Open Theism

The Open Theism Debate fascinates me. Open Theism roughly speaking states that even an all knowing, Sovereign God cannot know the future because the future, by definition, is not knowable. As even God cannot make a triangle be a square because by definition a triangle is not a square, so even to an all knowing God the future cannot be known because it is a range of possibilities. God absolutely knows all that is knowable, but the future is not knowable. The position presupposes an Arminian predisposition claiming that God has not preordained the events of the future for all people at all times. The theology does not see itself as denigrating God to anything less than omnipotent and all powerful because it says God made a choice not to micromanage the future and to give up some of His power in that arena to allow humanity to have true freedom and the capacity to choose to walk with and love Him. The idea is attractive because it lets God "off the hook" for evil that happens. God cannot be held responsible for that which He did not will to happen. Yes, God may have allowed it to happen but that is a consequence of humanity having freedom and allowing the fall to happen. Another benefit is that open theism gives us reason to pray and reason to do our part for the Kingdom. If I believe that God is already working out His plan regardless of what I do and that His purposes will be accomplished in every sphere of life, then I may not feel a strong burden to do my part. The danger is that some see it as demoting God to something less than all-powerful and it can create a sense of fear when one does not believe that God controls everything that happens. How secure can I feel about the future when I know others have freewill that they might choose to exercise in a way that is harmful to me?

What do Open Theist believe God knows about the future? As with any school of thought there are variations but from what I have read most believe that God knows all the possibilities. God knows the decisions before you. He can foresee the next set of possibilities if you choose A, the next set of possibilities if you choose B, etc. They believe God has his plans and purposes that will be accomplished, but the human role in it is different than the strict Calvinist would allow. For example, it was in God’s plan that Jesus would be betrayed; the open theist would say that God knew Judas's heart and perceived he would be a likely betrayer, but that it was Judas' choice to betray Christ. If Judas had chosen not to betray Christ, God would have moved on to someone else with evil in his or her heart and given him the choice to betray Christ. The Calvinist would say God knew it was going to be Judas who betrayed Christ. The open theist would argue that if Judas was predestined to betray Christ, then what choice did he have in the matter and may ask if he then can be held accountable? The strict Calvinist would say it doesn't matter; God is holy and just and if he had predestined Judas to be Christ's betrayer then so be it. I am sure that simplifies many positions but you get the gist.

Open theists say their way of thinking is nothing new, that it was not until Augustine came and presented God as being in the eternal now that the church adopted its present position. It has been debated in even some conservative denominations; some have even voted on the issue in annual denominational meetings. For more reading supporting the open theist position, I would recommend Greg Boyd or Jonathon Sanders; for reading against it I would recommend Norman Geisler or John Piper. Both sides believe passionately, and from what I have read have held to the old maxim, "Unity on the essentials, liberty in the non essentials and grace in all things.” Theology is the ultimate academic pursuit and differences among respectable scholars and Christians come up in the pursuit of Truth and knowledge of almighty God. Regardless of whether you want to take a side or not, it does bring up some good questions. Questions such as does God ever will pain and suffering, who is responsible for evil and evil choices that man makes, does prayer make a difference, do I really have freewill, etc.

Generosity

On Thursday morning I read a blog about generosity. My friend, the writer, asked how we blog readers had recently been the recipients of generosity? I was blown away to think how blessed I am to be on the receiving side of generosity in so many ways.

Generousness seems often to be associated with money so my first thought on being the recipient of generousness was financially. My parents and my husband's parents are incredibly generous with us financially. My son requires some ongoing medical attention that is quite expensive and would be a very heavy burden if we had to bear it on our own, but thankfully our parents have jumped in and generously shared of their financial resources so that our son can get the help he needs. I know they would love our family just as much even if they were not able to express it in this financial way, but it is a blessing to be able to receive such a tangible expression of love for our family

The next obvious expression of generousness to come to mind is God's love, grace and forgiveness. I know perhaps this should have been the first thought but it wasn't :-) It is truly amazing to think of how generously God loves us - to think that while we were dead in our sins, not even aware of our need for a savior, Jesus willfully gave up his human life for us. Because of this great love we are able to receive lavish amounts of grace, and unfathomable (70X7) forgiveness.

In considering the avenues through which I have been the recipient of generousness I also thought of my employers. My last several bosses have blessed me with a generous amount of freedom to accommodate my schedule as a working mom. They have been great at protecting me from taking on too much so that I can do my work with excellence with a reasonable amount of time being spent on work.

As the day went on, more examples of how I have been blessed by others generosity came to mind. I have some friends who generously share encouragement with me and if you have had friends like that you know how valuable that can be. I have friends and family who have shared of their time generously and I greatly appreciate that. I think of Keith Drury, Ron Blue, parents and others who generously share their knowledge and experience with a lot of young people and fellow seekers. It takes time and commitment to put your experience together in such a way so as to be able to share it in a valuable way, and because they do this many of us are able to benefit from it.

As I end the day, I am filled with an overflowing gratefulness for the ways people choose to be generous with me. I am also encouraged that I too can be generous. I am not in a position to be able to give out money as generously or extravagantly as I would like to, but I realize that there are many ways I can bless people with generosity. I can be generous with the money or possesions I do have, but I can also be generous with my time and listen deeply, I can be generous with my love the way God is so generous with me, and I can be generous with my encouragement and be the type of person people look forward to seeing. Opportunities abound - now if only I can have the eyes to recognize them, the desire to utilize them and God's love to fuel it.

I'm Learning

I was blessed to turn another year older last week. It was not a milestone year or anything but it still left me thinking about what it is I have learned this last year. I'll try and share a few things I know I have learned but I also have a strong suspicion that in later years I'll realize even more of what I learned this last year.

1) I've realized most everyone has their own story of tough times. While we are all unique and we all have our own problems, having challenges is nothing unique. My pastor always talks about people who say if you heard my story you'd give me a pass on applying this or that principle, but that is not the way it works. It has been a surprise to realize that all these people I see who seems to have it all together have had to battle something big like no money in the bank, or no clue what to do with their life, or dealt with disease, etc. I think we need to realize our stories and how they effect the framework from which we look out, but on the other hand I don't think we can allow our stories to rule our present or our future.

2) I've learned a lot about stewardship as it relates to our time, talents, treasures, and relationships. Stewardship goes to the core of what we believe and whether we live in a way that is consistent with what we believe.

3) I set some short-term goals and have had fun going for them. One of my assignments at work towards the end of 2005 was to come up with some 3 and 6 month goals. It challenged me to consider what it is I wanted to intentionally get done and pushed me to pick up some things I was passionate about. I have gotten involved in Juice Plus as a result and I love it, and I have registered to take my first seminary class and am excited about that. Long - term goals are great, but I think they overwhelmed me. and needed to be broken down into more manageable and achievable short-term goals.

4) I've learned more than anyone else wants to know about health and nutrition. It is definitely a journey and I know that I still have much to learn. I am 10 times better off than I was two years ago, but on the other hand I hope to be living a much healthier life five years from now. I think food and nutrition can have an incredibly preventitive role in our lives.

5) My favorite verses for this past year?
"Let us hold fast to the hope we profess for He who has promised is faithful."
Hebrews 10:23

What I hope to learn next year?

1) How to have it all, or if that is not possible how to best balance those things that are most important to me.

2) To get better at listening more and talking less, and asking better questions of people.

Books, Books, Books

I'll begin taking a class this coming month so I thought I better get in all the reading for "fun" that I could. Here are a few brief comments on the books I've recently read, or am reading. They are just my two cents but I thought I'd share in case anything sparks something of interest for someone else. I love to read. I love learning about other ways of looking at things, and noticing peoples different backgrounds, and being challenged to think through my starting points.

The Secret Message of Jesus - Brian McLaren
Personally, I was under whelmed by "A New Kind Of Christian" and thoroughly annoyed with "A Generous Orthodoxy," and so I was surprised to find I liked and appreciated "The Secret Message of Jesus." Very early on in the book I was reminded of Dallas Willard's "Divine Conspiracy" and his challenge to live out God's Kingdom here on earth and not just look forward to it in heaven. Missionality is a hot topic now, and has so much potential to show Christ to people in real, practical ways so I loved the reminder from McLaren.

McLaren contends that God has a mission in this world and being a Christian is joining God in His mission to the world. His politics show up, but he doesn't overshadow his content with his political views. We have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a needy world all around us. It is not a crazy new idea, and hopefully as the church embraces the idea we will make a greater impact on the world around us for God's glory.

I am still not sure what I think about some of his challenges to traditional way of interpreting certain things such as why Jesus spoke in parables, and I am not sure Jesus was intentionally hiding his message, but I welcome the idea as something to think through. Either way, I liked the focus being on Christianity applied to the world today, rather than Christianity that focuses on being saved and looking forward to redeemed life in heaven when we die.

Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling
I am still reading this one. The guy writing it seems quite cocky but I appreciate the content. It has a lot of practical suggestions and tips about free resources on the internet. A rookie in the sales world, like me, is grateful for the coaching on selling that seem to make a lot of sense. I guess time will tell J

God Is Closer Than You Think - John Ortberg
My small group is reading this. I really like Ortberg, even though a lot of people dismiss him as lightweight. He talks about some deep stuff in very easy to read ways, but the application is plenty deep! This book is about practicing the presence of God and noticing God in the small things and walking with God intentionally through the day - day in and day out. Ortberg shares a lot of small things we can very practically begin to do in our attempt to remember God throughout the day.

Girl Meets God - A Memoir Lauren Winner
Like it, like it, like it. In this book Lauren shares her journey from a Jewish childhood to one slice of Orthodox Judaism in the young adult years and finally to Christianity as she gradually falls in love with Jesus. There is nothing formulaic about it - very flowing. So the opposite of Paul's dramatic conversion and I think it is a story many can relate to. Another thing I appreciate about the book is that it shows one persons real experience as a practicing Jew and because of that we learn about Judaism in an authentic manner, that doesn't seem as overtly trendy as a lot out there that is being taught about Christianity's Jewish roots. Equally enjoyable are her insights into the Christian world with her discussion on the difference between fundamentalism and evangelical, etc. I don't take it as deep theological teaching, but rather appreciate it for the discussions it brings up, and what it may appear like to those outside the Christian subculture.

I must admit that typically I think these type of books are overly self absorbed and the book certainly is self centered, but the difference is that given the title (A Memoir) - you expect it to be her personal journey and so then are free to enjoy the sharing of her story in a way that is charming, and challenging, witty and unconventional.

Conformed To His Image - Dr. Kenneth Boa
I'd love to go through this book in a group, but it would require a group willing to dig a little deeper than most of the small groups I have been a part of. Its sub-title reads, "biblical and practical approaches to spiritual formation" but what I really like about it is that it is so much more holistic than most books I have read about spiritual disciplines. Before it even begins to teach on the disciplines it covers basic ground such as loving God and ourselves appropriately, and after it teaches on the disciplines in talks about how these might play out in real life. It also takes into account our personal make up and which disciplines may be more natural or unnatural. I think it is great content that if dug into could have profound effects. It is long and is taking me a long time to get through it though.

George Fox's Journal - George Fox
I am about half way through this and do not know what to think. It is so different from modern, western Christianity. I like his emphasis on no interposition between God and man, and obviously appreciate his care on social justice issues. I grew up in a Friend's Church so enjoy getting to learn more of the history behind that denomination.

Books that arrived from Amazon last week and are waiting to be opened…

Never Eat Alone (and other secrets to success one relationship at a time) - Keith Ferrazzi

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places - a conversation in spiritual theology by Eugene Peterson
Ken Boa recommended this one to me so I am looking forward to reading it.
Now that I have written this I want to stay up all night finishing the books that I have begun to enjoy, but I know I learn more when I read them in smaller doses :-)