Chosen But Free

“Chosen But Free”, by Norman L. Geisler tackles one of the toughest, most controversial topics of Christianity. This being the issue of free will and predestination.  Many Christians, theologians, philosophers, and churches have struggled with this concept, and I expect will continue to question it. I don’t believe that human minds are capable of understanding God, his concept of time or space or knowledge. At times I think that it is pointless to even contemplate this issue for that reason; the fact that we will never know unless God wants us to know at the end of times. Geisler however did a great job of answering questions based on scripture and accurately portraying God. He has a moderate view and explains the two extremes of the argument but comes to a happy middle ground which I believe to be relatively accurate.

The argument for God’s sovereignty, predestination or God’s foreknowledge states that God knows for certain every detail of the future. This includes everyone’s choices and who gets saved and who does not. The bible does talk about God’s knowledge of the future; however this leaves no room for humans to make any of our own choices outside of what God already knows. This is a depressing existence as none of your choices really matter since they technically wouldn’t be your choices but what God has already predestined for you.

There is also the opposite argument of man having total free will and ability to make our own choices regardless of what God has planned for us. This implies that God does not know our future at all, and that he does not make choices for us, neither does he know who will be saved and who won’t. This goes against the truth that God is omniscient or all-knowing. This view gives man power and freedom in making choices however, it allows for the possibility that God doesn’t know what is going to happen in the end and that Jesus may not win the fight over Satan. This possibility also goes against scripture and everything we know about the end times.

These two arguments are two extremes and Geisler’s point of view is somewhere in between both. He admits that we cannot solve the problem of how sovereignty and free will relate by denying one or the other. He also acknowledges that both divine sovereignty and human freedom are truly a mystery. We know that both are true, however it may be impossible for us to know how they fit together. I believe that God sets out the same rules and guidelines for all humans. He gives us on our lives paths many different branches where we can choose where to turn. He knows what is at the end of each of those paths, and he wants us to choose the best one, however he also know which path we are most likely to take. This allows for God’s total knowledge of all the choices, as well as the possibility of humans choosing for themselves.

Worship post

I think it is important to understand first and foremost, that worship is more than just singing in church. Worship is more than a style of music and more than music itself. In the past I have been a part of worship teams and led worship, and I know firsthand how hard it is to lose sight of what true worship is. True worship may at time consist of praising and bringing glory to God, through song however it is not all inclusive. Worship is a state of being. A state of being in which your sole purpose is to bring honor and glory to God, and all of your actions, words and thoughts do that. In that sense, you can do anything and be worshiping. You may be preaching, listening, working or singing. It is hard for people to be in that state of constant worship and that may be why they call the singing time in church worship. Because its easier to completely focus on God during those 3 songs than it is to do it all the time.  Being in this state is a challenge for everyone, even at times at church. Especially as a singer leading worship, I know that at times I found myself focusing on how I sounded or how I looked rather than focusing on the Lord and bringing him praise. Sometimes the opposite can also happen when leading worship and I found myself so consumed by my worshiping that I forgot that I was leading others in worship. So it is important and a challenge for me to keep a balance when I was leading worship. I think people in the church need to be reminded that they don’t have to have a good voice to sing or be good at playing an instrument, to worship God. I think that at times they forget that the ladies in charge of teaching Sunday school are worshipping God just as much or even more than the people singing.

Testimony Assignment

I am originally from Mexico, but came to the United States after my dad died at a young age. If you know anything about latin american countries, you know that they are 95% Catholic. So I was raised in the "Catholic Church". Catholic means "universal". I went to church every Sunday with my family, we sat in the front row and I did everything I was supposed to do. I stood up, sat down, and kneeled when I was supposed to. But the catholic church is full of rituals and repeated prayers written by people hundreds of years ago. I knew about this guy named Jesus everyone was talking about, and I believed in God. I even understood that Jesus was supposed to be the son of this God and that he had supposedly died on a cross 2,000 years ago for me and all of mankind. I knew all of this because it had been engrained in me at an early age. But it wasn't until my mom sent me to a private christian school that I began to understand this concept of christianity. My teacher's and classmates were different than the kids at public school. They seemed happier and more fulfilled. One day, my teacher was telling a story about Abraham and Isaac in the bible. Abraham was Isaac's father and Isaac was his ONLY son. God asked Abraham to kill his own son just because he said so. I was so shocked, and even more shocked when Abraham agreed to do it and would have to if this angel hadn't stopped him. It was the first time that I thought about a father killing his own son that way. And I began to understand God and how he let his own only son die for the worlds sins. So after that, christianity just made more sense to me. I knew I was what they called a sinner, someone who messes up. I knew that I wanted God to forgive me and I understood that Jesus really was real and died for me and that he loved me. It was the first time that church meant something to me, I viewed religion differently. Not as a set of rituals where you just go through the motions. But as a relationship with that God that gave up his son for me.