Gospel of Luke

What makes an atheist an atheist? Losing a child to cancer led Dr. Solomon Harkens (Kevin Sorbo) to walk away from his marriage and family while also blaming God for killing his son. However, losing a child to cancer can also be the catalyst necessary in order to change the hardened heart of the world’s most famous professing atheist as he discovers who God truly is. Written by Sam Sorbo and Dan Gordon, this is such a story.

What actually does it mean to claim the title of atheist? According to Google an atheist is “a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods”. The question always remains the same: if a person does not believe in God, then why blame God when bad things happen while neglecting to give God credit when good things happen? At its root is humanistic pride which says I don’t need God.

Turning his back on his praying wife and loving family Dr. Harkens seems to have it all as he angrily and arrogantly pushes his agenda of God being unnecessary in his life, all the while ultimately blaming God for the death of his son. Giving the impression he has no need of God, Dr. Harkens’ religious credo of “party on” resounds as he chooses to live the superficial life of “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll” yet senses in the depths of his heart something is amiss as late at night and all alone he sarcastically toasts his life of “livin the dream”.

It is clear Dr. Harkens is seeking answers, but unwilling to consider God and Jesus Christ as being a viable option. As he angrily encourages his audience to believe as he does, he makes a harsh correlation between the terrorist organization known as ISIS and that of Christianity having the same agenda (listen closely as he later explains their clear and distinct difference). With a near death experience he now finds it difficult to reckon his atheistic, strongly denounced disbelief of the afterlife as a brief encounter with his much loved deceased son helps him to grasp who God truly is and why He sent His son, thus bringing him out of the darkness and into the Light. “And God said, ‘Let there be light’: and there was light” Genesis 1:3 (KJV).

As anyone who comes to God, Dr. Harkens is a variation of the prodigal son found in the gospel of Luke. While Satan toys with those who are deeply hurting: the bold, the arrogant, the self righteous, the proud,…those who feed into his agenda, God so gently and lovingly never gives up.

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When I think of the term prodigal I envision a young man, on the verge of adulthood, who had become full of himself and unappreciative of what his father has provided. Yes, I think of the prodigal son found in the gospel of Luke, chapter fifteen. In short the son demanded his share of his father’s wealth only to very quickly end up penniless and destitute having wasted this wealth on riotous living. We are quick to view this sad situation from a financial standpoint, but obviously it was more character and morals issues at the root of it all. But alas, I digress.

Prodigals are not always frustrated teens bent on bucking their parents’ disciplined way of life, but are also wayward husbands and wives as well. Karen Wheaton’s book entitled “Watching The Road: Praying Your Prodigal Home” is a testament to just this. Yes, it is a story about her daughter, Lindsay Doss, who chose to walk away from Karen Wheaton and her family. It is also about Lindsay choosing to walk away from her marriage and children. It is a story about how Lindsay seemingly chose to walk away from everything she knew and everyone she loved.

“Watching The Road” is told from Karen Wheaton’s perspective as she searches for the truth, trusting God to not only return her daughter, Lindsay, to her, but to heal and restore Lindsay’s marriage and family. This is the story of a determined and devoted godly woman as she perseveres, refusing to give up. Karen Wheaton walks her reader through her journey of praying and interceding for her daughter’s return. Hidden throughout the pages are the secrets to having the kind of faith which not only endures but grows as it reveals not only the progression of a prodigal’s journey, but just how amazing God truly is to those He loves.