Hey, I love a gal with fighting gloves...LOL. Oh and yes, I agree with Steve also about God not being limited by linear time. That is a great point.
Aha. An invitation to continue, unfettered. This relates to the L of TULIP (five points of Calvinism): Limited atonement. To quote another: Christ died to save a particular number of sinners; that is, those "chosen in him before the foundation of the world"; those whom the Father had "given him out of the world"; those for whom He Himself said He shed His blood. This is in contrast to the third point of Arminian thought: General atonement. As someone put it: Christ died to save all men, but only in a potential fashion. Christ's death enabled God to pardon sinners, but only on condition that they believed. How many more topics can this thread bear?
Which gives me an excuse to post a link to one of my favorite YouTube videos. Isn't it wonderful to hear Sri Lankans sing that "the Heavens are Telling the Glory of God?" (Haydn's music at 2:50 is perfect for those words!)
I totally agree. It takes man to get up and do something. Even when Saul had a vision he was sent to a man by Jesus. All men are without excuse according to Romans so hadn't the church ought to do something? We are the body of Christ used of God to fulfill His purpose throughout the earth. Romans 10 "12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"" According to Romans 10 it is necessary for them to hear the Gospel to be saved. So much of the world has yet to hear the Gospel once and most of the church seems to think that is no big deal. Even if someone believes that people would be saved without Christ doesn't excuse this. There are billions of people out there stuck in works-filled religions trying to be good and always falling short. Isn't that reason enough to care? Instead we build great buildings and have fabulous children's programs and have monumental outreaches to our neighbors and throw pennies toward missions. If not you, who? If not now, when?
Which, again, points out the immense error of prosperity preaching. I don't disagree with your words at all: We are called to proclaim the good news in Christ, and it is the only reason why we remain on earth. This doesn't, though, take away from God's sovereignty in bringing every one of his children to himself. He does it, not us. He makes us alive. He then causes us to hear so that we might believe. He grants us faith. Not one iota of credit belongs to us. But it is a privilege to be an instrument in that process.
But the church I attend is a mission church. And our mission IS "the 'Hood". So when we spend money in the community, it's also money spent for missions. Heck, people actually PAY to come on Mission Teams to our church in the summer!
I feel inclined to be VERY clear that I 100% support the idea of missions. I had a missions minor my first time through college. I lived in TJ, Mexico for a year when I was 12 doing missions work. I give to missions and teach my children about missionaries. Missions is dear to my heart. But even the missionaries who spoke at my college (which is A/G, on the same plot of land as the A/G Seminary) were quick to point out that we were the ones blessed by being allowed the honor of serving God via missions. That we were the ones who needed missions, not God. That we should feel humbled by the idea that the most high God was so kind and gracious as to allow us mere humans to spread His gospel. And that God needed nothing from us.
The more I read this thread the more I think many are saying about the same thing. God does not need me to spread His Word. However, He wants to use me and I should want to serve based on my love for His Word. God chooses to use man and man should find that an honor. God does not NEED a specific person but He needs willing members in the body of Christ. It is possible to disrupt the will of God in YOUR life by disobeying and by free will. However, God's plan will not be hindered by mere man. There are many instances in the Bible where man has tried to circumvent the Lord's will only for the will of God to be done anyway.
God does promise to bless us and prosper us and he will.... The kicker is this...God's ideas of blessing and prosperity are entirely different from ours. God will bless us through and unexpected illness, difficulty, death of a loved one, etc.. The perspective that trials can give is a blessing. The molding of our character that comes from hard times is PRICELESS. Some lessons are only learned through the fires of adversity.
'Reaching back a few posts... I heard a sermon at a dear friends memorial which really made me think. At first I thought it couldn't be correct, but the more I compare it with what the Bible teaches, the more convinced I am that it is true. It went something like this: Just as God's power is infinite, so also is His forgiveness infinite. It cannot be limited any more than his power or goodness can be. What happened on the Cross, therefore, (being infinite) was, of course, sufficient to atone for all the sins that ever were, that are, and that ever will be committed. His power and goodness and holiness and love and knowledge AND His forgiveness know no boundaries! Christ's suffering and death, like a laser that vaporizes everything in its path, paid for the sins of all of mankind. The forgiveness that was poured forth covered all sin from beginning to end. EVERYONE's sin is forgiven! That is love. That's what He did for you and me. BUT, if we won't accept that forgiveness... like having money deposited in our name at the bank, but refusing to believe it's there or refusing to write a check on it... (The writing of the check, in this illustration, I believe would correspond to reaching out and receiving Christ's Gift by faith.) If we'd rather try to work our way into heaven by doing good deeds or by being good (but we'd have to be PERFECT to get into heaven on our own), or if we'd rather try to pay for our own sins ourselves, then we will--for all eternity. (Not in heaven, though.) His payment was there, but we didn't take it, so we embark on a journey of trying to pay the debt ourselves. Trouble is, we can't pay it off, so the debt will remain forever. That was a slightly different memorial message, and I ended up being very blessed by it afterall.
It is true that tragedies can bring blessings. I don't even want to venture to guess why some people go through things that are heartbreaking, and I don't want to ever tell them that God may be using it to bless them. When they are going through something devastating that may be the last thing they want to hear (even if it is true). Human nature seeks to escape pain of any kind through all kinds of mechanisms (drugs, food, sleep, promiscuity, shopping, you name it). But the truth is if we could learn to bear it and seek the Lord to show us whatever it is we need to know we will likely learn a lot more about ourselves and grow in the process. Now, I don't think all suffering is a lesson, because sometimes life just happens. But, God can bring good out of any suffering.
A certain amount of tact is useful. (wait, did I just say that?) I mean, just because God uses the death of a parent to ultimately bless a family with lessons or more tangible ways, does not mean I'm going to the funeral an proclaim how lucky they are that mom died so they can be blessed by God.
Nor does it mean that God "caused" or "brought it about". It's more the concept from the Joseph story..."You meant it for evil, but God used it for good."
I know a friend whose baby was born a good bit early, and didn't make it. She actually had someone tell her that Michael's death was due to her and her husband's "lack of faith". GRRRRR!!!!! How DARE they even THINK that, but to actually SAY it to a grieving parent? I would have loved to string that person up!!!
One day, looking back, that person may be forced to admit that this couple lost a baby because their faith was strong enough to handle it and to acknowledge God's love in spite of the circumstances. Of the two parties in your story, I can guess whose faith is the stronger.
That's a big AMEN!!! There are some of us who have lost more than one and still "take it on the chin" because we only have one that survived! Thank God for the one that did survive!!! And a "lack of faith" was not the reason the others didn't! Sorry, I will get off of my soap box now. Marty