Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! This is the southbound train to San Jose, and this is the Davis stop. We have a packed train today, so please find a seat as soon as possible.

Yes—it sure was crowded indeed, and with three bags and not enough hands, as well as three boys whom I had to keep an eye on, it was a nightmare trying to find seats last Friday on the Amtrak train.

Finally, we found seats at the end of the train and I found myself facing a pleasant looking lady with a binder, backpack, and Greek salad sprawled out about her.

“I’m sorry, but may I sit here?”

“Oh of course!”

And she hastened to make room for me in the seat beside her. After a few seconds, a conversation quickly snow balled and introductions were soon made. I learned that she was a UC Davis student who was traveling home to visit her younger sister for her birthday, and I explained that I was traveling to the Bay Area for my youth group and that my dad was a pastor. Fifteen minutes after leaving Davis, I realized that we were still talking at about 100 miles an hour, and we discovered that we were both extreme extroverts. One topic led to another, until I felt led to ask her:

“May I ask what religion your family practices?”

“Oh, my family is Greek Orthodox, but we’re not very devout even though my whole family has been baptized.”

Our conversation continued to unravel, and we began expounding on the topic of religion, and I found that she had many questions regarding Christianity and life. She began by asking,

“What do you think of the creation of the world? Do you believe in evolution? Or the Big Bang theory? Or a mixture of both?”

“Well, there are two different types of evolution argued by scientists—macro-evolution and micro-evolution. I do not believe in macro-evolution, which is the evolution of entire species forming from another species, like humans from monkeys. However, I believe in micro-evolution, which is the change of characteristics within a given species. I do believe that God the Creator created everything. I do not believe that everything came into existence on accident.”

“Now upon what basis do you believe that?”

“Well, let’s say everything did come from a single amino acid, as many evolutionists claim. Where did that single amino acid come from? It had to have come from somewhere! Furthermore, the factors of which life can exist, for example, the placement of our solar system within the spirals of our galaxy, or the placement of our planet Earth within just our solar system, is so perfectly set for sustaining life that there is no way it could have come about by chance. There are so many different factors that even if one was slightly changed, life could not exist. The number is so great that it is 1 followed by so many zeroes it could cover entire sets of encyclopedias!”

“Yes, that is true…”

“I honestly think that it takes greater faith to believe that life is all an accident and is meaningless than to have faith in a God who created everything and is orchestrating everything behind the scenes.”

“Now that is an interesting statement! Wow….” And here I could just see the clog works of her mind churning and she seemed to be lost in thought. After a few moments, she turned to me again and said,

“So you think that everything is done for a reason? You think God has everything planned? Because then why did God create bad?!? And isn’t God just controlling us like puppets, then?”

“No, God did not create bad.”

“He did—he created Satan, didn’t he?”

“Yes he did, but he did not create bad. He created Satan, but Satan chose to do bad. God creates good things that turn bad. God created us humans to do good, but he also gave us free will and the choice to make out own decisions, which was his ultimate proclamation of love. He didn’t strap us to chairs and tell us what to do. So no, he is not controlling us. Hence the reason why evil continues to exist in the world.”

“Then what do you think is the purpose of life? Why did God even create us if we’re not going to even do what he intended? What is the purpose of going through all the suffering of this world? Why do we have to?”

“Well, let’s say we were all perfect creatures, and we were all just with God in heaven for all eternity, without ever experiencing life here on earth. We didn’t do anything wrong, and we all lived in harmony and glory. God would not have the chance to show us how great his love is for us—we would have no opportunity to come to him, to have a relationship with him, because we wouldn’t need him at all. I believe the purpose of life is to come closer to him through a relationship.”

“Then if God really does love us, why does he allow suffering?” She shared with me how one of her younger sisters had gone through a serious disease several years back which had almost caused her to lose her sister, and the question of her sister’s suffering had troubled her for so long.

“Well, through suffering, we are able to come closer to God. If everything was going fine and dandy, how would we grow closer to him? It is through suffering and pain, we are able to grow and get closer to him. Just as in relationships, hard times evoke the strongest points in relationships in which both grow, so does suffering bring us closer to God. Now, God does not wish pain and suffering upon us. But, he allows it to happen, because he wants what is best for us.”

“Yeah, that is true…” And she explained to me how she realized even within her own family and within her own sister’s life, there had been so much growth and strength which grew from that hard time. She grew silent for a time, and after a few moments turned to me once again and said,

“So then if God knew all this…all this evil was going to happen in the world, then why didn’t he just send Jesus into the world before? Why did he wait so long?”

“Well, God is a merciful God, and in the Old Testament you can see how many times he tried over and over again to bring his people back through prophets like Jonah did for Ninevah. God knew all along that Jesus was going to have to come and save us from our sins, but he still wanted to give us a chance. But, in his perfect timing and will, his plan unfolded.”

“So you think there is a reason for everything? You really think there has been a plan all along? Because I have a really hard time believing that all things—all aspects of life past and present relate together.”

“Yes, I do. I think we all have an omnipotent, omniscient, and loving God who has a master plan in which we all fit.”

“Yeah, I guess….like I think this talk with you was planned. See, I just barely missed the earlier train…by one minute. If I had made it onto that train, I wouldn’t be here right now talking to you…” she chuckled, “Maybe he wanted me to talk to you today…”

Wow! Hearing her say that blew my own mind away! The fact was I had almost gone on the next later train to the Bay Area, and if I had, I would not be sitting there in Car 1 of the southbound train talking to this precious soul. And it hit me so afresh that, wow, God really does have a reason for everything!

By that time, we had reached her final destination, and as she prepared to leave, I gave her a resource which I myself found very helpful—a lecture by Rob Bell called “Everything Is Spiritual” which I hoped would help her understand the supremacy and sovereignty of God in our world and how much he desires that in our lives. As she left the train, I silently prayed for this precious creation of God to open her heart and engage in a personal relationship with the Creator God of the universe who loved her so much!

As I sat back and breathed deeply after such a long conversation (well over an hour!), I was so thankful for the kind of training I have received through Interhigh and other worldview and apologetics training!! I also could not helping thinking what a great God we serve—a God who can use even the young to further His Kingdom and who is a faithful God in control of all things.

Soli Deo gloria!

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

1) Read the Bible passage.

2) Write out the memory verse.

3) Choose one of the options provided (or create your own method) for personalizing, processing, and memorizing the verse.

4) Spend some time committing the verse to memory. (Review prior verses too if you choose!)

You can find our devotions booklet to print out here. Just print it out (double sided) and fold the pages over in the center and you can make your very own devotions booklet!

These rallying times together built up our anticipation and excitement for our praise and worship time and for the messages. Pastor Will and James Kim gave a total of six messages: “Dare to be Different,” “Dare to be Disciplined,” “Dare to Discover,” “Dare to Disclose”, “Dare to be a Disciple,” and “Dare to be a Witness.” Through various object lessons with Play-Doh, soda cans, and paper cups and clips of real-life teen challenges, Pastor Will and James helped the students to identify different peer pressures to succumb to sin and challenged them to be on the “offense” in terms of battling these pressures through confession, spiritual disciplines, and rallying behind Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to compel us to be His witnesses. Following the messages, we had times of prayer and reflection, as well as times of sharing by small groups by the eleven bonfire pits around Sierra Lodge. These post-message sharing times and prayer led to the salvation of 7 students, including one student from our small church visits, as well as many more rededication from the students to commit their lives to following Jesus.

The retreat, overall, was a very blessed and memorable time, which all of the students and staff enjoyed very much. We really hope and pray our students can see the many loving hands that have went into their lives and the messages would have prepared them to “Dare to be a Disciple” for Christ before the upcoming school year.

What was the most memorable time for you at the summer retreat?

1) Read the Bible passage.

2) Write out the memory verse.

3) Choose one of the options provided (or create your own method) for personalizing, processing, and memorizing the verse.

4) Spend some time committing the verse to memory. (Review prior verses too if you choose!)

You can find our devotions booklet to print out here. Just print it out (double sided) and fold the pages over in the center and you can make your very own devotions booklet!

If you’re having trouble printing out the handy booklet and need something a little simpler, you can grab the normal layout file here.

Come join us for our eighth installment of InterHigh Monthly! We’ll be tackling a very difficult but commonly asked question. If God is so loving, than why is there Hell? If you want to know, than be sure to mark your calendars and join us for another jam-packed evening with the 5 “F”s:  food, fellowship, fun, friends and a fascinating talk!

You don’t want to miss out!

Signup below if you can attend:

How would you answer this question?

Come Join Us!

Games, Food and Praise

As soon as people started arriving, we got into groups by grade and readied ourselves for the challenges ahead. We were competing to see which team would do the best in a series of games ranging from human foosball to Team Simon Says. My group was the twelfth graders and our team name was the Beastly Butterfly Boys and Birls (Girls). After each team gave its team cheer, we all rushed off to play. My team joined three others at the four-way tug-o-war, but we were soundly (and embarrassingly) defeated by the sixth graders. Kids seem to be getting stronger these days; who knew? We played several more games, including handball, water balloon toss, and a relay-race (the sixth graders beat us again). All in all, we had a lot of fun, and we got to bond a lot through the games.

After finishing the games, we were ready for some good food. We had burgers and hotdogs with a crazy selection of condiments—even guacamole! During the dinner, the winners of the team competition were announced, along with a special award to the sixth graders for beating us twelth graders. Afterwards, we had an awesome time of praise, InterHigh style; people were jumping up and down, singing passionately, and, in short, doing all they could to praise God!

The Mentor Panels

The high school students and the junior high school students split off for mentor panels during our session time. I was with high school where Pastor Will started off by talking about the encounters the disciples had with the resurrected Jesus. One example was Peter, who denied Jesus three times, but was welcomed back and reinstated by Jesus. Then four of our very own mentors came up and talked about how they had had similar experiences with the resurrected Jesus. Mike, one of the mentors, recalled when he first became Christian and how, like Peter, he had made commitments to Jesus. However, he found himself failing again and again and feeling guiltier each time, wondering how God could ever forgive him. But as he read about Peter’s reinstatement in John, he had realized that God is always willing to forgive. He finished by saying, “I realized that God is willing to give not only second but even third, forth, or fifth chances.” It was encouraging to hear how after discovering the resurrected Jesus, each of the mentors was able to experience God in their lives. We finished with some good old small group time, making the message personal and taking time to pray for each other.

In the meantime, the junior-high schoolers were having their own session. They started off with three mentors sharing what they were like in middle school. Each mentor talked about all the silly things they had done to fit in, like trying to buy all the “in” clothes or getting good grades, but realizing that these things didn’t really work. One of the mentors, Elaine, challenged us to not live our lives stuck in front of a screen, because there’s so much more to experience! Then James (he usually leads praise) gave a short talk about BEAD. What’s that? Well, it’s an acronym to help us remember the evidence we have for the resurrection: the Burial of Jesus, the Empty tomb, Appearances of Jesus, and the Disciples’ belief. To help make the message more memorable, James did something crazy things, like tossing the handouts in the air instead of passing them out! The session was a lot of fun: we got to know three of the mentors really well and, also, how we can remember the defense for the resurrection.

Well, that was all for this InterHigh Monthly. But, in case you missed it, you can check out the mp3 of the High School panel!

DOWNLOAD HERE: High School Panel – How the Resurrection Impacts Me Today

• How has the resurrection changed your life today? Post your comments below!

It’s a short story about Chris who went to a worldview training camp and suddenly saw movies in a new light! It’s a fast read but very interesting! Hope it encourages you to pursue more worldview training!

Here is an excerpt:

“A few years ago, a teenager named Chris attended a worldview training program run by Summit Ministries. He learned a great deal and had a great time. But by the end of the intensive, two-week program, he was exhausted.

As Chris wrote to John Stonestreet, executive director of Summit, “I had never had to think so hard…before in my life! So I decided I was just going to veg out for the next few days.”

When some friends invited Chris to a movie, he thought it would be a good way to relax and recover from all that hard thinking. They went to see the latest version of War of the Worlds.

But the film wasn’t the mental vacation Chris expected it to be. As he explained in his letter, “Mr. Stonestreet, I tried to veg out during the movie, but I just couldn’t. I am watching it and thinking, ‘Wait a minute, that’s secular humanism, and wait a minute, that’s not true. And, what do they mean by that, and how do they know that’s true!’”

Chris then joked, “I just wanted you to know that you ruined my movie!”

After the film ended, Chris and his friends went out for food and talked about the themes in the movie. His friends were astonished at how much Chris had gotten out of the film. As he told Stonestreet, “They kept asking me, ‘How did you see that? How do you know all that stuff?’ It was a great conversation. And I [learned] I can’t just turn this worldview thing off!”’….

Read the rest of the story here: Can’t Turn This Worldview Thing Off

I highly encourage you to make the most of this summer to participate in some kind of worldview training, if you have not done so already!

• Can you think of any other movies that made you go “wait a minute…” in terms of the worldview it presents?

This is the SKIT from RISE 2: Evidence for the Resurrection held by InterHigh Fellowship. It goes through some of the common “theories” that were used to try to explain away the resurrection and the empty tomb in the past. Many of these theories (swoon theory, hallucinations, stolen body) are no longer debated among scholars as they have no evidence to support them.

The SKIT was done by youth students from the 6th graders who did the shadow puppets to the older kids who did everything from acting to prop moving! They did a wonderful job.

What was your Favorite Part of the Skit!

• Please leave nice comments to support their great effort!
• Also please let us know what part of the skit you liked the best!

Did you enjoy that skit? Let us know below in the comments! Then go watch the skit from RISE 2009!

William Lane Craig’s talk @ RISE: Evidence for the Resurrection

William Lane Craig’s came to RISE to speak to our InterHigh youth students about the numerous evidence for the resurrection. Dr. Craig laid out several points from the oddity of women finding the tomb, to highlighting the culture of the times, to the numerous independent sources of the facts, to how even the immediate opponents of this new ‘Christian’ movement did not deny the empty tomb. There is truly a wealth of historical and simple logical reasons why it is reasonable to believe that the tomb was empty and the resurrection is the best, most plausible explanation of what truly happened on that day.

Wondering what does the Resurrection of Christ mean for our lives?
Be sure to come to our next InterHigh Monthly: The Resurrection. NOW WHAT?

Chime in below in the Comments! What did you think?

• Did you really like one of the point?
• Did you learn something new?
• Were you encouraged? Why?

Check out his talk below!

600+ at RISE: Evidence for the Resurrection

Over 600 people attended an amazing evening at Rise this past Saturday! There was much anticipation in the air, as we awaited to hear from one of the most well-known Christian philosopher, author, professor, debater, and apologist of our time! Friends came from as far as Fresno and Vacaville to hear Dr. William Lane Craig give his arguments for the plausibility of Jesus’ resurrection, and how this life-changing event of Christ conquering death was really the hinge of history.

The evening started off in a haze, that is, from the fog machine on stage, as we had an uplifting time of praise and worship by the praiseband. Then there was a skit called “The Resurrection on Trial”, which took place in a courtroom, where the prosecution tried to present some possible theories as to why Jesus never really rose from the dead. The theories were presented through hilarious vignettes, like the kung-fu version of Jesus who used his chi-force to push away the two-ton stone or the ninja disciples who distracted the Roman Soldiers with Little Caesar’s pizza to steal Jesus’ body (all done through shadow puppets) or the disciples who accidentally went to the wrong tomb because the sign pointing to Jesus’ tomb was tampered with by a klutzy disciple. These are actual theories held by scholarly figures who claim that Jesus never came back to life, and it makes you wonder if they really believe what they are saying. Dr. Craig mentioned later that there was even one person whom he debated that was adamant that Jesus had an identical twin brother!

William Lane Craig lays out the Evidence

Then Dr. Craig came forward to present many compelling reasons for why the resurrection is true and not just a fairy tale or a figment of someone’s imagination. I won’t rehash all his arguments here, but you are more than welcome to check out his website at Reasonable Faith or just order one of his two recent books, On Guard and God is Good, God is Great. If you want to push yourself intellectually by taking it to the next level, he has written many other books that has much more detailed and lengthy reasons on this topic. He ended his talk with a stirring testimony of how he came to know Christ as a teenager, through a friend who was gracious enough to introduce him to God, and how that led him down a path of becoming a seeker, asking many questions about Jesus and finding out for himself if God was really who He said he was as written in the Bible. He had his God-moment one night while looking up at the night sky, and being awestruck by the fact that God would want a loving relationship with him, a sinner. That changed his life forever, as he has faithfully devoted the rest of his life to championing the truth of Jesus Christ, and the result of that is that God has used him to impact countless lives.

We had a Q&A time afterwards, where we got into small groups and tried to come up with some questions to ask him. He winsomely answered many of Christianity’s toughest questions, and everyone walked away feeling a little bolder and more confident in our faith. Some of these questions we hope to tackle at our future InterHigh monthlies!

Share with us your Experience!

Were you there?

What was your favorite part of the evening? (praise, skit, WLC talk, discussion, Q&A)

Let us know below in the comments section!