Kingdom of Belief

As a kid (Because I'm not one anymore right??? At least that's what I tell myself) I distinctly remember watching the original karate kid with my mother. I remember laughing at Mr. Miyogi and his anecdotal wisdom. I remember my mom using her best accent to mimic him for days later just to get me to laugh. All in all I have very fond memories of the movie, I mean what 9 year old kid doesn't want to do a jumping swan kick to his favorite bullies face.

While those are the memories that I cherished as a child from this movie, as I have grown up I take notice of an important lesson this movie stands to teach us that I missed as a child. It can be found when Daniel-Son agrees to train underneath Mr. Miyagi. For those who have watched the movie you will remember that Daniel shows up his first few days ready to learn how to punch and kick, only for Mr. Miyagi to instruct him on how to wash and wax his car, paint his fence and sand his deck.

At First Daniel thinks this is probably just some form of an entrance fee, thinking that if he did these long enough he would finally get to move on to learning the real stuff. After a few days Daniel has finally had it and confronts Mr. Miyagi asking when will he finally get to move onto the important stuff. In this moment Mr. Miyagi shows him that these chores that Daniel looked at as only the entry fee and not important are going to be the very things that help him advance to being a karate master. 

Recently in my life I have been learning that in my relationship with the Lord a very similar struggle has been going on. 

I was reading in Romans 4, where the apostle Paul instructs the Christians in Rome that the entrance into God's Kingdom was always on the basis of faith not works. He uses Abraham as his primary example and shows how "Abraham believed in God and it was accredited to him as righteousness". 

As I read this I found myself nodding saying "Ya Abraham's belief earned him that righteous relationship with God." It was in that moment where I felt the Lord press on my heart "It was also his belief in God that carried him through as well". At this I was immediately convicted.

I think too often in my own life and in the church as a whole we make belief in God a momentary thing that grants you access to God but once you are in you move on to the bigger and better things like "warring with sin, and using your gifts". But in this moment with my wife asleep next to me I was reminded that my belief is not just what allowed me entrance into Christianity, my belief is what carries me through.

In this moment I felt very much Daniel, realizing that this thing I had somewhat written off as not so important was actually the very thing that will and is guiding me through life. 

In that moment I had to stop and ask myself "In all life's circumstances am I believing God is who He says He is?" 

I was convicted to have to honestly answer no. I was being so fearful over all the unknown factors in my life right now: finances, the future, or family questions; and doing whatever I could to try and control these areas. In my sin I was believing that I had to fix and control these areas. 

I had to repent and remind myself that God has proven Himself faithful so I need not doubt His provision in the land where He has sent me. 

I needed to remind myself that God authors the family and ultimately when He says it is time it will happen and I need not concern myself with trying to control it.

I needed to be reminded that God relates with man in the present, so that was where my focus needed to be. 

As I let these truths sink in and I chose to believe them I found my very soul being refreshed. It was then that I realized that "Belief is not only what grants you access to the Kingdom of God, belief is what advances the Kingdom of God."

I then remembered Hebrews 11. We commonly call this the Hall of Fame for Faith. I realized for the first time this passage is not praising these people's actions but rather their belief in God that led them to perform marvelous feats for God.

As a matter of fact when your peer closely at the blemishes in these characters narratives, you find that their great blemishes came when they weren't believing that God was who He said He was. Whether it be Abraham not thinking that God could protect Him and Sarah so he sent Sarah to be one of Pharaoh's wives, or Moses not trusting God's provision and struck the rock twice. 

From this we learn that "Bad Belief  is what derails our walk with God". For bad belief will always lead to bad behavior, while true belief brings freedom.

A.W. Tozer said the most important thing about a man is what comes to his mind when He thinks of God.

So I invite you to join in a sacred moment and ask yourself:

 In my circumstances, who do I believe that God is?

Is it true???

If not let us all repent, so that our correct view of God will lead to a life of worship so ,that like the brave men and women of Hebrews 11 , God's kingdom will advance on this earth through us.

Sand Art, Stones, and Fearful Commands: Is this truly the story of the Adulterous Woman?

As a younger child there were a few days in the elementary school calendar that I looked forward to more than others. While playing with parachutes and soccer balls at Field Day excited me, there was an equally fun day for me that came twice a year: The Scholastic Book Fair. I wish I could say that this was because even at an early age I had a true appreciation for gathering knowledge through books but alas I can't. At the ripe age of 9 I loved the book fair for two reasons; first getting the newest Kobe Bryant poster and secondly getting cool book marks.

My favorite bookmarks were those that contained optical illusions within them. These illusions operate on the premise that at first glance one object or picture seems to be present, but over time you come to see a different picture that was wholly different than what you originally saw. This idea of an illusionary bookmark is one that has been carrying over recently to my time in the Bible recently. Allow me to explain.

In recent months as I have been reading the Bible I have noticed how often myself and the church culture settle for the first reading or first meaning or first takeaway that we see from the text and as such we only get the first picture. I think this is because too often we read the Bible as a straightforward manual to better living rather than the beautiful transformative piece of literature it was written in.

 Before I go on please do not misunderstand me for saying that we should not take the Bible literally or that we should read ideas into the passages. This idea could not be farther from what I'm advocating. What I'm stating rather is the need to read it literarily (as a piece of literature) and as such not settle for the first idea that pops off into our mind, but rather like a illusionary bookmark, continue to delve and examine the text to see if there is a more fuller meaning and message we are missing.

A prime example of this principle that has been nourishing my soul can be found in the 8th chapter of John with the familiar story of the Woman caught in adultery.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, this moment begins right on the heels of a heated moment with the pharisees (or the religious leaders of the day). The Pharisees then bring out a woman who had been caught in the midst of adultery and they place her at the feet of Jesus asking Him what they should do to her. They clearly expected Him to condemn her and even referenced the Law of Moses as giving Jesus reason to condemn her to death by stoning. Rather than do this though Jesus bends down and writes in the sand, then states that whoever is without sin can throw the first stone. One by one the Pharisees drop the stones, and the woman is left with Jesus. Jesus tells her that He does not condemn her and tells her to go and sin no more.

If you have grown up in the church or even been to a few  Bible studies no doubt that you have heard this story taught and preached. In these sermons typically a pastor will camp out on a few ideas:

 The first being "What did Jesus write in the Sand?" from this point many hypothesize that Jesus was writing the sins of the Pharisees as to put them in their place. The application then becomes what would Jesus write in the sand if you were in front of Him?

A second common point addresses what Jesus says to the Pharisees regarding him who is without sin be the first to throw the stone. The common application from this becomes that we should not judge those caught in sin due to the reality of the presence of sins in our own lives. 

The last common point preached refers to the last part of Jesus final declaration to the woman "... go and sin no more". This is applied to our lives by most pastors as a charge to go out and quit sinning because Jesus tells us to.

Are these really the main points of this story? Is this passage truly a call to a recognition of the sin in ones life? Or like a illusion is there something far greater going on that is right in front of our eyes? 

We only get to see the true beauty of this short moment in the ministry of Jesus when we truly make Him the focus of our reading. Allow me to illustrate:

These Pharisees bring a woman caught in grotesque sin to the Son of God (the true Judge of the World) expecting Him to condemn her and allow them to stone her to death. While He does write in the sand and command those without a stone to throw the first stone, that is not where the true beauty of the story lies. It lies in the first part of Jesus's address to the shamed and humiliated woman: 

"Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

The greater beauty of this Story comes from realizing that every one of us is the woman at the well. We all have been caught in grotesque sins and have stood before the judgement throne of God expecting Him to respond angrily and harshly, only for the mystery of grace to confound us when Jesus replies "Neither do I condemn you". 

The beauty of the gospel is that Jesus was condemned on behalf of our sins, Jesus took the punishment for this woman and all of us on a tree on Calvary. This passage is not a call to stop and think about our sin in a shameful way. It is an example of the grace God offers his children as He declares that if we are in Christ we stand pardoned not condemned. 

To the many of us who have focused on Jesus's final words in this passage as a call to stop sinning. Jesus did everything with purpose in His ministry including wording that command with a connecting clause. Without the realization that we are not condemned and the resulting freedom that occurs it is impossible to war against sin successfully. 

For it is only when we are feasting on God's grace that we have the strength to say no to our vices. 

So friends I invite you to glimpse and savor the deeper beauty that arose from that day at the feet of Jesus. The mysterious grace that a perfect savior showed a scornful, shameful woman. I then invite you to along with myself remember that we are that woman, having warred with our own sin and deserving of condemnation but spared by the gospel of God's grace, and in doing so thrive in the power of the realization that you do not live punished by the Son but rather purchased by the Son.

Romans 8:1 "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..."

Redeeming the Why

Within popular Christianity today there is one word that more often than not strikes fear into those who face it. This question makes the youth group teen quiver in embarrassment, makes the insecure mother respond with "Because I said so", and can get you dirty looks from the elderly section at church. The word I'm talking about is "Why?". Whether it be phrased as "Why do you believe in Jesus?" or "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

I can only speak from my own experience but in my church experience asking a question starting with "why" was taboo. If you did ask it was because you "lacked faith" or "doubted God". I think for too long this simple question has been ostracized to such a point that if you ask "Why" you have less faith than someone who just believes. The question I want to ask, ironically, is why?

In my experience most of the time the fear of the "Why" boils down to one of a two reasons:

1.)  Ignorance-

When it comes to this fear one of the most common reasons people within the church fear the question "Why" is because they themselves do not know why. They simply are masking ignorance with the stupid, and in no way spiritual, blind faith. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we should always be ready to give a defense for the hope within us. Therefore it is not more spiritual or more trusting in God to not question, but rather is disobedient.

2.) Fear of not knowing all the answers-

While no good church person would tell you that they are afraid of the answers to these pressing questions. They worry that if they dig too far, they might just find out the are believing a lie. If this logic would be true, it is still faulty to continue to live in denial of the word "Why" because one would be dedicating their life to an elaborate lie. Luckily and beautifully for us as believers of Christ we need not fear the answers for we know the One who is the Truth, and the Author of all things Jesus Christ Himself!

Admittedly there are questions we don't have all the answers for... but news flash no one does. These unknowable answers shouldn't stop us from pursuing all the truth we can about Christ.  Allow me to explain:

I have a wonderful, beautiful fiancee. One day we hope to have children. No matter how many questions I ask her about child birth I will never know what it is like to give birth (of which I'm very thankful Lord). However, just because I will never fully know the answer to that aspect of my fiancee doesn't mean that I shouldn't explore other truths about her such as her favorite flowers, or candy, or  movies. If I didn't ask these questions to further explore what makes Sarah who she is, I would have a hard time loving her.

In the same way when we let the fear of not being able to answer all the questions stop us from asking them at all, we are not living a more faith filled life. Rather we are denying ourselves from knowing God on a much more intimate level.


Ultimately though the real damage for me comes in this: The one word the Church seems to want more than any to be erased from the "World's" dictionary is the one word the Church should be begging them to ask.  For the question "Why" signifies a pursuit and probing for truth on the part of the questioner. So rather than shy away from this question we must redeem it, and use it to point people to the truth they are looking for: Jesus! 

 In order to do this though we must be willing to prayerfully engage the scriptures for ourselves and ask the tough questions believing that this pursuit of truth will lead us into a deeper devotion to Christ.
We must not take conventional tradition as truth but rather we must challenge it with the Scriptures and be willing to change if we are not in line. We must be willing to not settle for a blind faith, but rather be prepared to give a defense so that we are begging our friends and neighbors to ask us "Why?"

This is the goal of this humble servant of Christ, that in someway through this blog we can journey and ask these questions together allowing the truth of God's word to wash over us. That we would allow the Truth to trump tradition in our lives and churches. In this blog I will attempt to do just that, I would be thrilled if you would come along for the journey over these next few months!

For it's as the old hymn says "To love you is to want to know you more"

This is it?

           I recently went on a family vacation to Savannah, Georgia and while it was a truly great time with some great people there was a moment that bears mentioning. It wasn't out of the ordinary, as a matter of fact if you were listening to the conversation you wouldn't have probably given it a second thought. But this moment like many others continues to remind me that the extraordinary often pierces through what we might classify as the ordinary. 

          The moment I'm talking about happened as we were arriving to our rental home for the weekend. We had seen pictures on the internet and thought that we would be staying in this super nice home that would suit 8 comfortably. When we arrived though we found something different than what we were expecting, for one we had to park our cars in a pretty sketchy ally and found that the house really only creatively comfortably housed 8 (The wonders of air mattresses).  In this moment where our expectations were met face to face with the reality of our situation someone followed by a chorus of followers asked "Is this really it? This isn't what I was expecting."

          I'm sure my family and I aren't the only ones to have this experience, I mean it could happen on a blind date (Tall, dark and handsome my butt), or a class (You want how many pages on that paper). Those moments of feeling deceived by a friend on the attractiveness of a peer or feeling over burdened by a professor can leave us feeling betrayed or drained.

            While I don't mean to downplay the seriousness of those times, what I want to focus on is when those "Really??? This is it??" moments creep into our relationship with God. Those time where we find ourselves in a situation that may be incredibly painful, fear stricken or immersed with doubt and our temptation is to look at God and say " Really, Is this it?" One such man that found himself in that situation is John The Baptist.

             In Matthew 11 John the Baptist finds himself in prison and while there sends a messenger to Jesus asking him " Are you the Coming One or do we look for another?" (Matt. 11:2) This question might seem outlandish or strange coming from John the Baptist but we have to realize that he found himself very much in a situation like this. The Jews had expected a political savior so in their mind when the Messiah came he would deliver them from under the thumb of the Romans. You see this at several points when the crowd would want to make Jesus king only for Him to retreat. 

            So John the Baptist found himself in an extremely difficult situation being in jail and not having his expectations of how God would work through His chosen Messiah met. How often do we find ourselves in this position, broken over our current situation and asking God why He isn't working the way we thought He would... even subtly finding ourselves asking "Is this really it? Are You really the One?"

            Christ answers his question not with judgement but rather with a beautiful reminder:

“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor."

          He responds to John's question by reminding him of how exactly He is at work in the present situation. He tells them of the healing He is bringing to those who are broken and lost. He shows John the Baptist that their expectation of a political agenda is so far inferior to His work of restoration. 

         I think when I humbly look at my life the moments where I most commonly want to ask "Is this it God? Are you really the One?" come when I'm more focused on my agenda rather than His will. I can just imagine Christ calling out to me saying "Dustin I pursued you when you were unlovely and rebellious, I delivered You, I have purchased you, I am redeeming you, I have presented you as blameless before my Father and am even now working in you to make that a present reality."

          So my encouragement for myself and all of us is when we find ourselves in those situations where we want to cry out in confusion and frustration is to remind ourselves of two things.

 1.) Remember that Christ cares more about redeeming that which is broken than He does keeping us comfortable.

 2.) When tempted to ask what are You doing God, we must remind ourselves of all that He has already done for us in the Gospel through Jesus.  

           The reason these can bring us comfort in those hard times is because the answer to John's question "Are you the Coming One, the One we have been waiting on, The One we can find rest and hope in?" is a resounding restoringly emphatic YES

The Hidden Danger

     For my entire life I have enjoyed a television classic that has capture many hearts over the years. It inspired some to wear ascotts, made jinkies an acceptable phrase, showed us that minivans can be cool if they have a sweet name, and properly illustrated that dog is man's best friend. For those of you who were entertainment depraved as children or just really poor at picking up subtle hints, the show i'm describing is of course Scooby-Doo.

      The basis of the show was this gang of meddling kids with their very lovable dog would encounter and subsequently solve mysteries such as who was haunting the old museum. In every episode though, there would come a point in which we as the audience could see the villain lurking nearby ready to pounce even though the mystery gang had no clue. As bucktoothed, Velcro shoe wearing, bowl cut sporting kids most of us wanted to scream "watch out!!!". Much to our frustration they didn't listen to us.... primarily because they couldn't hear us and inevitably they would run face to face with bad men themselves.

     A similar experience can happen for all of us in life whether we be in ministry, working a 9-5, even for those who find themselves in the career purgatory known as college; we can be walking along doing life thinking everything is great not knowing there is a hidden monster lurking in the background of our lives waiting to snatch us. Hopefully this post can be a SHOUT that for once the ones it was meant for will hear and follow.

     This hidden monster in our lives is often just "doing". Some of you are probably like "Wait, what?", please allow me to explain... In everything from Nike commercials telling us to "just do it" to the corporate ladder which promises us if we work hard enough we will climb up the ladder the underflow theme of the american dream is that in everything we must DO! So our lives often become centered around these questions "What do I need to do?" "What are you doing?" or even " What should I be doing?". 

    Eager Reader- "But Dustin you still haven't told us why this is dangerous"
    Dustin- "Ah but here it comes"

     The true danger of this comes when in all the hustle and bustle of doing we forget who we really are. As a wise mentor of mine told me once "Dustin we aren't human doings we are human beings". Therefore we have to remember to take time to simply be with God. As I have experienced it is very easy to slip into the mold of the mindset that we are so busy "doing for God" whether it be ministry, attempting to be a light in the workplace, or studying for the work He has called us to, that we forget that God has not called us to do for Him but rather to live alongside Him.

      In Luke 10:41- 42 Jesus himself addresses this tension "But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

   The very real risk that comes from this monster is that it is often hidden in the hearts of very well meaning Christians in the form of diligence or dedication to serving the Lord. Don't get me wrong those things are extremely vital, but at the very core of the Gospel is that God calls us first to Himself then from Him we go out. Too often we get so caught up going out, and "living on mission" that we forget God desires for us to come back to Him and rest in Him (Matthew 11:28).

    This is NOT an invitation for laziness or apathy so for those couch surfers reading this remember that after Jesus summoned the disciples to Himself He would then send them out. My friend this is not an either or lifestyle but rather a both and (Matt Orth if you're reading this I know you would smile). We must both be with God while also serving Him. The danger that lurks is that too often we focus on the latter while neglecting the first.

      Eager Reader -"So Dustin what do we do about it? 
      Dustin- "I'm so glad you asked"

     In a world where the christian often looks to the new (new workout plan. new diet, new david platt book, new passion conference..... Etc) the answer actually originates from an extremely old concept: "The sabbath". The sabbath was created by God for man as a time for man to rest while intentionally spending a day focusing their attention to being with God. If God created it... there was probably a good reason for it and I believe among many others it provides antidote to the self induced poison of doing doing doing.

    I'm not saying that everyone should take a day off and do nothing but pray while serving the other 6 days. Rather I'm saying quite the opposite, I'm saying that we should be serving everyday while setting time aside to first and foremost intentionally abiding with God. 

   Exodus 33:14 "And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest."

   Let's not get caught by the lurking monster of "doing without being" but rather let us be as the old Tomlin song goes "a generation that seeks, seeks your face O God of Jacob."

The Greatest Lie We Believe: Present Presence?

"Do remember you are there to fuddle him. From the way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would suppose it was our job to teach!"

      
      This quote comes from the book Screwtape Letters by the famous author C.S. Lewis(for those unfamiliar with the book it is a series of fictional letters written from one elder demon to a younger demon instructing him on how to attack a certain young christian's faith). This quote comes from the very first letter in the book and teaches us something very profound about the warfare of the enemy in his attack of humans. He doesn't teach us evil, but rather slurs and blurs the truth so that we will live crippled lives.

       We know that this is true by what we read in Genesis 3 and the way Satan tempts Eve by getting her to doubt and ultimately disregard the truth of God and by getting her to follow the lie she falls in sin, missing the life God would have for her and Adam. 

      One of the greatest tragedies in the church today I believe is that our brains have for so long believed and taught some of the Enemies lies that we are missing the lives God would have for us and we don't even know it. The next few posts will address some of the lies that I have observed or believed myself. First addressing them, then exposing them to the truth so that as the Bible says "the truth shall set you free".

       One of these such lies is not necessarily taught explicitly but is definitely implied in our church jargon is the idea of God being present with us that is commonly held in the church today. 

        Allow me to explain. How often have we said after a really emotional time of worship that God is definitely among us. Or that we just want to be feel as if we are BURNING with a fire for the Lord. That in those mountain top experiences of life we feel as if God is so close.

        Did you notice the common denominator in those phrases? Every phrase had to do with the idea of our feelings being connected to the presence of God. Which when our emotions are high makes perfect sense.

         But what about when we sing songs and there isn't a "fire" in our chests? or What about when we are in the valleys and our emotions seem to be running dry? The question that comes to many a young believer then is commonly: "Where is God? He used to be so near but now I feel alone.

         This my friends is one of the greatest lies we believe: That God's presence is tied to our emotion. 

          So when we feel the ooey-gooeys in worship He is near, but when we are in a desert time of life He has left us. This theology is so very dangerous because it leads to two really crippling results.

1) This idea of emotion=presence can lead to us pursuing an emotional high rather than pursuing God. We often will pray for hours and sing songs not so that we are communing with God but so that we can feel that "Fire" in our chest once again. God has called us to Himself, and sometimes we are rewarded with emotional elation because of that. The difference we must recognize is that elation is merely an occasional benefit of the pursuit, not the object of pursuit.

2.)When we don't "feel" God it can send us into a spiral wondering what we did wrong to get to this spot. The truth is that we so often believe that life's experiences are determined by our actions. So when the "fire" is put out or feels weak, a lot of times we start to wonder and question what we did wrong to get ourselves there. This is very different from what the Bible teaches us about hard times. As a matter of fact the Bible in several areas tells us to rejoice in times of suffering(James 1, Romans 5). The truth is that in those tough times God is often molding us to a better image of His Son, so that we can be more faithful lights in the mountaintops. So ultimately we remember that God has a purpose and is in control therefore all we need to do is trust Him.

      But possibly the most destructive part of this whole lie of emotion=presence is that we forget arguably one of the most important and comforting promises from God in the entire Bible. 

         Hebrews 13:5 "... I will never leave you or forsake you" 

       God will never abandon us and He never leaves. His presence is constant in spite of our changing emotions. So the greatest challenge but pleasure of the believer is to learn to pursue God regardless of emotion, because regardless of emotion He is present with him ready to be pursued.

         So may we walk in the truth of God instead of believing the lies of the enemy, so that we can enjoy the loving life-giving relationship with God that He intended for us.

Where is Your God?

             "Things like this really make you think and remember those things that are most important in life" This cliche and trite statement is one that is usually offered after great tragedies. This first time I can remember an event that sparked that response happened when I was in my fourth grade classroom, Mrs. Hembree was crying and we didn't understand why. I mean September 11th was just another day right? Well 11 years later we know differently. The next time would be a little later and would not be the cause of a terrorist group but rather the destructive forces of nature under the alias "Katrina". Time and time again great tragedy would shake the world's population and cause us to think for a few days... but then mostly we go on back to our lives until the next catastrophe.  
               
               Unfortunately tragedy has struck once again in our nation. In a small Northeastern town a gunman walked into an elementary school and cause the nation to stop. In Newtown, Connecticut a town of less than 30,000 people 20 young kids were murdered that morning. Upon hearing it, some of our memories raced back to Columbine or Virginia Tech but all of us could not help but shake our heads in disbelief and anguish. 

             This Friday upon hearing news of great loss, great pain, great evil, but also great heroism (in the story of the teachers) our Nation has once again been forced to sit back and think as our cliche statement reminds us. 

            One question has arisen from the countless questions asked by hurt and confused people, garnering many facebook posts and politician responses. The question is  "Where was God when this was happening?"

            As I was reading the responses to this question, I was baffled and honestly troubled. Many of them go something like this..."Where was God? Well I'll tell you where He was, for years You people have been pushing Him out of the school system and our Nation! Now you want to ask where He is?" Responses like this are getting tons of likes and are even being brought before Government officials (Rachel Smart's Dad). While I'm sure these people have very genuine hearts and truly do mean the best, I want to raise one caution.

          When David in Psalm 139:7 stated "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?"  He was hitting on a very important part of our faith and religion. You see in the following verses David answers these questions by concluding that there is nowhere he can go to escape the presence of God. Not even Hell itself.  Again in Deuteronomy 31 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

            A very important aspect of Who God is can be found in the fact that He is Omnipresent, or that He is forever present everywhere. This means as Psalm 23 states We need not fear in our darkest days because our God is with us. We sing these truths in songs while standing in our Church Pews but in our response to this resounding question we deny them.

            We have said that in our Government's enforcing laws banning spiritual actions within a School they have effectually removed God from our Schools. My Friends no man has that power! I thank God that NO ONE has the power to remove us from His presence, not even the President of the United States! We as the Church and as those who claim to be followers of Christ must not confuse an absence of organized spiritual acitons with the absence of the One those actions are directed to! Our God is very much alive and well not only in our Schools but everywhere! This means that in order for a revival in our nation we need not get actions unbanned but instead focus on turning hearts back to the One who is begging for them to come to Him. 

          As the famous theologian A.W. Tozer once said "We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts." 
           
             So when our friends ask us "Where was your God when this happened?", we need nearly reply "He was there and He is here. He never left and He never will. He just begging for our acknowledgement, attention and adoration. Because the question should never be is God here or there, but rather are we seeking Him?