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September 23, 2004Going SwaggartAlright. I can see some signs when I have to. After inadvertently going all Swaggart over at Tenacious in the comments, then getting an email from SWWS which prompted me to break out the Bible and review Matthew 24, and then someone else linking Tenacious, and finally, cruising over to Acidman and reading the exact same complaint as I heard from a longtime Christian (in his 50s or 60s at least) in a Bible Study a week ago. Let's lay this one out clearly for all who care to read. Rob says this: "I believe that the reason I am an atheist is because I cannot worship ANY God who is supposedly omnipotent and still allows terrible things to happen to children. That's just not right." God does not allow this to happen. He doesn't because he is not in charge of the world right now. That's the whole point of Jesus coming back in Revelation--to take the world back over and restore it to perfection. Right now, Satan is in control and he uses things like innocent children stricken with terrible conditions to hurt other people's faith and make God look like the bad guy. Alright, let's go ahead and use one example to shore up the case. When Jesus was tempted by Satan, one of the temptations was this--Satan showed Christ all the world they could see and offered to make Him king of it all, to give it all to Him, if He'd just bow down and worship Satan. Most folks take this story to illustrate how Christ was able to resist great temptation, and He could. However, there's another lesson in it. The fact that Satan could have given all of that to Him, because he's got control of the world right now. Generally, God stays out of the affairs of the world because he has ceded control temporarily to Satan and because we are given Free Will to make our choices. Certainly, God intervenes from time to time. This is what most of us refer to as miracles. In any event, the point is God does not do bad things to people. Bad things happen to people either because of Satan (who has the con presently) or because of our own choices (speaking from experience here). Look, I don't want anyone to think for a moment that I'm pointing out the speck in their eye, because I am well aware of the LUMBERYARD in mine. This is just one of those issues that is covered pretty cleanly in the Bible and after years of hearing it, and then being reminded of it twice in the past eight days. Believe me, I am by far, not the best person or Christian that ought to be saying these things. I'm certainly not the ideal witness. This was one is just simple. And, finally, the whole reason for Rob's post is that Dean Esmay has brought to our attention a case of need. There is a little girl from Iraq who has a condition that needs medical attention in the U.S., post haste and a way to help is to donate any Delta frequent flyer miles. Thanks Rob for helping to spread the word on a good cause. (Alright, everybody pile on in the comments...) Comments
So, I had a million things to say yesterday (when I couldn't post), and now I have not very many. I guess I can sum it up with, you offer a very insightful (and I feel accurate) perspective. But I do think that in Christianity and every other religion, it is such a personal experience and people have such deep-seated views on it, that you will actually 'change' very few minds...not that it should stop anyone from trying ;o) I just keep in mind that what is 'right' for me, may not be 'right' for the next person. Posted by: KR at September 24, 2004 09:26 AMI'm with you on this Kel, there's always a lot of room for differnt interpretations. Still, some of the ones are just such basic understandings that most thinking people can pick up on that I get frustrated. And if anything else, I know that *I* can't change anybody's mind that's up to them and the Boss. Still, it's sometimes improtant to at least present the case for the other side. Posted by: Adam at September 24, 2004 02:43 PMThere's no doubt it's a tough question. I respect your right to believe as you do. Good luck. roofing products Post a comment
 
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