Free Will And Thanking God


Brother Kaman
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If the teenager was left alone and in charge of the house in the parents absence and took good care of the place and the parents came home and did not beat him because he did a good job, why should he be thankful unless he was expecting a beating in the first place?

I'm sorry, where did this talk of beating come from?

It seems that your train of thought runs on a different set of tracks than mine.

I don't even think they run in the same direction.

Perhaps he should be thankful that he has good parents.

Maybe he should be thankful that his needs are met.

He might even have reason to be thankful because some of his wants are provided for.

Just Sayin'

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I'm sorry, where did this talk of beating come from?

It seems that your train of thought runs on a different set of tracks than mine.

I don't even think they run in the same direction.

Perhaps he should be thankful that he has good parents.

Maybe he should be thankful that his needs are met.

He might even have reason to be thankful because some of his wants are provided for.

Just Sayin'

I'm thinking his train of thought was more along the lines of teenagers taking things for granted, so unless something bad happened and he didn't get the punishment he feared he'd get, he really wouldn't give any thought to what he should have been thankful for in the first place. My take, anyway.

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I'm thinking his train of thought was more along the lines of teenagers taking things for granted, so unless something bad happened and he didn't get the punishment he feared he'd get, he really wouldn't give any thought to what he should have been thankful for in the first place. My take, anyway.

Maybe you're right & I just don't see it. It seems to me he is asking why the teen should be thankful for not receiving a beating. I just don't see how that relates to the point I was trying to make.

I try to live with an attitude of gratitude. I am thankful for all of the good things God does in my life. I am also thankful when the Holy Spirit nudges me in a direction that allows me to avoid having something bad happen.

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Let's try something different.

There is a song on the radio by Matthew West that Illustrates my original point about God has given man dominion over the earth. The song is called "Do Something". It starts like this;

I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, I created you”

Rather than get mad because evil is out there, it is our job to do something about it. We all have the ability to do some good somewhere at some time. It is the choices we all make that determines the state of the world. I may not be able to stop all of the evil in the world. Never the less I can to things to alleviate the bad circumstances of others. When I am able to "do something" I feel Blessed. Not because I am such a wonderful person but because God has Blessed me to be in the position to help others. I thank God for the opportunity to be a blessing to someone else. Not that I never need help myself. Sometimes I need help. I thank God when He sends me the help I need.

Edited by Pastor Dave
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So, I shook my fist at Heaven

Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”

He said, “I did, I created you”

I had a similar thought a while back when someone said how terrible God was for letting children starve to death.. But there's plenty of food in the world, enough that no one needs to starve, so who's fault is it if anyone starves? As you mentioned, God gave us dominion over the earth, so many of the hardships that exist are the result of sloppy stewardship. I guess if God gives us all the food we need and we burn the meal, its God's fault. God gives us the bricks and mortar, but we have to do the work. If God gave everyone a new car, most would complain that it didn't come with a full tank of gas.:)

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"cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"

Genesis 1 has God blessing man with dominion over the Earth, but Genesis 3 has God cursing the Earth...

And if we use "I made you" to give God credit for the good men do, should we not also use it to give God blame for the bad men do? Doesnt the Bible specifically say that God makes evil men intentionally?

Edited by mererdog
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It is wonderful that so many can express so much in so many varying ways and be neither right nor wrong.

Or maybe both are right........ If God loves and God hates, perhaps we're just explaining it from different directions. There's good and bad, we can focus on all the bad and blame God for it, or we can notice all the good and thank God for it. Yin and yang, what would our prospective on good be if we knew no bad? It would be hard to have an opinion or answer based on half of an equation.

Edited by Dan56
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Or maybe both are right........ If God loves and God hates, perhaps we're just explaining it from different directions. There's good and bad, we can focus on all the bad and blame God for it, or we can notice all the good and thank God for it. Yin and yang, what would our prospective on good be if we knew no bad? It would be hard to have an opinion or answer based on half of an equation.

I know that good and bad are just the extremes of the spectrum and you must have one in order to experience the other. My contention is, even with my own vision of God, if God is responsible for one he must be responsible for the other. :friends:

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Others say that it's a ludicrous idea to reference God as the father. Usually during a debate when we equate the way God shows eternal love towards us as hateful(which would be my view if I believed in God). But, the prayer gives the lie to that in my view. "our father, who art in heaven..." is a reference to God as the father, at least, in my view.

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Children do hate to be punished and often find no reason in it. Then they grow up.

If the maker of this world were malevolent or insane why is there order and beauty.

Are you implying that the insane or malevolent can not know order or beauty? Could they not use these to mask their true intentions?

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Are you implying that the insane or malevolent can not know order or beauty? Could they not use these to mask their true intentions?

I am saying insanity and malevolence are inconsistent with order and beauty. They are the absence of order and beauty.

The miracle of life is that anyone has one at all. The dividing line amongst humanity is between those who appreciate life, and those who find fault with it. Notice, I did not say their life, but life in general.

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A large part of my reasoning, brother Kaman. I see the Christians talk about a loving and caring God, but the bible reference what I would consider a psychopath, and cannot reconcile the two. Good for those who can, however.

Edited by cuchulain
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That is a great reason for not believing the God of Abraham.

Yes, correcting children who misbehave, along with order and beauty in the world, are excellent reasons not to believe? :)

Would you prefer a god who said "Do not murder" and then after you go out and commit a murder, that same god says "Good for you"?

That to me is chaos, and just plain crazy.

A large part of my reasoning, brother Kaman. I see the Christians talk about a loving and caring God, but the bible reference what I would consider a psychopath, and cannot reconcile the two. Good for those who can, however.

Christians don't see a psychopath because they don't think that punishing sin is crazy. God corrects those he loves (Hebrews 12:6), just as any good parent would discipline their own children. So from that perception, there's nothing to reconcile. What would be difficult for me to reconcile is if God allowed people to sin, commit evil, and harm others with impunity.

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