Fractured Saints - never beyond mending - a christian blog for the broken ones

It snowed. It snowed in March in Hotlanta. It was beautiful. I love how pure everything looks when its covered in snow. It’s like Christ and how he covers our sin, but instead of heading down that path I want to go a different direction. As I stood looking outside yesterday, I saw what God had made and I saw his handy work. I get the same feeling every time I see my daughter smile.

Where do you see evidence of God and His handy work?

Normally I am a little worried about throwing up hard to answer questions or questions that might not have an answer here. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1. I don’t want to cause any of my brothers to stumble, 2. I don’t want anyone who doesn’t know Christ to be mislead or confused, 3. It usually doesn’t lead to a heavy response, in fact in usually leads to no response at all. Throwing all that aside though I think this is a good venue for me to ask those questions, but feel free to let me know if you think I am wrong.

So as some of you know, lately I have been struggling with understanding the character of God and who He is. The latest piece of character that has come into question in my life is this aspect of him being unchanging. I wasn’t really sure what all aspects this unchanging characteristic covered but I assumed that it went so far his decisions. But I don’t understand 3 instances off the top of my head in the Bible (listed below chronologically).

First there’s Job, Satan comes to God and says let me screw with Job and God’s like ok you can mess with everything in his life but don’t touch him. Ignoring that I don’t get why God would allow Satan to have his way with anything, Satan comes back after laying waste to Job’s family, flocks and all that he owns. And even though Job did just as God said, Satan talks God into letting him afflict Job and then tortures him for a while.

Second there’s Moses. when the Israelites were down at the bottom of the mountain God says that He will just wipe them out. Moses pleads with God and God decides to spare them.

Third there’s Jonah, God sent Jonah to Nineveh to let the people know that God was going to destroy them. The people turn from their wicked ways and God forgives them and spares them.

While I am not saying that I am irritated by the last 2, because I think that anytime people are spared from being punished for their stupidity and easily falling into sin (because I am often part of that group) it’s a good thing, I just don’t understand how someone can change God’s mind. I understand that Moses appealed to God’s character and reputation, the people of Nineveh repented and turned from their wicked ways and God is forgiving, but I still can’t get God having a sit down with Satan and being like sure why not you can torture one of the guys on earth whom I consider my own, even one of my best. Can anyone help me out here?

The digital realm has been a mainstay in my life for as long as I can remember. I have “friends” who I have never met in person, that I have known for 10 years. The internet, mainly social networking sites like facebook, have created a new classification of relationships that I sometimes confuse with actual relationships.

Facebook is to relationships as porn and phone-sex is to intimacy. It gives off the sensation that this is real and we really do have a good relationship, but its all fake. I’m not saying that you can’t keep up with old friends and family who you no longer live near on facebook and things like that. I’m just saying it can never replace real relationships and don’t decieve yourself into thinking it has.

Crosspoint
02/14/10

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Mars Hill Seattle
02/14/10

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Holy Trinity Doncaster
02/14/10

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Church of the Redeemer
01/31/10

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I don’t believe that I am better then other people, but I really believe that I am because I don’t do the public sins. Instead I pick ones that are easy to hide and live my life in secrecy even from fellow Christians. Isn’t this whats being a Christian is all about? Choosing more discreet sins so we can look down on our Christian brothers and judge the rest of the world for not figuring this out? I’m kidding of course this is the opposite of Christianity, but it seems to be my mindset at times and the mindset of a good many other Christians I know.

This came even more full circle yesterday in the sermon as Yim was talking about how our savior being only as big as our sin.
So if we deceive ourselves into believing that our sin isn’t so great then what do we need a great savior for. If we aren’t that bad then He’s not that good. Am I coming out of left field with this line of thought? Is this just a southern thing?

Christianity relies completely on the character of God. If He is not good, just, and holy then we are all undone.

Lately I have been struggling with my understanding of God and my lack of first hand knowledge of his character. I was discussing the idea of our salvation being a concrete thing with a friend of mine. And I explained that one of my accountants, whom I still consider an accountant, kind of went off then deep end spiritually and got divorced and went on a search for himself. I think, as I have been taught, that I would have to say he was never a Christian in the first place, because no one can pluck us from His hand, not even ourselves.

If this is the case, how can I have security in my faith? How can I know that I am a Christian? It is funny to think about how a year ago and at other times in my life I could have guaranteed my standing with Christ. But the more I realize how little I know of God and how minuscule my relationship is with him the more I am really concerned about the concreteness of my salvation. Looking back on why I felt so confident of my salvation I realize that it was based on a very limited and shallow view of who God is. My god was a god whose only purpose was to save, love, protect, and provide for me. The more I learn about God the more I see his justice and my brokenness, and to think of the end of my life with out him on my side is just plain scary.

Holy Trinity Doncaster
01/31/10

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.