The Old Man

I think I'm going to have a lot of posts from this book I'm reading. J.B. Phillips' book, "Your God is Too Small" is just a good reminder for me on who God is and how big He is!
Another view of God is God as a Grand Old Man, basically God is old and doesn't understand the complexities of modern day. I don't think I've ever had this view of God. This is a good thing and is probably due to my parents and growing up in our church in New Jersey. But I can see how many people could have this view. Many churches portrait this view by talking as if God is far away and using religious talk that no one would ever use today, and singing hymns with words like "doth" and "thou" and with tunes that sound like funeral dirges. (Not all hymns are this way.) From churches stuck in the days of yore, one could easily think that God is stuck back there too.
While it is important to know the Bible stories, it is also important to remember that God is just as active in the here and now as He was then. I sometimes feel that maybe God was more active in Bible times, but that's not true at all. He is very active right now. God has provided for Chad and I in ways that we couldn't have imagined. He healed me from asthma and kept me from being burnt in a fire when I was a child. He kept me from death several times in Africa. I should never wonder if God is active in this day and age!
I think that sometimes Sunday school teachers forget to teach the kids that God does miracles now too, not just in the stories. If God needed to have me swallowed by a giant fish so I would listen to Him...He could and would. Thankfully that hasn't happened. But I think this is a point that is sometimes forgotten and it is no wonder that people see God as being old. JB Phillips mentions a group of teenagers who were asked if God understands radar, all answered "no". Well, of course he does. He's the one who gave us the minds and creativity to come up with radar and all the other technology we have.
This was just a really good reminder that God is very active, He is God!