{"id":162,"date":"2009-02-11T15:51:43","date_gmt":"2009-02-11T15:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=162"},"modified":"2010-12-22T13:11:22","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T18:11:22","slug":"6861","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/02\/11\/6861\/","title":{"rendered":"Christians: Make the Goodness of God Believable (video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (February 11, 2009) \u2013 The most difficult thing for millions of suffering people in the world to believe is \u201cthe idea that God is good,\u201d said Gary Haugen, president of International Justice Mission<\/a> (IJM), when he addressed Evangelical Covenant Church ministers during the Midwinter Pastors Conference last week.<\/p>\n

Haugen told stories of individuals, including a Burmese teenager named Elizabeth, who had been sold into slavery. \u201cHow is Elizabeth\u2014really how are all these other children\u2014supposed to find it believable that God is good?\u201d<\/p>\n

Haugen, who founded IJM in 1997, has a long history of working with human rights groups to bring justice and witness to the goodness of God. In 1994 he was the officer in charge of the U.N.’s genocide investigation in Rwanda when he directed an international team of lawyers, criminal prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and forensics experts in gathering evidence against the perpetrators of genocide in that country.<\/p>\n

IJM is a partner in the Break the Chains<\/a> initiative sponsored by the Evangelical Covenant Church Department of Women Ministries.<\/p>\n

Haugen asked, \u201cWhat is God\u2019s plan for making it believable that he is good for those who are suffering so much in our world?\u201d Then he answered, \u201cWe are the plan; God has no other plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becoming the living answers to that question is an opportunity for Christians to be lights in the world.<\/p>\n

Being bold enough to live the adventure can be difficult, Haugen acknowledged. He compared the hesitancy many Christians feel to the fear he experienced during a vacation when he was 10 years old.<\/p>\n

Haugen\u2019s father brought him and his two older brothers to Mt. Rainier, where they planned to climb to the summit. Haugen was afraid of the challenge, however, and chose to spend the day in the visitors\u2019 center instead.<\/p>\n

At first, Haugen was satisfied to enjoy the safety and exhibits in the center. But as the day wore on he recalled, \u201cI started to feel bored, sleepy, and small, and I missed my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, his father and brothers returned, brimming with excitement after reaching the peak. \u201cThey had stories\u2014stories of an unforgettable day with their dad,\u201d said Haugen, \u201cTruth is, I went on the trip but I missed the adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haugen said he understands that people often feel powerless to act under the weight of statistics and seemingly overwhelming odds. But he challenged the audience not to live in the \u201cparalysis of despair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through a humorous re-telling of the feeding of the 5,000, Haugen emphasized that Jesus asks his disciples to bring what little they had and let him do the miracle.<\/p>\n

Haugen shared how offering the little we have has helped IJM free slaves, including Elizabeth, who did not give up hope. While in the brothel, she scrawled the words from Psalm 27:1-3 on the wall of her cell-like room where she was enslaved.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy question for us,\u201d Haugen asked, \u201cis that if Elizabeth could have such faith in the darkness of room number 5, really, who are we to sit in the paralysis of despair?\u201d<\/p>\n

Christians, Haugen reminded the audience, have led the fight in this country against slavery and other injustices such as child prostitution, child labor, and abuse of women.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod intends that we find hope, not only in the way he uses us to rescue individual people, but the way he actually uses his people to change history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haugen closed by encouraging the ministers to write their political representatives and call on them to act on the issue. He added that resource materials are available for their churches to use, even though the subject matter can be difficult. Churches also can invite an IJM representative to come speak to their congregations.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (February 11, 2009) \u2013 The most difficult thing for millions of suffering people in the world to believe is \u201cthe idea that God is good,\u201d said Gary Haugen, president of International Justice Mission (IJM), when he addressed Evangelical Covenant Church ministers during the Midwinter Pastors Conference last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChristians: Make the Goodness of God Believable (video) - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/02\/11\/6861\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christians: Make the Goodness of God Believable (video) - 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