Good Morning Church — what has happened to us?

When my four boys all became Christians I thought the hard part was over until one said: he’s an atheist.

We raised him in faith — I will not give in to the lies that have taken him down this road — and I will fight to my last breath to show him God once again — and because we trained him up in the way he should go we are claiming God’s promise of Proverbs 22:6.

But the journey he has chosen breaks my heart because I know it is a journey of heartbreak.

Especially after weeks like this one.

I find myself wondering daily how people without faith survive the tragedy of life.

For the atheist the tragic loss of life is filled with a hopeless longing for what could have been.

To the person of faith, loss of life is filled with anticipation of reunion.

An atheist looks at tragedy as an obligation to fix what is broken.

A person of faith sees it as a chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.

There is a reason programs like AA start with faith — oftentimes it is only through faith — by accepting there is something so much bigger than each of us — that we can heal and put our lives back together.

Amazing things happen when you have nothing else to lose.

When everything is stripped away and you are living life one breath at a time faith kicks in.

But where do you start?

We start with truth.

Lies are what brought us here.

Lies are responsible for every heartbreak we face.

Lies of blame and ignorance.

The original lie.

The lie that leaves mankind hopeless in despair — that life as we know it is all there is.

Thursday night as I was walking out the door of the church a women called to me from the hallway.

I was startled — the building was locked — I asked her how she had gotten inside.

She said she had been watching me go back and forth from the parking lot and slipped in behind me unnoticed.

She asked if there was a minister around.

A friend had told her about our congregation and recommended she stop by — we have adult education programs some evenings and they had told her she might find someone to talk to when most church offices would be closed for the day.

But I was the only one around so I asked her if I could help.

She said, “I’m looking for God.”

Then told me through tears, “I need to feel something.”

What she said stopped me in my tracks.

I told her first that I was not one of the ministers but asked if it would be ok if we sat and talked for a moment.

We did — and she began to pour out her heartbreak.

She told me of a life lived without God and a life that felt empty and alone.

She’s just twenty-four years old but she has a four year old son — she said she wants to be able to teach him God is real — because she feels it in her heart — but she didn’t know where to begin.

She didn’t realize she had taken the biggest step — she was looking for Him

I told her one of the biggest mistakes the world makes is expecting God to find them — when they aren’t looking for Him in return — and are very often trying to hide from Him altogether.

I talked to her about how He makes himself known.

How the world tries to explain away the obvious detail and craftsmanship of everything in creation.

I told her to look for the evidence of God but to have faith in all the questions that could not yet be answered.

But I told her to truly find God — The easiest place to start is with what history tells us is true — The Life of Jesus Christ.

The Life of Jesus Christ is without question a life lived.

His life is written about not just in the letters we know as the New Testament — but His life is documented in the works of other ancient writers like Josephus and Roman Historian Tacitus. (I write more extensively about this in, The Constitution of Faith. Follow this link to my webpage and click on the Free PDF Constitution of Faith)

I told her — start with Jesus — get to know Him and the truth of His life.

I said the world has made something so beautiful and so simple seem impossible because they have told lies for so long that now the lies seem like the truth.

I gave her some places to start and things to read and we prayed.

She promised she would be back — I promised her I would help.

But then I learned of the shootings in Dallas that same evening and what this young woman said to me came rushing back;

“I’m looking for God. I need to feel something.”

A truth we have to rediscover and share with all who will hear.

God lives!

And in that truth we find our hope once again.

Pray — Seek — Find!

God Bless!

Laus Deo Soli Deo Gloria

LaVern Vivio

July 10, 2016