Where did I say that her testimony was not right?
I did not.
What I did say was that I have a problem with her
belief about God's sovereignty. She believes that God
caused the awful things that happened to her and that it was a demonstration of God's sovereignty in her life. I think that's a flawed view.
Do not I have a right to express what I think on this, the Bible Discussion Forum?
Are you now the arbiter of who can express what views?
I'm content to let God and the reader judge between us.
How you view God and what He does is certainly your business, as how Depleted views God and what He does is her business.
When you share them here, you open those views up to public discourse about what those views are. That's the nature of forums.
What is not your business is to constantly insult and tell those of us who have a different view than you that we are not allowed to have that view. Or that we're rigid, inflexible, pathetic, sad, gullible (badly influenced) . . . sheesh . . . can you hear yourself?
This is the Bible Discussion Forum, not the 'My Way or the Highway' forum.
How is the following a "man-centered 'all about me' gospel"???
(from the On Death and Dying -- Spurgeon Style thread)
We, as believers, have an eternal perspective in this fallen world, and can walk with great hope in what can seem like a hopeless world. It gives us the ability to love others well in the face of adversity - whether ours or theirs - and share the hope that we have in Christ.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is this: God works in the midst of and in spite of the trials, tragedies, and sickness that this fallen world throws at us, He does not will those trials, tragedies, and sicknesses to then show His power and sovereignty. God works His will despite the evils in this fallen world, He does not cause, or even allow in a targeted way, those evils to then work His will.
God can take what is meant for evil that originates with the Enemy and reckon it for good and to serve His ultimate purposes. We see that truth all throughout the Scriptures.
Or this?
We always have a choice to trust God - that no matter what, He will walk through whatever this fallen world throws at us.
There is a lot of peace in that!
And it very much influences how we respond to the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Or this?
For me, a good picture of how God meets us in the circumstances of this fallen world is the account of Jesus in the boat with the disciples during the storm.
Just because Jesus is in our boat doesn't mean that the storms of life won't affect us.
Did Jesus/God cause that storm?
No - that storm came about in the normal course of weather patterns and earth systems that are a result of the Fall (along with tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires, volcanoes, etc.).
Nevertheless, Christ (God in the flesh) chooses to be present with us in the midst of life's storms.
Or this?
I guess what I believe about all of this is summed up so very well with the following song. When our son was in treatment for metastatic brain and spine cancer, we did not know how it would all turn out. There were very hard days. For all nine of us - parents and seven children.
And we had to make a choice to trust God. That no matter what, He is good, and He loves us. And that somehow, in some way, He would redeem what life in this fallen world had thrown at us. And even if our son had died, there was value and beauty in the journey. Seeing the love and provision from God and the Body of Christ, how our son - even in the depths of the journey and at the lowest points - literally raised his hands to God in worship from his hospital bed as he listened to worship music - God was indeed doing something beautiful in the midst:
[video=youtube;fv6foJHaxLg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=fv6foJHaxLg[/video]
These are things that God has taught me as life has happened, not "an anemic and useless gospel" taught by "the doctrines of evil men". Again . . . sheesh . . . can you hear yourself?
Please just stop with the insults and put downs. You're better than that.
-JGIG