At this moment, Faith looks at the large photo on the wall ...taken a couple of decades ago.
Now, presently she sits in the kitchen, having just finished a late breakfast with the two people she will forever love.
Faith smiles, looking back on her life, as she looks across the table. She has so much gratitude and thanks for the two sitting across from her. And she knows how much Dad and Mom are happy for her.
Faith will soon begin a whole new life. It is a life she is looking forward to ...filled with hope and promise.
Faith has so many great memories as a child. Now that she is an adult, she is going to begin another chapter of her life with someone. She is not apprehensive about it ...his parents had also provided a steady and secure foundation. He had also entered into a new life with Jesus ...a decision he had made as a child. And she is confident their life together will certainly have Jesus at the center.
"Did you find the book I asked you about?"
"Yes, I'll get it ...it's just in the other room."
Dad rearranges the chairs, placing one on each side of his daughter. Mom returns with the book, handing it to her ...and they sit beside her, with their daughter Faith between them.
Faith opens her baby book. Together they lovingly read about Faith's life ...in the beginning.
They read about details that perhaps are not that interesting to anyone else, but they are important details to Faith and her parents. And Faith expects that perhaps in a year or so, it could be possible that she'd begin that same kind of book with her own child.
"What I want most is that Tom and I live our life the way God would have us to ...but also, if we have children, that they will all accept Jesus' love besides our own."
"You know, I've told you what happened in our own family. God was never mentioned when I was a child ...and He wasn't represented by example either. It wasn't easy around our house. My older brother got married at seventeen, more or less to escape from our home ...and his marriage lasted for only a couple years."
"My younger brother married for a slightly more positive reason ...they were best friends. But that friendship was based on common interests, mostly fun things they enjoyed doing together with other friends. But when he lost his job, the fun was put on hold, and things began to disintegrate during those difficult times. And the struggle just intensified ...with each focusing on what bothered them, instead of on past fun times. There was not enough depth and strength to endure a friendship that had not seen anything but easy living."
"But you were the only one who had committed to a life with Jesus, and that made the difference."
"Yes, and that's what you and Tom have to offer. I am certain that if you have children, each and every one of them will know about our Lord."
"Let's go have a seat in the living room."
Faith hands Dad a Bible ...before she makes herself comfortable on the love seat, across from them. "Dad will you read to us?"
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
"Keep reading ...I always love it when you read the Bible."
"Aren't you going to ask me the questions that you always used to ask?"
"You mean, the questions that you told me I'd understand some day? You used to make me think I wasn't old enough ...that I'd understand when I got older. Then I realized that the some day would be when I get to heaven, because you didn't have the answers either."
"You're right! I never did know the answer ...and I still don't. But it's somewhat like your baby book we just looked at. Even though we know our neighbors next door, you will find nothing about them in your baby book. The baby book is about you."
"And I used to ask you when the angels were created ...and I guess I do get partly what you are saying. The 'in the beginning ...', in the Bible, I know that's our beginning, not a book for the angels. The Bible is about us & our relationship with God ...His Word for us."
"And it's like before you were born; we bought a crib ...and several other things to prepare for the big day. And God describes how He prepared a place for us."
"And God provides for a marriage with us also ...and He has that place prepared too."
"Our little girl is all grown up. I'm going to miss you, Faith ...I'm going to miss you so much!"
"I'm going to miss her too ...but she is only going to be living down the street from us. It's not like she's going to be in the next galaxy."
"Speaking of galaxies away, Dad, why is it that Uncle Phil hates it when anyone mentions church, or talks about the Bible?"
"There's not much that Uncle Phil likes. My brother is a bitter man."
"I know he doesn't like sports either, but he will tolerate Dad talking about it for hours, and he doesn't show any agitation over that. But he bristles any time someone mentions God."
"Well, you know, Faith, we all recall very clearly when Uncle Phil lost his wife to cancer. None of us had seen much of him before that ...but he was much different than the way he is now. At one point in his life, he was a very positive person."
"He was the first one to become a Christian in our family. He led all of us to the truths of the Bible. He definitely knows the Bible. But he began to section off his beliefs, classifying that which is often misclassified. And I do remember once that he said he was a Calvinist."
"I'm not sure ...I didn't give it much attention. I always thought that being a Bible believer was adequate enough; I never thought I had to classify myself in any other way."
"I don't know much either, but your Uncle used to say he was specially ordained ...and that it was already put into place, for what purpose he was chosen ...for what purpose he was born. And not to dispute that, but in his mind it was obviously a bit different than the outcome he believes he is now facing."
"And he truly loved his wife ...and I can honestly say, I know of no better husband than he'd been." Putting her arm around her own husband, she adds, "No offense, dear!"
"So, when his wife died, he turned away from God?"
"He couldn't believe that she would be ordained to be taken from him. I apologize, I don't mean to quite say it that way ...it's just that I was very close to my brother, and I haven't quite owned up to my own hurt over what he's said to me."
"I guess he doubted how he could be ordained to be so special to God, and at the same time have what he thought to be so special taken from him ...his wife. In a way, it is very endearing. But it seems he still fails to realize that he never stopped being special to God. And he will still insist he hasn't turned away from God, contending that God turned away from him."
"And it was at this moment of the loss of his wife that he felt the most need to be convinced that God loved him so very specially ...and since he couldn't reconcile those emotions at that time ...it was likely then that he began questioning his belief in God."
"He began looking at all the terrible injustices around the world, and concluded that a loving God couldn't possibly allow all that to happen."
"I guess much of the world is asking those very questions, but instead of searching out the answers, they find it easier to just not believe."
"But it's not easier. Yes, they often lose a great part of the peace and happiness in their life through the loss of a loved one, but they close any opportunity to allow restoration in their life. And their life becomes a journey of aligning themselves with that hopeless camaraderie of emptiness, and false fulfillment."
"That's where it is important to understand not just the love of God, ...but to see how the angels come in."
"But we don't know where they came in."
"Not precisely, but we do know what the Bible says ...of the angels singing at the 'In the beginning ...'."
"And the 'In the beginning ...' was our beginning, not theirs."
"That's right ...and though I would never contend that I know, I believe that only two-thirds of the angels were singing at our 'In the beginning ...', and you recall that before that, darkness was upon the face of the deep. I believe God had taken the light away at the fall of the angels ...and the two-thirds awaited to see what God was going to do with the one third who rebelled. But we shouldn't get hung up on supposing. The story written for us in the Bible is about us, not the angels."
"But you always say understanding about the angels is important ...why don't you explain?"
"I will ...I was saying that the timing and specifics of the angels is not important for us to know, or God would have told us about it. But it is important for us to understand about God's righteousness, which the angels do play a role in."
"But we all know God is righteous!"
"We believe it in word, just like we believe in His love, in word ...but the part your dad is going to explain next, is the all important concept of freedom of choice."
"Because I like the way you describe how love fits into it all."
"Yes, love ...well, your mom and I met in high school during a psychology class. Many people in academia felt that Sigmond Freud had the corner on relationships. And Freud basically believed that one's faith is an attempt to order one's world ...instead of believing in the One who gave us a world of order."
"In this psychology class, the teacher assigned everyone various cards for role-playing. Some of the cards were: 1st born child, 2nd born child, male parent, female parent, grandparent, ...and so on."
"Yes, and it so happened that I was given a card that said male parent ...and your dad had a card stating that he was the female parent."
"Yes, we both brought it to the teacher's attention, insisting that he had made a mistake ...but he clearly said he had not."
"So, to avoid getting a failing grade, we had to proceed with the roles we were given."
"I was quite shaken, having to take the role of a woman ...God just absolutely had not intended it that way. But do you know what bothered your mom the most?"
"Yes, I have a clue! This entire thing always seemed rather strange to me ...but, I've come to understand. I just like when I hear you tell it."
"After class, she said that she hadn't minded acting like she was married to me, but she didn't believe it should be in the cards. She asked if I at all enjoyed imagining that I was married to her."
"Well, I wasn't as emotional about it as she was. I said that I guess it wasn't that strange if I imagined how in old times there used to be lots of arranged marriages, but though a psychology class may be big on imagining, for me the acting was just about getting a grade."
"I like what you said to that, Mom."
"Yes, she cried when she felt she didn't make the grade with me ...but as you can see; the rest is history! We got married, and I can't imagine life without her. As you know, you also soon became one by-product of that marital bliss."
"That's the strangest love story I've ever heard ...but it's one of my favorites, and I never tire of hearing it!"
"The point is that it mattered to Mom how I felt. Freedom of choice also includes freedom to love. You see, love can't be contained. If love is fully contained within itself, then it's not love. It may begin inside, but it has to find it's way ...some way to extend beyond itself."
"My sister has three cats. I don't know of anyone who takes care of cats as well as my sister ...and a big part of caring for any animal is that they get fed. My sister feeds them prime food. One morning my sister woke up, and do you know what she found on her bed ...two dead mice!"
"Yes, that was her reaction! After initially not taking too kindly to it ...and flinging the blanket and mouse to the floor, she realized her cat did it out of appreciation and gratitude."
"Her cat was able to express what a third of the angels did not."
"When Uncle Phil felt he was treated like his sister's cat ...he was fine; but when things were not so good, he abandoned his wonderful life's perspective."
"Well, the angels had everything ...even more than Aunt Naomi's cats. It is quite different with us ...as we live in the very contrast that the angels in opposition so intently tried to institute. Every day our lives come into view within the scope of contrast. Our days are filled with terrible things, and at the same time filled with good things."
"So ...is our character shown more clearly by how we react to bad things, or how we react to good?"
"Not either really ...it's not our character that we are to be disputing, rather we should look to Jesus' character."
"Yes, we should not be so bold as to say how we'd act if we were in Job's place."
"Job lost more loved ones than Uncle Phil lost, but we see he didn't bad-mouth or abandon his relationship with God."
"But we certainly understand why anyone would question God, if they were in Job's place. And I don't think God minds if we search through questions either ...after all, it's how we come to understand."
"But we can't stop living because everything is a bit of a risk. It's like a ' what if ' fear. And what kind of life is it if we aren't going to let anyone get close to us because things may happen and we may get hurt? I guess that's my ' what if '.
"I suppose it's a risk of sorts ...that I'm getting married, and even more if we want to have children."
"And with that, some would call it a risk ...but really it is not a risk, it is simply love. It often hurts, and sometimes really bad, but without some hurt there is no chance for choice, mistakes, or forgiveness. And we must strive for reconciliation and healing. Without those things present, how really do we define love?"
"Those who feel they hurt too much, at times choose not to love, but it is still love ...it's just a confused love, or at times, an angry love. To not love, is to not care. To not care, is absolute apathy ...so with that, there would be no anger. Anger is easily identified with and common to most all of us, but it's not well understood. And it can sometimes be a healthy outlet, if not visited too long."
"So, with the angels, they were given a choice ...but God, in His righteousness, allowed that choice to be available to all."
"They made a bad choice, but we all make bad choices too."
"What would you rather ...have one rather clear choice, yet your choice would be final? Or would you rather have a not so clear choice, but have adequate time to learn from several choices before making your final choice?"
"I think I prefer the way we have it. And we don't have to constantly fret about whether we made the right decision. If we go with Jesus, we can embrace His love, and each time experience his forgiveness and reconciliation."
"Yes, it's difficult to understand the why of everything ...but it does make more sense if we accept some basic truths. Let's have a round table discussion. I'll go first. God created the angels, and gave them freedom of choice."
"And with that freedom of choice, one third of the angels chose to go against God."
"We all have fallen short ...and sinned; so, if not by that, what was God going to judge us by? God is righteous, so if we are going to be judged, there has to be a choice ...more than one option has to be present. In His righteousness, God did not take that option away ...He did not eliminate that option."
"So what we basically have today ...is the Bible, and all its truths. The other option is to believe all the things that attempt to discount those truths, and believe something else ...anything else, it seems."
"What we call evil, is beyond hate. We hate cancer, but we don't place a value judgment on it ...calling it evil, consciously seeking out to destroy. Evil is more akin to enmity, which is deep-seated conscious ill will ...and it is not passive, rather we can say it is 'wickedness'. Wickedness means to break or destroy ...and that usually requires help, a concerted effort. And to get help, it likely is vocalized, instilled, convinced of ...and often is given the destructive privilege to be deliberately taught."
"Our Sunday school class just covered part of that. The Bible tells us not only of past mistakes, but about our future failures ...and what part we play in leading to that. Yet, if we look at what others imagine it will be like ...it is really a distraction from the truth. In the last decade, what do you think has been the main recurring theme in movies ...as to the future of our planet earth?"
"By the way you used the term, planet earth, I'd guess the number one answer would be aliens from another planet."
"I'd say global warming."
"Very good, ...you both did well! Global warming was number three, epidemics came in as second, and aliens had more than those other two combined."
"I figured aliens would probably be number one. There are enough things to be truly concerned about without some manufactured fear that aliens will attack the earth, and we'll have to somehow survive. I believe your dad could survive by going from convenience store to convenience store, snacking on all the Twinkies. But seriously, there's more to life than just self-nourishment and survival. Personally, I can't figure out why believing in aliens is so convenient, while so many important truths are often ignored, and seemingly so difficult to accept. "
"I meant it as a joke, when I mentioned global warming. Why are so many people concerned about what may happen to our planet physically ...and not at all concerned what is happening to it spiritually?"
"Another common one within the survival theme, is on a much smaller scale, with a much smaller group of people stranded on an uninhabited island, with no immediate chance of rescue. It is a study of sorts, of how people get along when placed in a confined area together for a significant period of time. They contrasted The Lord of the Flies with Gilligan's Island."
"There is a better chance of survival when women are involved."
"I'd say everyone would agree with that. The Lord of the Flies certainly didn't speak well for what young men can become."
"They described another movie that I thought was interesting. They described a fierce storm that brought a plane down near a small uninhabited island. Tom Hanks played the lone survivor from the crash. The movie is entitled, Cast Away. Being alone on the island, he befriends the contents of a package from the plane. It is a volleyball, which he names Wilson, from its name brand. Having established such an intense relationship, he takes Wilson with him on a raft he'd constructed in an attempt to get off the island. When a wave separates Wilson from the raft, he has to decide ...will he stick with the raft, or attempt to retrieve Wilson."
"They didn't tell us ...they said we'd have to see the movie."
"I guess it shows a couple of things. His potential to love is shown by his desire to ...and his desire to love was shown by his befriending a volleyball. He reached out in the only way he could. And Aunt Naomi cared for her cats, and in return her cats showed gratitude and appreciation ...unlike what one angel showed. That angel went on an insane campaign ...to convince the other angels. And we humans have a similar challenge, to formulate beliefs, and help convince others. There's a commitment and responsibility, as well as accountability, that goes along with leading others. They tend to depend upon you."
"It doesn't mean that you have to keep to the initial plan, but if you gain followers with the plan, you may lose them if you change."
"But that's okay, if you lose followers ...because you should not be gaining them for yourself ...you should be thinking of their long term benefit."
"If you make a mistake, you should try to fix it quickly. And fixing it, doesn't mean hiding or denying. The longer you practice that, the deeper you fall into it. Anger may be hurt love ...and if we realize that, we can more easily experience healing."
"Hatred is extremely destructive when it's a big part of our life. More often than not, hatred is taught. Taught mainly by who, we may ask? But before we get to who teaches it, let's first ask if it's ever good to hate."
"I believe it's okay to hate cancer."
"Do people ever like what others hate?"
"I see what street drugs have done to some of my friends, but they got hooked because they felt they liked it ...or thought they would like it."
"So it's okay to hate things that we agree are universally destructive ...but how about destructive to the universe? I'm not talking about the overstated global warming debate. Our earth is nothing compared to what I'm talking about ...I'm talking about the universe. We talk about the universe as infinite, but we talk about it with our finite minds. We look at the universe in terms we understand, such as the laws of thermodynamics."
"It is too complex for me, but if you look at simple cause and effect, you can see a log in your fireplace. The log has to burn to give you heat, in essence, you have to take from the log to give you warmth."
"The laws that we apply are based on our understanding of the order of what we observe. But let's go to the One who created the order."
"Our Creator, right? Our Creator ...created the design."
"That's absolutely correct ...and our Creator designed with purpose. And purpose has function in mind, before it is formed."
"So, we are back to when the earth was without form ...and back to when God formed everything, inclusive to when He formed us."
"When God formed us, He did it with purpose and function. But before that ...there was a challenge of purpose. One third of the angels chose to go against their purpose ...but like the log in the fireplace that your mom mentioned, there is a trade-off. It's the same with us: If I want a promotion at work, that means there are more people under me, and less people over me. It may benefit me, but it doesn't benefit everyone the same. The company may believe it benefits the whole, or at least, benefits them ...just like the company of angels obviously believed it would benefit them, by the promotion of their own head. It wasn't a corporate decision though ...it was an attempted takeover."
"So much of that is happening today ...so why don't we look at it the same way?"
"So, that's why so many colleges and universities are standing against God, His purpose, and His design. They themselves have been rallied in their own minds to disbelieve God."
"You are probably right! And you will have to stand for what you believe, Faith. It's going to be more difficult than it ever was for me, or my generation."
"A simple lesson in life is ...if we choose against God's purpose and function, it can not only lead to countless difficulties, but even more, it can lead us away from God. If we fail to acknowledge it, we begin to give our minds over. The battlefield is in our minds ...the center of our convictions."
"Yes, our minds don't get that way overnight, but chipping away at something one piece at a time can have the same end result as a more sudden direct and massive assault."
"So, we can either open the door to Jesus, or lock Him out. But often when we walk through the doors of colleges and universities, we are intellectually re-crucifying Jesus. And through these institutions of (supposed) higher learning, we are ignoring what we should learn from on High."
"We can't distance ourselves so much from the truths, that we don't even acknowledge any truth ...because if we reach that point, what is going to actively call us back to truth?? If we've 'broken' or 'destroyed' those avenues of communication with God, with the guise that we have them still open ...or perhaps through total denial, then how are we to approach that area where we are moved to change back (repent of our falling away) ...to do the most we could do for ourselves, in reconciling and moving back within His loving grace?? We need to take this direction very seriously as individuals; commit to it within our families; profess it in our churches; stand with it in our communities; state it within our states; and retain in within our Constitution, our government, and our resolve to the world ...to extend our hearts to every person, and support compassionate missionary efforts to gift those of little opportunity with the great opportunity to experience the love of Jesus."
I haven't had a real difficult life ...though I've experienced things I would have preferred not to. Yet, I believe God gave me those experiences to give me a more accurate view of the total war ...the principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and wickedness. Is that the same darkness spoken of "in the beginning ...", which the Light took control of, before introducing us? Or is the darkness, sometimes just the absence of Light ...the absence of Him.
I worked in a prison ...and I saw many who appeared very sincere in their sharing of what they've learned, mostly from their mistakes. One shared with me that they believed it was God's grace that they got caught, because otherwise they don't believe they would have honestly taken a serious look at their life, to turn it around.
That was a real blessing to me that they'd shared that ...but others, though they were in the vast minority, were involved in gangs within the prison. Some of the leaders of those prison gangs would get furious when things did not go the way they wanted them to go. And if something, or someone interfered with their activity ...they went into a rage, and tried to make everyone pay for crossing them or preventing them their unrestrained freedom. (Though they were confined to the prison for their past actions, many got even worse with their anger and rage within the prison, never accepting the attempt to curb any of that behavior.)
Even with extreme cases, rehabilitation could be a hope. But what would you say about someone who has not changed one bit ...over, let's say, probably more than well over six thousand years. We have a written record that clearly shows the intent ...of someone who knows he can't win. So, with that in mind, what do we see? We see an attitude of rage ...trying to take as many people down as possible. And after a thousand years of Jesus ruling the earth when He returns ...the old deluder will rally up resentment, anger, and rage to try to get as many as he can to turn against Jesus again. I am so glad that I know the ending ...and that I know that Jesus has a place prepared for us who believe. And the most certain thing is ...for once, and for all (for all who are with Jesus) we will be rid of the destroyer of our peace, as he will not be allowed in that heavenly paradise.
