I Don’t Believe in God…

By, Jamie Warner

One thing that stood out with last week’s group of Warriors at the Men’s Legacy Program held at SkyRose Ranch in San Miguel, California, was the majority of them arrived with some belief background, whether they were professing Christians or just had some semblance of belief in God. Only a few had no current or former experience with Faith.

Although it is true, that during a Legacy Program we focus on the fundamentals of a relationship with Jesus Christ and do not strive to create Biblical scholars, we also are intentional about the reality of what it means to declare Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and to commit to following Him. Everyone, not just Mighty Oaks alumni, must count the cost of becoming a disciple of Christ.

Jesus says in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Jesus is clear in that we are to put Him first above all else. He is to be our First Love. All other relationships, all other wants, all other desires should be secondary to our love, admiration, glorification, and loyalty to Him.

And that’s why on, Monday, the opening night Team Leader Ben Ives stated during his Rules and Promises class, “People ask me all the time, ‘Do you believe in God?’ And I tell them I don’t… I know Him. I have a personal relationship with Him.” All throughout the week, we drove home the reality that it’s not good enough to believe in God. We must Believe God. We must Trust God. The Bible tells us that even the demons believe in God, but they don’t follow Him. Belief is not enough. Being a disciple requires action. We must follow Jesus and His example.

This group of Warriors took this to heart and every one of them either entered into a personal relationship with Jesus for the first time, or metaphorically drove a stake in the ground and recommitted to following Him. That was the first and most important step to recovery and moving toward living the life they were created to live: a life of hope and purpose.

Needless to say, it was a very good week indeed.