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In speaking to teenagers often, and in reading through parenting blogs, and simply connecting with my own life….there emerges a common theme.  We often deal with the temptation to “put on a smile” when we know it’s what other people want to see.  We feel the pressures and schedules of life to the point where our very nature becomes to “go with the flow”, and do whatever it takes to smoothly navigate the road ahead.

There’s something all of these things have in common, and it’s something every human being comes to struggle with at one point or another.  The temptation to receive our “identity”, and/or our “self-worth” from something or someone other than God.

In Genesis, we see God creating all things.  His word declares that all these things are “Good”.  God asks humanity to trust in Him, and the way He has created all things.  To receive their identity from Him alone.  But man acts defiantly, declaring to Him “no thanks, we’d like to discover our own identity”, and eats the fruit of “self”.

That changes everything.

We see how dramatic the change is, in Genesis 3:10-11

“But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? ”

God actually asks Adam, “Who told you that you were naked?”  Before this moment, mankind had received his COMPLETE identity only from God, even to the point where if God hadn’t said it…it was unknown/inconsequential.  I’m not advocating nudity here…and if your friend accidentally shows up to something naked, you should definitely tell them. 🙂

But I would love for my daughters to grow up into women who can boldly live out the identities and Hope they receive from God alone.  Our desire for our children is that they would be so strongly attached to their concept of “self in Christ”, that when life offers them other definitions or futures that fall short of what God offers them/calls them….they would know it.  I pray that my wife and  I, and our families and friends, would live out the kind of example to them, of receiving our identity so much as: God’s beloved, called His children, New Creations, citizens of His Kingdom, etc.

That may mean we embarrass them…or ourselves once in a while…not realizing how we appear to the world…only how God views and knows us. 🙂  But this is also humbling as a parent.  To recognize that it’s not my voice that I ultimately want my daughters to hear….but His.  That means I need to be drawing nearer to Him…listening to what He is saying…if I’m to speak those words to them…

This past week I spoke at Northern Michigan’s “Family Camp”. Don’t be too impressed yet, I wasn’t the “main speaker”. But I was brought in to speak to their youth (7-12th graders). There was a good sized group of over 70 teens or so, and they gave some great responses. One of the biggest things people of any age seem to deal with is finding the humility to say, “I need help.”

During the week, we’d sometimes head over to Fife Lake with my parents to have some family time. It was a nice quiet place, with a great ice cream stand, and awesomely shallow water levels for the kids to play in. Unfortunately, it was also a beloved spot to a great many geese to use as a toilet. The “gifts” left by local geese formed a natural barrier, tough for any 3 year old to jump over. Looking up to mommy/daddy or a grandparent, our daughters would ask to be helped past the ring of goose-droppings. Once past that obstacle, they could enjoy watching minnows, splashing in clear water, and discovering many sizes of snail shells.

The prayers of these teens echo a similar desire to get help over/through a difficult place in life. Simply to write or speak these words is a giant step for many people, who would otherwise be stuck on the shores of life, or be stomping solo through the goose poop of rough situations. Prayer is such an important act to be involved in, and to encourage in our children. The very act of prayer, declares there is something outside myself. If we raise our children to live as “beings who pray”, we offer them a great foundation of humility.

Here are just a few of their written prayers. May we recognize where these may echo our own, and be sensitive to where our children may be praying something similar…

“Dear Heavenly Father, Please restore my life…rid me of myself.”

“Remind me I’m yours, Lord…not satan’s.”

“Dear God, forgive me of my sins, and help me be closer to you.”

“I need help to be more humble & less prideful.”

“God, help me to let it go. High School is over now, and I know I will be happier without it.”

“God, help me to have stronger faith, and to not be a blonde.” 🙂

“God, please help me!”

“Dear Lord, help me to realize I don’t need others opinions to make me feel good about myself.”

(many of these) “Lord, help me to be a good witness/example to ________”

“Lord, help me to overcome temptation.”

“Please help me to know that your love surrounds me and I don’t have to hurt myself.”

“Dear God I am going through a hard time, please help me.”

“Thank you for letting me get to know you better lately.”

“Lord I know I’ve been acting like you’re not there, and I know you are…please help.”

“God I thank you for a family who loves me, and is always there for me.”

In our beginnings of home-schooling our children, we’ve already been presented with an issue that will grow as our children do. How do science and faith go together, and do we have to ignore modern scientific discovery, in favor of assumed biblical truths? Children’s books that demand humans were friends with carnivorous dinosaurs, and curriculum that guarantees to teach students the evils of evolution….and we’re only in 1st grade, folks.

Several years ago, a book came out by a professor at ONU (my alma mater) that described the scientific truths he’d already been teaching for years. The fact is, with the amount of discoveries we’ve made in recent history, we are more privileged than any generation before us to understand the amazing complexities of the world GOD CREATED. Dr. Colling watched many students struggle with a science that was telling them many things were large, complex, amazingly and freely creative – yet a religion that was telling them God created all of this specific order in 6 24-hour periods. A faith that insisted our world is only several thousand years old, and evolution is a lie from satan to test us. Students had to reject one or the other, and it left many students leaving the faith (as one professor from the movie experienced herself). Because of this, he wanted to reveal to students in his book “Random Designer“, how it’s possible for the truths discovered in science to not actually conflict with the Truth’s revealed in scripture.

I read this book a few years ago, and as someone who doesn’t have much background in science – I was amazed to read the many complex ways God may have purposefully and wonderfully created our world. Not chapters on monkeys becoming people…but a book completely filled with microscopic levels of understanding God’s amazing creation, and the natural laws that God gave to govern this universe. I highly recommend reading it, no matter what your stance on how God created…or even if you’ve walked away from God altogether. Perhaps it will open doors to the possibility of something “otherly” at work in our midst.

The movie “From the Dust” seeks to go in that same direction, to “Be a starting point for dialogue and conversation.” With interviews from some top theologians, professors (Dr. Colling included), historians, and interpreters (hurray, NT Wright!) – the movie highlights some important conversation points that may open up to a fuller understanding of the creative God we serve. Unfortunately, as a conversation-starter, the film falls a little short on the side of input from the 6-Day Creation camp. Simply looking at the “Bios” section of the website, you can see they interview 2 primary sources on this “side” of the issue (Answers in Genesis, and Canopy Ministries, 5 people). These are definitely all leaders in their field, and they are given plenty of screen-time to speak their opinion. But on the “side” of old earth and possible complex processes used by God in creation, they have 20 different experts they’ve invited to speak.

 Maybe they invited 15 other experts from the first camp, and they all declined.

In any case, one of the primary goals is to unite these assumed “sides/camps” to recognize we are all on the same side – of pursuing Truth, and an understanding of God and all that He’s created. As Dr. Colling says on page 3 of his book, “The questions of ultimate import do not center around creation mechanisms, but rather creation purposes.”

The DVD comes with a list of great questions to ask as we seek to be in Awe of our creator, and honor Him, His Word, and all that He has created. These are ways for us to dialogue, no matter what beliefs we bring to the table, about the things that truly matter. To say we have the Truth of Genesis figured out, and not spend time meditating/growing towards the mystery of our creator-God, could be to miss out on quite a bit of God attempting to reach out to us as we understand His creation.

Certainly there are faults. They needed better representation and words spoken from the young-earth folks. They come across as hyper-conservative, full-blinders on, unwilling-to-dialogue- type-people who blame the worlds evil on anyone who accepts evolutionary thought. There are also moments where it feels like a commercial for Dr. Colling’s book, or bringing shame on the close-mindedness of the community that caused him to leave ONU.

But overall, I would definitely recommend it as a dialogue starter. Both the DVD, and Dr. Colling’s book can be used by God in great ways to heal the divide that some imagine should exist between God and Science (the study of God’s creation). The Truth is, the more we understand about our world and it’s mysteries – the more we are guided toward a God that is larger than anything we can imagine…as are His purposes for us…