I like to read something – most anything – so that at least I will have an educated opinion about things I know nothing about – which is a whole lot. I usually end up with an idea or a question when I finish reading. Let's see if I can make sense – at least for me – and perhaps it will make sense to you. Does that make sense?

Okay. I read a translation of Jean-Paul Sartre's lecture, "Existentialism is a Humanism." It's only four pages long, but it took me four days to figure out what he was saying. My research roughly came to this conclusion. "We humans are living in a world that doesn't make sense, where there are no clear rules of what is right or wrong, good or bad; there is no God and we are responsible for what happens."

Scratch out the "there is no God," and I'll agree with the rest, especially the "we are responsible for the outcome."

If you have been watching the news, or reading the news, a lot of people have died horribly and their fate was because of bad karma. They did bad things and the result was a bad ending. I have spoken with some folks who believe that there cannot be a God who allows such terrible things to happen, evil is more powerful than God, the Creator is too busy with His important things than to worry about simple-minded creations, so we must just accept our fate like the Ecclesiastics do. While we're at it, let's live in a cave, without any hope and learn and believe in astrology, Tarot cards, palm readers, blind luck or take large doses of hallucinogenics. (I think that's spelled correctly.)

I recently spoke to a man who said to me, "John, this is not the world I grew up in." He just happened to have had a very predictable lifestyle, each day was pretty much a repeat of the last and God was in control. As you are aware, the world is changing almost overnight and many of us are desperate, afraid and there is nothing we can do and there are no words of comfort.

This church must respond and state powerfully, "The people of God must believe and must act accordingly!"

If God is the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer and claims us, then we are to live our lives in faith and responsibly! I do believe Sartre, who states that human beings are without excuse. I disagree when he says that we are condemned to be free. Being free is a gift and not an excuse.

We are totally free to choose His direction and are totally free to refuse His direction. A caveat, if you will. To refuse the path of God means that we are on our own so we might as well make up our own rules, guidelines, directions, and must accept the reality that we're going to make some "touch my heel, no trade back" decisions.

Can the church speak to a world out of control? It can and it must. Can the church act in such a way that the world can move towards redemption? It can and it must.

I am a Christian existentialist. Remember my definition and not Sartre's. I am created by God for the purpose of being one of His servants in a world that I do not always understand, with few guarantees, but with great potential.

The world cannot improve on its own. With God's direction and our effort, we can have a fantastic future for generations yet to come. We most certainly can.

Thanks, God!