God is not dead - and neither is His bride

Perhaps one of the more famous things Nietzsche ever said was that God is dead - and in context he didn't mean it that way - but in response to that, so many have said, "No, He's not!" And they're right - He isn't.

I have the words to an old camp song in my head - a slightly annoying, but true and catchy song:

God's not dead - He is alive
God's not dead - He is alive
God's not dead - He is alive
And I know that He's living in me.

"Christ in me, the hope of glory." Thank you, Louie Giglio, for your now-famous Tupperware sermon and the assurance that even if I become a demented old lady, I will still remember that Christ is in me.

A sister in Christ on the other side of the Pond posted today on the question of whether or not the church is dying. I felt compelled to comment, and thought I would post my reflections here as well:

I'm reminded of this time when I heard a prophet/missionary teach at a Vineyard church in Indiana, over 12 years ago, I think - he had actually prayed for someone to be raised from the dead - but it took about 6 hours of fervent prayer before it happened. (I'm not sure I would keep praying past the 1st hour, but he was in high stakes circumstances - the witch doctor in the village basically told him to prove God existed or die, and the proof he asked for was the resurrection of the dead.)

Now I'm sure the guy was actually dead and that God did raise him, and I KNOW that He did that with Jesus, so even IF the Church was dying (which some say she is) God can certainly do something about it. HE'S not apt to show up to the marriage feast without His Bride, I don't think.

So what remains, maybe, is simply that the organization we call the church is in need of, as usual, re-forming - and that those parts of the Bride that ARE exhibiting signs of death, rather than being symptomatic of the whole Church dying, are simply the branches Christ talked about in the parable of the vine and the branches. Those that don't bear fruit aren't ultimately going to be kept - but those that DO - oh! :)

I am also reminded of a scene from one of my generation's most popular movies on this side of the Pond - "The Princess Bride." They bring the main character to Miracle Max, thinking he's dead, and Max says, "He's not dead. He's only mostly dead. And mostly dead is slightly alive."

I think the Church is more than slightly alive. There are people added to her number every single day around the world. There is HOPE. And she has a King who is madly in love with her, and would fight - DID fight - to the death for her.

And He won.