Mamas and Papas

Just caught the last little bit of Les Miserables on television. Nick Jonas was one of the cast members? Weird, but good.  I'm not so secretly a fan of his. . .but not so much the other Jonas brothers.

Today we had a really interesting discussion about the things that confuse us (about God). Allen gave us a list of things we could agree with.  Among them were:
1. That God was real (We all believed that, so no further discussion)
2. That He sent His son (No arguments there)
3. That God was good (We had a really good discussion about that one)
4. That God loves us (Another good discussion)
5. That there was life after death (Because we decided we all believed God was real, we all believed in life after death)

I think that was all of the points, those are the ones I remember.  I was really interested in what people thought about the goodness and intentions of God and how he loved them.  Most people agreed that they do not understand why bad things happen like the Holocaust or a small child getting cancer in dying.  We all agreed that we believe there are supernatural battles happening between the angels and demons, devil and God, and the like.  So, are these bad things a result of  fallen world and are lost battles?

If we decide that they are lost battles, then we have to move on to why God can lose battles in the first place?  I think that we decided that these battles are lost because the gift of our freewill.  I honestly can't believe with my heart that God takes the life of someone's baby to prove a point or change the world.  I think He lost the battle.  The question then becomes: how much influence in our future does God have if He can lose battles?  Would He not already know that the battles are coming?  So, does He lose them on purpose?

All this pre-destination stuff can really get you messed up if you let it.  We have to admit we are bound by things like time and mortality and we will never and can never fully understand God and His ways.  That's okay, God gave me a brain and I'm going to use it.  I suggested that a part of the trinity does know what every minute will hold and another doesn't. God changes His mind in bible. 

Gary said that in part of the bible God argues with Himself over Their plans.  Can you imagine?  "Part One, I really think this is a good idea but the girl we made named Melissa is praying for something completely different. What do you think?" "I know what this road holds. Do you think another could work out for the plan?"  You know? It's like the tie-dye analogy I made forever ago.  God has a plan and ties up the tee-shirt just how he wants it and dyes it, but the way the colors blend and unfurl is completely on their own.

This was a really long post with no end really.  There you go blogging world.