Pastor's Blog

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Since I was accused of “mailing it in” on my last blog entry, I guess I need to have some substance in my next few entries. I think it’s about time for my first blog series. This is generally a reactive blog; that is, I blog about my reaction to something I’ve read or experienced recently. This series will be a bit of a change of pace. One way or another, announcing a series will (hopefully) force me to write a bit more so I don’t leave my faithful readers hanging.

As you can see from the title, I’m too foolish to write my first series on something simple…like quantum physics. The concept of the will of God has vexed most Christians at one time or another in their lives. Bill Bright’s famous “Four Spiritual Laws” have been quoted over and over again in evangelical circles until they have become dogma. His first “law” is “God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.” You may have heard this referred to as “God’s perfect will” or “being in the center of God’s will.” I heard those terms a lot when I was younger. While Dr. Bright’s statement is true, it is also misleading. It has caused many Christians to believe that their job is to find out exactly what God’s wonderful plan is so they can follow it. I’ve seen Christians paralyzed in decision-making as they waited for divine guidance, and others who have endured the guilt and confusion of believing they failed to hear God’s voice correctly.

In this series I’m going to attempt to clear away some of the common misconceptions about God’s will and lay out my personal framework for Christian decision-making. As I do this, I’m standing on the shoulders of much wiser men who have done great work on this topic. I’ll do my best along the way to give credit where it’s due. The one book that really got me thinking about this topic is Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friesen and Robin Maxson. A revised edition was published in 2004, so it should be easy to find for anyone who is interested.

Up next: Defining our terms

God's Will

Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 10:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Comments [2]

Thursday, August 03, 2006 9:04:29 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

I'm praying about whether or not I should read this series... I think I need God's guidance so I don't squander precious time when I could be reading Keith's blog instead. Hopefully somehow someway God will make it clear to me...