Moralistic Therapeutic WHAT? Chilling Words on Young People and the Church

Protection from a False Gospel

Several months before originally writing this article in 2010, I began a series of posts on "Protecting Children".   (Protecting Children, part 1;  Protecting Children, part 2, Child Protection Resources)  That series is by no means finished...in fact, it will probably be ongoing for as long as I am blogging. That series focuses on issues such as child pornography, child trafficking, protection from predators, etc....issues about which I am very passionate.  

However, as important as I think those issues are, and as heavy as they are on my heart, there is another area of "child protection" that is even more important...and that is the spiritual protection of our children's hearts and minds...protection from the dangers of a false gospel.  

When we think of the term "false gospel", we generally tend to think of cults and false religions: Mormonism, Islam, etc.  However, the "false gospel" that seems to be overtaking us now is a different one: one which is much more insidious, much more subtle, and so very, very dangerous.  

I spent several years teaching the youth girls Sunday School class at our former church.  I LOVED teaching this class...I loved the girls, I loved the discussions, I loved everything about it (except the pesky clock that told me my time was up each week...ugh! ;-))  Most of all, I loved the lessons and the things God taught me through them.  At the time of the original writing of this article, we were in 1 and 2 Samuel, learning from the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David.  So much good stuff there!

That particular week, we were in 2 Samuel 6...the account of David's decision to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, and the tragic death of Uzzah as a result of disobedience in transporting the Ark.   There was so much good in this lesson, but the most important point was this:  

We can be totally sincere, our intentions can be wonderful, but if we are not careful to see what God says about what we are doing, and obey Him in that, we may find ourselves in sin and in grave danger.   

The girls and I had an excellent discussion about this that Sunday morning, particularly as it relates to people who say,

 "It doesn't matter what someone believes, or what they call their god, as long as they are sincere."  

We've long heard that philosophy from the world.  However, it is increasingly seeping into the church and the Christian publishing world.  At that time, I had in fact just read a book asserting that very thing which was published by a major Christian publisher and glowingly reviewed all over the blogosphere.

A New American Religion? 
 
In his article "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--The New American Religion", Al Mohler discusses the National Study of Youth and Religion.  As a parent and youth Sunday School teacher, I find the  results of the study, and Mohler's article, quite chilling.

According to Christian Smith and his fellow researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, authors of the study, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism includes the following beliefs:

1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 
2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 
3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."
4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 
5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

Sound familiar?  None of these beliefs are new.  They are thoughts we've seen in the "lost" for years. However, this study indicates that they now form the belief system of "most religiously affiliated U.S. teens."

The Mohler article is long, but it is "must" reading as far as I'm concerned, especially for parents, children's/youth workers, and church leadership.  I can't address the entire article here, but there are a couple of things that I feel are worth particular note.

Most Disturbing

Perhaps the most disturbing thing in Mohler's article was this:

"The researchers, who conducted thousands of hours of interviews with a carefully identified spectrum of teenagers, discovered that for many of these teens, the interview itself was the first time they had ever discussed a theological question with an adult. What does this say about our churches? What does this say about this generation of parents?" (emphasis mine)

What does it say, indeed?   I pray that no teen with whom I come into any sort of regular contact...and particularly my own children...would never be able to say such a thing.  This causes me to treasure even more the time carved out in our school schedule for this very thing...not to mention the day-to-day opportunities.  I am strongly convicted to make those times even more of a priority.   

I am also thankful that our family has been blessed with churches in which I believe it would be difficult (if not impossible) for a young adult to go through their childhood and teen years and say such a thing.  I'm thankful that my children (and their parents :)) have had and continue to have the privilege of sitting under preaching each week that is solid "meaty" Biblical truth. 

Colonizing the Church

Another deeply disturbing finding of this study is that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is "colonizing" the church itself today. It "seduces converts who never have to leave their congregations and Christian identification as they embrace this new faith and all of its undemanding dimensions."  

According to the researchers, "...we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."


Whereas we have heard for years that America is becoming a more secular nation, Mohler's article says this: "These researchers assert that Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith."


What does that mean for us as Bible-believing Christians?  According to Mohler:

"We must now look at the United States of America as missiologists once viewed nations that had never heard the gospel. Indeed, our missiological challenge may be even greater than the confrontation with paganism, for we face a succession of generations who have transformed Christianity into something that bears no resemblance to the faith revealed in the Bible."

More and more over the past few years, I've been convinced and convicted that as a parent and as a homeschooler, I need to be very careful in my priorities...both on paper, and subconsciously.  As I said in a previous blog post...

"My primary goal is not for my children to excel academically...although I do want them to excel academically. My primary goal is not for my children to be well-behaved in public...although I certainly want them to be well-behaved in public! :) My primary goal is not even first-time obedience with a respectful attitude...although that is a crucial foundation stone and a vital goal.

"My primary goal is for my children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Only if they truly love Him and have a personal walk with Him as not only Savior, but also Lord of their lives, will they truly be the successes that He...and I...want them to be. No matter what they look like on the outside, no matter how intelligent, polite, and "successful" they appear to be...if they haven't given their hearts to Him completely, it is all for naught."

• Our children must be firmly grounded in the Word.
• Our children must know the true gospel so that they will be equipped to recognize and reject a false one.
• Our children must know what they believe and why they believe it, but that must go beyond head knowledge to heart knowledge. They must take that as truly their own, and not just what their parents have passed down to them.  

What a challenge to us as parents.  We cannot make the "heart stuff" happen.  There is no formula to produce that in our children.  Our responsibility is to teach them according to God's Word, to diligently pray for them, and most importantly, to truly "live it" ourselves, and to show true repentance and humility when we fail.  Then we have to trust the Holy Spirit to do His work in them, just as He does in us.


What a challenge also to any of us who work with youth or children.  Fellowship is a good thing.  Fun is fine and definitely has its place.   But we must never lose our focus on *why* we are there.   Grounding our children and youth in the truth...and not a watered down version...is crucial.  

What a challenge, really, to any of us who call ourselves Christians.  We need to be sure that we are grounded in truth ourselves.  We need to be sure that we are involved in a solid Bible-teaching church.  We need to support and encourage pastors who are committed to teaching the truth of God's Word.   

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.~2 Peter 2:1

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  ~Deuteronomy 6:6-7

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  ~John 8:31-32

How and where have you encountered the "false gospel" of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism?  Do you agree that it is infiltrating our churches?   How are you living out the command to "teach them diligently" to your children?  

I'd love to hear in the comments, or via the "contact me" box in the sidebar.  


Author's Note: Long-time readers may recognize much of the content of this post.  It was originally written and published in 2010.  In the process of preparing to share it from the archives, I decided to edit and update it a bit and completely republish it instead.  
 

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And Finally, Without Further Ado...From Courtroom to ER to 17 Years and Counting, Part 2

"...right in the middle of bowling..."BEEP. BEEP. {pause}BEEP.BEEP.{pause}BEEP.BEEP."

That's where I left you hanging almost a month ago.  Ack!  Sorry about that.  We had talked about Billy and I meeting in court, and then we'd started our first real date, a bowling outing with friends. 

Trouble is, we were both on call, with a whole passel of pagers and "car phones" as we called them in those days.  They were actually bag phones...remember those?  Almost no one in those days had personal cell phones; we'd just gotten the amazing bag phones that were passed from on-call worker to on-call worker, which made dealing with after-hours, away-from-the-office issues so much easier.

Except when one was in the middle of a first date. A first date in which both parties were carrying said phones. 

The Best-Laid Plans...

As the beepers began wailing, we realized that we were probably finished bowling for the evening. Sure enough, we were both paged to the hospital on the same case...Billy to begin the abuse investigation, and me to begin the process of finding a foster home for the tiny girl involved. 

It was not to be our last date to end in the ER, meeting the police for an investigation, or transporting a child across the state to a foster care or facility placement. in fact, Billy once literally saved my life when the teen boy I was transporting attempted to choke me on the dark drive down the mountain (pre-540 Bypass days) after he'd been kicked out of a shelter.  (Sadly, that boy is now in prison for multiple murders. :-( )

Hours in the ER was not the world's best ending to a first date, but it was somewhat indicative of the pattern of our lives from that point on.  Not much has gone as planned in the 20+ years since!  We learned early on to be flexible and roll with the punches. (And we're still learning!)

As we began to talk about marriage, we made one decision very early on...neither of us would work for DHS/SCAN once we were married. Our joke was that we would make that part of the wedding vows.  We didn't...but it was tempting.  Child Protective Service careers don't tend to be conducive to long, healthy marriages.

The Crystal and the Kitten

When Billy and I met, I was living with my Granny Kitty.  All of my extended family liked Billy immediately, but Granny Kitty just pretty much took him in as one of the family long before we were engaged.

I've laughed for years that I had to marry Billy to get my crystal back. :)  Years before, Granny had parceled out all the things in her china cabinet to the grandchildren.  The crystal was to be mine.  One day, Billy was making conversation with Granny and remarked on how beautiful the crystal was.  She said, "Well, you can have it.  I'll give it to you."   No, we weren't engaged yet at the time.  She'd just adopted Billy as one of her own. :)

Even before that, though, I knew that Billy had won her heart when "Alex" came along. Although the story was that Granny's original "Katherine" had been shortened to "Kitty" by her family because she loved the barn kittens so much, Granny had never had an indoor cat.  In fact, for all of my lifetime, she had been adamantly against pets of any kind.

Then Billy and his sister Sheryl found a tiny kitten at their apartment complex.  They weren't allowed to have pets, so they were frantically trying to find it a home.  I had just come home from an out-of-town trip, and Billy was in the living room telling me about the kitten.  "I really wanted to give it to Jen..." he said.

I waited for Granny to launch into her usual "inside pets are evil" speech.  Instead, she turned to me and said, "Well, I guess you need to go get your cat!"

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I think my eyeballs popped out and scraped the floor for a minute.

And so I brought Alex home.  Granny loved that cat and spoiled it rotten.  Craziest thing I ever saw!  Even crazier because Granny had poked so much fun at my Great-Aunt Jessie just a few years before.  When Daddy's cousin Anna Beth got a tiny teacup poodle, Aunt Jessie threatened to move out of the house.  She refused to have anything to do with the dog for the longest time.

When Anna Beth died of cancer several years later, though, Aunt Jessie took the dog as her own.  I never will forget the day we took Aunt Jessie to lunch, and then went back to her house to visit for a while.  Not long after we got to the house, I was quite curious to hear the microwave running.  We'd just had a substantial meal, and I couldn't imagine what Aunt Jessie was cooking.

Then she brought out a plate and put it down for the dog.  She'd been warming it's lunch in the microwave!

Granny thought Aunt Jessie had lost her mind.  And now I was sure Granny had lost hers.

But it turned out, she hadn't lost her mind, but her heart....both to the tiny little kitten and the Italian guy who'd brought him home.

 
What's In a Name?

Speaking of Italian...Billy is half Italian.  He looks and acts just like the Italian side of his family.   (Bayley does, too...I've always known that she strongly favored Billy and his mom, but when I saw his mom's younger sister, his Aunt Rosie, for the first time, it was as though I was seeing into the future, and seeing what Bayley would look like in 40 years. Wow.)

Billy got the Italian genes, but not the Italian name, a fact I'm still trying not to be bitter over.  His mom's maiden name is a really cool Italian surname.  Her mom's maiden name was an even cooler Italian surname.

I grew up not only having the most common first name of my generation (hence my children's less-than-common given names), but the 5th most common surname in America.  Growing up with the last name "Brown", I dreamed of marrying someone with a really fabulous last name.  Both my aunts had married into great names...one a strong German surname, and one a totally wonderful Italian one.

So what do I do?  Marry an Italian with the last name "Harris".  At least I did marry into a less common surname...went from the 5th most common surname in the country to the 15th most common.  Sometimes life is just funny. ;-)

Winter Wedding Wonderland

Billy and I were engaged in April.  The immediate question became when the wedding would take place.  Billy suggested fall.  Way too soon, with our crazy schedules, to put together a wedding in a town two hours away from home.  Then he suggested December.  Absolutely no way!  My birthday being so close to Christmas had caused me to decide as a young girl that I would under no circumstances get married in December. 

I had always wanted to get married in the spring.  But Billy didn't want to wait a year.  Neither of us wanted to do February, for a variety of reasons.

That left January. We were actually both happy about January.  For nine months, though, we heard dire predictions about our choice.  A lady in our office kept assuring us it was going to snow.  The weather would be bad and we'd have to cancel the wedding, or no one would be able to get there.  January was just not a good month for a wedding.

A week before our wedding, it seemed the weather might agree with her.

The ladies of my home church gave me a shower the Saturday before the wedding.  We got to Conway without issue, but Saturday morning we woke up to several inches of not only snow, but ice, on the ground, with more pouring out of the sky.  It was beastly.

The shower went on, however, and many brave ladies made it to my former boss's house for what turned out to be a beautiful shower.  My maid of honor, who was traveling from out of town, even made it, albeit a bit late. :)

The following Saturday, however, was sunny, unseasonably warm, and beautiful.  There could not have been more perfect "wedding weather" if we'd ordered it.

It certainly hasn't been all sunny weather since, but through all the "storms of life" that have come in these 17+ years, God has continually shown His faithfulness in every area.  I'm thankful for a husband who is not perfect (which is good, because the gal he married sure isn't!), but who is an example to his family of loving his wife as Christ loves the Church, who spoils his wife rotten, and who is a loving, attentive, godly Daddy to his children.

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You've heard some of our story now...now I want to hear yours!  Tell me how you and your spouse met in the comments.  Or share about a memorable date.  I'd love to hear your stories!

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{Meet and Greet Friday} Please Come See Me!!

I'm over at the Intentional Blogger today for Meet and Greet Friday. I'd love to see you there!!  (And while you're there, leave me a comment so we can get to know each other better! 

(And be sure to come back by here later today for today's "real" post. :))

Thanks!!

Jennifer 

Teaching Creativity When You Don't Feel Creative {And Why Do I Need to Teach Creativity, Anyway?}

Out for a walk yesterday, we passed a house with an “up for auction” sign in the yard.  The house is quite dilapidated, with peeling paint, holes in the roof that are visible from the street, and boarded up windows.

I stopped to take pictures.  My girls were a bit curious, until I explained that the house had once housed my dad’s cousin’s flower shop.  I don’t remember it in those days; I was too young.  I do remember it still being beautiful 20+ years ago, when I went to take pictures of it “for old time’s sake.”  I always loved its character and the reminder of Anna Beth, who was one of the great influences of my young life.

From the time I was a very little girl, I remember Anna Beth being described by all who knew her as “so creative.”  As I grew older, I realized that she truly was one of the most creative people I would ever know.  She was talented in all sorts of artistic pursuits…flower arranging, stained glass, painting, ceramics, and more.  She could make anything beautiful, and make something beautiful out of virtually nothing.

I realized something else; I was not “so creative” like Anna Beth.  Although I loved to do a variety of arts and crafts, I was the “give me some directions and a pattern, and I can follow it step by step” kind of person.  I was one of those people who would say, with a bit of a sigh, “I’m just not really creative.”  I decided that there were two types of people in the world: those who were truly creative, and those who were not. I definitely fell in the second category.

In college, I met another person who would go on my “most creative people in my world” list.  Tauna reminded me much of Anna Beth.  She could take the most humble “ingredients” and turn them into something truly beautiful.  I was in awe of her abilities.

Although I enjoyed crafting, I never felt my final outcomes were anywhere near worthy of being called “creative.”   That title was reserved for the Taunas and the Anna Beths of the world.  You know...the ones who are truly creative, in fancy lettering with flourishes and doodles.

Tauna, however, disagreed.  She fussed at me, “Don’t say you’re not creative!  You ARE creative.”  She encouraged me to see myself as creative, and act accordingly.  I did, by spurts, but behind her back I still classified myself as one of the “have nots” in the world of creativity.

Then came the summer when we studied the character quality of creativity in VBS.  I was hit right between the eyes with the realization that creativity is just that: a character quality.  I shared on my blog the game-changing truth I learned that summer:

 “Creativity is not a talent that one either has or does not have, it is an aspect of the character of God (the Creator of all!) and it is a character quality that we are to work to develop just as we are to develop patience, diligence, and kindness. That was a turning point in my thinking in the area of creativity. I was challenged and convicted that rather than excusing myself with 'I’m not creative,' I needed to not only be working to develop this character quality in myself, but in my children.”

What an amazing realization that creativity is part of who we are as creatures made in the image of God! It isn’t something that we either “have” or “don’t have”; it is something that we can all develop and then use in the areas in which God calls us to serve. It is also something we need to teach our children.

 

In the book Educating the WholeHearted Child, one of my favorite authors (Sally Clarkson) quotes another of my favorite authors (Emilie Barnes): 

“Creativity is a God-given ability to take something ordinary and make it into something special.  It is an openness in doing old things in new ways…The creative spirit is part of our heritage as children of the One who created all things. And nurturing our creativity is part of our responsibility as stewards of God’s good gifts.” (Emilie Barnes, The Spirit of Loveliness)  

Clarkson goes on to say that creativity is a mental muscle to be developed. “True creativity draws upon what already exists and finds a new or better way of doing something. Far from being a mysterious special gift, it is a process that can be cultivated and trained in all children.”

We’ve all heard the old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” but I am so thankful that God can change a stubborn mom’s lifelong paradigm.  Since my “I’m so not creative” days, much has changed.

I used to feel that I could only craft with directions and a pattern to follow step by step.  Over the past decade, I’ve taught hundreds of scrapbooking and craft classes for adults and children.  My goal is always for my students to finish with a project that shows their own creative touch, not an exact replica of a standard “class sample.”  Much of who I am these days involves creativity, and I love the opportunities God gives to continue to develop and grow in this area.

 

The most important thing, though, is that I am blessed with the delightful privilege of helping develop creativity in my children! As homeschooling parents, we have a wonderful opportunity to help our children stretch their creative muscles and see them grow in the character of Christ.

If that intimidates you the way it once intimidated me, take heart. If God can bring about such a change in this once-decidedly uncreative mom, He can bring it about in anyone. God will provide the creativity we need to meet the challenges He has given if we will simply ask and open our eyes to what He has to show us.

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This post was originally published as the 1st post in a series on teaching creativity at Homeschool Toolbox.  I'll be re-posting my second post in that series, "Teaching Creativity: Where Do I Start?" her on the blog next Thursday. I'm reposting these articles here as the beginning of a new series of "Creativity Thursdays", with all-new posts to begin week after next.  Watch for posts on resources for teaching creativity, creative projects, and more!

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The Original Claremore Road Trip Adventure {Steve Ladd, Jonathan Martin, and Michael English}

"This is the day I will walk in faith. 

This is the day I will not be afraid.

Be still my soul,

God is in control.

I will lift my hands to Him and say

This is the day the Lord has made."

Certain songs transport me back in time almost like a time machine.  Steve Ladd's "This is the Day" is one of those songs for me.  It takes me back to the summer of 2012, an exciting, but rather scary, time in our lives. 

If I go back to early June of that year, I'd never heard of Steve Ladd.  I also had no idea in early June of last year that God was about to take us on a brand new adventure. 

By mid-June, we were seeing glimpses of the adventure on the horizon.  God very suddenly and surprisingly began to lead us in the direction of leaving the church we'd loved for over 16 years for a tiny little mission church 40 minutes away from our home.  (If you have any idea how hard it is for 6 people...2 of them teenagers...to get ready for church in a one-bathroom house on Sunday morning, you know that the idea of increasing our Sunday morning drive time from 6 minutes...hitting all the red lights...to 40 minutes...seemed a bit crazy!)

Read the Story of our Adventure here. 

I'm not sure of the exact date, but sometime in early July, I think, my friend Jodie (aka the concert fairy) was looking at Guy Penrod's concert calendar and noticed one just a couple of hours away in Claremore, Oklahoma.  Upon further investigation, Jodie discovered that this church in Claremore had a whole slew of southern gospel concerts.  In fact, there was one coming up very soon with Michael English, Jonathan Martin, and Steve Ladd.

Michael English and Jonathan Martin I was familiar with.  Steve Ladd, though, I had never heard of.  As Jodie and I discussed it further, I began looking up his music.  

"This is the Day" immediately resonated with me, and I did something I rarely do...immediately downloaded the mp3 from Amazon.  I played it so much I had the words memorized within a couple of days. 

As the story of our "adventure" tells, God was calling us to step out in obedience and faith, to leave behind the comfortable, to step away from what had been our "safe place" for years.  We wanted to make sure that this was truly His leading and His plan.  

We prayed hard, we studied the Word, we sought wise counsel, and over and over God confirmed that this was His leading.  He has continued to confirm that throughout this year.  

God eventually gave perfect peace about His leading, but in the process, I struggled.  I sang the words to this song over and over and over again. 

 

"This is the day I will walk in faith. 

This is the day I will not be afraid.

Be still my soul,

God is in control.

I will lift my hands to Him and say

This is the day the Lord has made."

Jodie is famous for "last-minute" road trips.  I don't even remember for sure when the decision was made to take this first road trip to Claremore, but that Sunday afternoon found us headed west. 

The trip itself was good for both of us.  It had been a crazy summer in many ways.  It was good to get out and just drive (or in my case, ride :)) and talk and laugh.  And laugh we did.  So hard in fact that on the way home we ended up with a windshield full of Diet Coke. :-D

We were a bit amazed at the concert itself.  "Claremore Naz", as it's often called, is not a large church.  We had already seen the schedule of upcoming and past concerts: the Isaacs, the Hoppers, the Booth Brothers, the Collingsworth Family, Jeff and Sheri Easter, and of course, our favorite, Guy Penrod.  How in the world did this relatively small church host such major Southern Gospel groups? 

We later learned that the secret behind Claremore Naz's long history of great concerts is Mrs. Shirley.  I described her in another Claremore Concert Road Trip post: 

She looked like someone's dear sweet grandmother (which we later discovered she is :)), not a concert promoter routinely hosting many of Gospel music's greatest (which we discovered she also is!)

We've since gotten to know Mrs. Shirley a little better, and heard more about her from others.  She is one amazing lady, and we are so thankful to have connected with her!

I've mentioned before that I take notes at concerts.  Weird, I know, but there are always things said that I don't want to forget, and I know I will if they aren't written down.  Unfortunately, my notes from this concert appear to be in the wind.

Although I don't have the specifics of the things I heard that night that impacted me so much, I do know that God used that concert mightily in my life.  Steve spoke about obedience, trusting God, and stepping out in faith.  Jonathan told about growing up in the backwoods of Arkansas with no electricity, and how God used that to prepare him and his sisters for their current ministry.  Michael shared his testimony of ruin and redemption.

I always seem to sit through at least one song per concert in tears.  (Fortunately, Jodie usually does too, so I don't embarrass her too much. :))  This time it was Steve's "This is the Day".  There's always something a little surreal about hearing someone sing their song in person that has ministered to you in such a deep way.

The trip home is really worth a whole blog post all its own.  This was my post on her Facebook wall the next day:

So...first...I thought you said you were building in an hour to get lost on the way TO Claremore, not on the way home...
And second...I thought you said *an* hour, not *three* hours.
Just sayin'! :-D

Jodie replied that we were only actually lost for two hours.  I responded that it just feels like three hours when you are in the middle-of-nowhere (Jenks, Oklahoma) and you've been driving around and around in circles forever in the dark. :-D

The important thing is that we did finally get back on the road toward Fort Smith, and I had my very first ever Jack-in-the-Box food for supper.  A very late supper. Is it weird that I can remember what Jodie ate, but I'm not sure what I had?  All I know is that it was really, really good.  (Perhaps more because it was really late and I'd spent two hours wondering if I was ever going to eat again than because of the actual quality of the food?)

This was my status the morning after the concert:

Not even sure where to start this morning! Last week was quite the roller-coaster week, and this week promises to be more of the same. So thankful that God already knows every step, and that He will guide us through each one if we will just follow. Excited to see exactly where that's going to take us right now!

One thing of which I am totally sure this morning, though...I saw more of Jenks, Oklahoma, last night than I ever wanted to see or ever hope to see again. (Of course, when I say "saw", that's somewhat misleading, as most of it was pitch dark and, as my daughter would say, "really creepy". And then my sweet husband called when we were in the middle-of-beyond-nowhere and started humming the theme from "Deliverance". If he only could have seen where we were at that exact moment! It was all well worth it, though...another exciting road trip adventure providing stories to tell our grandchildren from our rocking chairs!

I know that there is more I'd planned to say about this concert/road trip adventure, but I think I've already written a book!  I can't believe it's taken me a year to blog this concert...but in God's perfect timing, as always, I needed to be taken back to this time last year and be reminded of God's faithfulness and work in our lives.  Even today, I've had a heavy burden about a direction in which God seems to be leading that's a bit (well, maybe a LOT) out of my comfort zone.  So needed to be reminded of those words again today:

This is the day I will walk in faith. 

This is the day I will not be afraid.

Be still my soul 

God is in control. 

I will lift my hands to Him and say, 

This is the day the Lord has made. 

Be still, and know that I am God. ~ Psalm 46:10 

 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. ~Psalm 1:1-2

For a peek at this concert, check out this video of Michael, Jonathan, and Steve singing "I'd Rather Have Jesus" a cappella.  Beautiful!!

 

 

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Linking up with Woman to Woman Word-Filled Wednesday today...




   

God is Good. {God is Truth. Satan Lies.}

"God is good."

It's one of the earliest Bible truths we learn as toddlers.  Southern Baptist preschool curriculum used to call them "Bible thoughts."

"Be kind."  "Jesus loves you." "Love one another." "God is love." "Help one another." "God created the world."

"God is good."

Basic, foundational truth.

As we get older, we learn the songs:

God is so good.
God is so good.
God is so good.
He's so good to me.

We learn the verses:

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!  

~ 1 Chronicles 16:34

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

~Psalm 100:5

 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

 ~Psalm 34:8

We learn it. We talk about it. We believe it.

Until...

Until the day comes when God's goodness is challenged, when we find ourselves questioning what we've always been taught and believed.

Cancer. Death of a loved one. Loss of a child. Sexual assault. Financial catastrophe. Betrayal by a spouse or loved one.

Life is not always rosy. It doesn't always go according to plan. Tragedy and loss happen.

It's in that place that the questions begin.

"Is God really good?" "If God is truly good, why did He let this happen?" 

At this point, one of two things happens. We succumb to Satan's lies, lies as old as the Garden, or we wrestle through with God.

Satan's original deceit in the Garden was to cause Eve to question what she knew about God. "Did God really say...?"  He told her that she wouldn't surely die, that God forbade them to eat of the tree because He knew it would make them like Him.

He told them God didn't really want what was best for them. He told them God was trying to keep good things from them.

God really isn't good.

Succumbing to those lies led to grave consequences for Eve, for Adam, and for the rest of the human race. It leads to grave consequences for us as well.


The wrestling, though, the wrestling can lead to blessing.
 
I have wrestled. I have wrestled with all I was taught as a child about God's goodness. I remember vividly where I was sitting and the thoughts that went through my mind at the time.

"If God is sovereign (which I've always been taught that He is) and if God is good (which I've always been taught that He is), then how on earth could He sit and watch this happen?

"This" being the violent crime perpetrated against a child. My child.

I wrestled. I cried. I prayed. I couldn't pray. I searched Scripture...on the days I could even manage to crack open my Bible. Others prayed for, cried with, and gave Scripture to me.

And God in His great mercy brought blessing through the wrestling.

The wrestling can lead to the blessing of knowing that we know that we know.

The wrestling can lead to the blessing of that childhood faith growing up, moving closer to maturity and completeness. 

The wrestling can cause us to know that God is good, "a whole lot more, for sure." (Steven Curtis Chapman)

Are you wrestling with God's goodness today?  I'd love to pray for you.  Message me via the contact box in the sidebar. 

How has God shown you His goodness?  I'd love to hear in the comments section!

For more on the truth of God's goodness, check out these links:

Stories of God's Faithfulness in My Wrestling:

"I Know a Whole Lot More For Sure"

Thankful Thursday - God's Goodness (Life Isn't Always Good)

"It's All Good"  (Is it really? Yes, it really, really is.)

On the Subject of Suffering...

Believing God is Good in the Face of Severe Pain and Coming Death:

Remembering Mr. Bill-Foy Shared by one of my dad's closest friends at Daddy's funeral.  About a week before this, I sat on the foot of my dad's bed, seeing the intense pain that had been his constant companion clouding his eyes, as he said to me with tears in his eyes, "God has been so good to me."  A testimony to God's goodness that God used a couple of years later in my own time of wrestling.

If God is so Powerful and So Good, Why Do Bad Things Happen?   Voddie Baucham on the subject of God's goodness in the face of bad stuff.  Another thing God used in a major way in my life as I wrestled.

 

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