by the ongoing collision of memories, hopes, analysis, disappointments, encouragement, emotions, and strivings happening in me. He sees and measures each one.

Though the thought of God’s immense knowledge is “too wonderful for me” (Psalm 139:6), I rest in it. I cannot figure myself out, but He can. I need that assurance, for what point is there if nothing makes sense to anyone?

God’s Word is able to divide soul and spirit and discerns the intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Oh, thank you, dear Jesus, for I am unable to know my own intentions at times.

What joy came when God impressed on me His ability to know it all, His care to hold my heart and mind together – down to the tiniest detail – just as He holds the atoms together with marked precision.

There exists no physical life without God’s grand assessment, precision, and power to guide each detail. There is no life at all without His power to know us. And since He knows us like that, how should we respond? The answer is found in Part II, yet to come.

Reference: Meister, Chad V., Building Belief (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006)

When UNDERNEATH Is More Important Than OVERCOME

Posted on July 10, 2010 by admin

Have you ever failed? You prayed, you hoped, you tried . . . and you failed. You really meant to overcome. But there you were, unable to succeed.

I recently had another opportunity to prevail in a particular area of trusting the Lord in which I had failed numerous times before. Were I to share the circumstance, some might say it is not big deal. Yet, it is a big deal, because I have tried again and again to commit this fear to the Lord and be one who overcomes.

I returned home having to hang my head as I realized how weak I truly am. I cannot even wholly trust the Lord in an area so many others find so simple. As I began mentally to beat up myself, our God of everlasting mercy spoke gently to my heart.

“It is more important to humbly realize your dependence on Me than to be proud of your own self,” He seemed to say. “In my infinite wisdom there are times when I know it is more important to be underneath my mercy than to overcome the circumstance,” I felt Him whisper.

Oh, Lord, this is difficult for an aspiring perfectionist such as me. Yet, I feel so safe knowing God is working on the core of who I am.

This musing of mine is not an excuse for failure or lack of trust in anybody’s life. Rather, it is a call to remember who’s who! God is God, and I depend wholly on Him. My only strength comes in knowing – and having to be reminded – that I am a humble human being who desperately needs Jesus to hold me every step of the way. My striving and subsequent failure vividly brings this dependence to the forefront.

King David knew the secret; He had been brought low by many encounters with his own sin and inadequacies. Thus, he said, “Though the Lord is on high, He looks upon the lowly, but the proud He knows from afar.” (Psalm 138:6, NIV)

When we are lowly, brought down by circumstances and our own finite humanity; let it remind us of the beauty of humility in God’s sight. Let it focus our minds on a God whose love and mercy are so pervasive that He chooses to strive with lowly people like us.

I love you, Lord, for reaching down to me.

Of Fountains and Vacuums

Posted on May 16, 2010 by admin

When we turn away from God, we are not simply turning to something “not quite as good” as God; we are veering toward a veritable vacuum. When we choose to disregard God, we actually descend into a vortex that sucks the vitality of life from the core of us.

Our Creator spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (2:13, NASB)

Evil number one: people turn from God, who is – metaphorically – the Fountain (or Spring) of Living Water. As earthly springs provide a fresh flow of natural water, so God is the source of real life and joy. Spring water is not produced through our efforts, but rather enjoyed when we come near and drink. The supply is endless; it just keeps coming, and we drink happily though we’ve not had one bit to do with the water’s production. The refreshment is ours; the production is His.

What utter shame it is that we would walk away from the source of all life and joy. It is more than a shame; it is sheer evil to forsake the One who provides.

Evil number two: people turn to man-made cisterns – broken cisterns – that can hold no water. Make no mistake; when we abandon the Fountain of Life, there is no hope of gathering life in containers of our making. Whatever containers we fashion to feebly attempt to hold joy – riches, successes, relationships, fit bodies, etc. – they simply cannot hold life. As with broken cisterns, real joy leaks out – sometimes oozing, sometimes gushing.

Living for God and living for something else are not opposites. Living for something other than God is the absence of genuine life. As broken containers leak water, so people turned away from God leak the essence of life.

God is the Fountain, the Giver of all good things. All else is a broken cistern, sucking from our soul true vitality.

What is evil? To turn from the Source of Life and turn to a vacuum, thinking we have somehow done better for ourselves. Come back to God.

He Will Get Us There!

Posted on May 4, 2010 by admin

Do you wonder how you’ll get to where you need to go? Do you doubt that you’ll make it to the destination God has for you? If you’re thinking destination with a capital “D” – Heaven – let’s add to that the myriad, smaller harbors along the way as we traverse this life. How will we make it?

We must embrace the exciting truth of one of the most overlooked, under-appreciated verses in the Bible, John 6:21.

Here, John relates to us the power of Jesus to manipulate the very fabric of space and time for the safe transportation of His followers to their destination! Unbelievable, science fiction-like action is displayed here. But this is not fiction. This is the Maker of reality manipulating reality under the feet of His followers!

After Jesus walked on water to get to His disciples’ boat out on that old sea, our Savior was finally invited into the vessel. He had to convince His friends that He was not a ghost, as His supernatural power overwhelmed them.

Although Matthew and Mark focus more on the water-walking, John zooms in precisely on the next miracle: So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Astounding! That boat was transported supernaturally to the shore. Overpowering space and time, Jesus carried the vessel of His feeble-minded followers! In an instant – without added effort and rowing – there they were, at the other side!

Why did Jesus manipulate the fabric of the created universe that day? Of the infinite number of reasons God may have, we can be sure one is for our current comfort. We need tangible examples of God’s control of circumstance on our behalf.

Who knows how Jesus will transport us to tomorrow, or past this difficult trial, or over this heart-wrenching disappointment, or to the future years of our life, or through the tumultuous times of our culture, or over the anxiety that would destroy us?

But He can. And He will . . . if we will let Him into our boat.

Disturbing News About the Millennial Generation

Posted on April 28, 2010 by admin

In this post, I refer to the April 27, 2010 USA Today article by Cathy Lynn Grossman titled, “Young Adults Less Devoted to Faith.”

I guess the title of the article begins to tell the tale. True Christians are not devoted to faith so much as we are devoted to God. Somewhere along the way, we as Christians have failed to communicate that we are not adherents to a religion; we are partakers in a relationship. I believe the root of this failed communication is not our failure to tell the truth of the core of Christianity, but to live the truth of the relationship.

In a world of relational disconnectedness despite a technological link to nearly everyone and everything, people long for an intimate relationship with the One in whose image they are made. Please remember, God is triune; Father, Son, and Spirit have been loving One another and relating perfectly to One another forever. God is relational. I find it no accident that the enemy of our souls is demeaning relationship and promoting shallow contact.

Josh McDowell said it well in Beyond Belief to Convictions (2002), “The core of Christianity is far, far more than a set of true propositions; it is the news of ‘a God who is passionate about His relationship with you.'” (p. 86) It seems we Christians have neglected reflecting that passion. Are we living like we have truly received that passionate love from God? Are we showing the people around us that we love to hear God’s voice through His Word, that it is crucial to us that we talk to Him always, that His plan is at the forefront of our daily decisions, and that He gives us joy to live?

The USA Today article sadly reports the following absolutely unbelievable facts:

36% of 18-29-year-old people who “believe they will go to heaven because they have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior” RARELY OR NEVER READ THE BIBLE!

68% of the same group DID NOT MENTION FAITH, RELIGION OR SPIRITUALITY WHEN ASKED WHAT WAS “REALLY IMPORTANT IN LIFE”!

Herein lies the problem: The devastating statistic about Bible-reading held up to the light of II Thessalonians 2:9 (NASB), which says, “. . . and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”

This pivotal verse does not say that people die because they refused the truth. It says they perish because they refuse the love of the truth.

Perishing because we do not receive the love of the truth.

The Bible is the only tangible communication we have on earth from God to hold in our hands and have saturate our minds. It is the link to the One we say we love with all our hearts. God’s Spirit promises to illuminate its truth to us. And yet, 36% of people who claim Christianity rarely or never read it. God please help us.

Let us ask these questions today. Where is my Bible? How worn are its pages? How much are its words hidden in our hearts? How often do we carry it with us? Who sees that we love the truth?