My son(8th grade) was given an assignment in social studies to give a public response to the statement below. His teacher often has the kids give their thoughts on a controversial subject. I was blown away by my son's answer and wanted to share it with you. Keep in mind that he attends a public Jr.High and his opinion was published publicly among his peers. He has received a lot of judgment and criticism. He continues to stand and defend his faith in a loving but resolute manner. I am so proud to be this kid's mama.
As you know a major earthquake struck southern Haiti on Jan. 12th, knocking down buildings and power lines and inflicting what its ambassador to the United States called a catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. As I post this blog, the latest numbers are: 150,000: estimate of the death toll, from the Haitian Health Ministry. The European Union and the Pan American Health Organization, which are coordinating the health-sector response, have estimated the quake killed 200,000 people. 194,000: Number of injured. 134: Estimated number of people rescued by international search teams since the quake. Below are 2 recent reactions to the devastating earthquake. Please let me know what you think.
Mere hours after the island nation was devastated by the quake, Pat Robertson suggested on his "700 Club" program that the disaster was payback for a "pact with the Devil" that Haitian slaves made to gain their independence from France more than 200 years ago:
"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it," the televangelist said. "And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.' True story. And so the Devil said, 'Okay, it's a deal.' . . . But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another."
What are your thoughts on this issue?
1/29/2010
Jace Boster-My son's response
Crud, i really love these blogs, they clear my mind so much and remind me, that there is a world out there, and of how funny people are about things when they lack Faith in the ONE TRUE GOD!
So Here Goes...
I am praying that GOD speak to me through his HOLY SPIRIT and help me to testify my Faith, and that HE uses it to open your hearts
First let me clarify one thing
satan has no power to do anything. All he can do is mess with our thoughts, and that satan is possibly messing with this minister's thoughts to make unbelievers even more opposed to the message and the gospel of CHRIST JESUS THE LORD.
(Yes! Christians are just as sinful as regular people, what is different however is that we have an ALMIGHTY GOD to help us escape our sin, and a hatred toward all our sinful transgressions.)
I also think that even IF satan and the Haiti slaves made such a pact, that was generations ago, and GOD wouldn't punish people for things their ancestors did. my opinion.
Now. i'm proposing another scenario
Haiti Slaves are being oppressed by the French so they cry out to GOD instead of satan. GOD replies to their cries of repentance and submission, and they are freed from the French. Haiti government is formed and the first generation of the new Haiti is very Godly, but the second and third generations, not so much. So far we can compare Haiti to the Israellites now. They were slaves of Egyptians and they cried out to GOD to let them go. GOD listened and sent Moses, and you know the story, ten plagues and all. When the Israelites are set free, almost immediately, they turned back to idols. A cycle started with Israel. One generation they are GODLY, next gen they fall away from GOD, GOD sends invaders as a reminder of HIS covenant, Israelites cry out to GOD for help, HE frees them, Next Generation is Godly, then it starts all over again. Like that i think that Haiti has fallen away and GOD is trying to bring his loved ones back to HIM. Sometimes an Earthquake, just like a Spanking, is required.
i don't think, GOD is punishing them for a deal with satan, that was made after more than 200 years ago, which all of a sudden now GOD decides to send an Earthquake after them.
Rather, not being attached to GOD is sorta like a deal with satan in itself. satan doesn't come at the crossroads and say he will give you >Insert Desire here< if you sell him your soul.
No satan prefers more covert operations. he dosen't show up openly, but sneaks in and places lies inside of you, to make you think JESUS isn't true (Which JESUS is true!!!!!, and i can't stress that enough) and he markets different gods and religions like Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism, Hinduism. satan even uses different idols like Playstations and TVs, Girlfriends or Boyfriends, or even Sports to take you farther away from GOD (Not that Playstation, TV, dating, and Sports are necessarily bad by themselves, i really like playing Call of Duty, but the problem is when you take those things and put them above GOD.).
My Point is that NOT being in an Active Relationship with GOD, is in fact a deal with satan.
Anyone and everyone who is not in JESUS CHRIST THE LORD, whether he or she be Spider-Man, Brittany Spears, your Best Friend or even YOU, is in a deal with satan.
Now that i believe that i am finished, i pray that the GOD of Heaven and Earth free you who are Lost and release you from your deals with satan, and bring you to CHRIST!
14 comments:
Oh my goodness Steffany, Incredible.
WOW! How proud you must be. I think you might have had something to do with that;)
WOW! Awesome Jace, just awesome!!
Your boy is grounded in the TRUTH and he is TESTIFYING to it!!
Great job mom and dad and great job Jace!!
and i don't care if he IS short, he can date my daughter. :)
Incredible...bold...love it!
You fully deserve the title "Proud Mama:)"
D.
Praise God for that precious man with BOLD faith! I love it!
Gee, I'm Catholic. I didn't know I prayed to a different God.
LOVE LOVE LOVE Jace! HE is awesome and YOU have done an amazing job raising him! Love you Bosters! You're doing it right!
I am incredibly impressed with your son's writing.
I am concerned at the thought that people see Haitian people as godless people though. When my son arrived here, after surviving 9 years of a life threatening illness, severe malnutrition, and then being whisked away from everything he has ever known... he had a faith stronger than any kid I know.
There is much corruption in Haiti. There are certainly people I would consider to be 'without God' in their life. But there are many many more who have just about the truest faith you can imagine. The kind of faith where you still believe, still trust, still hope after facing hardship after hardship. There is corruption in every place in the world. There is also faith.
Here in the US, we have every advantage we could think of. It's easy to trust in God when things are handed to you. When you can still trust in Him, when it's your third day without a meal, that is faith.
Haiti is a very Catholic country. I know it's a surprise to many but Catholics ARE Christians.... but I am sure that opens up a whole 'nother discussion :)
I truly love your blog, and your son seems incredibly mature, grounded and well spoken. But please don't look at Haiti as a "Godless country".
If God had anything to do with this earthquake, it was to whack the rest of us over the head and open our eyes to our Haitian brothers and sisters who needed us long before this earthquake.
First off, one of our purposes for living is to glorify God & I want you to know that you do this. "Isaiah 43:7-everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory whom I formed and made."
You listen and listen well, YOU ARE CHANGING LIVES, IMPACTING ETERNITY, AND BRINING GLORY TO THE FATHER IN HEAVEN THROUGH THE LIFE YOU LIVE. It's through opportunities like this that you can proclaim truth in a dark world. Will it be easy? No. Will you always be 100% on the mark in what you say? Will you be attacked by what you say? Yep. It will come & you can take to the spiritual bank that if it doesn't come you probably didn't shake the gates of hell all that much and Satan wasn't threatened by what you said. Point is, don't stop standing up for truth.
Now with that said you have to continue to know your truth ( John 8:32). You know the Word Jace. You've been studying it since you were like 8 years old. God has given you a sword that is alive and active (Heb. 4:12). The foundation is laid now start using it to fight against Satan. What I mean is that you have to teaching and speaking with the authority of Scripture and not your opinion. You said that "GOD wouldn't punish people for things their ancestors did. my opinion". I just read the other night in Exodus where the Lord says just the opposite of that. I'll find it and we can talk about it more extensively. When it comes to where God stands on things be sure you know Scripture's opinion. That's all that matters. It'll save you a lot of humiliation and false witness.
Continued...
As far as the response you made about the Haitians being an ungodly nation...I think you had a very true point you were trying to make but it needs a little clarification. I would take it a step back and state that humanity is godless, fallen & sinful by nature (Gen. 8:21). I don't know why this earthquake has happened but I do know that God is sovereign over it. Nothing happens outside of God's will and divine power. Read Ecc. 7:14. We can't look at events such as this earthquake and try to rationalize how there is "no way God could have done this." Uh, yeah He did. He didn't watch it from heaven and think, "Oh no! How did that slip by me" and start panicking. I know you don't think that, but it sounds like some of the comments left eluded to that incorrect theology. Where was I going with that? Um...OH! You took the stance that Haiti is an ungodly nation & it's true. It's true because no nation on a whole is Godly. The only nation chosen by God is the Body of Christ, or the church, His bride. I was curious as to the percentage of "believers" in Haiti and found that 85% of them profess Catholicism. That means nothing to me because I also found that 76% of Americans say they are Christians! Statistics like that speak for themselves. To say that America is ungodly would be absolutely accurate because it is. On the other hand, there are millions of Christ's disciples who are also Americans. But those are 2 different things all together. The woman who adopted a son from Haiti is missing your point. Her son probably genuinely loves the Lord along with hundreds of other Haitians (Lord willing), but that doesn't mean the whole country is saved. God saves individuals. You did an excellent job of getting that point across by the way :) Even though it sounds like the assignment was to take a side as to whether Haiti was being punished by God or not punished by God, you could have focused on the message of the cross instead of the retarded statement the tv preacher guy said. What a better opportunity to preach redemption of sins & the sweet blood of the cross and what that means for you and for me and for all Haitians and all of humanity. Do you see the difference in that and in focusing on pacts with the devil? One thing that really bugs me about the way some Christians try to witness is that they don't talk about the disease we have as sinners. They just "build relationships" with people and try to win Christians over to Christ with kindness. Not Biblical, not how Christ loved people at all. He told the woman at the well dead on that she was sinning and then offered her living water. He told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and follow Him. You are great at explaining the disease, the sin in this world. Now just start explaining the cure!! Explain the good news. Why does God want to bring people back to Him? How does He do it? How are we reconciled to God as sinful people? How does Jesus make everything different for those who believe?
I love you Jace. I praise God for you. We'll talk soon.
P.S. Don't use the word CRUD in school assignments. Totally inappropriate and disrespectful to your teacher. That was a free tip on being polite :)
Satan's power is limited. "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world"
A story of Job actually suggests to me that Satan practically asked for Gods permission to have any power over Job.
"Satan solicits permission to afflict his person (Job) as well, and God says, "Behold, he is in your hand, but don't touch his life."
So to answer the question that was initially asked by your teacher ..
God did have a part in the earthquake because He has all power in His hands. There is none greater and no authority over Him. I don't believe that the Haitians are being "cursed" by God for something that their ancestors did.
"The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity..." Ezekiel 18:20
Rather I think when a nation as a whole turns away from God.. God takes notice!
And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish." Deut 8:19
Why would God let such a thing happen? I don't think at a time of suffering and frustration there is any satisfying answer. He is never far from our suffering for He loves us! He willingly gave up His life for us.
Why did He let it happen?
God's people are not immune from suffering.
continued..
[People don’t realize the consequences of asking God to stop all the suffering. For one thing, our standard of gauging evil is different from God’s because God is holy and we are not. The Bible tells us that one day God will end all the evil and suffering in the world. The only thing is this it will be all the evil and suffering, and not just the selective evils that bother us. For example, many people have an idea of what they would regard as evil, such as murder, rape and theft. But have you ever stopped to consider what God regards as being evil or sinful? What about being greedy, speaking behind someone’s back, having lustful thoughts, being selfish, practicing homosexuality, sleeping around, getting drunk, telling lies, holding a grudge against someone, failing to live as God created us to live? That may all sound like small change to you, but to a holy God those things are offensive to his nature and character. In fact each of these above mentioned acts are evil in God’s sight and stand in complete opposition to his holiness. So, in order for God to remove all the suffering and evil in the world, He would first of all have to remove each and every one of us, because to varying degrees we all contribute to the problem of suffering. God will remove all the suffering and evil one day, but before that great day comes there is another day that must come before it: the day of judgment! This will be when Jesus shall return to judge the living and the dead. Few people are ready for that day because they are not in a right relationship with God and will, therefore, face his judgment. So it’s in God’s mercy that Jesus doesn’t return sooner, for God wants as many people to be saved as possible. The way to be saved is if you trust Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour for he alone pays the penalty for our sin and rebellion.]
So, I don't think that Jace was saying that Haiti was a "Godless country"
But he said that Haiti has fallen away from God.. the same as I think every other country in this world has!
I don't believe Jace meant to offend Catholic's in any way. But maybe believes that their doctrine is flawed.. which is why religions are separated in to denominations.
It seems to me as if maybe what he said was taken out of context.
I'm just inspired by Jace's level of maturity and his love for the Lord. He always has me thinking and wanting to read more of my bible, study more, pray more and long for a closer relationship with God. Pretty amazing for a fourteen year old!
If I could offer Jace any advice I would say ..
If you offend the lost, you can't reach them. God did tell the Lady at the well she was a sinner.. But God is God. For it is written in the Word, "“Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.”
Love your precious boy! Wow, it sure did stir up some conversation even here!!
So proud of Jace and his courage to speak truth. I hope my boys grow up with a faith like his!
Bran
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