Replies

Look, for what it's worth, I was offended when I first heard about Reformation Theology, on the White Horse Inn radio program in 1994. It was particularly predestination that did it. I took it for granted that I had full control over my salvation, and hearing of this doctrine made me uneasy, and a little bit angry. But I had read Ephesians chapter 1, John 6:44, and Romans 9 before that and noticed that most of the sermons in the Pentacostal church I was attending were about faith. They never touched predestination in these verses, and all activies and sermons seemed to center around getting a blessing, etc. and other man-centric ideas.

I felt kind of like you do: "Why should we have to worship to organ music?" Why "put God in a box?" After all, those churches were "dead", and lacked the miracles talked about in the NT - one of the reasons I had joined the Pentacostals, what I thought to be a biblical church. These churches lacked spirituality, I thought.

Having grown up in a part of the country where the Dutch Reformed faith was strong, and going to private school with these children, I wanted to learn a little more about it so I ordered some tapes from CURE. What I found was a richness, a faithfulness to the Scriptures that far exceeded my expectations. My view of the world was turned upside-down, through a painful and emotional process. What turned it around was the Capernican shift away from the belief that the church exists to serve man, to it being the community of God's elect which exists to worship God. Contrary to what one might expect, I felt better about myself and was, in fact, freed from the tyranny of the Law through justification by faith.

I knew that God loved me because He brought me to Him through Jesus Christ as He revealed Himself in His Word. I became hungry and realized that the meager Pentacostal morsals would no longer suffice, and eventually, after an intense internal struggle, made the full shift. Praying to the Sovereign God for the first time, with tears, was like praying to a different God altogether.

This is just one man's story, for what it's worth... I share it only to demonstrate that I do understand and sympathize with your offense, since I once felt it too.

It was particularly predestination that did it. I took it for granted that I had full control over my salvation, and hearing of this doctrine made me uneasy, and a little bit angry.

LOL! Good one. It is with particular delight that I take people to Romans 8:29 and Ephesians 1:5 and point out that unlike so many "doctrinal" words - this one is actually IN the Bible - and spoken of favorably! Want to make someone especially angry, let them hem and haw about what those verses mean and try to explain them away - only to point out that the Greek word proorizo [pre-ordain, predetermine,to decide beforehand] is actually used MORE times and is not translated into the English (Acts 4:28; Rom 8:30; 1 Cor 2:7; Eph 1:11) Ouch. Ephesians 1:11 even places our PURPOSE as being subject to HIS will. Quick, someone call Rick Warren - and Zondervan Bookstores... there needs to be some editing to the book, "The Purpose Driven Life".