Tuesday, September 06, 2005
God v Cthulhu
Hebrews 12:7-11 “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995, defines wrath:
“The personal manifestation of God’s holy, moral character in judgment against sin. Wrath is neither an impersonal process nor irrational and fitful like anger. It is in no way vindictive or malicious. It is holy indignation—God’s anger directed against sin. God’s wrath is an expression of His holy love. If God is not a God of wrath, His love is no more than frail, worthless sentimentality; the concept of mercy is meaningless, and the Cross was a cruel and unnecessary experience for His Son.”
[All people are] “by nature, children of wrath”. ~Ephesians 2:3
“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” ~Romans 1:18
There is a fine, invisible line for the sufferer, between God sending wrath and God allowing “bad things to happen”! When a Christian denies God’s judgment as real, and denies the purpose behind tragedy (correction, turning, or refining), the world we are left with is random, meaningless events under a weak and not so holy God. The unseen history in the heavenly realm, revealed to man rarely, brings a whole new light to affliction and disaster.
The seen history is amazing enough. Pastors, who personally witnessed the heathen, in-God’s-face celebration of sin called Southern Decadence, actually wrote, called and literally begged the mayor of New Orleans not to allow it this year. But money, a tremendous amount brought in by the attraction, screamed louder in the leader’s mind and he chose to ignore the cry of the godly. What sort of battle was occurring in the heavenlies? It must have been fierce. We don’t know. Was there a shortage of prayer warriors? Was the Cthulhu of New Orleans, Satan, holding onto his domain by a thread or was it an easy win? The evidence only reveals to us a victory in the scheduled festival for Aug. 31-Sept. 5.
“Stuff happens” leaves me cold with the feeble words raging in my soul. God is all-powerful—much bigger than Satan, which isn’t to portray evil as small. God could have stopped Katrina in a heartbeat. Another visible evidence of the spiritual warfare was the amazing wobble sending the category 5 storm into an easterly spin and a dramatic downsizing before hitting the U.S. This is much like the saving grace that spared the Florida Keys last year. Prayers are always a factor. Believe it or not, it was going to be worse! There is a reason why Christians cannot easily find fault—we only have the seen circumstances. Humbly, I am writing this essay as a revelation of God’s character. God is in complete control. Omniscient-omnipotent-omnipresent! God calls people to Himself in natural disasters. If we believe in the final Judgment Day when there will be no second chances, then why can’t we see God’s mercy in life’s traumas? Better an angry God do all He can to get our attention to hand out the second chances while the getting’s good. To say God doesn’t punish us (and I mean we all are deserving!) in this lifetime is to envision an endearing, loving daddy who suddenly one day up and rejects his children because they had been bad and ignored his kind reminders! This is not love at all. Love, real love, is tough. There is purpose and God’s Hand is in everything…the beauty…the fierce…design…history…hurricanes. God never lets go. He doesn’t waste terrible times. To say He had nothing to do with it…mm, that’s terrifying. My God is strong, Almighty King, Holy, Just…Merciful Father Who draws up to Heaven all of His children. He loves you.
As Edith Schaeffer wrote in Affliction, when we see Him face to face, all else will fade; our troubles will be put in perspective as we look into eternity. We will see clearly when our truth is balanced with both histories, seen and unseen, rather than “through a glass, darkly.” Job’s happy ending, when his prosperity was doubled, is a glimpse of our Eternal glory. Now, instead of questioning God, shall we pray to the One who saves?
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995, defines wrath:
“The personal manifestation of God’s holy, moral character in judgment against sin. Wrath is neither an impersonal process nor irrational and fitful like anger. It is in no way vindictive or malicious. It is holy indignation—God’s anger directed against sin. God’s wrath is an expression of His holy love. If God is not a God of wrath, His love is no more than frail, worthless sentimentality; the concept of mercy is meaningless, and the Cross was a cruel and unnecessary experience for His Son.”
[All people are] “by nature, children of wrath”. ~Ephesians 2:3
“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” ~Romans 1:18
There is a fine, invisible line for the sufferer, between God sending wrath and God allowing “bad things to happen”! When a Christian denies God’s judgment as real, and denies the purpose behind tragedy (correction, turning, or refining), the world we are left with is random, meaningless events under a weak and not so holy God. The unseen history in the heavenly realm, revealed to man rarely, brings a whole new light to affliction and disaster.
The seen history is amazing enough. Pastors, who personally witnessed the heathen, in-God’s-face celebration of sin called Southern Decadence, actually wrote, called and literally begged the mayor of New Orleans not to allow it this year. But money, a tremendous amount brought in by the attraction, screamed louder in the leader’s mind and he chose to ignore the cry of the godly. What sort of battle was occurring in the heavenlies? It must have been fierce. We don’t know. Was there a shortage of prayer warriors? Was the Cthulhu of New Orleans, Satan, holding onto his domain by a thread or was it an easy win? The evidence only reveals to us a victory in the scheduled festival for Aug. 31-Sept. 5.
“Stuff happens” leaves me cold with the feeble words raging in my soul. God is all-powerful—much bigger than Satan, which isn’t to portray evil as small. God could have stopped Katrina in a heartbeat. Another visible evidence of the spiritual warfare was the amazing wobble sending the category 5 storm into an easterly spin and a dramatic downsizing before hitting the U.S. This is much like the saving grace that spared the Florida Keys last year. Prayers are always a factor. Believe it or not, it was going to be worse! There is a reason why Christians cannot easily find fault—we only have the seen circumstances. Humbly, I am writing this essay as a revelation of God’s character. God is in complete control. Omniscient-omnipotent-omnipresent! God calls people to Himself in natural disasters. If we believe in the final Judgment Day when there will be no second chances, then why can’t we see God’s mercy in life’s traumas? Better an angry God do all He can to get our attention to hand out the second chances while the getting’s good. To say God doesn’t punish us (and I mean we all are deserving!) in this lifetime is to envision an endearing, loving daddy who suddenly one day up and rejects his children because they had been bad and ignored his kind reminders! This is not love at all. Love, real love, is tough. There is purpose and God’s Hand is in everything…the beauty…the fierce…design…history…hurricanes. God never lets go. He doesn’t waste terrible times. To say He had nothing to do with it…mm, that’s terrifying. My God is strong, Almighty King, Holy, Just…Merciful Father Who draws up to Heaven all of His children. He loves you.
As Edith Schaeffer wrote in Affliction, when we see Him face to face, all else will fade; our troubles will be put in perspective as we look into eternity. We will see clearly when our truth is balanced with both histories, seen and unseen, rather than “through a glass, darkly.” Job’s happy ending, when his prosperity was doubled, is a glimpse of our Eternal glory. Now, instead of questioning God, shall we pray to the One who saves?
