Posted on 05/19/2013 12:21:32 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
Edited on 05/25/2013 2:44:13 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
"Where were You, God?" The question arises daily as news of tragedies abound, and even from time to time as the tragedy involves ourselves. Servicemen die in a bungled military defense operation that should have been a cake walk, and no government official has credible answers. A son is shot dead in his prime by a wanton criminal. A wife dies decades too soon from a deadly disease. A busy mother dies unexpectedly from a sudden heart attack. Maybe you were emotionally abused when a child and have been saddled with a destructive habit that you acquired in an effort to escape from the torment by the only means you knew, and prayer -- once you realized you were in a trap -- seemed scant help or comfort. In these myriad situations the bitter questions often arise: "Oh Lord, where were You? Dear God, why did You roll over for this? Almighty Father, I've always heard that you are righteous and omnipotent, so why did You not act when it would have been so simple for You to stop it from happening? Oh, the heart-rending woe! Why did You lose, God?"
This is not a modern question, and it was not discovered by modern atheists, agnostics, or freethinkers. It arose many thousands of years ago to a man named Job (pronounced with a long "o") who kept a tender conscience towards God about what he did, and as a result displayed a very upright life, and was blessed with a large, loving family and many earthly riches. And yet without warning this man's world came crashing down upon him. It began with the destruction and theft of his great riches, and was topped by the loss of most of the lives of his dear family. Then, the trouble soon escalated with an inexplicable illness that covered him with sores. His wife, in an apparent hint that God was fickle and undeserving of love, in great disgust told him to curse God and die. His friends, who initially wisely comforted him in silence, then began to lecture him sarcastically about how he must have done something terribly wrong to provoke God's wrath, and his agony grew as a heated argument erupted and Job insisted he had done nothing to deserve the tragedy. Finally a wiser friend suggested that Job look to God's sovereignty, and then God answered Job from a whirlwind, challenging the limitations of Job's knowledge about what God can do. With a deeper appreciation of God's capabilities, Job stopped complaining, and soon God blessed Job twice as much as he had been blessed before.
There is a simple enough answer to the question, at least to the mind: by allowing the world and even our selves to fail so dramatically at times, God highlights His capacity to save, a faith in which we sometimes are sorely lacking, and even if we know it in our heads, our hearts are slower and lag behind that and need to be taught. For God is not merely solving complex intellectual problems. He is solving problems that encompass our entire beings that He has created and bestowed with capabilities that are an image of His own.
And yet there are many people who believe who are also struggling with conditions for which there are no medical answers.
I have one such condition, which was only diagnosed a couple years ago. My diet basically consists of chicken and oats. On occasion, I can have beef and potatoes and a few bites of only a couple other foods. Almost all fruits and vegetables are off limits as they make me very sick and cause allergic type reactions.
It did cause quite a struggle with my faith and sadly, some of the current teaching in Christianity today is partly to blame for that.
But God’s long term character is not based on my short term circumstances. Some day I will be free of this. If not through healing in this life, then when I die.
If you are willing to listen, here is a link to a sermon series where a pastor, who is a medical doctor, is dealing with these hard questions.
South Shore Community Church
Pastor Frank Burns
Hey God! I was just wondering.....?
http://www.southshorechurch.com/pages/currentseries.cfm
Angels do not have full knowledge, but have wonderment at God's workings, while they were tested as they are free moral agents.
The devil as the first rebel against valid authority engaged in the first "occupy movement," that of the throne of God, ("I will be like the Most High"), making the first "share the wealth" demand, that God share His power and omniscience, working to persuade Eve that she was a victim of Divine selfishness (God's law is preventing you from being like Him), and had a welfare right to what was not hers (victim-entitlement mentality).
The devil, acting as one embittered by unjust treatment, seeks to persuade others to adopt a victim-entitlement mentality and rail against the God of the Bible, and or worship false gods that are in fact a distortion of Him and His justice and mercy which find their reconciliation in the cross of Christ.
In contrast to the selfish lust of the devil, in God's kingdom, in addition to salvation by unmerited grace, rewards are earned (by grace), so that he/she that overcometh him will Christ grant to sit with Him in His throne," (Revelation 3:21) and shall know as even also they are known. (cf. 1Cor. 13:12; 1Jn. 3:2)
Now you know where the liberal ethos comes from, as well as the atheist's rage against God.
If you’re saved by faith, you won’t just be “free” of the misery. You’ll be in utter joy, fueled by the Lord, and you’ll even be joyous for the role the misery played in helpfully shaping the kind of joy you will be in.
God is THAT awesome. He’s not keeping his marbles to Himself. In perhaps a somewhat irreverent metaphor (God please forgive me if it is) He wants you to play with those same marbles in a rapture of joy.
God ordained the death penalty for rape.
Hardly something men who are making up their own religion would impose on themselves.
Good observation; it bears the divine thumbprint. One can multiply conspiracy theories to try to cover such details, but ultimately, unless one really has a grim, committed, death grip on unbelief, it proves untenable.
Any one of us could die this week, and in a real sense life is getting to die, while here we have not received the full penalty for our sins. If you had perfect health you could die tonite. Last month i had the flu or pneumonia (i have no insurance, and have only been to a doctor once in almost 30 years) that i could not get up at times and thought i might die.
We are to make our lives here count as it is here that we get to choose God and to express Him, to see His will be done on earth as in Heaven, but being ready to die enables that.
Your focus needs to be on meeting the Lord, as well as praying for healing in order to serve and express Him to others here. Nothing we do for God is wasted.
Give your sins and your life to the risen Lord Jesus who gave Himself for you, trusting Him to save you by His sinless shed blood, and who knows your heart and life. And if possible, be baptized. I will pray for you.
God ordained the death penalty for rape? Then why pray tell did he allow and endorse one entire tribe of jews who were short of women to steal and rape and force into marriage another tribes daughters?Or did you miss that part?
God gives us a test while we are on earth.
One of the translations of the Our Father says:
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
And do not put us to the test,
But deliver us from the evil one.
This is the way the Our Father used to be said — with the mention of Satan in it — it got watered down, sadly, and hence, we do not pay attention to putting Satan out of our life.
May God grant you peace and understanding as you search for the truth.
What we modernly refer to as liberal ethos is a particular, ostensibly altruistic (but actually power hungry and selfish) jag of our age, which bears every sign of being spiritually egged on. Earlier usage of liberal, which survives in the term liberal arts, meant a degree of freedom to explore within firm but still fairly spacious outer bounds with the goal of finding truth and beauty. Now that has been turned into a farce and the point seems to be to twist what had been “bounds” into whatever gets giggles at the moment.
The Creed: A Spiritual Treasure (and its relevance to contemporary society
The Nicene Creed [Catholic Caucus]
On the Mend: The Church in the Early 21st Century
Radio Replies Second Volume - Value of a Creed
The Nicene Creed: Ancient Symbol of the Catholic Faith [Ecumenical]
What's the Point of Creeds?
What’s the Point of Creeds?
Who Needs a Creed? (part 1 of 12)
Creed 7: Ascended Into Heaven
Beginning Catholic: Creeds: Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Basic Tenets of Catholicism [Ecumenical]
The Catholic Nicene Creed
We Believe in One God...: The Nicene Creed at Mass [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
I Believe [Apostle's Creed]
Why the Creed Doesn't Mention the Eucharist
The Apostles' Creed in Public and Private Worship
More Than Our Father [The Creed]
The Nicene Creed in Greek and Latin
The Creed - latest revisions proposed by ICEL
God creates circumstances in our lives for many and complex reasons. Though He will lead us through the valley of darkness, He is always walking with us.
Can you refer to the passage you have in mind?
Yup, the God Committee...
Some evangelical translations lost the unambiguous reference to “evil one” (poneeros) and rendered it as “evil.” (That’s one reason why I disagree, respectfully but definitely, with KJV onlyism, as useful as that imperfect translation proved in Christendom.) Modern ones restore the reference, e.g. NIV, NASB. Yes, I explicitly fight demons.
You're referring to the tribe of Benjamin in Judges 20 and 21. You might recall that it was God who gave the order to go out and slaughter the Benjamites. It was the other eleven tribes that felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin and created the "work around" solution to steal and force into marriage another tribe's daughter so they wouldn't be lacking a tribe. This story shows the corruption of Israel, wanting to maintain their heritage rather than being true to God.
THAT, i must honestly say, is an ignorant miscontruance of what the Lord and the Bible taught.
Jesus never said simply having riches was wrong or damnable, and affirmed Abraham who was, but stated the fact that it is hard for the rich to be saved, because it typically gives them a false sense of security, that thrt they need not God, and also tends to result in selfishness due to making wealth their God.
In addition, the Bible nowhere rewarding indolence and neglect of real familial needs or promotes a welfare state and the liberal victim-entitlement mentality and instead reveals that as being from Hell (see post 142 above).
And instead, those whom Christ held were truly afflicted such as being blind, one who will not provide for his own is worse than an infidel.
But yes, "broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat," (Matthew 7:13) as men love sin, and some even engage creating a straw man God of the Bible in order to justify their rejection of Him. "6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)" (Psalms 49:6-8)
That might work except for the problem of "where did all this come from?". Add to that, the truth that there IS a design and order to the universe and not at all the random chaos some like to believe it is. However, I do agree with you that the choice we have is stark - there IS a God or there is NO god. I believe that God does exist because I have seen His work. I guess you could say I know too much to ever go to unbelief. I found out that God really IS a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and that he CAN be found when we seek Him with all our hearts.
Thanks for the details. Not everything that Israel did was blessed even if it was forgiven.
Part of it, I think I perceive, is the false modesty of rejecting “eternity in our hearts.” Some of us humans are happy enough in the world’s playground which is of, for, and about the world. But we have to put a lid on that “eternity” thing (which expresses itself as spiritual yearnings). And the world affirms this as normal.
Youre such a Bible expert im confidant you can find it youreself.However might i point you towards the book of judges.
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