Posted by Ben Curran on July 19, 2015 at 11:49:15:
In Reply to: Theology and science are coming together, and and as rain makes the dry and arid desert come to life so God resurrects perished man posted by Elana Janson on July 09, 2015 at 05:52:23:
Yes, Doctor Janson! Your statement that "We have
been so misled into thinking that we ourselves must
prove that something can be done, misled into
thinking that only things which we understand with
our natural minds can be true, that we forget that
there are things beyond our understanding that can
happen" is true. The power of the Beast from the
Earth is truly formidable.
If anybody thinks that God cannot produce a New
Heaven and a New Earth to replace this world, then
he has simply never experienced God acting with
power in his life. Likewise for people who think
that he cannot produce new incorruptible bodies for
us.
But how do we gain that experience of God acting
with such power that it changes our entire
understanding of who God is and what is possible in
this world? Well, the bad news is that the
experience is entirely within God's gift, so we
cannot make it happen. The good news is that we
can ask for it! And if we ask in good faith,
without too much self-interest (there is always
going to be some self-interest in this sin-soaked
world), then there is a good chance that he will
give us an experience of his power.
But the path that we must walk while waiting for
this gift is not an easy one. Jesus was not kidding
when he said "Pick up your cross and follow me".
Our friend Elijah (he of the posts with the
passionate concern for Christian/Muslim relations)
was right when he spoke about the dangers of seeking
comfort. Carrying our crosses is never going to be
a comfortable experience. In fact if life is too
comfortable for Christians then something is wrong.
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be
earnest and repent." (Revelation 3:19).
Satan is a genius of a storyteller. His stories
can make an urge to sin seem like a Christian duty.
We are going to go astray at intervals as our focus
on Jesus is disturbed by the constant bombardment of
these fascinating red herrings. God will have to
give us the occasional smack on the ear to keep us
om the straight and narrow path. If I personally
don't get a smack now and then I start to worry that
I have drifted so far that I can no longer hear him.
If we stop trying to progress on our journey back to
God, if we choose to let ourselves drift on the
tides of the pleasures of this world, he will not
deny our free will and he will let us go. He calls
us 'sheep', and in many ways this description is so
accurate, but unlike a shepherd looking after those
woolly animals in this world, our Shepherd has given
us free will and he will nor stop us if he knows
that we have freely chosen to go astray. We must
value those smacks on the head! He is showing us
that he still accepts us as one of his own.
Yes, Doctor Janson! It is time to realize the
power of the Beast. And the time has come for
destroying those who destroy the earth. We have
made the nuclear stick with which to beat our own
backs. Binyamin Netanyahu, leader of Israel, is
probably right when he says that the ineffective
deal with Iran has made nuclear war inevitable.