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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (2898)	11/2/2000 1:26:06 PM
From: Greg or e	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

Morning E Thanks for the response. Had a busy weekend so I'm sorry it took me so long to get back. It's obvious that you feel very strongly about the subject of God, and that you have given it a great deal of thought. As I read of your decision to place your daughter in the care of others and how you felt the need to protect her by listing her as protestant I have to tell you I got a lump in my throat. As a father of three I can only imagine an inkling of the anguish that you must be experiencing. The love we have for our children goes beyond any ability to express it. When my child hurts, I am hurt, often to a far greater degree than they do themselves because we can see what they cannot. Our oldest boy has had to deal with a learning disability that has affected every aspect of his life. He has had to overcome a great deal of adversity in his life and many times as my wife and I have watched him grow, we have felt helpless, as he struggled to be accepted by the other kids. In many cases all we could do was love him and provide a safe haven for him against the storms of life, but many a tear has been shed. He has grown up to be a fine young man whom we are very proud of. Your comments about Pinjira Begum and the apparent dispassionate reaction of the Christian man to whom you referred also left me feeling troubled, although I think for slightly different reasons than yourself. It bothers me when I see that people who call themselves Christians act and speak in a way that brings God's character into question, although I have done it myself many times. Let me just say this, when I go to see my kids band concerts, proud papa that I am, I try not to judge Bach by their performance, knowing that it is but a shadow of his true genius. The first thing I'll say is that when it comes to suffering and pain, God is not dispassionate about the struggles we experience in life, neither is he disabled, in the sense that he is unable, for reasons beyond his control to bring about a resolution to our predicaments. I think that you hinted at the answer yourself when you pointed to the fact that you would not worship such a God unless He forced you to. The fact that God has allowed each of us to choose between good and evil means that He will allow, at lest for the moment, us to do that which is harmful to ourselves and others. That does not mean that we can avoid the consequences of those choices, but we have that choice. Reformation would be an easy thing for God to accomplish. He could for instance cause the rocks thrown at the head of an innocent person to just vaporize before they could do their damage, or he could call time out and move the baby carriage out of the way of the drunk driver. All sorts of scenarios could be envisaged whereby God could circumvent harm from happening, but then where would freedom be? Transformation on the other hand is not nearly as easy as reformation. Jesus said that the evil things we do and say come as a result of evil in our hearts. Only through a transformation of spirit can we be truly free to act in a manner that could be characterized as good. It amazes me that people scoff at the notion of original sin. It seems to me that this is one doctrine that is verifiable by opening a paper in the morning, or for that matter just looking into the mirror of our souls individually. We all do things we know are not right and yet we seem powerless to stop. Ask yourself this question, If this world is the way it has always been, then why should we expect that to ever change? On the other hand, if man is fallen then there is at least the possibility of restoration. This is what the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ has to do with us. By paying the penalty the Law demands, we can be restored to our relationship with God, and our hearts are transformed so that we can begin to do those things that are pleasing and good towards God and our fellow man. I think that there is a real misunderstanding when it comes to the purpose of Gods Law. It was never intended that it be a means of obtaining favor with God.(stand up, sit down, run around the church five times and your in) Rather, it is a reflection of God's character and a standard that in being unattainable points us to the need of a savior who in fulfilling the Law for us, is able to transfer or impute that righteousness to our account. This is the claim of Christ. It is historic and evidential. It is not, as some have supposed, that faith and reason are juxtaposed but rater it is faith and works that are set against one another. The Law says we must be perfect but we are not. Faith says, Christ has fulfilled the requirements of the Law and has proven it by raising from the dead. We have the freedom to choose. One path leads to life and the other to destruction, this day we all must choose I urge you to choose Life. Thank you for reading and considering this even though you probably think it's flaky. Have a good day Greg