God is dead.

A shocking statement to say the least. As a believer and follower of the one true God to read that statement much less to hear it uttered literally twists my stomach in knots and I almost don't know how to respond. We have a 15 year old girl that is a part of our church that asked for help this week in getting out of a living situation with her mom who is addicted to drugs. The situation has become worse and worse and it is heart-breaking to say the least. She is currently staying with other family members and as we sat around their table after a discussion about what to do next I asked if we could all pray together. The conversation went from somber to awkward as it was obvious this was a new concept for the family.

What followed was a sad testimony to the reality of the world we live in. The 6 year old daughter of the family asked in reference to prayer, "What is that?" I told her that it is how we talk to God and ask him to help us with tough situations like the one her cousin is going through. This little girl then said with complete confidence, "God is dead." While not much could hurt my heart more than hearing those words come out of a child's mouth I was even more disheartened by the response of her mom, a strong and obviously loving wife and mother. She said with all sincerity, "God is not dead, Jesus is." My heart drop and my voice, shocked and not nearly as passionately as I wish it had been said, "Jesus is not dead, he died but he rose again."

How do we live in a world, a country, a nation where a 6 year old child can believe that God is dead? How do we live in a culture where a loving and "good" mother and wife could whole heartedly correct her by saying that God is not dead, Jesus is?

This is our calling. This is our purpose. We must proclaim passionately, urgently and in a loud voice that Jesus is not dead, for he has risen!