Finding Contentment

Calvinist (predestination) vs. Arminius (free choice)

But lately – in the community and in our church – I have been hearing a lot about a certain protestant Christian denomination called Calvinism.

Most of us Baptists tend to lean toward the teachings of Jacob Arminius. Arminius taught the doctrine of “free will.” He believes that Christ died for all sins, so everybody has the opportunity to go to heaven. Arminius said God allows humans to decide for themselves how their eternal destiny will play out.

John Calvin, on the other hand, taught the doctrine of predestination. He believed God made each individual man to be either righteous or unrighteous. He believes that an omnipotent God “predestined” certain people to go to hell and certain people to go to heaven, and that man has no say in the matter.

The whole thing is hard to wrap your mind around. I was raised to believe in the things Arminius believes in, but is it possible that Calvin could be right? Are we really all puppets and God holds the strings? Or does God cut a few of our strings so we can decide some things on our own? I am usually pretty decisive, so not knowing the answers was driving me nuts.

After some research, prayer and discussion with friends, I finally sat down and discussed it with my husband (which I probably should have done in the first place). Together, we bandied ideas back and forth and decided on our official stance on the subject.

Our official stance:  We really don’t care.

This is not a matter of “ignorance is bliss.” Let me explain. I tell my kids all the time that the Bible is our “instruction manual to life.” Yes, you need to study it in depth, but it does tell you what you need to know. So why doesn’t it clearly tell us if we are predestined or not? Because we don’t need to know.

We are simple humans. God trying to explain certain things to mortal man is like a parent trying to get a 4-year-old to understand everything the parent understands. It’s just not going to happen. By trying to make it happen, we are saying that we are smart enough to understand God. We are putting ourselves on his level. We’re not trying to understand how to live our lives righteously, or how to go to heaven, or if we should witness to others. The Bible clearly spells these things out. We are trying to understand the mind of God.

Let’s say Calvin is right and we are predestined. Does it matter? Will that change how you live? Perhaps knowing our fate has already been decided will make humans think we don’t have to be righteous, because we are definitely going to go to heaven or hell. It’s already been determined and so why should we bother to try one way or the other?

But is that what God wants? If Calvin’s beliefs cause even one person to stop trying, is it such a good thing? Trying to figure this out has caused at least one church in my community to break up and brothers and sisters in Christ to fight. The Bible says the church is the “bride of Christ,” and the members of the church are Christ’s children. Does God want this question - one that we as humans don’t need to know the answer to – to cause a split in the family?

God made man in his own image. And when He made humans, he gave them something. Something I believe every human needs in order to survive, in order to keep plodding through this sinful world. Hope.

Whether it is true or not, if man knows he is already predestined, he has no hope of changing anything. Without hope, can we continue?

Does the Biblical woman dress well?

I just read a blog post over at C.F.O. Moms that really caught my interest. It caught my interest because it spoke to me - because I, also, am guilty of trying to be a homemaker and forgetting that I am a wife.

The more stressful things get in life, the more I neglect myself. Proverbs 31 is a Biblical description of what I can only call the perfect wife. I will never be perfectly like that wife, but it is something many Christian homemakers, including myself, continuously strive to be.

In Proverbs 31:22b, it says (NIV), "she is clothed in fine linen and purple." The King James Version reads, "her clothing is silk and purple." And The Message version says, "Her clothes are well-made and elegant."

I am none of these things. Since becoming a homemaker, I have given myself a license to be "dumpy." I have gained weight and have taken to wearing shorts, my brother's old t-shirts and flip-flops all the time. My husband has told me continuously to try and find the funds to go buy myself some new clothes, but I have always found reason not to. It wasn't as important as some of the other things we needed. Or is it?  Dressing in clothes that are "well-made and elegant" is important - to my husband. He loves me no matter how I dress, and never makes a big deal about the way I look or dress - but I have a need to make him proud to be with me.

Proverbs 31:23 (NIV)  "Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." Will my husband be respected if his wife is a dump? Would he be proud or embarrassed to have me by his side "at the city gate?"

It's time for a change. With Christmas and buying our house, I am financially unable to go clothes shopping (even at thrift stores) right now. But I can start wearing natural-looking make-up, putting on a bit of perfume and in general take better care of myself.

Honey, I kind of hope you don't, but if you do read this... just realize these changes will take time. I have taken the very hard path of being honest with myself so that I can return to being more than just a homemaker... I can be a woman. The woman you married 13 1/2 years ago...

When did we stop hating sin?

A couple of weeks ago a young man in our church acted as a guest preacher when our pastor was away. This young man is training to become a minister himself, and I was really impressed with his sermon that Sunday.

This was the question he posed to the congregation:  "When did we stop hating sin, especially within our own churches?"

Our city and some nearby towns have had an influx of Christians who have been in the media or on people's tongues. Unfortunately, these Christians aren't talked about or remembered for their good works, but for their sins.

In the past five or six years I have seen a youth pastor convicted of beating his pregnant wife to death when she found out he was having an affair, a town official and church leader who was charged with molesting young boys at his place of work (he committed suicide before his case came to court), a youth pastor and state politician who was convicted of molesting the teenage boys he taught and, most recently, the county commissioner and church leader who has been charged with paying a prostitute for her "services."

These are all crimes against God that made the news and horrified the public, but what about those sins that don't horrify the public? What about those sins committed by those who claim to be fellow believers, sins that have simply been accepted by other Christians?

What about the church that pulled out of the Southern Baptist Association because they wanted to baptize professing homosexuals? What about the married church secretary who slept with the pastor because they were "in love?"

All these are true events in my area, but the last two were accepted by the general public, and by their respective church members. The church who baptized the homosexuals grew in membership, while the secretary and pastor at the other church were never fired or even disciplined.

"Have we changed morally in order to be politically correct?" the speaker asked that Sunday.

Joshua chapter 7 tells the story of Achan's Sin, of how because of some Israelites who "acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things" (Joshua 7:1), God punished Joshua and all his people.

"I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction." This is what God said to His people in Joshua 7:12b.

God desires us not to accept sin, but to cast it from our midst. Then why does Jesus preach forgiveness?

"We should forgive someone who sins against us. We do not have the authority to forgive sins against God," the speaker said.

Does this mean that we shouldn't be accepting of sin? I believe we are absolutely called to forgive sins and to turn the other cheek when we are sinned against. But we are not called to accept it when our Lord and Savior is sinned against.

Would you forgive the cashier who stole money from a store and make him the manager instead? Or would you fire him because he had sinned against the store? You could remain loving and have a forgiving spirit, but you would fire him because he had been detrimental to the business.

Should we remain loyal to them and accept these Christians in positions of authority who sin against God? Or should we remain loving and have a forgiving spirit, yet strip them from their high positions? If they remained undisciplined and in their positions to influence others, would they influence others to sin?

"Jesus said to his disciples, "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves." Luke 17:1-3.

"Christ was confrontational and controversial," the speaker said. And so must we be as we walk with him.