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"….However, he had come to believe that it was the Lord that caused all his problems. He had resigned himself to the "sovereignty of God." I believe this is the worst doctrine in the church today. I know that this is a shocking statement and is near blasphemy to some people, but the way sovereignty" is taught today is a real faith killer. The belief that God controls everything that happens to us is one of the devil's biggest inroads into our lives. If this belief is true, then our actions are irrelevant, and our efforts are meaningless….. What will...

Tornadoes continue to be in the news.  Two headlines screamed from the printed version of the Des Moines Register two weeks ago, after a huge swath of tornadoes devastated the town of Mapleton and surrounding area, without a soul being killed.  One gave credit to “being lucky”, the other cited “somebody” looking out for the townsfolk during the twister.  Monona County Sheriff was able to give credit to both in one sentence: "I believe in the good Lord, and he saved this town," Pratt said. "We were very lucky."  Pratt also rightly gave glory to the grace of God:  "Last...

The Humanity of John Calvin   Gregory Edward Reynolds ________________________________________________________________________   Rarely has a man provoked such controversy as the man John Calvin.  He is often depicted as the cruel tyrant of Geneva.  The 1994 edition of the CD-ROM Webster's Concise Interactive Encyclopedia claims that Michael Servetus "was burned alive by the church reformer Calvin,"[1] and that Calvin "established a rigorous theocracy;"[2] all of which leaves the distinct impression that Calvin was something less than human.  It is my purpose in this article to demonstrate otherwise. The nineteenth century Lutheran church historian, Philip Schaff, asserted that Calvin "must be reckoned...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--The sovereignty of God as presented in the Book of Revelation should remind Christians that God is in control of all the events of history, including warfare, Scottish minister Eric Alexander noted in a two-sermon series at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Alexander, a Presbyterian minister, said Revelation 4-5 paint three pictures that should give believers assurance during uncertain times. The chapters unpack God's kingship, His guidance over the history of creation and the central act of history -- God's redemption of sinners in Jesus Christ, Alexander said. "We are conscious that these are critical hours in which we...

Calm instead of a storm To avoid blowing a gasket, remember that God is in control I HAVE CALMED AND QUIETED MY SOUL," THE POET-king David tells us in Psalm 131, "like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." That's good advice for Christian conservatives in America today: Lots of things can anger us, but few apparitions are uglier and less useful than a red-faced, veins-popping, clamor-voiced defender of a religion that emphasizes loving our neighbors. Christ sometimes was angry but always showed the self-control of One who knew the Father is...

the potter's freedomthe vital issuejames white  The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) was founded by the industry and endeavor of Ignatius of Loyola. This fiery Roman Catholic zealot dedicated his life to the defense of the Roman Church against the "heresies" of the Protestant Reformation. Toward the end of his life he wrote the following: Seeing the progress which the heretics have made in a short time, spreading the poison of their evil teaching throughout so many countries and peoples, and making use of the verse of the Apostles to describe their progress, And their speech spreadeth like a...