|
|
| From | Message |
|---|---|
|
andrew983 22-Dec-16, 20:15 |
 God Doesn't Need "Help" From UsThis article initially appeared on GK in another club. Thanks to obsteve for finding and posting it on GK. From the U.K. Guardian: "The problem with the person who drove a lorry into a crowded market of Christmas shoppers wasn’t that he was too religious, but that he wasn’t religious enough. It was the action of a half-believer, the sort of thing done by someone who doesn’t so much believe in God – but rather believes in the efficacy of human power exercised on God’s behalf, as if God needed his help. As Rowan Williams once put it: “For the person who resorts to random killing in order to promote the honour of God, it is clear that God is not to be trusted. God is too weak to look after his own honour and we are the strong ones who must step in to help him. Such is the underlying blasphemy at work.” It’s a very basic point. The truth of God’s existence does not depend on me. It does not depend on me filling my church with believers at midnight mass. Nor does it depend on me (or anyone else) winning or losing arguments about God’s existence on Twitter. God is not like a political party that lives or dies on its support or lack of it. The man who shot the Russian ambassador to Turkey shouted “Allahu Akbar” – that God is great. If he really thought that, he wouldn’t have shot the ambassador. This may seem obvious, but there is an insidious unspoken theological heresy to which religious professionals like me are sometimes drawn, in which God is seen somehow to depend upon my effort, and that it is my task in life to keep people believing because it is people believing that sustains God’s very being. How does this connect with terrorism? Consider the conclusion that the American scholar Jessica Stern came to after conducting numerous interviews for her book Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill. “The point of religious terrorism is to purify the world of corrupting influences,” she explains. “But what lies beneath these views? Over time, I began to see that these grievances mask a deeper kind of angst and a deeper kind of fear. Fear of a godless universe. Religious terrorists feel that God is under threat. And it’s their mission to save him – from unbelief, from false religion etc. That, of course, has things totally backwards. We don’t save him, he saves us. And moreover, he saves us by persuading us that it’s not all about us. “The great aim of all true religion,” wrote William Temple, “is to transfer the centre of interest from self to God.” Religious terrorists don’t get this because they still think it’s all about them, and what they can achieve. That’s the heresy. The man who shot the Russian ambassador to Turkey shouted “Allahu Akbar” – that God is great. The thing is, if he really thought that, he wouldn’t have shot the ambassador. His mistake was to think that God was somehow dependent on, and grateful for, his violent assistance. Indeed, what Allahu Akbar surely means (and Arabic speaking Christians use the phrase too) is that God needs nothing from me in order to be God. And when this is recognised, I can (sometimes with quite considerable relief) drop all my desperate schemes and arguments that try and keep him going in the face of opposition and disbelief. Indeed, in order to seek to transfer the centre of interest from self to God, to achieve other-centredness, you can’t make it all about you, your spiritual struggle, your religious heroism. But all this is contrary to the standard narrative the government employs about so-called “extremism”; namely, that the problem with religious terrorists is that they are too religious. The implication of the theologically illiterate Prevent strategy, for instance, is that if religious people were a bit less religious they would be a lot less dangerous. But as Jonathan Swift famously explained: “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” Which is why I want religious people to be more extreme in their faith, not less; to put aside their own boiling inadequacy and to trust in God’s greatness and that he knows what he is doing. Moses and Jesus and Muhammad were all extremists. They trusted in God over their instincts. And the shorthand for this is Allahu Akbar – a phrase the terrorists will never understand." www.theguardian.com |
|
andrew983 22-Dec-16, 20:20 |
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66:1) |
|
andrew983 22-Dec-16, 20:29 |
Surely God can do whatever He wants, and if He wanted to lead someone to Him, He wouldn't need us to do it. I think (personal opinion) God wants us to participate in work He is doing, but He certainly doesn't need or require our help. Verses on the Great Commission: "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:16-20) |
|
andrew983 22-Dec-16, 21:13 |
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13) And this instruction appears not to benefit God, but us. |
|
andrew983 22-Dec-16, 21:24 |
"Have you ever thought about how good and generous God is to us? He gives us life, provides our daily living, forgives our sins, heals our bodies, protects us from the devil, gives us faith and hope for an eternity with Him in heaven. And -- we still keep coming to Him, asking for more. He is not upset when we do. Actually, He invites us: "Ask of Me..." (Psa.2:8). Did it ever occur to you, that perhaps He expects something from us? No, -- it's not money, nor some sort of ritualistic "payback" performance or sacrifice. As this question crossed my mind, the Holy Spirit brought me the following, and I pass it on to you for considertion. God does indeed expect from us: 1. Thanks. Parents are truly pleased when their children have learned to say, "Thank you daddy - mommy." The Psalmist declared, "Enter into His gates with thanksagiving and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name" (Ps.100:3). Jesus expressed His disappointment, that out of ten lepers healed, only one returned to give thanks. "Where are the nine?" (LK.17:17). Paul taught, "Give thanks always for all things unto God" (Eph.5:20). 2. Worship. How does one do this? .Worship does not necessarily call for ceremonial ritualistic bowing or prostration of oneself. Jesus said, "True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:23). This calls for reverential adoration, appreciation, and honoring God from deep within our inner being. This must be done with humility, submission, and full awareness that He is God; -- He is the Greatest and deserves this kind of devotion. 3. Holiness. God desires His children to reflect the family image. "Be ye holy for I am holy" (Lev.20:7). John says, "Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children...when He comes we will be like Him...and all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure" (1 Jn. 3:1-3 NLT). "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thes. 4:3). To be holy is to be pure, to be clean, untainted, separated from sin unto God. A daily tryst with the Lord, feeding on His Word, and keeping oneself continually open to the infilling of the Holy Spirit will lead to greater holiness. 4. Obedience. Nothing pleases a parent more than an obedient child. The prophet Samuel said, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Sam. 15:22). Peter affirmed, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). "Blessed are they that do His commandments" (Rev.22:14). Among those with whom God was pleased because of their obedience, was Noah, who "did...all that God commanded him" (Gen.6:22); Paul, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19); All the blessed, "that do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life" (Rev.22:14). It is incumbent on us that we, "Be...doers of the word and not hearers only" (James1:22). 5. Love. To love God is to direct all our emotions and desires toward Him. This calls for expressions of adoration, appreciation, willingness to sacrifice, and to do anything that would bring Him happiness. Merely to state our love verbally, but not support it with deeds is hypocritical. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength" (Mk. 12:30). "We love Him, because He first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19). Read Romans 8:35. 6. Faithfulness. Jesus said. "No man can serve two masters...ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt. 6:24). "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me...him will My Father honor" (Jn. 12:26). To be a follower of the Lord requires loyalty, -- "for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Col.3:24). Paul said, "It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful" (1 Cor.4:2). Loyalty does not flinch in the face of humiliation, persecution or death (Rev.12:11). Read Rom. 8:35. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev. 2:10). 7. Fellowship. This is why God created man in the first place. He brought children into being, so He could enjoy fellowship with them. (Read Hebrews 12:2). His children are in His "image and likeness" (Gen. 1:26), and are not like any other creature. "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 Jn. 1:3). At the Last Supper: Jesus expressed His intense desire for this fellowship: "With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you" (Lk. 22:15). At Gethsemane: "Could you not watch with Me one hour?" (Mk. 14:37). To His many hearers:: " Come unto Me" (Mt. 11:28). To all today He calls:"I stand at the door, and knock: if any man...open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Rev.3:20). Our Heavenly Father is faithful, generous and loving. He deserves to receive joy and satisfaction from His children, and to feel as proud of them, as He did of Job: "Have you considered My servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth -- a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil" (Job 1:8 NLT).. How pleased is God with us? Have we brought joy to His heart? The Scriptures advise: "Let a man examine himself" (1 Cor. 11:28) "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2 Cor. 13:5). The Bible tells us, "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh.8:10). If fulfilling His desires brings Him joy-- and this "joy" simultaneously becomes our "strength," then we must make sure our responsibilities to our Heavenly Father are fulfilled. Read again, and consider the seven areas of obligation given above. Have we neglected any? Share this truth with your people." globalchristiancenter.com |