For the past
several Sunday evenings, over 50 members have attended the Bible Study based on
the book by Don Piper,
90 Minutes in Heaven.
Much of the discussion has centered around faith, prayer and miracles, so the
following third grade class assignment, written by Dan Dutton, an 8-year-old,
who lives in Chula Vista, CA, seems to fit right in with the Bible Study:
EXPLANATION
OF GOD
“One of
God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die,
so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t make
grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make.
That way he doesn’t have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and
walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.”
“God’s
second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes
on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime.
God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he
hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he
has thought of a way to turn it off.”
“God sees
everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy.
So you shouldn’t go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad’s head
asking for something they said you couldn’t have.”
“Atheists
are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t think there are any in Chula
Vista. At least there aren’t any who come to our church.”
“Jesus is
God’s Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and
performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn’t want to learn
about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified
Him. But He was good and kind, like His Father, and he told his Father that
they didn’t know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.”
“His dad
(God) appreciated everything that he had done and all His hard work on earth so
He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in
heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and
seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can
take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more
important.”
“You can
pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked
out so one of them is on duty all the time.”
“You should
always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody
you want to make happy, it’s God!”
Don’t skip
church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This
is wrong. And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway.”
“If you
don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because
your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is
good to know He’s around you when you’re scared, in the dark or when you can’t
swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.”
“But . . .
You shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me
here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And . . . That’s why I believe
in God.”
Leave it to
a little child to sum it up for us—we only need to believe. That’s what faith,
prayer and miracles are all about.
Note: "Learning to Lean" performed by the
Blackwood Brothers Quartet