|
| ||||
|
|
|
|
| |
A Message from the Pastor
This month will mark my 71st birthday and my 52nd year as a minister. Yes, I was ordained at 19 and pastored my first church. In all those years I kept being asked the same questions. Some ask out of a sincere desire for knowledge. Some ask in an attempt to display their intellect. Some ask in an attempt to eliminate God from the equation. The last two are motivated by egotism. They have a very difficult time accepting the idea that there is something more intelligent than themselves. They really believe they have originated their questions when in fact these same questions have been asked and pondered upon for centuries. These people admit ignorance in other areas but are preoccupied with questions in which there are no answers when it comes to God. What is the origin of sin? Why did God allow sin to come into our world if He is all powerful? Where did Cain get his wife? Why does God allow little children to suffer? Why is it that some people want to eliminate faith only when it relates to God is a better question.
I am keenly aware of the negative questions about God and the motivation behind them regardless of the claims of those who ask them. I, like so many others, spent part of my life asking the same questions. But I had an advantage. After entering the ministry and studying theology, because of events in my life I rebelled against God and sought every imaginable way to dismiss and eliminate Him. I thought like so many others that I had invented some new and legitimate questions about God. Of course, they were all negative and were not new at all. Refusal to look at and admit my own inadequacy was part of the problem. As long as I spent my time searching for inconsistencies with God, I did not have to face mine.
Try as I would, I could not escape the Bible’s tremendous insight about human nature, sin, and evil. Regardless of the assaults I hurled at God, I could not escape the fact that I could not really explain my own behavior. I could not fool myself. The more I concentrated on my own behavior, the less I did on God’s. I had lived with myself long enough to admit my faults and recognize I needed help. When I stopped trying to find fault with God, I found Him and myself. I realized that I could not have a relationship with God or anyone if I spent all my time attempting to find fault with them.
I still have questions but I now realize that if I could explain God, He would not be much of a God. I am now more concerned about what I do know. I now thank God for the day that I swallowed my pride and surrendered my ego for a real relationship with Him.
| Site Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
Local Weather |
|
Verse of the Day |
|
|
