News from April 2010
Troubled about Romans 9
Posted on April 28, 2010 by Pastor Tom
“But who are you O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is form say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” That’s Romans 9:20–21.
It’s generated quite a bit of good discussion.
Here’s one – . “I understand that God is saying that he is the potter and can do what he wants with the clay, that I was not here when he put the foundations in place (Job), BUT there is one important difference: people are not lumps of clay. They are sentient beings with souls that must either end up in heaven with God or be apart from Him forever in a place of torment. The “clay” is, in fact, made up of millions of human beings with eternal souls that will suffer for all time if they have not been chosen by God to be one of the blessed human beings that God will show His mercy to.”
Another shared they don’t like Romans 9. Another asked if those verses are true, why even bother with evangelism. God is going to save whom He will save.
Here’s my response to some of these questions/observations.
“One way I approach this is to ask “Why does God tell us He elects?” I think His primary purpose is to communicate that our salvation is secure. It ultimately doesn’t depend on how we feel about God at a particular moment. It depends on Jesus’ finished work on the cross and God’s work on our behalf through history. Part of the purpose in Roman’s is the explanation about Israel and why they hadn’t accepted the Messiah en masse. The answer to what God was doing is found in chapter 11. But in 9, it’s all about the Google satellite view of things.
This week’s message is all about Israel’s responsibility for her choices. So chapter 9 is God’s Sovereignty. Chapter 10 is man’s responsibility. Scripture teaches both. It’s not God’s Sovereignty OR man’s responsibility. It’s God’s Sovereignty AND Man’s responsibility. God’s Sovereignty is at the Google Earth Satellite level. Man’s responsibility is at the street view level. Somehow these two are not contradictory but complementary.”
If God wants me to be happy, why do I suffer so much?
Posted on April 22, 2010 by Pastor Tom
If God is a truly loving God, why is there suffering? Why is there suffering in our lives? We might be looking for happiness from the wrong source. Check out this post:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2362_if_god_wants_me_happy_why_do_i_suffer_so_much/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:DGBlog(DG+Blog)
May you find your happiness in Him today!
Life lessons from spring clean up
Posted on April 14, 2010 by Pastor Tom
We gathered up our courage. We locked arms and together went down to face it. We opened the door and tried to stifle a collective scream. But my wife and I charged ahead to tackle one of the most daunting projects of our married life – cleaning out our storeroom! It had gotten a bit too much to open the freezer door while hockey skates dangled in our faces
It was time. So we started with our card boxes. You know, Christmas cards from 18 years ago. It’s amazing how much space 18 years of cards take up. (Why did we keep all of these?). Then there were broken toys; missing pieces; some chewed on (even before we had a dog!). We found old junk that we vowed we would use – 11 years ago.
When the junk began to spread out through our basement the temptation to scream grew worse. What would we do with this stuff? Slowly but surely, garbage and blue filled up. 3 trips to the Salvation Army Thrift Store were made. One trip to the dump got rid of 140 kilograms (308 lbs) of junk. By the end of our four day project you could walk around in our storeroom. Skate blades no longer threatened the face of anyone opening the freezer. You could even have a personal retreat in there, camp out or sleep over! It was hard work, tiring and amazingly satisfying. We also learned a lot.
Like what? First, I learned again that we can accumulate so much stuff that doesn’t last. Items that used to be new and expensive got tossed as junk after 10 or 15 years. Someone once told me some advertisers tell you “the only way to find happiness is to go somewhere or buy something.” That’s not true! Cleaning out all that stuff stamped that truth deeper on my heart.
Second, I noticed that we can accumulate so much stuff that we don’t need. 100 stuffed animals along with numerous “beanie babies” and McDonald’s happy meals prizes serve as one major example. (If you know my 6 year old daughter, please don’t draw her attention to this article. She hasn’t yet missed any of the recently departed stuffies). So instead of store it, share it. Some kids have no stuffed animals. I hope all our former ones encourage dozens of children.
Third, bringing order to chaos is incredibly satisfying. Why is that? As we sat and enjoyed the store room, I thought about God on the 7th day. He saw all that he had made. And it was very good. God had finished his work and he rested. There must have been deep satisfaction for Him at that moment. We tasted a little of that at the end of our project. It was like we shared in some small way in that “divine satisfaction.”
I wish you all a great Spring cleaning season and hope you get a taste of God’s satisfaction through it.