No fooling around

..this time. Although, I don't expect this post to be very cohesive. As I thought about how it would go while eating breakfast and enjoying the view (hoy esta nublado), I thought of only one thing that was clear:

We need to pray.

Yesterday, I had a fun discussion with Randy about Open Theism and Calvinism. You see, we're about to tackle some of the hardest questions brought against Christianity during High Impact, one of them of course, being the question of suffering. The same question came out in Crusade during our One Question campaign. Every year.

It is hard to comprehend a God that we call good creating a world that includes suffering.

Aside--the suffering we face as Americans is so little compared to the world. I can only hope that because of how small the world has gotten through technology, when people bring up the question of suffering, they are looking at our entire globe's suffering. I do not want to completely diminish the pain we do experience, but I just feel like having a bed every night and at least one meal every day makes us some of the most fortunate people.

It seems the difference between Open Theism and Calvinism is the verb. Does God allow or does God cause suffering? Does God allow for man to choose evil, which leads to the greater suffering? Or does God cause certain suffering to happen because that's the way it will be?

This leads to more questions: What is the ultimate reason for the suffering? No one wants to hear, "This is happening for a greater purpose," or "God is bringing glory to himself through your suffering." Especially within the moment. "Hindsight is 20/20," is another phrase I've heard fairly recently that brings little comfort while facing trials of many kinds.

We brought up examples from the Bible that seems to point to either way. I thought about how we also don't have the history of the other men God could have used, to say, lead Israel out of Egypt, or the other guy (or girl?) that could have betrayed Jesus. I thought about how both the Arminian and Calvinism camp use Romans 8:28 to make their point of free will or predestination.

We see through a glass darkly.

We don't have the whole picture the way God does.

And the problem that every camp faces is that they stick a label on God as to how He works. How can we make such a claim?

But it doesn't mean we stop seeking! It doesn't mean we give up on trying to figure things out! In fact, I would argue that our very life depends on knowing the God we serve. The way we live is affected by our worldview. If we see the world as helpless, we will live hopeless lives. If we see the world as only a holding place for eternal life, we won't accomplish much in our lifetime. To name a couple examples.

I once applied for a youth ministry position in the midwest, and they told me about their worldview. I think they were trying to see if I was in their camp or not. I responded that if God is Calvinist, I will tell as many people I know about Jesus because I want to be in on God's plan to find those He has predetermined. If He is Arminian, I will tell as many people I know about Jesus because I want to give them the opportunity to choose Christ and the salvation He offers.

But I guess God didn't fore-ordain me to get that job. (Insert rimshot.)

Our very prayer lives are affected. When we petition on behalf of someone through prayer, but believe in a God who will only do His way all the time, how will we pray?

Prayer is throughout Scripture with various answers recorded. Could the purpose of prayer be beyond just getting something for ourselves or for someone else? Could it be that God wants a relationship with us, and simply loves when we converse with Him?

How would that affect your prayer life?

The company I will be working for for the next two years (at least) entered financial crisis last year. As a staff, they decided to pray and fast for three days. By the time they returned, all financial problems had been done away with. I wrote in my journal, "I want to be on a team that is willing to shut down their doors for three days in order to pray and fast. In order to hear from the Lord."

Like I said, the main point is we need to pray. Our reasons for prayer need to probably change. The way we view our prayers being answered might need to be altered. Ultimately, we need to pray (and do many other things) as a way to know our God more. It affects the way we live.