I just had this thought... You know how the dimensions of Noah's ark seem to imply that pi was somehow equal to exactly 3? Is it possible that God was being intentionally imprecise with the plan, leaving the details up to human ingenuity? God does seem to do that a lot... you pray for something, and your prayers are answered, but not in quite the way you might expect - you have to figure out what God's trying to say to you, or another human being comes along and offers what you need. And that's how salvation works too - it's not ENTIRELY God's doing; God certainly does the bulk of the work there, but it requires a tiny step of human effort called "faith"...
Another possibility of course is that pi WAS equal to 3 at the time, but due to the natural degradation of the universe, spacetime has curved such that it is no longer equal to 3 (much as a triangle drawn on the surface of the earth has the sum of its angles greater than 180 degrees)... I suppose we could test for that with some sort of laser measuring device - OK, pi is one millionth of a percent more than it was last year! - but the first idea is more spiritually satisfying! :)
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
An entropic view of evolution, miracles, and the apocalypse
One time I was discussing the origin of the species with my friend who had previously brought me back to the church, and I was arguing in favor of evolution from a common ancestor (accelerated and manipulated by God, of course) while he was arguing in favor of a massive creation from which things degenerated, each creature containing "potential" for numerous other types of creatures similar but not identical to itself, with the amount of potential in each creature decreasing over the generations.
That theory sounded kind of silly to me, but now I realize that he's probably right... he didn't deny that evolution could happen; he simply said that no new species could appear through evolution, only changes in existing species!
So think about the universe in terms of thermodynamics... the second law of thermodynamics says that the entropy in any closed system will always increase. What's entropy? Well, it's basically homogeniety, or sameness. If all the universe were empty, for instance, entropy would be at a maximum. That's the way the universe was "before creation", so to speak. But then God created things, and since God is above nature, he has the power to reduce entropy, which he did then, and has done throughout history - we call these occurrences "miracles". The universe will then degrade over time - stars burn out, species go extinct, people grow old and die - but every so often God injects a shot of "anti-entropy drug" into the universe! God doesn't do that in huge ways very often, though, because he wants us to see that actions have consequences.
So what will the end of the universe look like then? Scientists tell us that one of the likelier possibilities is that the universe will just burn itself out - everything will become the same once again. That's almost like the Eastern philosophies of the "universal oneness". And that's what would happen were God not to intervene once again, once the universe (or at least humanity) has completely burned itself out! So the prayer asking Mary to "pray for us in the hour of our death" might not only refer to individual death, but death as a species. Once humanity has reached the point of annihilation, God will step in at the behest of all who have gone before (as described in Revelation where the departed saints have been pleading around the altar for ages) and rescue those who will accept his aid - all the rest (of whom I hope there are few or none) will be annihilated - but not by God's "punishment" or "wrath" - no, I think the "lake of fire" must refer to what remains of the earth after the apocalyptic war!
What does this mean we should do, though? Often I think the world is headed downhill - well, according to the Bible, as well as to science, I'm right! But does that mean I should study physics and start developing more powerful weapons of mass destruction in order to hasten the kingdom of heaven? No, while that would not affect my personal standing with God, it would not be what God wants me to do! It almost sounds like God is sadistic, but God wants the world to drag on as long as possible... not for any sadistic purposes, this is simply because the longer the world lasts, the more people there will be to join him in a relationship in heaven, which is what he's been seeking all along! What God wants me to do is to share my experiences with others so that they may come to know him through my testimony.
So yes, God has changed my life, and for the better, I'd have to say! If you don't know God or are confused about who he is, ask me or any other Christian - if we can't answer your question, we can at least point you in the right direction!
That theory sounded kind of silly to me, but now I realize that he's probably right... he didn't deny that evolution could happen; he simply said that no new species could appear through evolution, only changes in existing species!
So think about the universe in terms of thermodynamics... the second law of thermodynamics says that the entropy in any closed system will always increase. What's entropy? Well, it's basically homogeniety, or sameness. If all the universe were empty, for instance, entropy would be at a maximum. That's the way the universe was "before creation", so to speak. But then God created things, and since God is above nature, he has the power to reduce entropy, which he did then, and has done throughout history - we call these occurrences "miracles". The universe will then degrade over time - stars burn out, species go extinct, people grow old and die - but every so often God injects a shot of "anti-entropy drug" into the universe! God doesn't do that in huge ways very often, though, because he wants us to see that actions have consequences.
So what will the end of the universe look like then? Scientists tell us that one of the likelier possibilities is that the universe will just burn itself out - everything will become the same once again. That's almost like the Eastern philosophies of the "universal oneness". And that's what would happen were God not to intervene once again, once the universe (or at least humanity) has completely burned itself out! So the prayer asking Mary to "pray for us in the hour of our death" might not only refer to individual death, but death as a species. Once humanity has reached the point of annihilation, God will step in at the behest of all who have gone before (as described in Revelation where the departed saints have been pleading around the altar for ages) and rescue those who will accept his aid - all the rest (of whom I hope there are few or none) will be annihilated - but not by God's "punishment" or "wrath" - no, I think the "lake of fire" must refer to what remains of the earth after the apocalyptic war!
What does this mean we should do, though? Often I think the world is headed downhill - well, according to the Bible, as well as to science, I'm right! But does that mean I should study physics and start developing more powerful weapons of mass destruction in order to hasten the kingdom of heaven? No, while that would not affect my personal standing with God, it would not be what God wants me to do! It almost sounds like God is sadistic, but God wants the world to drag on as long as possible... not for any sadistic purposes, this is simply because the longer the world lasts, the more people there will be to join him in a relationship in heaven, which is what he's been seeking all along! What God wants me to do is to share my experiences with others so that they may come to know him through my testimony.
So yes, God has changed my life, and for the better, I'd have to say! If you don't know God or are confused about who he is, ask me or any other Christian - if we can't answer your question, we can at least point you in the right direction!
Friday, January 22, 2010
10 commandments? Aww, I wanted a stone tablet!
So I was reading Exodus 19-20, where God speaks the 10 Commandments, and I was surprised by something...
God spoke the commandments directly to all of Israel???
I always had this image of Moses going up on the mountain in seclusion, with everyone else awaiting his return, and Moses takes some stone tablets up to the top of the mountain, and ZAP! God engraves the commandments on them with a bolt of lightning... then Moses comes back down and presents the commandments to the nation...
But the story I read in Exodus says that God actually came down from the sky in a cloud surrounded by lightning, and spoke to those who would come and listen... and not only that, when people actually heard God speak, they said "Oh, Moses, we're so scared! Please, don't let God talk to us any more... you go and talk to him and tell us what he has to say!"
As if Moses had the power to silence God! The only person who has the power to silence God is the person who won't himself listen... and I bet that person has that power only because God is restraining himself from forcing the issue!
Speaking of which, I think I need to listen more, and be less scared of what God might say...
God spoke the commandments directly to all of Israel???
I always had this image of Moses going up on the mountain in seclusion, with everyone else awaiting his return, and Moses takes some stone tablets up to the top of the mountain, and ZAP! God engraves the commandments on them with a bolt of lightning... then Moses comes back down and presents the commandments to the nation...
But the story I read in Exodus says that God actually came down from the sky in a cloud surrounded by lightning, and spoke to those who would come and listen... and not only that, when people actually heard God speak, they said "Oh, Moses, we're so scared! Please, don't let God talk to us any more... you go and talk to him and tell us what he has to say!"
As if Moses had the power to silence God! The only person who has the power to silence God is the person who won't himself listen... and I bet that person has that power only because God is restraining himself from forcing the issue!
Speaking of which, I think I need to listen more, and be less scared of what God might say...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Alpha and omega... or at least delta or sigma or something?
I've been reading the book of Genesis lately, and I came across chapter 40, wherein Joseph interpreted the dreams of the Pharaoh's imprisoned cupbearer and baker... and I thought, wow! Did Joseph just predict the death and resurrection of Christ? It seems a bit of a stretch, but there is the reference to bread and wine (baker and cupbearer), just as at the Last Supper, and the baker (remember, bread = body, according to Jesus) winds up being hanged, while the cupbearer (wine = blood, spirit) is released from prison three days after his dream is interpreted! That sounds an awful lot like a prediction of Jesus suffering bodily and spiritually, only to return in 3 days to vindicate humanity...
Wow... all the way back in Genesis... almost 1900 years before Christ... That is pretty darn amazing! Makes me wonder what other "historical coincidences" will turn out to actually mean something in the end... Or maybe I'm way off base here... John MacArthur and all those Bible scholars who write biblical commentary seem to catch and explain just about every sort of coincidence possible; how could I have possibly caught something new? I'm sure someone's thought of this connection before... hmm, my friend was telling me the other day how I'm one of those people who tries to see things from every possible angle, and that while it causes me great anxiety at times, it really is a gift from God... maybe I should be a Bible scholar myself! It would take some intense studying though... hmm... would have to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek... would definitely be rewarding though! Many people have achieved the "impossible" with help from God... the pastor at my church was saying the other week how he never thought he'd be able to stand up and speak in front of people back when he was in college!
But to avoid getting too grandiose here, I think I'd better keep doing what I can at the moment, and only plan ahead a LITTLE bit, just enough to remind myself that life does have meaning after all...
Wow... all the way back in Genesis... almost 1900 years before Christ... That is pretty darn amazing! Makes me wonder what other "historical coincidences" will turn out to actually mean something in the end... Or maybe I'm way off base here... John MacArthur and all those Bible scholars who write biblical commentary seem to catch and explain just about every sort of coincidence possible; how could I have possibly caught something new? I'm sure someone's thought of this connection before... hmm, my friend was telling me the other day how I'm one of those people who tries to see things from every possible angle, and that while it causes me great anxiety at times, it really is a gift from God... maybe I should be a Bible scholar myself! It would take some intense studying though... hmm... would have to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek... would definitely be rewarding though! Many people have achieved the "impossible" with help from God... the pastor at my church was saying the other week how he never thought he'd be able to stand up and speak in front of people back when he was in college!
But to avoid getting too grandiose here, I think I'd better keep doing what I can at the moment, and only plan ahead a LITTLE bit, just enough to remind myself that life does have meaning after all...
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Insert Douglas Adams Quote Here
It occurred to me the other day... God could have created a really small Earth, consisting of nothing more than the Garden of Eden and some nice scenery to look at, or maybe a square block a few hundred miles on a side for people to settle over a few centuries - but isn't it a testament to the wondrous generosity of God that he didn't only create that, but also created the Earth as big as it is, that it took millennia to explore? And not only that, but there's space out there too... which is vastly bigger than the Earth... Isn't God amazing?
Sometimes I also think about whether there are aliens out there in space... I used to think that there were lots of aliens out there, like in Star Trek, only with more variety than could be shown on a sci-fi show with a limited budget. But (this has been debated by philosophers many times over I'm sure) if there ARE aliens out there, then are they made in God's image? And do they need divine grace? And if not, why not? So I've come to the conclusion (for the time being, barring any further evidence) that if aliens do exist, they are probably one and the same as "angels" as described in the Bible - beings of unimaginable splendor which cannot be put into words, created by God for some unknown reason (at least I don't know, maybe someone else does?) and with a limited degree of free will (Satan was capable of rebellion, of course, but the rest of the angels seem to be rather subservient to God - is this their intrinsic nature, or is it a choice they make, made obvious due to superhuman wisdom?) and not needing (or perhaps not capable of responding to?) divine grace.
Speaking of aliens, I saw in my neighborhood a statue on someone's doorstep of a beady-eyed green alien holding a globe, and that got me thinking... The true appearance of God is supposed to be so awesome that only on rare occasions can someone see him face-to-face and not die of shock, right? Such as the ancient Jewish high priests having to go through elaborate rituals in order to enter the Holy of Holies, and even then only once a year? And in the book of Revelation, where Jesus appeared to have a sword (yes, a SWORD) dangling from his mouth? Well, what if that's because the "true appearance" of God is something that human beings would find repulsive? And speaking of frightening, vaguely human-shaped creatures with power over the whole world and things dangling from their mouths, what about Cthulhu??? Could it be??? Nah, that's about as silly as comparing the pope to Emperor Palapatine just because they have both been seen to make the same facial expressions at certain points in time - just an eerie coincidence! Maybe, though, the appearance of God changes depending on who is looking? Such that those who believe in him in a mature manner see him as a comforting heavenly father, while those who might be less mature in their beliefs see him as a harsh taskmaster, and those who completely oppose him see him as something even worse? I suppose it's possible... or maybe I'm thinking too much of this Japanese RPG I never got all the way through, where there's this church which worships this god (by the name of Zehaal... wonder if there's any significance to that name?), and opposing the church are these witches with various natural powers, and the witches claim that Zehaal is attempting to destroy the world... never did get to the end of the story though, and I'm not sure I ever will... besides the fact that I hardly ever finish anything I start and drop for a while, and the fact that the game was getting kind of annoying (ok, WHICH crystalline platemail was that again in my inventory? the one that's enchanted with +5 vs. fire, or +2 vs. darkness? oh, I have to check EVERY LAST ONE to find out!), I seem to recall the plot going in the direction of "OK everybody, we've got to stop Zehaal from destroying the world!"... and unless the plot has any more surprising twists, I kinda expect the final confrontation to be with the creator of the world, and I'd really rather not have to kill him, even in a fantasy game, you know?
Well, that's enough for now... hope someone's reading! ;)
Sometimes I also think about whether there are aliens out there in space... I used to think that there were lots of aliens out there, like in Star Trek, only with more variety than could be shown on a sci-fi show with a limited budget. But (this has been debated by philosophers many times over I'm sure) if there ARE aliens out there, then are they made in God's image? And do they need divine grace? And if not, why not? So I've come to the conclusion (for the time being, barring any further evidence) that if aliens do exist, they are probably one and the same as "angels" as described in the Bible - beings of unimaginable splendor which cannot be put into words, created by God for some unknown reason (at least I don't know, maybe someone else does?) and with a limited degree of free will (Satan was capable of rebellion, of course, but the rest of the angels seem to be rather subservient to God - is this their intrinsic nature, or is it a choice they make, made obvious due to superhuman wisdom?) and not needing (or perhaps not capable of responding to?) divine grace.
Speaking of aliens, I saw in my neighborhood a statue on someone's doorstep of a beady-eyed green alien holding a globe, and that got me thinking... The true appearance of God is supposed to be so awesome that only on rare occasions can someone see him face-to-face and not die of shock, right? Such as the ancient Jewish high priests having to go through elaborate rituals in order to enter the Holy of Holies, and even then only once a year? And in the book of Revelation, where Jesus appeared to have a sword (yes, a SWORD) dangling from his mouth? Well, what if that's because the "true appearance" of God is something that human beings would find repulsive? And speaking of frightening, vaguely human-shaped creatures with power over the whole world and things dangling from their mouths, what about Cthulhu??? Could it be??? Nah, that's about as silly as comparing the pope to Emperor Palapatine just because they have both been seen to make the same facial expressions at certain points in time - just an eerie coincidence! Maybe, though, the appearance of God changes depending on who is looking? Such that those who believe in him in a mature manner see him as a comforting heavenly father, while those who might be less mature in their beliefs see him as a harsh taskmaster, and those who completely oppose him see him as something even worse? I suppose it's possible... or maybe I'm thinking too much of this Japanese RPG I never got all the way through, where there's this church which worships this god (by the name of Zehaal... wonder if there's any significance to that name?), and opposing the church are these witches with various natural powers, and the witches claim that Zehaal is attempting to destroy the world... never did get to the end of the story though, and I'm not sure I ever will... besides the fact that I hardly ever finish anything I start and drop for a while, and the fact that the game was getting kind of annoying (ok, WHICH crystalline platemail was that again in my inventory? the one that's enchanted with +5 vs. fire, or +2 vs. darkness? oh, I have to check EVERY LAST ONE to find out!), I seem to recall the plot going in the direction of "OK everybody, we've got to stop Zehaal from destroying the world!"... and unless the plot has any more surprising twists, I kinda expect the final confrontation to be with the creator of the world, and I'd really rather not have to kill him, even in a fantasy game, you know?
Well, that's enough for now... hope someone's reading! ;)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
First post... OMG I am so nervous!
So I suppose if you're reading this you have made it through the seemingly non-sequitorial (is that even a word?) title... well, since you were that brave, I will explain for you!
This blog is basically a writing outlet for me to put my thoughts on paper (well, virtual paper at least), because God made people to be part of a community and interact with each other, but I'm so inept at oral communication sometimes that it's a hindrance to me - but me is to be writez good! ;)
So first off, let me explain the title.
Why is this blog "of Divine Grace"? Well, that's because as the cliched song goes, "twas grace that got me safe thus far and grace will bring me home" - I'm a Christian; though I left the Catholic church for a while as a young adult, I came back (though not to the Catholic denomination) through some seemingly miraculous (well, at least it seems that way to me!) turn of events which perhaps I'll explain in another post, or in the comments should someone care to ask.
But "+9 to Save vs. Demons"? What?! Isn't that from D&D? Isn't that "Satan's game, which whether you like it or not is initiating your children into the bowels of the OCCULT, and deeper and deeper into the ranks of EL DIABLO"?
Well, OK, I'm not much of a D&D fan lately, but I have been playing a lot of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc. lately... just picked up Chrono Trigger for the DS... definitely a classic! Not to mention "roguelikes" (Angband, Dungeon Crawl, etc.) So I am a gamer most definitely! Yes, it is possible to be a Christian and a gamer... yes, games are a temptation, but everything in moderation... the Bible doesn't say to NEVER drink alcohol, it just says not to get drunk on it and make a fool of yourself! And if you can't control yourself, THEN you shouldn't be drinking it at all, but that's another matter. Bottom line, pretending to cast "Blizzaga" at the darkness is OK... actually thinking it will have any EFFECT outside of your game is not!
And the third point I wanted to make regarding the title is simply that the juxtaposition of gravity and levity (whew, try saying that three times fast!) indicates my style of humor... *wonders if Sam is reading but forgets if he ever actually TOLD him the joke about the kiwi smoothies that he'd get a subtle reference slipped in*... ;) Oh, there was the one about "we know there are forests (and brothels) in Poland because..."(*) but I kinda stole that one (well, the forests part at least) from the roguelike wiki...
(*) No Poles were insulted in the making of this joke! Honest! Heck, my dad's side of the family is Polish... *gets pelted with rotten kielbasa*
SOOOO... why did I want to post this blog in the first place? Well, simply put, it was another incident of "amazing grace"... I was on the way from "home church" (if you don't know what that is, it's basically a Bible study / social gathering held at someone's house) and I was discussing with my friend (the one I met in such an amazing way who helped me come back to communion with God) the topic of assisted suicide, on which we held opposing viewpoints - his view being that assisted suicide is morally reprehensible and should be treated as murder, my view being that it is merely a means to end unreasonable suffering, and that (hey, why not?) if the whole "but doctors can take ADVANTAGE of people" argument is proposed (as my friend did), well, why not require assisted suicides to take place with a certain number of witnesses... say 2 or 3 as prescribed in the Bible for testimony? Sounds crazy I know... but if that's not enough (craziness OR witnesses), why not require the suicides to be publicly televised or posted on Youtube or something? Then there will be NO doubt of any malfeasance on the doctor's part - talk about the ultimate jury of peers!
Then on the way home as we discussed this, I came to the conclusion that if I have such a reckless disregard for human life, maybe I am the next Nero, the next Hitler, the next bin Laden... the Antichrist! I'd wondered about that before - would the Antichrist KNOW that he is the Antichrist? And if so, would he FEAR being thrown into the pit of fire as I then did? Why would God allow this to happen? If God can forgive all sins, why can't he forgive the Antichrist's? Why is there one person who is SO sinful that even God can't forgive him? And COULD I BE THE ONE???
But my friend reminded me that I CANNOT be the one... since those who seek truth/God will find it/Him. And I definitely seek truth and God, though I have not always been that way, so clearly "the one" will be someone who has complete disdain for truth and God throughout his entire life. Who that might be I don't know - I have my theories, but I'd best not share them here... suffice it to say if I did I would likely receive death threats from, well, the sort of unpleasant people who send death threats to bloggers who don't know what they're talking about!
So, yeah, if there even IS someone so evil that God can't have compassion on him (perhaps God WILL? but only after time in the pit of fire? I'll have to reread that passage to see if the fire is truly eternal...) then that person would DEFINITELY be beyond the limits of HUMAN compassion, since God is infinitely more compassionate than any human being. So I don't have to worry about feeling sorry for that guy, whoever he might be, because I won't be capable of it!
Oh, and what I was TRYING to say about grace here is, what was the subject of this teaching tonight about? It was about doubt! And I was pretty comfortable throughout the entire teaching... I didn't feel like there were any significant areas of doubt in my faith at the moment. Then all of a sudden I get into this discussion on suicide and WHAM it hits me like a ton of bricks! Doubt everywhere! But all this was just a reminder from God: "Hey Ed, you might THINK you're in control here... but you're not. I'M in control. And remember that saying you brought up at home church - 'God won't throw anything at you that you can't handle'! See, you handled that! Now your faith is stronger because of it, just like when I tested Abraham or Job or Paul. Who knows, maybe someday you'll make a big difference in people's lives like they did... Just trust me and we'll go someplace good together!"
So thanks, God, for that lesson... and thanks to anyone who took the time to read this! May you be blessed with the gifts of the Spirit, may your joys be plenty, and may your sufferings be not in vain!
Peace!
This blog is basically a writing outlet for me to put my thoughts on paper (well, virtual paper at least), because God made people to be part of a community and interact with each other, but I'm so inept at oral communication sometimes that it's a hindrance to me - but me is to be writez good! ;)
So first off, let me explain the title.
Why is this blog "of Divine Grace"? Well, that's because as the cliched song goes, "twas grace that got me safe thus far and grace will bring me home" - I'm a Christian; though I left the Catholic church for a while as a young adult, I came back (though not to the Catholic denomination) through some seemingly miraculous (well, at least it seems that way to me!) turn of events which perhaps I'll explain in another post, or in the comments should someone care to ask.
But "+9 to Save vs. Demons"? What?! Isn't that from D&D? Isn't that "Satan's game, which whether you like it or not is initiating your children into the bowels of the OCCULT, and deeper and deeper into the ranks of EL DIABLO"?
Well, OK, I'm not much of a D&D fan lately, but I have been playing a lot of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc. lately... just picked up Chrono Trigger for the DS... definitely a classic! Not to mention "roguelikes" (Angband, Dungeon Crawl, etc.) So I am a gamer most definitely! Yes, it is possible to be a Christian and a gamer... yes, games are a temptation, but everything in moderation... the Bible doesn't say to NEVER drink alcohol, it just says not to get drunk on it and make a fool of yourself! And if you can't control yourself, THEN you shouldn't be drinking it at all, but that's another matter. Bottom line, pretending to cast "Blizzaga" at the darkness is OK... actually thinking it will have any EFFECT outside of your game is not!
And the third point I wanted to make regarding the title is simply that the juxtaposition of gravity and levity (whew, try saying that three times fast!) indicates my style of humor... *wonders if Sam is reading but forgets if he ever actually TOLD him the joke about the kiwi smoothies that he'd get a subtle reference slipped in*... ;) Oh, there was the one about "we know there are forests (and brothels) in Poland because..."(*) but I kinda stole that one (well, the forests part at least) from the roguelike wiki...
(*) No Poles were insulted in the making of this joke! Honest! Heck, my dad's side of the family is Polish... *gets pelted with rotten kielbasa*
SOOOO... why did I want to post this blog in the first place? Well, simply put, it was another incident of "amazing grace"... I was on the way from "home church" (if you don't know what that is, it's basically a Bible study / social gathering held at someone's house) and I was discussing with my friend (the one I met in such an amazing way who helped me come back to communion with God) the topic of assisted suicide, on which we held opposing viewpoints - his view being that assisted suicide is morally reprehensible and should be treated as murder, my view being that it is merely a means to end unreasonable suffering, and that (hey, why not?) if the whole "but doctors can take ADVANTAGE of people" argument is proposed (as my friend did), well, why not require assisted suicides to take place with a certain number of witnesses... say 2 or 3 as prescribed in the Bible for testimony? Sounds crazy I know... but if that's not enough (craziness OR witnesses), why not require the suicides to be publicly televised or posted on Youtube or something? Then there will be NO doubt of any malfeasance on the doctor's part - talk about the ultimate jury of peers!
Then on the way home as we discussed this, I came to the conclusion that if I have such a reckless disregard for human life, maybe I am the next Nero, the next Hitler, the next bin Laden... the Antichrist! I'd wondered about that before - would the Antichrist KNOW that he is the Antichrist? And if so, would he FEAR being thrown into the pit of fire as I then did? Why would God allow this to happen? If God can forgive all sins, why can't he forgive the Antichrist's? Why is there one person who is SO sinful that even God can't forgive him? And COULD I BE THE ONE???
But my friend reminded me that I CANNOT be the one... since those who seek truth/God will find it/Him. And I definitely seek truth and God, though I have not always been that way, so clearly "the one" will be someone who has complete disdain for truth and God throughout his entire life. Who that might be I don't know - I have my theories, but I'd best not share them here... suffice it to say if I did I would likely receive death threats from, well, the sort of unpleasant people who send death threats to bloggers who don't know what they're talking about!
So, yeah, if there even IS someone so evil that God can't have compassion on him (perhaps God WILL? but only after time in the pit of fire? I'll have to reread that passage to see if the fire is truly eternal...) then that person would DEFINITELY be beyond the limits of HUMAN compassion, since God is infinitely more compassionate than any human being. So I don't have to worry about feeling sorry for that guy, whoever he might be, because I won't be capable of it!
Oh, and what I was TRYING to say about grace here is, what was the subject of this teaching tonight about? It was about doubt! And I was pretty comfortable throughout the entire teaching... I didn't feel like there were any significant areas of doubt in my faith at the moment. Then all of a sudden I get into this discussion on suicide and WHAM it hits me like a ton of bricks! Doubt everywhere! But all this was just a reminder from God: "Hey Ed, you might THINK you're in control here... but you're not. I'M in control. And remember that saying you brought up at home church - 'God won't throw anything at you that you can't handle'! See, you handled that! Now your faith is stronger because of it, just like when I tested Abraham or Job or Paul. Who knows, maybe someday you'll make a big difference in people's lives like they did... Just trust me and we'll go someplace good together!"
So thanks, God, for that lesson... and thanks to anyone who took the time to read this! May you be blessed with the gifts of the Spirit, may your joys be plenty, and may your sufferings be not in vain!
Peace!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)