God's not dead ....but He is dying

My daughters rented "God's Not Dead". The premise is a professor who wanted the students to see that God wasn't real, didn't exist, He is dead. One student stood up for his faith and was given the chance to prove that God is NOT dead. The student did a good job.

The movie fell flat to me. In fact, it angered me. Not because I believe God is dead and I was convicted but because the movie hid behind the typical cliches of people of faith. There was no substance, there were no answers.

No answers for those truly going through times that are so heart wrenching, functioning everyday without screaming is a feat in and of itself.

No, God isn't dead but He is dying. Not in the literal sense. But the whole sense of who God is is dying . . .every day.

I have heard since I was a little girl "Oh, look at how blessed their life is. You know they are following God" I always hated that, how we rank people based on how faithful they believe a person is. Yet, the Bible clearly states that all sin is equal to God and works do not gain you anything. And it made an impression on me because even though my Mom was so imperfect, she was a woman of absolute faith. She never wavered. Yet, her faith alone wasn't enough to have others look to her as someone blessed, but a poor woman, struggling with kids who must'nt be doing enough. A woman of little worth because she only threw pennies in the collect basket. A woman to be silenced when she bragged about receiving a bonus for food stamps. Being on the government toll was enough for them to deem her, to deem us, unworthy. Yet, weren't those same people called to care for the poor?

But so often, being poor is a sin in and of itself, regardless of the circumstances.

What I want, what I crave, what my heart needs is a lot less church and a lot more action. A lot less preaching on Sunday morning and a lot more friendship. A lot less judgment and a lot more love. But we are all up in arms over being right, we forget how to act right.

Christian, Atheists, Muslims, Jews, the list goes on and on. So much hatred. So much bickering. So much noise, we've lost the ability to hear . . .

To hear the sobs of those hurting around you and needing relief . . . answers

To hear the silent hymns sung by those who are virtually ignored . . .

To hear the plea from people to just stop fighting and start loving.

And the movie was right, God isn't dead. But He is dying.

Due to our words . . . or lack of them.

Due to our actions . . . or lack of them.

Due to our hatred . . . and lack of love  . . . all in His name.

We are fighting our battles so intently, we've lost sight of the purpose.

We are a mass of people wandering around aimlessly, all in the name of our God without any clue whatsoever of what God wants. Desires.

The world is on fire. It's burning. All around us. And it's not God's fault. It's ours. We are starting these fires faster than anyone can put them out.

Is that really the end result we want? I hope not. I truly, truly hope not. But it's happening regardless, that we may win a few wars, but we are losing the battle. We are losing it badly.

It's always been said that the end of the world would come by fire. I no longer doubt those words.