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Yes

By Tim Wood

Not long ago, our church choir sang at a small church out in the county. It was a delightful experience.

One of the most interesting things about it was finding a copy of the church's history. I read through parts of it after the service and was intrigued about references to great nationwide revivals of the past.

An article in a recent issue of Newsweek magazine suggested that another national revival may be emerging in the United States as a result of the shootings at Columbine High School.

Church youth groups across the country been inspired by the story of Cassie Bernall, the student who was in the school library when gunmen Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris burst in on April 20.

One pointed a gun at her head and asked whether she believed in God.

She said, "Yes."

The gunman said, "Why?" and pulled the trigger.

Bernall was not the only student who stood up for her faith on that fateful day,, but is mentioned most often in the news media.

According to a wire service report, Bernall had been reading the book "Seeking Peace" by Johann Christoph Arnold. She had underlined a passage, planning to discuss it with Christian teens the night of April 20, Hine said.

The passage was from Martin Luther King Jr: "If a man hasn't found something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

The Newsweek article reported that a planned gathering of Christian youth became a memorial for Bernall. The attendance was 75,000.

Although prayer was booted out of public schools in the 1960s, in recent years students have had more religious freedom on campus. Court rulings have allowed student religious groups to meet after school on campus if certain provisions are met.

There's annual event in which students across the country gather at their school's flagpole for a time of prayer.

How does one explain this? Perhaps youth have found a hero, one of their own who showed the greatest faith possible. Cassie Bernall is a martyr in the truest sense of the word.

The fragile nature of life was brought out by the Columbine massacre. At one moment, Bernall was a student studying in the library on a normal day of school. In a matter of moments, without warning, she was faced with the greatest test of a believer.

We're not guaranteed tomorrow.

Countless believers have asked themselves the question "What would I have done in that situation?" No one can truly answer that question unless it happens to them.

Believers must ask themselves how they handle the many routine, undramatic situations in which their faith is tested. We are tested on how we treat other people, how we react to adversity, how we carry out our business and in how we live our personal lives. Is our answer "yes?" Speaking for myself, I can't say that it always is "yes."

The youth revival is a good thing to come out of tragedy. But don't believe for a second that it was best that Cassie Bernall died in the Columbine massacre.

That young woman had the faith to look death in the eye and affirm her belief in God.

Had she lived, would that faith have moved mountains?

Yes.
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