tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post6266083784524374885..comments2023-08-10T04:06:39.828-04:00Comments on The Proclaimed Word: Does God Control Everything? (Genesis 45:3-8)A.J. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06292984443374812223noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-52281168827461523822014-06-04T15:40:46.120-04:002014-06-04T15:40:46.120-04:00Pastor, I have been dealing with this exact questi...Pastor, I have been dealing with this exact question for a while now. And, while I want to lean towards your conclusions, I am confronted with so much scripture detailing God being in control, no accidents (rolling of dice, death of a sparrow, He causes calamity, Ananias in Acts being struck dead, etc. Rest assured, I am a believer and have experienced the goodness for God. I am just hoping this is not as much a mystery as it seems, and please provide your thoughts on reconciling scriptures incidents I highlighted above with God not being in complete control. Thanks for your post, I really enjoyed your perspective. With Gratitude, Mike from HoustonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-61576066448008510982011-10-23T06:05:46.769-04:002011-10-23T06:05:46.769-04:00thank you for your posts and notes etc. much appre...thank you for your posts and notes etc. much appreciated. a scripture that i find that proves that people have a free will to do evil is Micah 2:1>>>> We not only have free will to choose HIM and HIS kingdom - but to do evil too. Yet i have never ever heard this scripture preached about or used when it comes to IS GOD IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING?? I also think that Calvinism and all its threads etc has created many many MANY more atheists in the world. Because it seems the world thinks that ALL CHRISTIANS believe that GOD is in ABSOLUTE control of ALL that goes down. How terribly sad. How devestating!!! <br /><br />Thank you for a great site!!<br /><br />Blessings!<br />Laura from Italy - where GOD is NOT in control!!!! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-14694699050830828852011-09-08T10:09:04.863-04:002011-09-08T10:09:04.863-04:00Hi John -
If anything here is helpful to you, yo...Hi John - <br /><br />If anything here is helpful to you, you are welcome to extract and use as you need.A.J. Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06292984443374812223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-47439566876371217182011-09-03T18:36:11.410-04:002011-09-03T18:36:11.410-04:00Pastor Thomas,
I enjoyed your sermon paper and qu...Pastor Thomas,<br /><br />I enjoyed your sermon paper and quite agree with you. With your kind permission, I would like to extract portions for a paper I am writing. I am involved in prison ministry in the high desert of So. California. <br /> John MillerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-54999651030704594182011-03-28T12:33:06.634-04:002011-03-28T12:33:06.634-04:00Yeah, I hear things like that all the time: "...Yeah, I hear things like that all the time: "It was God's will for such and such to happen," "This was all part of the Lord's plan," "God called so-and-so home," etc.<br /><br />All this to say, I'm where you are. There are many things that happen in the world that are outside of our control and God's control.<br /><br />The earthquake in Japan, for example. That wasn't an act of God. The earthquake was caused by shifts in the tectonic plates that cover the earth's surface, and the movement and shifts of those plates are part of the earth's natural system for cooling itself. In short, the earth was designed in such a way that as it works its natural processes out, things like earthquakes happen. It is sad and tragic when people are in the way of these natural processes. So, where we find in something like that earthquake is not in the earthquake itself, but in how the people of God respond to the tragedy - with aid, support, and relief.<br /><br />Likewise, God's not controlling when people die. Accidents are just that - accidental. People dying in natural disasters is covered in the example I just gave about the earthquake. Murder is a horrible thing that people do to each other; God certainly isn't involved in that! Illness is the result of processes in the body taking their due course, as is death from natural causes.<br /><br />So no, to answer your question, God is not causing people to die. Life is designed in such a way that death is part of it, but God is not specifically orchestrating the events and sequence by which every person dies.A.J. Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06292984443374812223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-9098855096939204362011-03-12T01:16:05.350-05:002011-03-12T01:16:05.350-05:00Thank you for posting this. I agree with everythi...Thank you for posting this. I agree with everything you have posted and I also have a question for you. I would love for you to reply when you have a chance.<br /><br />I've heard preachers at funerals and during prayer request times say things like, "The Lord call Jerry home..." or "It was Jerry's time to go to the Lord..."<br /><br />We have also seen children die and someone will say, "The Lord has a plan for Johnny..."<br /><br />It is hard for me to believe that God controls when we die, whether it is from natural causes, accidents, murder, natural disasters. Can you give me your opinion?<br /><br />Thanks in advanced... :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-21655928139883595372011-01-17T13:40:42.798-05:002011-01-17T13:40:42.798-05:00This is an excellent question, and thanks for rais...This is an excellent question, and thanks for raising it. Obviously any sermon, blog post, discussion, etc. is just a snapshot of the entire issue; a question like this could take a lifetime to adequately discuss!<br /><br />What didn't get explicitly mentioned in the sermon was the presence is the constant presence of evil in the world. You can call this "evil," "the devil," "Satan" - I'm not so hung up on what word we choose to use, so long as we recognize that we will live in a bi-polar system - love on one end, evil on the other.<br /><br />I do believe that we, as humans, are incapable of overcoming the evil we encounter. Though we were created in the image of God with the same capacity for love as God, our wills are also bent and broken away from God (We can call this sin - a moving away from God in our lives). Since our wills bend away from God, it is impossible for us to overcome temptation and evil on our own.<br /><br />That, I believe, is where God becomes necessary. While it is true that love overcomes evil and love is stronger than evil, on our own, we don't know how to love enough to overcome evil. The presence of evil is very real; we don't have to look far to see it. So where do we find a love that is great enough and strong enough to overcome evil in our world? In God. Going back to the premise that "God is Love" that ran throughout the sermon - God is the source of all love. Perfect love, true love, sacrificial love, giving love - all love finds its source in God.<br /><br />That's where God is necessary. On my own, I am too weak to overcome evil. I don't have enough love within me to overcome evil, and I am not strong enough to simple "decide" to love. I need to be plugged into a source of love that is greater than me and also strong enough to overcome evil. That source, is God.<br /><br />For me to love, I have to plugged into the source of all love, and that's God.<br /><br />Does that make sense? I appreciate the good dialogue here.A.J. Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06292984443374812223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985643612405599202.post-69213484736752465832011-01-16T15:47:06.973-05:002011-01-16T15:47:06.973-05:00I like the sermon (because I agree). However, whe...I like the sermon (because I agree). However, where I honestly struggle with my faith this: If your premise is true, that God only exercises love in the world, do we even need God in the equation? Can't we love one another without God at all? It's difficult, because my definition of what love is generally doesn't come from the Bible (as does yours, according to your sermon), although it is influenced by the Bible. But such a definition of love could just as easily come from Buddhism, where although "love" isn't defined as such explicitly, it's clearly there implicitly in Buddhist teaching. So are we better off Buddhists, agnostics, or even atheists, leaving off the God talk? It's a serious question, because many of my peers are choosing this route. Would appreciate your insights.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com