Tag: Amos

God is a Gentleman

I grew up Catholic, which meant that God was far away and most waiting with a big stick to whack me if I stepped out of line. Eventually I became an agnostic and that lasted into my teen years. Then I got saved in a Pentecostal church when I was about 15.

During these formative years of my faith I was taught that much of what God does depends on what we do. I was always told that “God is a gentlemen”, He will never force Himself of you. God sort of reacts to what we are doing and orchestrates His will accordingly. This is broadly called “Arminianism”. In this way of understanding God, much is made of human free will, but God’s sovereignty suffers rather severely.

Once I became a pastor I worked for a few churches and one of them was staunchly “Calvinist” — the opposite of Arminianism. This says that everything that happens is because God willed it to be so. On this understating of God, much is made of God’s sovereignty, but human free will suffers severely.

By the way, if this stuff makes your eyes glaze over, don’t worry about it. Both of these camps are going to be in heaven. This is absolutely NOT a salvation issue… even if both of these groups are wrong.

We see throughout Amos, Isaiah, and now Hosea that God repeatedly tells that people that once they turn back to Him, He will restore them. So clearly we need to find a way to balance the free will of the creature (God will not restore us until we repent) with God’s sovereignty (He is in control of everything). How is this done?

Well, it’s long and complicated, and takes more time to explain than I really want to invest in this particular post. But essentially I believe it works like this:

  1. God knows how you would respond in any given set of circumstances.
  2. God has total sovereign control over everything.
  3. God chooses not to override our free will, but to arrange the circumstances to achieve His desired outcomes.
  4. In this way God is sovereign over everything that happens, but we are also allowed to exercise our free will.

That to say that I think my youth pastor when I was 15 was right. And that position is backed up by the preponderance of the Biblical evidence. Essentially… God is a Gentleman.

Consistency is King

I’m not sure where it came from — and don’t care to look it up — but over the years I’ve heard some variation of the phrase, “60% of the time, it works every time!” Of course the whole joke is that whatever the product or service is, it only works 60% of the time. No one wants something that only works 60% of the time! Let’s pop that thought in our pocket for a second and look at this verse in Amos

You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless.

Amos 8:5a, NLT

If you found that verse convicting, congratulations! The Holy Spirit is at work in your life! And that’s where we come back to that item in our pockets. No one wants something that only works 60% of the time. That includes God. Why would he want someone who comes to church on Sunday, but as soon as they leave those hallowed halls, they lie, they cheat, they steal?

Is your life segmented? This part for Jesus, but another for “real” life? I recently compared our lives to a hotel. When we say that we are “sold out” for Jesus, it means that every room is occupied by him. You love baseball? Is Jesus taking up residence in your “baseball” room? You love movies? Is Jesus living in your “movie” room? If there’s any room that He is not welcome in, then your life is segmented. You are just waiting for the Sabbath and religious festivals to end so you can get back to the Godless part of your life.

But the story doesn’t need to end there! renovate the room! Clear out the crap! And please, PLEASE, don’t suffer alone! Talk to a a brother, a sister, a friend, spouse, or pastor! Let us help you! Let us help you move the renovation from a “one day” project to an “in process” project! Let us help EACH OTHER be more consistent. Because consistency is king!

Can God Still Love Me?

God gives Amos a vision to share with Israel it starts with a warning against Israel’s enemies of coming calamity because of their treatment of God’s chosen people. I’m sure that seemed all well and good, until God — and Amos — turned their attention to Israel herself. Much more time is spend on Israel’s stubborn obstinance and the coming debt for that behaviour. Yet, in sprite of all of that God STILL offers reconciliation to His people if they will turn from their sin and return to Him. Despite their unfaithfulness, wickedness, selfishness, evil, plotting, and debauchery… God still loves them.

There is nothing you can do to get TOO FAR from God. No road so long that you cannot return. No path so twisted that it cannot be untangled. Yes, there will be consequences — both natural and spiritual — for whatever choice(s) you’ve made, but you are still welcome to come home. God will never, never give up on you. To your dying breath He is calling your name.

Can God still love me? The answer is an unqualified yes.