Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Big Lie


I got this book from Mary last Christmas but laid it aside and didn't do anything with it.  Then, Kathryn and Will went to a concert where the author read from this book.  Kathryn asked me if I had heard of it and told me that she had bought it for her niece and when she read it herself she was so inspired by it and found it "faith-affirming."  So I got my copy out and read it from cover to cover.

It was wonderful!  Such beautiful language and gorgeous art work.  It was faith-affirming.

I love that it describes God's love as "Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever" love.

Awesome!

One part that particularly got my attention was the story of the fall of Adam and Eve.  That chapter is called "The Terrible Lie."  The terrible lie that Adam and Eve believe is "God doesn't really love me."  ("If He really loved me, He wouldn't keep that fruit away from me.")  To me, this is the terrible lie that is the root of all the lies we believe.

The Bible tells us there's only one way to judge how much God loves us:


"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

"This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down His life for us."  I John 3:16a

We cannot look at our circumstances, especially when they are trying and difficult, and use them to judge God's love for us.  The only way to know God loves us is the fact that He died for us (for me).  When we look at what we are going through and say, "If God loved me He wouldn't let this happen to me," what we are really saying is, "Dying for me wasn't enough, God.  I need more."  

Think about saying that... "Dying for me wasn't enough."

How can anyone ever imagine thinking that someone who died for them didn't do enough?  It's crazy!

Yet we've all done it.  I know I have.

And all this came from reading a four-page story in a children's Bible.  You should give it a try too.  Who knows what you might get from reading it? 















Friday, January 4, 2013

An Open Letter to Andrew Peterson




Dear Andrew,

My daughter bought me your book, The Monster in the Hollows, for my birthday, and I just finished reading it.   I had read the other two books in the series earlier and was happy to find that the series will continue.  Thank you for writing such a wonderful story.

As it happens, I have been attending a conference in Atlanta called Passion 2013 hosted by Louie Giglio.  I am volunteering time to staff this great event and have been reading your book during the breaks.  I have been struck by how much your book and the things I am hearing here have overlapped in my mind.  The central focus of this event is ending modern slavery.  As I have been listening to speakers tell about their experiences with slavery around the globe, I then read the chapter where all the children are freed from the fork factory.  What a coincidence!

One of the speakers is the head of an organization called International Justice Mission.  His name is Gary Haugen.  He is involved in prosecuting perpetrators of human trafficking all around the world.  He said something very profound that really struck me.  He said that he deals with ugliness and evil all the time in the work that he does.  It takes a lot of courage to face it and fight it.  He went on to say that what makes it all bearable is to be able to look away from it and find beauty in art, in music, in poetry and in story.  That statement just really rang true with me.

In reading your book and listening to your music, I find that…the courage to stand up, to fight for right, to face evil.  One of the reasons your stories bring courage is because the Wingfeather family face awful things, even death, but because their story can be read from beginning to end, one can see how all the events fit together and work together for good in the lives of the characters.  If I can remember that truth as I face the things I deal with in my life, I can know that in the end, when my story is complete, the same thing will be true for me.  It gives me hope and great trust in “the Maker.”

Thank you for all you do.  You have impacted my life in a significant way and I wanted you to know that.

                                                            A devoted fan,
                                                            Pam Kiper