Mission Sunday: Bitter Water

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Our kids’ class Bible story this week was about the bitter water at Marah (Exodus 15). 

One of the boys had the perfect segue – his prayer request (and beautiful prayer) was that God would help him not sweat so much at school.  We’ve been having amazing summer weather, and for kiddos running around in an non-air-conditioned environment, it is a reasonable request, no?  :)

So we could talk about how the Israelites felt after three days of walking in the desert without water, and how thirsty they must have been, and how important water is for healthy bodies and life, and how living water is so amazing…

I couldn’t come up with much of a craft, but we did have a sweet object lesson.  I poured each kid a cup of water, and they could sip if they chose.  Then I poured in some lemon juice – it was funny to watch their expressions on tasting that.  Not so pleasant!

Fortunately, they stayed with me, sweet trusting souls, and dutifully stirred in the sugar I added, tasting it once again.  One of them suddenly realized it was “lemonade!”  Wow!  Amazing!

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In other news…

…the young daughter of friends has a sweet 10th birthday wish this year.  Her brothers’ nickels and quarters, the money she made selling books door-to-door this summer, are going to International Justice Mission, which rescues victims of human trafficking.  Give a special birthday gift to Anaya’s True Freedom Campaign.

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Last, but not least, I wanted to mention a film Esmé and I watched this morning, Evolution vs. God.  This 36-minute documentary by producer Ray Comfort can be freely viewed at www.EvolutionVsGod.com and is uniquely geared towards the young person who may be having trouble reconciling religious beliefs to the science being taught in schools and college courses.

The film is a fast-paced flash through a number of interviews with university students and scientists, mostly self-identified atheists.  The pace kept 6yo Esmé engaged – admittedly, she has a deep and unusual interest in the topic for her age.  It is not so much an attempt to prove intelligent design as it is a revelation of how current secular education deceives our kids (and our adults) into believing that evolution is an irrefutable fact, when “in fact” it cannot be tested or proven with the scientific method.  The actual evidence just isn’t there.  And the famous scientists whose work the evolutionary theories are based on?  Even they reject the classification of atheism and would admit there is room for intelligent design.

If one wanted to delve further into the science – why natural selection is not the same as evolution, why fossils don’t provide evidence of common descent, why changes in bacteria are not proof of evolution – there is a Companion Guide to the video available.

While I felt a little sympathy for some of the interviewees and wouldn’t have presented the gospel message exactly as was done at the end of this video, I think the producers did a good job condensing things into a short, attention-keeping film. 

The message I got personally was this:  both intelligent design and evolution theories require faith.  They both use where we are – what we are – what exists – today as “proof” of what happened in the past (see Romans 1:20).  Not having been around in the past, I have a choice in determining the better story, the one I want to believe in.  And which is the better story?  The one where my life ends here and now when I die?  Or the one with eternal rewards?

Nicely done for a tough target audience.  To view the film, share it with others, or contribute financially to spread its message, visit www.EvolutionVsGod.com.