It Wasn't This.

As in the days of Noah.

As in the days of Noah.

What do you tell your kids when they bring the headlines to you now?

How do you respond when the phrase, "As in the days of Noah," isn't what you always thought it would be? ...Not just people eating and drinking and being given in marriage, but so much more...

I always thought that it was going to be "terrible" and the world would be "wicked".

Oh how pathetic and weak that word sounds now! WHAT IN THE WORLD DID I THINK THE WORD 'WICKED' ACTUALLY MEANT???

It wasn't this.

You guys... It wasn't this.

How do we answer our kids? HOW?!?!?! Even the grown ones... How do we answer?

How do we look in the mirror daily and declare that we choose joy... and choose to share hope... when it looks like absolutely everything we've ever known to be true is lying in ashes.... flipped on its proverbial side?

What happens when we realize that the "Left Behind" series was purely entertainment that made a few people rich... but was theologically dry and now one has to accept the reality that we're living in a world where the regular every day headlines feel like a night terror on repeat... or a horror movie with a twisted story line and really good graphics?

There was a night recently when I was driving through downtown Atlanta, and between the graffiti slogans over I-75 that declared desire for anarchy in totality and a vehicle that was engulfed in flames to the right side of the interstate, I literally had a moment when my mind was telling me that it couldn't be real... "This is a video game." But it is. This is real life.

We are living in a world where the barrage of daily information feels like an assault to the senses. It's enough to drive a person mad.

Just wait until you realize that is the point. Please... PLEASE slow down and re-read that. Slowly... Again and again. The assault of the mind... Is ... The point. The battleground is the mind. I humbly ask you to take stock. If the battle ground is the mind... Who is winning?

We are living in a day and age where information is being thrown at such break neck speeds that it is not healthy. The exhaustion that can come from trying to figure out all the pieces is very very real.

How do we handle these days?

How to we find peace in the middle of this .... mess?

I'll share what we're doing.... In hopes that it can be an encouragement. Our family will never claim to have it all together... But this is what we're doing.

In our home... We start ... with honesty. We start with openness. We start with acknowledging that yes... These days are scary.

But God. We have walked through too many fires... Seen too many miracles... And witnessed too many moments of redemption to believe that the God we served then... Is not in control now.

When my brain starts circling the drain, and I can't get away from the horrors that are currently in real time playing out before me.... There have been many MANY times that I've turned off all devices and gone back to Scripture.

We purposely don't have the news playing in our home on a cycle of dread. We live by the motto that if you don't watch the news, you're UN-informed. If you choose to watch the news.... You're MIS-informed.

So we choose to trust the Lord. We can take things in small doses... and we can process and digest while turning back to Scripture... DAILY. Hear me... We are NOT hiding our heads in the sand. We are quietly discerning and openly discussing. We are paying attention. This is not a time to pretend like everything is peachy. We believers are given a mandate to be prepared in season and out of season... To have an answer for the hope that we walk in. Please hear me with all the respect I can muster... WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO PRETEND THAT THE WORLD IS PERFECTION.... OR.... THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE RESCUED OUT OF THE MESS.... We have a mandate to point back to the Source of our Hope. It's not a hypothetical possibility...It's a call to spiritual arms for believers. Gear up... The whole armor... It's Ephesians 6 time.

It starts with honesty. Things are bad. Our kids are seeing it. We aren't sugar coating the reality.

The neighborhood we moved out of in August had a double homicide/suicide just last week. They were served an eviction notice and the father couldn't take another blow... He chose to handle the situation by ending his own life and the life of his wife and daughter and even the family pets. That's not national headlines... That was two streets over. The friends my kids made in that neighborhood are still there... Those children probably saw the flashing lights and felt the tension. They may have even heard the gunshots.... This. Is. Real. Life.

The news is talking about things too horrific to mention...It's the stuff of nightmares... But it's actually... Real.

And to slowly realize that the horrors we are being shown now have always been right in plain sight. ...From cinema experiences to Superbowl halftimes performances.... We the people... have ingested... Participated in and ultimately funded.... Their agenda. Full stop.

The truth of that reality is painful.

But the pain doesn't make it less true.

Society is repulsed... and also feeling guilty for not having seen the signs before. These situations are quite literally causing people to walk in a place of disassociation so that they can continue living without losing their minds.

No more pretending. To not confront evil when it is seen is to permit it. To pretend that we have clean hands when we've known about things that have been covered up.... Is not healthy... It's not Godly.... It's perpetuating sin... and the "pretending that everything is fine" ship has long ago sailed.

If you're needing a place to start the conversation in your home... I'm encouraging you to go back to Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, a story is unfolding that we are living. Things are bad... but there were times it was bad before. This serves as a quick reminder that the Lord was in control then too. Re-read Noah.... study the brokenness of humanity. People were lost... Violent... Incredibly depraved... Even, dare I say.... Subhuman... Yet...the Lord was in control then too. There was a new hope. A new start. A new beginning for those who were walking righteously and trusting in Him.

Re-read about Moses... and the depravity of Egypt... Children being thrown into the Nile River because of the whim of a Pharoah. Forced slavery. Horrific conditions. Read again how the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gave the people of Egypt and the Pharoah chance after chance after chance to repent and turn before He protected His chosen, took them out of the land of slavery and pain and turned them towards a new beginning.... He was in control then too. Do you see the thread? Hope. Read again how Jesus/Yeshua was born into a dark world.... a world where a mad king was worried about losing His dynasty and decided it would be wisdom to have all males born in the region to be murdered to protect his throne. Depraved. Broken. Evil. And into that darkness a child was born that would take up the pain of humanity and offer us a way to be reconciled with the Father.... Hope.

Read again the writings of Paul. And when you do... Also pull up a quick Google search on who was the ruler of the land when Paul was living. Nero was a fascinating human. Horrific...And also totally depraved. The Creator of all wasn't shirking His duties then either... Not even when Nero was using human bodies as torches to light the streets... There was still.... Hope.

Read the story in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were arrested... After speaking the Truth boldly... And they chose to praise and worship from their chains... after being stripped naked and beaten with rods publicly... READ IT AGAIN.

They chose praise... and the earth itself was a witness to their praise. The earth itself shook and broke their shackles. The EARTH heard their praise and participated. READ. IT. AGAIN.

And when they COULD have run to freedom.... They chose to stay in the prison... with broken chains.... Because they were carrying hope... the truth of the Light of the World... Into darkness.

They stayed...and because of their integrity in the midst of horrific circumstances... The jailer was turned to the Father. He will spend eternity worshipping at the feet of the Throne of the Great I Am.

Our Creator was present... in all the darkness. He was present. And the story that our amazing Father was penning then, is still continuing now. And please here me.... Our witness testifies to hope during these days. It is literally a matter of life and death.... Eternity.

Hope. It's here... Even when the darkness seems so very dark. Where do we start? We start with honesty... We don't deny the truth of what is occurring. We don't avoid the difficult conversations. We begin to really dig into why we believe what we choose to believe. We begin to look deeper into words and we use them more carefully...

DEFINITIONS are so very important.

Do NOT sign onto agendas and theories that use vague terminology. We are living in days when words MATTER. Definitions MATTER.

What is a Christian?

Who is Israel?

What is truth?

What is good? And Who defines that word?

What is Sin?

What is TRUTH versus what is a tradition that may not be "bad"... But isn't Biblical?

Catch phrases no longer hold security. We are past the days of empty slogans that lack substance. It's past time that we grow and mature into a deeper faith that gives those around us a place to look in times of storm. And one day at a time... that light will grow brighter. And we will be able to see the hope grow in real time.

How do we have these conversations? It starts with honesty about what we don't understand... and pushes us to begin to study instead of using ignorance as an excuse.... We roll up our sleeves and stand firmly rooted in the only thing that has ever been steadfast and secure.... Hope.