In Exile

You know these past couple of days have been pretty hard. I’ve had ups and downs, made mistakes, and felt the pain of them, I’ve wept, I’ve been angry, I’ve felt overwhelmed, felt inadequate. But within all of my sorrows, I’ve felt comfort in this song. Dustin Kensrue’s lyrics match my heartaches. I post it for any of those who feel dragged down in this life. There’s hope.

In Exile- Thrice (Off of Beggar’s)

I am an exile – a sojourner; A citizen of some other place.
All I’ve seen is just a glimmer in a shadowy mirror,
But I know one day I’ll see face to face.

I am a nomad – a wanderer; I have nowhere to lay my head down.
There’s no point in putting roots too deep when I’m moving on.
I’m not settling for this unsettling town.

My heart is filled with songs of forever –
Of a city that endures, where all is made new.
I know I don’t belong here; I’ll never
Call this place my home, I’m just passing through.

I am a pilgrim – a voyager; I won’t rest until my lips touch the shore –
Of the land that I’ve been longing for as long as I’ve lived,
Where there’ll be no pain or tears anymore.

My heart is filled with songs of forever –
Of a city that endures, where all is made new.
I know I don’t belong here; I’ll never
Call this place my home, I’m just passing through.

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Why Did God Create Pedophiles?

I don’t think he did. I agree whole heartedly with the post that I’m about to quote from Gregory Boyd’s. He handles an issue that is hard, very well. I think we need to check our faith when we think, “God made you this way suck it up”. I think we are reaping crap from the beginning of time, and current mistakes, and we also are dealing with a crappy broken social upbringing (un-perfect parents, communities, schools, friends).

I think if you allow that some of the future is open, then you allow for sin to fully take it’s effect, and allow us to own up to our crap. If you don’t allow some of the future to be open I feel as if you need to attest- sin, violence, broken relationship, people hurting us, birth defects, thought patterns, actions-on God. Because if we can’t stop, change, effect God’s will he chooses to allow or not to allow actions, and therefore wants one more than the other. So i hope you can think this view through Boyd has great books that help such as( Is God to Blame?, God of the Possible). Im going to leave off with the post Greg put up, but just wanted to say that Jesus is our perfect image of God and everything needs to be consistent with that.

“Question: Since the first time I experienced a sex drive it’s been directed towards little children. I’ve never acted on this, for I know it’s wrong. But it torments me. Why would God created me with pedophile cravings?

Answer: I’m so sorry for your condition and greatly respect the fact that you have committed yourself to never acting on your pedophiliac cravings.

I don’t doubt that you were born with these tendencies. You certainly didn’t choose them. Yet, I also don’t believe God created you this way.

We are born into a fallen, oppressed world. A great deal about our basic natures is corrupted from the start. Some are born with physical disorders, others with mental or psychological disorders, and all of us to some degree with spiritual disorders. These disorders then interact with our environment (social upbringing) which itself is fallen and oppressed. This isn’t by Gods’ design. It’s due to the fact that humanity is in a state of rebellion and is oppressed by Satan and the fallen Powers. The whole creation is polluted with this diabolic influence. Nothing works exactly the way it’s supposed to.

Fortunately, our genes and environment don’t determine us, though they do strongly influence us. With God’s grace, we are able to choose to pursue a thought life and behavioral life that honors God. This may require tremendous sacrifice. But everything about the Kingdom requires sacrifice, for the Kingdom always looks like Jesus, manifesting the beauty of God’s character by dying on a cross.

I encourage you to seek out counseling if you haven’t done so already. I hope you get completely healed, but I can’t promise that you will. This may simply be a cross you have to carry. But I can promise you that, if you surrender your cravings completely to Christ and pledge to living in his way with passion, his grace will be sufficient to see you through and he’ll make your sacrifice more than worth it.”

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Acts 5

Today in class we dealt with a passage of scripture dealing with the first death in the Early Church. The teacher, and the class all seemed to imply that God was the one who struck Ananias and Sapphira dead after their sin. Let’s examine this

Acts 5:1-11

5 1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. 7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, Yes, for so much. 9 But Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Their sin was the result of their death, not God. I posed a question in class about the death being accounted to God, and the teacher stated it was implied. But I don’t necessarily agree. If you view God’s relation to us in a warfare model, fighting to bring good, and influence humanity towards redemption, we can view this entirely different. Satan, and Human choice influenced this story of the Early Church. Couldn’t it just as easily be seen as Satan and his influencers winning a battle with flying colors? The reason I thought this way is that, I’ve currently been reading through Gregory Boyd’s work, and it’s wonderful. He would propose that Satan won this battle, and the results were catastrophic. But he would also say that sin effected this as well, in a crazy sort butterfly effected this event. What degree of Satan and his influencers had compared to the butterfly effect of sin caused this event? We can’t know he says, and i agree. I think we just need to identify the event, and draw some conclusions in light of Jesus who is the perfect image of God.

1. God doesn’t kill people, or desire the death of any (Lazarus, Commands not to Murder)( I understand the OT may cause some problems with this conclusion, but the OT view of God must fit into the view of Jesus)

2. God works to the good of all those who believe in him. Ananias, and Sapphira were believers.

3. Satan is the ruler of this world ( So a lot of this crap needs to be attested to him)

4. Sin does effect us, and effects God’s influence in present day situations( if they had prayed about it to God maybe the event wouldn’t have been as bad or noticeable at all)

5. Jesus died for us, why would he Kill us( i know its the same as the first one but it just sounded good)

 

These are a few reasons why I don’t attest A&S’s death to God. And feel like it’s odd we as Christians are so adamant to attest killing and murder to God. Let me know your thought

 

In Christ,

Giles

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