"It seems like made-up stories for kids"

     20 years of my life have been invested in youth, college, or young adult ministry.  I have often been pulled aside, or emailed, or Facebook messaged by a young person (or even a not-so-young person) with questions about Christianity, or the Bible, or why we believe the things we do.  It never comes as a shock, often my friends' questions are similar to those I ponder myself.  Christians believe some pretty crazy things, it would be scary if we didn't wonder from time to time.  Consider the Apostle's Creed, a brief summary of belief shared by most Christians:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again;
He ascended into heaven,
He is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

There is so much here that is foreign to our experience.  A virgin getting pregnant?  Giving birth to God?  Dead people coming back to life?  Life that doesn't end?  Are any of these things real?

     None of the questions shocked me until one evening, not long ago, when they came from my own child.  Teary-eyed and distressed, one of the people who means more to me than my own life came to me with doubts about God, even saying at one point, "sometimes when I read the Bible, it just seems like made-up stories for kids".  This blog will be the continuation of that conversation, sprinkled in with thoughts from our family study of the Bible and general life happenings.  I hope you will join the conversation.  Thanks for reading.