Muckraker Makes Muck Again --Muckrageously!!

Mudrake posted the following definition --because I told him in private correspondence (i.e. it's private when I comment on his moderated blog, because he refuses to allow me or any other conservative Christian woman to comment at his blog--it's a Boys' Club) --So I told him that he "sounded stupid" on the topic of Liberty U. not allowing a democratic party club on campus since the u. opposes abortion and gay marriage --and they are a private uni. I knew he would not post my comment or I would not have called him "sounding stupid" in a public forum --I knew he would not print it, but instead, he did something that makes him sound even MORE stupid. First, he posted the following definition:

stu-pid: 1 a: slow of mind : obtuse b: given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner c: lacking intelligence or reason : brutish
2: dulled in feeling or sensation : torpid
3: marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting : senseless

So I told him in an unprinted comment that he qualifies at least for no. 3 above --by some things he has done, like posting names and addresses and creating sock puppets with phony profiles using our names.

So once again, being "dulled in feeling" and "lacking reason," he created a profile for Barb and posted on his blog the following --which I obviously did not write:

You are stupid! I said it and I mean it!! Secular humanists like you (or should I use the more correct word, ATHEIST???) are ruining this country. The sinfulness, the porn, the homosexuality, the free sex, the aborted babies, the attempts to take God out of the classroom, and more.

God's wrath will be on this nation again- with more hurricanes and drought and locusts and plagues due to the disobedience of His Laws!

Jesus weeps at gay marriage and homosexuals running free all across America, and we will pay for this abomination- we already paid for this wit the natural disasters etc. 'I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.'

But by the blood of the Cross will ye be set free. For the Jesus says, 'Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.' - 1 Corinthians 9

Stupid is as you think, muddly!!

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

May 28, 2009 1:30 PM

( end of quote printed at his blog by himself as "Barb")

You know, I hardly know anyone else who can tell himself off like this! It's amazing!!! A muck-rageous feat! This is not my blog style, Muckaluck! though there is probably a lot of truth in the above comment attributed to me!

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

RE: Sotomayor and Hysterical, Libelous Charges from the Left

Over at Mudrake's blog, Microdot wrote, "I made a typo, it was Senator Inhofe who said she was "too ethnic".He also made caommets [sic] that her love of Puerto Rican cuisine would taint her palate and make her less able to make clear decisions."

I read this and didn't recognize that Microdot was joking --so I thought, why would any politician be guilty of such crude racist humor--or calling someone "too ethnic?" When, in fact, it was in the mind of Microdot to come up with crude racist humor. I don't think I'm the only one who would think Inhofe had really made the crude remarks upon reading Microdot's comment. I doubted it, but to be sure I looked up what Inhofe really said.

What he really said was reasoned and based on her own oft-quoted statements about race and background influencing how she will make judicial decisions. And her statement that appeals courts "make policy." And then she said, in effect, "Ha, ha, of course we don't REALLY make policy--I'm not supposed to say that" --in what the press described as a "light moment."

Well she was honest. Courts DO make policy and they are not supposed to. That's why the Supreme Court decision should have gotten McCain ALL the votes of pro-life supporters.





"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

LIFE WITH MOM --MEMORIAL DAY MEMORIES 09

Rob R. has missed his calling. He should do something in geriatrics. He is so good with my mother who has dementia, at 89.

We had a glorious three day weekend at the lake --best memorial day weather in years. We had stopped going that early because it was too cold to put the pier in. We have a super, fancy- looking metal pier --that is harder than heck to put together --and so it takes some time. Some of the family men have waders to wear, but some do not --and in any case, it has always been chilly --so we had started going in June --only to find that those weekends weren't much better.

So this one was warm and sunny --just lovely--with the Irises and Lillies of the Valley in bloom --and other beautiful flowers around the island.

My Mom didn't do well with the sleeping accommodations. We have a dormer room upstairs with several twin beds --and give that to the family with kids. We thought of putting her up there but feared she might be disoriented in the night and fall down the stairs. The other married child gets the queen bed and a private room--which was fair since she did most all the cooking and food planning/purchasing, etc. (We reimburse, but she plans and buys, and everything is immaculate and so nicely done, and our son, her husband, helps to buy, load and unload, fetch and carry, etc. She cooked roast beef in her slow cooker in that bedroom, I learned, as the kitchen is very small. Had no idea til it started to smell delicious.)

Grandma R., my husband's mother, is 87, has all her mental faculties still, but is physically limited and has to be near a bathroom and can't do steps. So all we can offer her is the couch in the living room --which she always says is good enough. Grandma M., my mother, walks better, and isn't so bathroom dependent, can do the two shallow steps to the porch and back, but she wants to be hotter than Hades all the time, bundled up like an Eskimo. OK , I exaggerate a little -but not much.

Well, my mom was an absolute "princess" --she was NOT sleeping on the fouton double bed on the porch.

"It's COLD on the porch! I never slept on this thing before --I refused to sleep here before, and I'm NOT sleeping here now! And this couch has been used for so many other things--and it's hard --and lumpy"...and on and on. It is actually quite comfortable --as porta beds go.

It was the warmest room in the house as we were air-conditioning the rest of it. Chrissy was going to be out there with her in a fouton chair/single bed. It was warm to the point of being hot and stuffy --but Mother was sure it would be cold --and she got very indignant.

"Well, Mom, I don't have anywhere else to put you!" "

"Well, what about such and such room?" she said.

"Mom, besides the fact that your grandson and wife already have that room, that bed is too high for you --you can't get up into it." (Even though I got a low profile box springs, thinking she might use that room someday, she couldn't get her short-legged self in it in the past. She usually stays in a deluxe first floor room, near a bathroom, at her sister's house --but her sister hasn't arrived at the lake yet.)

"Mom, this is the best I can offer you."

"Well, it's too cold. I can't sleep there."

"It's NOT cold, Mother. It's about 78 degrees in there right now. Do you want to sleep in a chair, because I don't have another bed to offer!"

She was really mad at me about this. Mom's main requirements of life are food she likes (which includes lots of coffee --fortunately she doesn't know the difference between decaf and regular,) a bed she likes and can call "hers" even for a short time, and warmth. She has a germ phobia and washes hands often --always has. And the daily newspaper--which I just subscribed to for her. She's like a child in loving sweets. She's fairly petite, however --in part because we don't think she was eating at all well on her own, before she came to live with us. She would cook her daily egg for breakfast, but we think she lost ability to open cans or use her microwave. Yet, she had a little fit the other day when I gave her a cold bologna sandwich for lunch.

"This is COLD. I can't eat that."

"It's supposed to be cold, Mom. It's a luncheon meat, cold meat sandwich." I finally warmed it for her in the microwave with melted cheese. That was better. She used to feed ME boloney as a kid.

Her daily chores are keeping track of her purse, her glasses, her belongings, and luggage.

So anyway, we tucked her into this perfectly comfortable, good quality fouton bed, with 3 layers of blankets, her nightgown, her robe, and her fleece sweater/jacket --and she admitted she was not cold. But the first night, she whispered to herself all night long and my daughter said she could not sleep for Grandma's indignant whispering.

That brings me back to Rob, whom she adores for staying with her (as he was going to college in her city) during the years when the memory banks were starting to shut down.

We got home here and she asked Rob who had made her bed. I told her it was made up Friday with fresh sheets, and is always made up, and she had slept in it the night before we left for the lake. And then, it occured to me to tease her that I thought Rob might have put his friend Clint in it Sat. night. Clint is a friend through church who came up to help put the pier in but wanted to go home Saturday night. So Rob drove him home and returned the next day.

And she said, "He DID???!!! Put somebody in my bed??"

He said, "Yes --and several hoboes, too --not together of course --but one after the other. They came to the door and said, 'Hey, Gov'nor, can you spare me a dime?' and I said, 'Sure, and would you like to sleep in my Grandma's bed?' and of course they were delighted to do so."

Now, confused as she is, Mom always knows that Rob is kidding her --and she gets this big kick out of it! Thinks he's so funny. And while it loses something in my retelling, he IS funny! And she always knows --that when he tries to charge her 10 dollars for a cup of coffee, he is just being silly. As confused as she is, I don't know how she knows that he's not serious. Though she did wonder if he really put Clint into her bed.

This morning as I was helping her get dressed, she told me when I mentioned my husband, 'I didn't know you were married to him. He just told me this morning. I guess I had forgotten that."

"Well, Mom, did you think we were living in sin? or what? He's the father and I'm the mother of those 4 grown-ups out there --did you think we weren't married? Who did you think he was, coming home to my house every night and being there in the morning when you got up?"

Well, she didn't know --just "didn't remember" that he was my husband --that we had married. "That was too long ago."






"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Penn Jillette Defends Evangelism

Thanks to Craig French of Antipelagian for posting this tidbit.

Penn Jillette is a comedian, magician, and reads for many a commercial on Comedy Central programming. He's also an atheist but here, he gives an account of a positive experience he had with a fan who sought to proselytize him.

Transgendered 8-Year-Old -- Boy Becomes Girl --Or Does He REALLY!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/05/18/dnt.ne.transgender.kid.ketv

On CNN today: An eight-year-old is transgendering from male to female, with parental encouragement. What a life sentence! He has expensive surgeries to face, to mutilate his normal healthy body (and I hope we don't have to pay for it) and hormone treatment and the fact that most normal males will not want to date a transgendered female or marry one --who cannot bear children --who is, in reality, a fake girl. And he would have to tell that about himself to be intimate leading to marriage --or he'd be committing fraud, leading to annulment. Nor will girls feel comfortable having over-nighters and sharing showers and bathrooms with a transgendered girl --who is really biologically male. I believe he really will NEVER seem normal to others --and never really PASS for female. He will be very odd --and he will never forget that he has this secret which his parents think he can perpetuate for life simply by starting into a new school where they don't know about him. His hormones are going to kick in--and he may have all kinds of emotional upheaval as the doctors tinker with his normal healthy body making it abnormal for the rest of his life.

In fact, that's what he's trading: a normal, healthy male body, for a fake female body that needs constant tinkering via surgery and hormones all his life in order to help him pass as a female.

This child did not come to the conclusion that he was in the wrong body without adult influence. Children learn what they really are from their parents. Something went awry in this case. Parents are VERY powerful in teaching their children. These parents have failed by letting their kid wander around in uncertainty about his sexual identity ---letting him "choose," in effect --with no knowledge that he has opted for giving up his normal, healthy body for an abnormal artificial one. So they tell him that he will have surgery and hormones, etc. some day, and that he can choose to change his sex --what does the kid know about that and what it means?? NOTHING!

Little boys and little girls are so much alike in their voices, in their "girlyness," in their baby-ish qualities --that call forth effeminizing "babying" by parents --which is appropriate for both sexes of little kids--to a point. But normal, sensible parents teach their children that they are boy or girl --by how they treat them, what they tell them, what they do with them, how they direct their interests and activities. They don't say things like, "he really looks like a little girl" or "He'd really make a beautiful girl with that hair --that skin --those eyelashes," or "Look how graceful he is! He can dance like a girl," or "Bobby's so clumsy --he really isn't very athletic --I think he'd make a better girl than a boy."

I remember when Oprah featured such children on her program--watched by so many suburban women. The letters flooded her website from mothers who thought their boys were possibly girls in the wrong bodies --because their boy toddlers put on Mom's high heels, carried Mom's purses around the living room, put scrunchies in their hair, tried Mom's make-up, preferred pink, played with dolls, etc. Some of the mothers said they were TRYING to be gender neutral in how they raised their kids. Some of them drew conclusions because children did the above things --and some of the fathers were furious to see the mothers encouraging the confusion instead of simply and subtly separating the feminine things from the child's playthings and directing him more toward Dad's shoes, shaving cream, mudpies, trucks, farm sets, etc. Boys have to have some fun, too, and if they are only around their mothers and sisters who squeal with delight over American Girl dolls--or if girls are raised only around boys and men (as was the famous pregnant "man,") it's no wonder they have an interest in the things of the opposite sex and identify with the opposite sex. This 8 year old's favorite toy was his American Girl doll. Who was the dumb bunny who gave it to him!!?? who cultivated his interest in these dolls? Geesh!

I knew a man whose grandmother fascinated him with her jewelry collection and willed it to him--he grew up with an abnormal self-image and fixation for jewelry and other things of more interest to women than most men--including other men.

Parents direct their children's sex identity --no question about it. How could we be so erroneous in the modern age! Just one more travesty in child-development psychology. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became as fools."





"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Summer Time for Church Kids

CLC is over for the summer. Next we send off about 40 youth to summer church camp at Somerset Beach, MI. And have a Vacation Bible School in July. And a roller skating party. And an all-church graduation banquet. And of course, Sunday School. I promised a handful whom we are not funding for camp that I would do something special with them --maybe a swim party at my house. It is because they are too immature in their behavior (and they are young) and require one-on-one counselor/teachers --which does detract from positive experience for the majority --and typically stirs them up, too. Like the little girl who giggles during class prayer --and gets under the tables, gleefully heedless of class goals and the short time we have to accomplish them.

CLC HONOR COUNCIL ~ Seventeen of my TrailBlazers (grades 3 & 4 ) came to receive their banners with the badges they earned. One of them has Oppositional Defiance Disorder or ODD--not the same one as the girl mentioned above. She came to me in tears before the meeting because she knew she hadn't earned many badges and said she didn't want to go up front. I said I needed her to sing with the others --and I wouldn't embarrass her about the number of badges --we wouldn't make a big deal of it --and she could hold her banner facing her if she didn't want people to notice she didn't have as many as some of the others. After the Honor Council, she asked me when the next one was so she could get her badges. She actually can make up everything missed this year in order to get the 2-year award --and she can make up the first two years --to work toward the 6-year award given after 6th grade. I WAS able to commend her and her cousin for being people who often say --or write on the board --"I love CLC. I love my church." And they love us teachers too and give us hugs--as do several of the girls.

In a way, I wonder if it would be good to stop doing the badges since we are so intent on outreach. We could do the same lessons and Bible memory activities without long-term awards to keep track of. From our bus outreach, I think we only had one set of parents come who knew their girls were getting all their badges. One of their children was "pulled through" her verses by my sympathetic helper --who "walked her through" her verse recitation of 7 verses in one night--probably not really memorizing. But what is it like if your kid's lack of achievement is made noticeable by the badge ceremony? The mother told me on the phone how thrilled she was that the girls were getting their awards.

This is what it's like: "Junior Jones got all 10 of his badges. Citronella Bernstein gets a certificate of participation. Henrietta Hippensteel got 2 verses." And we clap for each one as they receive their banners --or certificates if they had only one badge.

THIS IS THE ONLY AWARD CEREMONY I KNOW OF WHERE WE RECOGNIZE and call attention to NON-ACHIEVEMENT ALONG WITH SUCCESS. We say the program is optional --something kids can choose to work for if they wish--but then they all come to the program --or don't if they don't want to be embarrassed. I wondered if some parents don't come because they fear their children won't have badges.

We're also sensitive to seeming biased if most of the white kids got their badges because their parents go to our church regularly and understand the CLC goals and badge system. The racial minority parents (we have 3 races represented plus biracial) let us have their kids on Wednesday nights but aren't as involved in the program or our church themselves --so if their kids don't self-organize, they may not have the advantage of parents who prod them and care about the badges. As it turned out, we had some Afr. American kids who got all their badges and white kids who did not --it was pretty even this year . It is the 2nd year for these children to be bussed in --so some of them know about the system and did more this year than last. And that's the good thing about it--when kids really enjoy working for badges and do get them, representing good attendance, organizing to make up for absences, and memorizing Bible verses. We also gave special division awards to 3 girls and 3 boys this year for good character and good behavior, regardless of their badge achievement or lack. I could have given those equally to 8-10 of my children who were always respectful and easy to call to attention and showed consistent good behavior.

But I nearly had an ulcer worrying about whether or not we had given all the kids good help with their badges here at the end of the year--and throughout the year. There were some classroom management and record-keeping issues involved about which I have better ideas for next year. The bottom line is that some kids are more self-organizing and achievement-oriented than others --and they managed to get badges with no extra effort on our part as teachers --and some students could care less --until we have honor council. THEN they all wish they were getting all their badges and had paid more attention about attendance, make-up activities, and saying the verses to the teachers. I telephoned some of them --but didn't reach all of them--to have them go through their handbooks with me --so they could mark the verses they still needed to say and the activities they still needed to make up. None of it is too difficult for their age or for those with at least average abilities. But they have to knuckle down enough to know which verses they have to recite to us and which activities they need to turn in or tell us about --in order to complete the badge--and then they left the books at home and did not have focus on what they still needed to make up. I'm holding the master list and having everybody barrage me with their personal issues of all sorts . And here comes a mother to wonder why her little boy was the only one blamed for standing the table on end --I sent him out to the program director after he did it--like sending a student to the principal. She comes in and notices I have 2 boys horsing around the bathroom door and wonders if I know I have kids in the hall. Yup --I assume so --since there is always a run on the bathroom during any "down time." I run a tight ship when I'm presenting a lesson--but anytime we have independent work or are in transition from one activity or one place to another --things get a little loose! and not with my permission either.

Some who came to the last club night did make-up work --and others bounced off the walls while we were trying to catch up their peers. As I mentioned above, one boy lifted one end of a long table up in the air to show he could --we were fortunate he didn't bring it down on someone's bobbing head. I was pretty upset with him. And of course, his excuse later, to his mother, was, "Someone else started it." His diligent and truly lovely and distraught mother lamented that he was always the one to get caught and punished when other people started it or were involved and did not get caught and punished. I said the boy's problem is that he's the common denominator in almost every skirmish or tattle tale event in the class: "Brucie wrote on my shirt --Brucie said my mama is fat --Brucie told me I live in a "crack house" --and "Brucie kicked me," --"Brucie called me a retard!" -- "Brucie spat on my gingerbread house," and so on. He is probably a leader type, and we all hope he will figure out that he wants to use it for good some day.

I had a little speech written out about the highlights of our year --and after we sang the song, "I am a Promise" (about potential and being what God wants me to be), I forgot to share my speech, recapping their wonderful behavior at my house and the nursing home when we went caroling, the wonderful experience of seeing the Passion Play together at Fremont Alliance Church, their preparation and serving of the Tastes of AFrica for Missions Month, the wonderful Fun nights and neat crafts and the Fall Harvest Party with all the games and candy. I wanted to say how much I really loved these kids and hoped they'd be back next year --and how I hoped to see them incorporate God's Word into their lives so they might enjoy His blessings all their lives. And I should have commended my two assistants, who have been really nice to work with.

But after the song and the badge presentations --I forgot! Imagine that!!!





"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

The Psychology of Atheists

from Rob R

I have heard from a couple of sources of a study that demonstrated that many prominent atheists hated their fathers.

I shared this with a small group from my church and I was challenged on the notion to support this claim. I don't know if this is the source but it's pretty good. This video is of Paul Vitz who's a psychologist who wrote Faith of the Fatherless which is a record of his study of 72 major proponents of atheism and their relationships to their parents, particularly their fathers.

Here is an hour long lecture by the author. I admit I have not yet seen it all.




I would just highlight a couple of claims made by Vitz.

He isn't saying this is true of all atheists. He distinguishes between mild atheists, who don't view their atheism as central to their identity and don't make a big deal about it, and intense atheists who do and who have a major axe to grind against religion. His hypothesis is mainly about intense atheists. And of course upbringing does not determine one's religious outlook. You're going to have exceptions such as intense atheists who have a good relationship with their father like John Stuart Mill. No doubt your going to have people who've had a rough relationship with their fathers and are theists. Billy Wayne, a preacher who spoke at our church came to mind, though Billy is reconciled to his formerly abusive father who has come to faith.

As for the significance of this, of course Vitz rightfully notes that this does not directly reflect on the truth claims at stake with theism vs. atheism. He notes that what he is doing is turning the tables on atheists who have tried to use psychology as a weapon against religion in these matters.

Of course in and of itself, the psychological reasons behind a worldview may be emphasized to the point of ad hominem attack. This is to be avoided but at the same time, that such a psychologically unhealthy situation should be fairly consistently linked to a set of beliefs should make one wonder.

Vitz has further comments here though I am not sure that there is information here that wasn't in the video.

HOME SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAM

At least 90 people enjoyed the first ever The Choice ~ Home School Co-op spring concert entitled How Beautiful is the Rain, Tuesday night, at the Holland Free Methodist Church. Stephanie Hulbert directed these home-school children in a variety program that included a 16-voice "Choice Choir" singing 2 part "partner songs," including an opening gospel number after they came down the aisle, Let Your Light Shine Before Men, followed by a spiritual, Chariot's A-comin.' (It was called the choice choir since the name of the co-op is The Choice; it was not a group selected by audition, but for any who wanted to be in it. They believe this first concert will result in more interest and a larger choir in the future.)

Most delightful was the smaller ensemble of children aged 7 and 8, performing a rain song with Orff instruments and All Things Bright and Beautiful with outstanding solo features. Also fun and entertaining was the whole choir doing a choreographed "show choir" style piece, I Can't Stand Still under those Raindrops. Two music classes, ages 7-10, performed America.

Mrs Hulbert, Mrs. Bell, and Mrs. Parmelee, sang Stormy Weather as a trio appropriate for the rain theme, followed by the Choice Choir, singing How Beautiful is the Rain.

The Choir finale was This Little Light of Mine, arr. by Jennings.

Piano students included Jacob Hulbert, accompanied by his brother Gabe on the conga drums, and Evalee, Wade and Jack Deily and Mikaela Bell.

Other students had vocal solos in the choir numbers and accompanied various numbers with the Orff instruments.

We also saw a stilts demonstration by Noah Claytor --who came down the church stairs on stilts, navigating the microphone stands as we held our breath.

The Anatomy class performed their entertaining spoof on the Macarena song, called "My Cranium, " which did enumerate all the major bones of the body.

The 3-6 years old class performed the Superman Blessing, to bless the refreshments shared afterwards by all the students.

All choirs sang with a lovely, very tuneful, true children's choir sound with excellent diction and no noticeable "droners." Their poise and stage presence were remarkable, such little ladies and gentlemen.

Mrs. Hulbert is Rob R's sister and she has her music education degree from the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. Patty Parmalee (Sharon Brillhart's sister) was the accompaniest. Deb Claytor was in charge of a lovely reception afterwards.

The Choice Co-Op is a Friday gathering of home school students who have classes taught by the various teacher moms. 38 of the students were in the music classes. I don't know if that's all the students in the co-op or not.

The academic results of home schooling (and parochial schooling) prove that money is not the requirement for a good college preparation. (Patrick Henry College is a new college comprised of mostly former home school students. They beat Oxford U. at debate, winning international competition.)

I believe the co-op meets at the Epiphany Lutheran Church on No. Reynolds Rd. --on Fridays.





"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Reflections on Family Life at Easter-time

I listen to my young friend say "2 children only" in this day of family planning options. And I can recall when I might've said the same thing --as I couldn't imagine even being pregnant or being a mother --though I loved my dollies and playing "house" as a child. But I really wasn't around pregnant women much as I grew up. Birth control pills 40 years ago made me sick --and my first pregnancy was really difficult --nevertheless, four babies came to live with us --one after the other --until 2 C-sections in a row --the first because labor came early and preemie John nearly expired before he was born --so the next delivery was a planned C-section and in those days, they feared natural delivery after ONE C-section --and thought there was a limit to such surgeries. After the first one, I sure didn't want to keep having C-sections. I had the first one without anesthetic taking. Anyway, the 2nd one was reason for the OB to suggest tubal ligation--which is how we turned off the baby machine. And I've never felt guilty about it. However, each unexpected pregnancy brought a delightful person into our house --and I think bigger families are joyful ones --as are extended families with cousins and grandparents.

One wonders what we are doing to ourselves with all the abortions, late parenting plans and late marriages with their higher risk of infertility, and all the divorces and re-marriages. We have all this freedom and technology with which to do whatever we please, and the choices we make aren't necessarily good for us. God can redeem those blended family and step-parenting situations, late marriages, and single parenting, too, and make them all joyful, but there is a built-in sense of belonging that occurs when people commit to family life and work at obeying Christ in their homes, "striking the original match." We loved our children so much, and they, us, that divorce would have been very sad for all of us. How blessed they are by the father I chose for them! whom I believe God chose for us. How blessed WE were, to have them come into our home.

These four people and their spouses and the grandkids are our social network and community --apart from church. We had all 12 of us, including two great-grandmothers in their late 80's, at our Easter table. And it is always a lot of fun. Amusing is my mother who "can't eat very much" --and eats and eats --and will say after leaving a restaurant and arriving home, "What's to eat?" And she's not overweight --yet. Since her knee surgery, she's on her feet all the time, pacing from one end of my house to the other --wondering where all the people are --and if she should go to the mailbox --and "where is Rob?" (her favorite --as he lived with her some and looked after her, when he was in college in her city.) She washes dishes for me without soap, just wiping them with a dirty dishcloth, and puts them in the drainer -- and I say, "Thanks, Mom, now we're going to sterilize them," and I put them in the dishwasher and she's fine with that. No offense. She fusses over her suitcase and purse a lot. But doesn't really beg to go home. Since she's come on her extended visit, since Feb. 14, she has been to Elmwood's musical, their pre-contest choir concert, choir practices, CLC, CLC talent show, Tenebrae Rehearsal, Tenebrae Service, visiting Stephanie's house and home-school co-op, stephanie's Easter weekend brunch last Saturday, EAster services, Fremont Alliance's Easter pageant, and Christ in the Passover presented by Jews for Jesus, etc. etc. And numerous restaurant outings.

The grandsons, 7 and 9, have heard a story about Grandpa and Grandma that they love to quote a line from, "You're weavin' all over the road, Barb!" My husband said this before he took over the driver's seat and was mocking my driving by demonstrating the weaving --and here came the police!!! And when the officer asked my husband if he knew he was weaving all over the road, our carload burst into laughter --and explained that hubby was only imitating wifey, so as to get her to drive better! Our son in law happened to be along on that car-ride to Chicago --back in the girls' college days. For awhile he called us "the Weavers."

Shared faith, shared memories, shared silliness, shared chocolates, shared holidays --all part of the rich fabric of family fun in a functional family. Our son came home from college, filled with new-found insights and wisdom, and announced we were a dysfunctional family -- and my husband said, "You haven't seen dysfunctional!!" I don't even remember why he said it. But we know that any stress we experience in our family is minor compared to the world's. We know that we are blessed --though far from perfect individuals --especially me. I am the one most blessed by a kind and generous, energetic hard-working and loving husband --and children who are kind to me --who want to come home and see us fairly often. Our daughter made a statement at her wedding, that she knew we loved her --and that her father loved her mother and that he always would. If he ever thought he wouldn't, that sure was a challenge to him! He has always believed that divorce is destructive to children --at any age. And so I have been secure in his love, through all the vicissitudes of life and body. His grandfather, especially, set such a pattern for him. And he believes in the Bible --that he is to love his wife as his own body --and so he does.

The CHURCH --when it teaches and preaches the Bible, making disciples, it still holds the keys to FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE --and the greatest of these is LOVE.






"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

FIFTEEN YOUNGSTERS ATTEND FREMONT ALLIANCE EASTER PAGEANT

Why Evangelicalism will not die

despite recent reports to the contrary in newspolls:

Four cars, driven by me, my husband, Rob and Chrissy, headed out to Spencer Twp into the Habitat for Humanity housing neighborhood --lovely homes on a cul de sac and neighboring street --to pick up 14 children and youth, ranging in age from 8 to 17. They all happened to be African-American plus one little blonde whose mother brought her to the church. We had Kayla, Earlkayla, Earlkia, D'Earl, Bobby, Kyle, Davon, Javon, Brittany, Ariss, Amon, Austen, Anthony, a "godsister" whose name had an apostrophe in it (a visitor to one of the families), and Breanna. Through this I had good conversations with several different parents who do not attend our church. My invitations had gone out to all my Trailblazers and their siblings, by phone.

Rob drove his grandmother and three girls. I drove 4 boys who acted as good as gold. Jon had 4 boys. Chrissy had 4 girls.

We went to Fremont Alliance Church to see The Cross of Love, their annual Easter musical. We were not late, but the place was packed, and the boys were split up and we girls had corner seats --where they were able to stand to see better. The good part about our place was that our restless children didn't bother everybody --just those in close proximity. The two youngest were a little too immature for the event and occasionally made inappropriate noises and were quite the little busy bodies --though I had one on my lap half the time. (Yes, I have a lap!) When Jesus was crucified, I was asked, "IS THAT REAL BLOOD, MISS BARB!" And my little busybodies were into the faces of their friends to report back who was crying. "SHE's CRYING!" Most of us WERE moved --so effective was the portrayal.

The best thing about our seats was its location by an entrance for the actors. When Jesus entered for the first time he entered between our two rows and the girls literally squealed in delight, "IT'S JESUS! IT'S JESUS!" and to me, "Is it REALLY JESUS!???" They were so excited and became part of the drama --as he touched each one's hand or shoulder or head as if to bless them. I was almost convinced myself for just an electric moment!

The gentleman who plays the role these recent years was unchurched until he saw this production. It touched him profoundly to see the story of Jesus enacted, the healings, the crucifixion, the resurrection. He committed his life to Christ and started to attend the Alliance church and has been portraying Jesus beautifully, ever since. He gives his testimony after the program.

When a leprous girl passed by with bandaged face, our girls giggled and jeered, "O LOOK, LOOK AT HER!" And I was embarrassed --until it occured to me, that they had once again given a realistic portrayal of Bible-days children --this time being impolite to a leper --whom Jesus healed and the bandages came off as our son John sang the song, "Healing Rain." (It's his in-laws' church.)

This church goes all out, serving home-baked cookies and punch to nearly 500 people at each of 3 performances. One of the boys stacked up 7 cookies on his napkin and was admonished by the others," Put those back!"

After we were seated, the pastor asked for any of the regular church-goers there to consider giving up their seats for the visitors --which they did. We hear the church put up a remote screen in their gym for an over-flow crowd on their third and last night of performance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Tenebrae was not nearly so well attended, just less than one hundred, but it, too, was a beautiful service causing solemn reflection on Christ's sacrifice for our souls' sake. We were pleased to be visited by several people we didn't know, probably due to newspaper publicity, and by some visitors we did know, like the administrator of The Toledo Clinic and his wife, and Pastor and Mrs. Merrin of Monclova Baptist.

Highlights of OUR service were Holy Communion (The Last Supper observance) the readings of the Holy Week events from scripture, by leader, narrators, and congregation, interspersed by the beautiful ensemble, "Remember Me," sung by Rob Rohrs, Andrea Conklin, Ashley Perez and Christine Rohrs; "How Beautiful is the Body of Christ" by Patty Bersinger (both songs during the Communion); and from the David Clydesdale Easter musical, How Great Thou Art: "What will you do with Jesus" by Christine Rohrs --a challenge to us, referring to Pilate's dilemma, and then a medley of the beautiful "When They Pierced Your Side --How could they Open up your Heart Anymore?" by Stephanie Hulbert and the choir, including "How Great Thou Art," "And Can it Be?", and concluding with "God so Loved the World."

Congregational songs included "The Old Rugged Cross" and "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded," and a contemporary arrangment of "Amazing Grace." Readers were Bob and MaryBeth DeMatteo and Courtney Lucas. Our sound tech who did a good job was Bob Perez. Kayla Perez extinguished the candles, accompanied by the tolling of a bell, as the sanctuary darkened more and more until there was just one chime and the last candle was carried out, and the thunderous earthquake sounded --signifying Christ's death. Then the candle was brought back and placed before the cross to signify the triumph of good over evil, and life over death. And Pastor Keith Simpson dismissed us to leave in reverent silence.

I believe the church is alive and well and on the march.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We hear that Lebanese celebrities participated in a SAT-7 Easter broadcast into the Middle-east. http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001ugKI9_rGp4XOiXjGmnt1RV3CHIOHrGWHGhze70owu_MbIjKBQVNd3Qj0T7qlF21dyUNWYigch-xnEWyDGxYrfXawfj7S6ATpjU1FW-bBQnSlw-_deF2LgXLi-H7G3dLfdpLnfcP1QUStNoUdUZMvDkY8kG8d_wgJAQ_a5m6HIQQ%3D

I told you all before how the Free Methodist Church was given land by the Kurdish gov't to build a church in Iraq --last year. And there are some 50 pastors seeking ordination in the Free Methodist Church in Viet Nam organizing their congregations as Free Methodist Churches. We have children's hostels in India and schools and hospitals in Africa and many FM churches there.
Mega-churches in the USA are challenging those who have fallen away from their churches to rediscover the excitement of the Gospel message --and the reality of it.

The Holy Spirit is still among us --as we tell the old, old story --still! passing it on....

And why will evangelicalism survive and thrive? Because we are still and again,
ever renewing our call to the poor, to children, to the unity and equality of
all races, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free -- proclaiming
liberty to the captives and deliverance to the oppressed --and helping to make
it happen, so help us, Lord!

When we get more busy about the basic Good
News, and the basic commands of Christ, living the righteousness asked of us,
straining for the holiness commanded of us --ever discipling
(teaching/preaching) in the church to those we bring from outside the church
--as Jesus said,

"This is my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail
against it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Citizens Perform 4 Million Dollar Job in 8 Days.

I don't know if this says more about the power of citizens laboring for the common good or about the ineptitude of bureaucracy. But it testifies to both.

Residents and business owners around the Polihale State Park in Hawaii saw the writing on the wall when essential repairs for the park were delayed for two years or more at the expense of 4 million dollars to the taxpayers. Without the repairs, the park couldn't open and several businesses depending upon the park for their livelyhood would most likely have not survived.

Instead of waiting for the government to take care of them, the citizens and businesses gathered their resources together and made repairs themselves free of charge.

More details here.

Whatever the economy does in the future, we can't rest our hopes in the government. I hope Obama can turn it around (or even that things will turn around inspite of his efforts), but then again, we may end up with a worthless dollar. However things turn out, I expect that communities and neighbors will still have it within their power to band together and work things out as long as we are willing to give something to the community in unity without an expectation of immeadiate reward. If you think about it, what the above example amounts to is kind of a reverse welfare. In that, we can expect it to have the opposite effect, energizing the community for the common properity of all.

Easter Services --Good Friday Tenebrae at HFM Church

GOOD FRIDAY ~ April 10, 7 PM

TENEBRAE SERVICE

EASTER SUNDAY ~ 7 AM,

SUNRISE SERVICE

FOLLOWED BY BREAKFAST

9:30 SUNDAY SCHOOL

10:40 EASTER WORSHIP SERVICE

INVITE OTHERS to reflect on the Last Supper (open communion for all believers,) and Christ’s atonement for our sin that we might have everlasting life.
Music includes the choir, and features singers in solos and ensembles: Patty Bersinger, Andrea Conklin, Ashley Perez, Courtney Lucas, Rob Rohrs, Stephanie Hulbert, and Christine Rohrs. DeMatteos will narrate.

Media release:

HOLY WEEK INCLUDES TENEBRAE SERVICE AT HFM CHURCH

The Holland Free Methodist Church will present a Good Friday Tenebrae service on April 10 at 7:00 pm. Tenebrae is the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows." As the candle-light service of music and scripture progresses, candles are gradually extinguished and chimes sounded until only a single candle, as a symbol of Christ remains. Toward the end of the service, the Christ candle is hidden, representing the apparent victory of evil over good. At the very end, a loud noise sounds, symbolizing the earthquake at the time of Christ's death. The hidden candle is then restored to its place, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. By this single light, all depart in silence.
Music will include excerpts from the beautiful 1984 work, How Great Thou Art, a musical about the Lord’s Passion by David Clydesdale.
During the service, the Lord’s Supper will be observed, an open communion
for all followers of Christ.
Easter services are at 7am and 10:40 am, April 12.
The Free Methodist church was founded in 1860, and the three “frees” of this Weslyan, evangelical church were “freedom from slavery, free pews, and the freedom of the Spirit in worship.” The local Holland congregation was established in the year 1868.
The Holland Free Methodist Church, pastored by Keith Simpson, is located at 6605 Angola Road, Holland, Ohio, north of Spring Meadows Mall.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

6 Facts on Passover

I found this article interesting.

You can check out the rest but I thought 2 were particularly interesting. It turns out that Coca Cola makes a kosher brand (extra kosher for the stricter passover diet) which uses sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

On a more profound note, it turns out Abraham Lincoln was assasinated during passover. This affected the celebrations taking place at Jewish synagogue.

According to the American Jewish Historical Society, many Jews were in synagogue for the holiday when the news of Lincoln's assassination broke. Altars in temples "were quickly draped in black and, instead of Passover melodies, the congregations chanted Yom Kippur hymns. Rabbis set aside their sermons and wept openly at their pulpits, as did their congregants." Sadly, a time that was supposed to be full of celebration became one of mourning.

A LAYMAN'S THOUGHTS ON EVOLUTION

Here is why I'm skeptical of Darwin's theory --as a non-scientist --as a Bible-believer.

Why are we not able to see any creatures in transition today from...say...fish to mammal --or ape to "ape-like creature" to human --or ape-like creature diverging to human and ape? Why are these transitions out of one category of life form into a new category not observeable today? Why are bacteria always still bacteria and viruses still viruses --no matter how many generations they multiply with lightning speed --no matter how many mutations occur--if they do? Why do all life forms keep replicating "after their own kind," just as the Bible said?


Nature is repetitive --so why not evolution?


Steven J. Gould and Dr. Patterson of the British Museum of Natural History both admitted at some point that transitional fossils were not available --"no missing link" in the fossil record, the Time or Newsweek magazine announced perhaps 3 decades ago. (I haven't found the article on line but my husband and I read it with our own eyes when it was published.) That's the article that told about Gould's theory of "punctuated eqilibrium," as a process of evolution too rapid to form fossils. My husband always said we should be "standing knee-deep" in millions of trans-fossils if evolution were true. I say that even when we DO find fossils bearing features of extinct creatures with features of two separate creature categories, we cannot say they ARE common ancestors or evidence of descent from a common ancestor of the two or more kinds. We could just as legitimately say the trans-fossil is evidence that God designed and created a creature with DNA in common with two present-day categories --like mammals all share similar characteristics and DNA which make us classify them as mammals.


Yes, Darwin was a genius and a scholar at categorizing the life forms by their similarities and what we now find to be DNA in common --as in apes and humans. He assumed common ancestry for the creatures with similarities; no one has proven it. While DNA may be interpreted as "evidence" of common ancestry, the evidence can also be interpreted as proof of a designer in common --who "wrote" the DNA code for the ape and the human, giving them these similarities in design code from their creation. For sure, we don't see any of these creatures transitioning today from one category to another --ape to human--fish to mammal --or whatever the prevailing theory of common descent is today.


More recently, Dr. Michael Behe, a molecular biology prof at Lehigh U. said the cell shows complexity and interdependent features (irreducible complexity) which are evidence of design and thus a designer or intelligence behind the design. Not a fundamentalist but a Catholic, Behe supposedly DOES believe in the process of evolution but that it must have been guided by some kind of intelligent creative entity. I've wondered if Behe hasn't had to agree with Darwin to some extent to keep his job --as his college has made a statement that the rest of the department does not agree with him. It has become religiously political for people in the sciences to support faith in Darwin's belief in evolution, i.e. transitions from common ancestors --and all life from one-celled creatures after a Big Bang. Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed, the Ben Stein movie did a good job of discussing evidence for Intelligent Design and showed how politics and faith in Darwin are interfering with good science (more than creationism does) by closing doors to qualified, brilliant scientists who don't agree. Darwin's theory is the backbone of present-day atheism, after all, and we do see that it is defended "religiously." More and more, there will be a litmus test for grad school candidates to see if they believe in Darwin.


Consider, why do evolutionists try to debunk Behe (with ad hominem attacks mostly) if he really believes in evolution, but sees design and thus intelligence behind irreducible complexity? Consider that many evolution-believers try to say that evolution and creation are compatible -that God did it Darwin's way. Supposedly, ID theorists MAY be evolutionists as Behe is said to be --theistic evolutionists --i.e. they believe God GUIDED the process of evolution --some would say in 6 great ages or a Biblical and metaphorical 6 days for stages of evolution.


The scientific method is all about observation --and one thing for sure, evolution out of one life category into another, has not been observed. Evolution is speculated as a naturalistic explanation for the similarities in creatures --and as a defense for an atheistic theory of origins --how all life came to be without a divine intelligence behind it by random, accidental result of natural selection, adaptation, survival of the fittest, etc.


Meanwhile, humans don't seem to be getting "better" or evolving upward with successive generations. We always have our haters and murderers --from Nazis to Ku Klux Klan to Islamic terrorists.


And yet we heard yesterday in our church the story of a minister named Billy Wayne Harrington --and how his family were the poster children of dysfunctional families with unfaithful spouses, alcoholic abusive father who almost murdered their mother one night, 3 younger brothers whom Billy Wayne had to raise himself and protect from children's services taking them away. He said he wanted them to stay together so they would all come to faith in Christ. He didn't want to risk their souls to see them go to homes where no one would lead them to salvation--besides the natural desire to be together with his brothers. As the eldest, he saw to it that his brothers made it to school and did all the work of the mother. The miracle is that his parents eventually repented and came to a saving faith themselves.


There is a spiritual dimension to life --as evidenced in the changed, new life of a believer. NOw THAT is evolution!


Finally, I am skeptical of Darwin's theory because of Jesus Christ. He healed instantly; resurrected instantly. Our God does not need the slow laborious, random, "natural" process of evolution to produce the myriad of life forms on the earth. He speaks out of his vast intelligence --and it happens --now --not millions and millions of years of "natural" processes in order to produce new species. He says, "Let there be light" and it is so. With a word. If our computer can do what it does, surely our God's MIND can do anything --with a Word.

John 1:
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
2The same was in the beginning with God.
3All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5And
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the
world knew him not.
11He came unto his own, and his own received him
not.
12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God.
14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

SAT-7 TV --Christian programming --in Iraq

The following is from SAT-7 --note first photo on my blog!

97% of Iraqis have satellite TV and 18.8% of those watch SAT-7^®!

Iraq is a country in transition. Its newly created government is experiencing growing pains. Its major people groups, the Kurds, Sunnis and Shia distrust each other. Christians are being targeted and many are worried that their rights to freely exist and worship may be lost. And yet, despite these hardships, many parts of the country are functioning, and some are thriving. While some churches are experiencing massive losses in membership as congregants move to other nations, others are flourishing as people in distress cry out to the Lord for help.

In this kind of environment, satellite television has become the most effective way to reach and encourage not only the Iraqi Christians but also the entire population of Iraq. Most Iraqi families spend many hours in the relative security of their homes watching satellite television. Many have turned to SAT-7 for hope and encouragement. We are excited to share a recent study about SAT-7's impact in Iraq.

Data just released from a nation-wide study in Iraq found that 97% of the population has access to satellite television and that 18.8%, or 5.3 million people in that country alone (out of an estimated 2008 population of 28 million), watch SAT-7. The study also found that 2.6 million are watching on a regular daily or weekly basis!

Intermedia, the independent audience research firm which conducted the study, also provides data on such channels as Al Jazeera and BBC Arabic. In fact, according to the study SAT-7 is only 1.7 percentage points behind BBC Arabic in the number of people aware of the channel!

SAT-7 CEO Terence Ascott says the figures show that SAT-7 is offering tremendous return on donations given to the ministry. "It's quite amazing when you consider that BBC ARABIC has an annual budget of 25 million British Pounds. A year ago when the BBC channel launched, that amount was worth about 50 million dollars. SAT-7's total budget, split among three channels in 2008, was only 13 million dollars. Talk about value for your money!"

In addition to reaching a high number of viewers for a low cost, SAT-7 is also providing vital support to the struggling Christian community in Iraq. "Iraqi Christians have really suffered in recent years and many have fled the country," says David Harder, SAT-7's Communications Manager. "Iraqis often call and text us asking for prayer. Fortunately, through our programs SAT-7's Arabic producers and hosts can show God's love and offer encouragement. We've had responses from Iraq for years, but now we know that literally millions of Iraqis, Christian and non-Christian, are watching the broadcasts."

To watch a live feed from the SAT-7 ARABIC channel, click here.

---

You also have an opportunity to experience firsthand, up close and personal, the SAT-7 ministry, its staff, and its viewers. Embark on a journey of personal discovery to the Middle East. You will see how the ministry plays a major role in bringing the Gospel to millions by taking this special Vision Trip to the Middle East. We will visit the Holy Land, Cyprus, and Egypt in a life-changing trip. For more information on dates and prices click here.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

OBAMA AND BUSH SOUND THE SAME ON WAR ON TERROR --FINALLY!

God bless President Obama for announcements concerning Afghanistan yesterday. He is sending more troops to train security forces there to regain the peace and wants American and other civilian experts of all kinds there to help rebuild the nation. He cited the Taliban as the oppressors of women and girls that they are and called them brutal, as I recall. This is a struggling democracy which needs to be rid of the Taliban. He also mentioned Pakistan and their problems.

Ironically, he plans to move Taliban soldiers from GITMO to our court systems and over-crowded prisons and has or will release them to go back to business as usual. They need to be in prisons in their own nations. What did we do to rehabilitate and open their closed minds, I wonder? I suggested that, wrote to Congress and president about it, never heard that we were trying to introduce those benighted souls to western ideals. I suggested a course in the best of humanizing western movies, translated. Movies to soften the heart toward Jews and others. The Jesus movie on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. They should at least have found out what Christians REALLY believe about Jesus, which differs from Mohammad's revisionist version 400 years later.

The middle eastern regimes have provided fertile soil for radical Islamic terrorists like bin Ladin. They blame their poverty and misery on Christianity and the sins of the West, believing Allah wants them to rule the world with Sharia law.

Isn't it interesting that Obama's speech sounded just like Bush? Once a man becomes president, he talks to our foreign service and military folks "in the know" and realizes the gravity of ignoring the threat of terrorism by not opening these countries to the West, to democracy and rule of law (with respect for civil rights) with their greater potential for peace and prosperity.

With freedom and prosperity comes satellite TV --and Christian programming like that from Lebanon. True Biblical Christianity is the panacea for world hatred, war and poverty. In America, our own economic troubles can be attributed to a lack of Christian honesty and charity, a lack of stewardship, self-control --Christian virtues --in our own use of credit and irresponsibility toward debt. It is greed and corruption of individuals that affect corporations, unions, and gov't alike. It is the opposite of Christian principles which affects families who require twice the money to sustain when the parents split into two households.

It may be futile to help Islamic nations. Certainly their own people give up and emigrate when they can. It's hard to deal with people whose passions override their reason, who believe that death and murder are the answers to problems. But we should not be faulted for trying to alleviate the misery of people who mostly just want to live in peace without poverty and fear of unjust tyrants like Osama, the Taliban and Sadam--and without the exclusive influence of mullahs preaching hatred. It is in our national interests to establish greater freedom and overcome tyrannical oppression in the two nations that Bush took on. I think Obama has found this out.

Granted, during the campaign, I believed he spoke of our responsibility to Afghanistan --all the while blasting Bush about Iraq. But the surge worked --at least for a time. We must help that nation, Iraq, also, to experience the blessings of liberty, and not leave too soon.


"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

YFC Chili Cook-Off

Youth for Christ in Holland, Ohio, --and evangelicals -- are alive and well --with over 165 in attendance from the area churches at the chili supper. We had no more room for tables set up! Jim Franks, Springfield area director, host pastor Keith Simpson and the other pastors planned what will surely become an annual event for the evangelical churches in the area.


"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Holland Free Methodist Events

MARK YOUR CALENDARS, FRIENDS! for events at the Holland Free Methodist Church, 6605 Angola Road, Holland, OH, north of Spring Meadows Mall

This Friday, March 27:

BILLY WAYNE MINISTRY ~

YOUTH-ORIENTED but all can come
--7 pm AND Sat. 10 AM

Saturday night: Billy Wayne in
concert for all ages at 6 pm.

Sunday morning: Billy Wayne music and
preaching at 10:40 AM Service

Who is Billy Wayne? A Southern Baptist evangelist, musician, dramatist --who last fall served as chaplain for Grammy-nominated DecembeRadio on their tour.

Guaranteed to be a memorable, worth-while weekend.

March 31, 7 PM, Tuesday: Jews for Jesus will present Christ in the Passover This is a meaningful presentation for the season, as we are reminded of Jesus's Last Supper and the symbolism in the Jewish ritual which has meaning for Christians.

April 1, CLC (Christian Life Club for children) Talent Night, 7 PM --we have guitarist, drummer, pianists, singers, gymnasts, artists --presenting their talents!

April 5, Palm Sunday 10:40 Service

April 10, Good Friday, Tenebrae Service at 7 pm,

featuring selections from the Easter Passion musical,

"How Great Thou Art"

April 12, Easter! He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!!!






"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

TONIGHT -- YOUTH FOR CHRIST CHILI COOK-OFF & TALENT SHOW AT HFM

Most of the churches in Holland, OH are promoting this event, a fund-raiser for Youth for Christ ministry at Springfield H.S. and Holland community. It is at the Holland Free Methodist Church at 6 PM TONIGHT only! Saturday March 21. $5 per meal or $15 per family.

NEXT WEEKEND IS A YOUTH-FOCUSED EVENT AT OUR CHURCH, FEATURING BILLY WAYNE, A SOUTHERN BAPTIST EVANGELIST TO ALL AGES, A DYNAMIC YOUNG MAN WHO SINGS, WRITES MUSIC, ACTS, DIRECTS THEATER AND HAS A TRI-CITY PLAYHOUSE IN TENNESSEE. He was abused as a youth and relates to all youth in general and to troubled youth, in particular. He is predicted to not be boring. Free will offerings will be received to fund his ministry to us.

IF YOU KNOW ANY YOUTH, BRING THEM and yourselves --7 PM FRIDAY, 10 AM SATURDAY, 6 PM CONCERT SATURDAY, AND 10:40 SUNDAY MORNING. THE HFM church is having a potluck at 4:30 pm Saturday before the concert. Bring your dish to pass and enjoy the fellowship.

Sometimes one sermon or a weekend series of inspired preaching can be the vehicle of the Holy Spirit that helps to set a young person on the right path for his whole life.



"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Omniscience and Free Will

by Rob R

Introduction

A question has come up several times from some of the skeptics on the issue of God's omniscience and free will. I said several times that I don't believe that God knows the outcome of our future free acts. A skeptic with the moniker “AndThenSome” wondered if I could know that claim. What follows is a broad overview of the position I take starting with my biblical reasons for taking it and extending to philosophical reasons and an explanation of how my view relates to concepts of foreknowledge and omniscience. While I consider much of this to be the tip of the iceberg of this topic which has been a hot button for so much of Christian scholarship today, I don't consider it completely defensible in the context of a single blog topic. So many of the issues and references that will be brought to light deserve their own topics. But for much of what I will present, few of the considerations stand on their own, but instead, together, they represent a pattern that contributes toward a cumulative case for my position.

Given the breadth of this topic, I'll be loose on my usual insistence to stay on topic, but I do ask that chit-chat be minimal.



QUESTION: Does God know how every specific detail will turn out in the future?

SHORT ANSWER: No.


LONG ANSWER:


God changes his mind: The Divine Repentance Passages *

Exodus 32

11But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'" 14And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people

Observation:
Many have objected to this as an instance of a genuine change of plans because it would make God look like he was going to do something wrong and needed Moses' corrections (giving an important theological reason not to take this as reflecting an actual change of mind.). Moses gives God 3 reasons not to destroy the Israelites: 1)he took the effort to deliver them, 2) what would the Egyptians think? 3)what about the promises to Israel? God, if he so desired, could've answered these questions if he wanted to. 1)That he delivered them with mighty acts and wonders makes their sin all the worse and them all the more faithless. 2)The Egyptians will realize the nature and seriousness of this God, and 3) God can fulfill his promises to the patriarchs through Moses.

Why did God change his mind if he didn't have to? God values our involvement in his project. Moses is one who is close to God and God values Moses’ intercession, especially since that intercession demonstrated that Moses valued God's purposes and goals.

1 Sam 2

Regarding the priest Eli and his faithless sons

30Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,' but now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Jonah 3


10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Observations:

God changed his mind after the Ninevites repented of their sins. They repented because they believed that God really intended to destroy them and that their behavior might affect God's change of heart. They pondered, “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish." (vs 9)

Why are these passages relevant to the question of God's knowledge? A planned or known change of mind is not truly a change of mind, unless it is a contingency that actually might and might not happen. A planned or known change of mind is really just an extension of the old plans. I believe that would contradict the beliefs and actions of Moses and the Ninevites and it would've been very disingenuous To Eli's family to say that God promised that he would've preserved their line in the priestly role when ultimately, God really didn't plan such.

Why do I take such pains to spell out what might appear obvious with fewer considerations? Because the idea that God changes his mind goes against a history in the church of interpreting these as metaphorical (not that that would really decide the matter since “literal” language itself is often basically metaphorical).



God says “perhaps”

Exodus 13

17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” (NKJV)

Ezekial 12

3As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.

Jer 26

2"Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds.

The two latter passages give strength to the perspective that the future is open and the first demonstrates that the way that events hang together has an element of indeterminism. The first passage is particularly interesting as it shows God considering a hypothetical situation and noting that in such a situation, the outcome wouldn't be clear.



God's expectations do not come to pass

Jeremiah 3

7And I thought, 'After she has done all this she will return to me,' but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

Jer 32

35They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

One might conclude that God in these instances was mistaken. I choose the title of this subsection for a reason. I don't believe that expectations are necessarily instances of supposed knowledge. If God believed that he knew that Israel would return to him, then he would have been mistaken. I instead believe that God knew that there was a less likely chance that Israel would continue in her rebellion after some specific actions by God but he knew that at this juncture, there was a greater chance of repentance. His hope and expectation were with the likely chance of their repentance.

I think an analogy is in order: a music tutor who prepares his student for contest. Perhaps the student has had both successes and failures and is nervous, and the tutor tells the student that he expects that the student will succeed. I think this is consistent with the knowledge of the tutor that the student still might fail. In short, one can expect something while knowing that something else might occur. Since he knows that the expectation may not come to pass, he is not truly mistaken in the expectation which is rooted in the reality (and very well the more likely reality) that what is expected also may come to pass.



Freedom, Scripture and Knowledge

It is important to note what it is when we are speaking of free will. One may say that she is free if she does what it is that she wants to do. Some may also insist that they are free when they act without compulsion. While these are important concepts and they play a role in this debate, the free will I am discussing is that which is a part of the free will tradition in theism. The first two are relevant to what is called compatibilistic free will, that is, free will that is compatible with determinism. The free will of the free will theistic tradition (also called Arminianism but it really extends further back in the tradition than the theologian Arminius) is incompatibilistic freedom, or libertarian freedom. Libertarian freedom is defined as the faculty one exercises when he performs an action which is absolutely possible to perform and also absolutely possible to refrain from performing.

Before addressing the issue of freedom's relationship to knowledge and the future, I will provide a few biblical reasons as to why I believe that libertarian freedom is implied in scripture. While scripture does speak of free will and freedom, these are not necessarily instances of freedom of the libertarian. These may involve libertarian freedom, but that is beyond the scope of this post and is not something I have investigated nor might be able to investigate.

1 Cor 10

13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

The problem for the anti-libertarian camp, or theological determinists is when Christians sin. There are scriptures that appear to immediately suggest that real Christians never sin, but I believe that those scriptures are motivational, intended to get the Christian to see himself in a new way to empower him not to sin. Furthermore, there are also many scriptures that imply that Christians do sin. I will not go into a lengthy discussion of this here but will assert what most people believe, including Christians, that Christians do still sin (backslide) and still occasionally need to confess, repent, and make amends to hurt parties (if that is relevant). Finally, on a common sense level, this verse itself, as many others, just really seems to imply that there is a danger for Christians to sin.

In the instances when Christians sin, if vs 10:13 is true, then God could not have determined everything and free will must be in place. Otherwise, God was not faithful to make a way out, because there is no way out of performing an act that you were determined to do before you were born.

Secondly, (no scripture will be cited as it is ubiquitous) scripture assigns moral responsibility to humans. But as I will demonstrate, moral responsibility requires self-determinism which is not compatible with theological determinism and requires libertarian free will for temporally finite creatures (this is explained in my “3 problems of evil” thread under the subheading “one matter of consistency.”)

1. If I am morally responsible for an action, then that action is within my control.
2. If determinism is true, then everything I do is a result of events that took place long before I was born.
3. I am not in control of anything that happened prior to my birth.
4. If determinism is true, then I am not in control of my actions(2,3)
5. If determinism is true, then I am not morally responsible. (1,4)
6. Moral responsibility is a necessity of human nature.
7. I am human.
8. Since there are humans whoare morally responsible, determinism is false. (5,6,7)

There are many other scriptural considerations for free will, but these are the shortest to argue and I think they are amongst the best.

I believe one of the best demonstrations of the incompatibility of free will and exhaustive definite foreknowledge comes from Christian philosopher William Hasker's book, God, Time, and Knowledge.
1.It is now true that Clarence will have a cheese omelet for breakfast tomorrow. (Premise)
2.It is impossible that God should at any time believe what is false, or fail to believe anything that is true. (Premise: divine omniscience)
3.God has always believed that Clarence will have a cheese omelet tomorrow. (From 1, 2)
4.If God has always believed a certain thing, it is not in anyone’s power to bring it about that God has not always believed that thing. (Premise: the unalterability of the past)
5.Therefore, it is not in Clarence’s power to bring it about that God has not always believed that he would have a cheese omelet for breakfast. (From 3, 4)
6.It is not possible for it to be true both that God has always believed that Clarence would have a cheese omelet for breakfast, and that he does not in fact have one. (from 2)
7.Therefore, it is not in Clarence’s power to refrain from having a cheese omelet for breakfast tomorrow. (From 5, 6) So Clarence’s eating the omelet tomorrow is not an act of free choice. (From the definition of free will.) (p 69 copyright 1989)
Now, after reading the above argument, it may be helpful to open a new window on this blog and scrolling to this argument because I will be referring back to it several times. This way, as you read, you may simple get back to the argument by clicking it open instead of scrolling back and forth constantly (or fold the corner of the paper if you've printed this out).



Prophecy

Many view God's omniscience as the source of prophecy. This is actually only part of the picture. Prophecy (when it is “prophetic”) is more so about God's sovereignty and guidance. God doesn't give prophetic visions just to prove he can tell the future. God is revealing his plan, showing his power, and/or giving a warning.
Jer 18

6"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 'Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.

Observations:
Here God describes a general MO (modus operandi/mode of operaion.) This would be cited to explain prophecies such as at Nineveh where the people repented and God didn't bring the destruction, but who's to say how many other prophecies that were fulfilled weren't also conditional prophecies that could have gone the other way had people responded in the opposite direction?
There are also other possibilities with prophecies. A prophecy could be set in stone if God gives it on the basis of what he has determined, or what people determine as time goes on.



The Theological/Traditional Concern

(some categories utilized in this section are taken from Christian philosopher, Alan Rhoda's blog)

So at the end of the day, one might say that I don't believe that God foreknows the future and that God isn't omniscient. I disagree. So what follows is a brief exploration of several different approaches to the question of omniscience and the position I have described taken by several different people who hold a position similar to mine.

Voluntary Nescience: The future is alethically settled but nevertheless epistemically open for God because he has voluntarily chosen not to know truths about future contingents. Dallas Willard espouses this position. (Rhoda)

The term “Alethically settled” I believe refers to the state of affairs where there is an exhaustive set of true and false propositions about the future which all involve the statement “...will happen” or “...will not happen.” To put it another way, for every free act you perform in the future, there is a fact about how that free action will turn out. Epistomological categories are those having to do with knowledge. So what this position holds is that God could know the future if he wanted to, but for the sake of our freedom, he has chosen not to. Does such a person believe that God foreknows the future and is God omniscient? My guess is that the answer is no, but I suppose they may take the position that the following group takes on the definition of omniscience.

Involuntary Nescience: The future is alethically settled but nevertheless epistemically open for God because truths about future contingents are in principle unknowable. William Hasker espouses this position.(Rhoda)

The difference here is that God did not choose to not know our future free actions, but rather, future free actions are, logically speaking, unknowable (Hasker demonstrated this using the example I have above regarding Clarence and his cheese omelet). Again, like the proponent of voluntary nescience, Hasker believes that there is a fact about how future states. Hasker also claims to believe in omniscience. He defends this belief by utilizing a shift attributed to Thomas Aquinas utilized which defines omnipotence as the ability to do anything that is logically possible. Hasker makes what I consider a highly reasonable adjustment to the definition of omniscience to only include truths of which are logically possible to know (thus he disagrees with premise 2 of the argument above regarding Clarence). I agree that this definition is sufficient to establish that one of my position can indeed say that God is omniscient. But I do not agree that the future is alethically closed.

Non-Bivalentist Omniscience: The future is alethically open and therefore epistemically open for God because propositions about future contingents are neither true nor false. J. R. Lucas espouses this position. (Rhoda)

As every perspective presented here holds to presentism (that only the present exists), this group takes that view and insists that since future does not exist, since it hasn't happened yet, there is nothing for truths of the future to be based upon.

Bivalentist Omniscience: The future is alethically open and therefore epistemically open for God because propositions asserting future contingents that they "will" obtain or that they "will not" obtain are both false. Instead, what is true is that they "might and might not" obtain. Greg Boyd (and yours truly) espouses this position.(Rhoda)

Alan Rhoda likes it and I like it, too. Here, omniscience is fully robust because one can say that God knows everything about the future. To the question of what future rests upon that the non-bivalentists raise, the answer is that they rest upon what has been determined in the past and present and what has been determined to be indeterminate, such as future free actions. God knows everything about the future which entails that he knows everything that will happen and he knows everything that might and might not happen (from now on referred to as “conjoined mights.”) Some may object that conjoined mights count as real objects of knowledge. I disagree. These sorts of statements describe substantial facts about reality and how things causally hang together. Furthermore, even when they are used to describe one's lack of knowledge, they reflect a substantial way in which ideas hang together. If I don't know how a future event will turn out (or a past event for that matter) and I say “x might and might not happen” or “x might and might not have happened,” I am saying, that given everything I know and given my understanding of x's occurrence and x's failure to occur is consistent with that. This is a statement that can be true and it can be false, ergo, we should treat the conjoined mights as substantial truths that may be true or false.

Also, note that in this picture, statements such as “x will be the case” and “x will not be the case” are not to be considered contradictory. If two statements are contradictory, it means that the truth of one guarantees the falsity of the opposite claim and vice versa. Instead, these statements on the definition of the future are contrary. Contrary statements cannot both be true, but they can both be false.



Alternative Views Within Free Will Theism


God is Timeless

When confronted with the problem of libertarian free will and God's foreknowledge, most Christians will not take the position I have presented here. What the majority would say (excluding theological determinists, though that was implied in the first sentence of this paragraph) is that the answer to the question of free will is that God is outside of time. First of all, I would observe that there is an evangelical take on this and then there is the view of divine timelessness of the historic church and of the philosophers and theologians. I do not believe they are the same.

The evangelical approach (or approaches) sometimes wants to view God as one for whom all time is present in a sense that I believe is best understood with the term “omnitemporal.” (A philosopher, William Lane Craig coined that term, but he uses it to express the exact opposite concept, but nevertheless, people(certain laymen) have, in my opinion, naturally misunderstood his usage of the term.) What this term can express is that God is present in all times and he can interact with all times as they are present before him. I believe this idea is reflected in fiction with time travelers or like a comic book story I read where there was this building outside of time and some superheroes could use this to travel to times where they were needed and they could manipulate time to their hearts’ content.

One way of making sense of this is to note that views of divine timelessness aren't just about God and time but also involve the nature of time itself. There are basically two philosophical theories of time and one is called eternalism which states that all of time, from the beginning to the indefinite end, exists on a temporal plane. The other one is called presentism which suggests that past is what used to exist but doesn't any more; the present is what exists, and the future is what will exist but doesn't right now. To complicate things even more, we have two different theories of how objects exist through time. One theory, similar to eternalism, called perdurantism, suggests that objects (and people) have spread out over time. To say that an object perdures is to to say that it doesn't completely exist at just one moment, but it has parts spread out through time. The opposite theory, endurantism, which lines up with presentism, suggests that objects (including people) are completely present within one moment of time.

To flesh out these categories, let’s take a real world example. It would be the common sense view to say that my laptop is completely present in front of me. It is wholly there. It was 40 miles south of Toledo with me a year ago, and it was 50 miles north of Toledo when it was with me six months ago. The lap top endures. It was completely present in those other areas months ago and now it's completely present in the Toledo area in front of me right now. This is endurantism. Perdurantism says that my computer is not completely in front of me in the Toledo area right now. It has temporal parts in the space-time region 40 miles south of here 1 year ago and some parts 50 miles north of where I am at 6 months prior to this moment.

So here, one evangelical points out that if we watch someone perform a free act, just because we know it is happening doesn't mean it isn't free. So for God, all of our acts are happening in his present as we, as purduring creatures, are performing them, and since present knowledge doesn't remove freedom, God's knowledge is consistent with all of our free acts.

There are in my opinion several problems with this view. First of all, I do not buy the picture of perdurantism and its cohort, eternalism. I find it to be so profoundly at odds with our constant day by day, minute by minute, second by second experience as conscious, willful beings. That view is nice and all, but what, pray tell, does it have to do with humans?

Secondly, this argument really doesn't refute the omelet example. The argument is valid and in this picture, all of the premises remain true. There would be only one technical change (switching from speaking of what is now true to assigning specific times to that truth), but that would not affect the argument. Someone might be tempted to suggest that premise 4 is wrong, but that just brings about a radical skepticism of history, and that would undermine a religion that is principally about the flow of history from creation to eschaton with all of the biographically important developments in between.

The more traditional take on divine timelessness is more successful. God is so far removed from time that premise 2 of the omelet argument is wrong. God's timelessness is also identical to his immutability. There is no temporal becoming for God; there is no before and after for him. So what this means is that premise 2 is wrong because not only does God not know anything about omelets right now, God doesn't even exist right now. Why? Because right now refers to what is in time and that ain't God.

I object to this because I believe (though prooftexts to the contrary may follow in the comment section) that the overwhelming testimony of scripture is of a God who is with us at all points of history who experiences temporal progression. God plans, and God remembers and God acts in history with an involvement that is best understood temporally. But one of the most important criticisms that have been laid against an atemporal God is that our God forgives. Forgiveness is necessarily a temporal act where there is a rift at one point and then there is healing at the next and then there is wholeness. Both the evangelical and the traditional view of God's “atemporality” (in quotes because it's not clear how consistently the evangelical view of timelessness is actually timeless) are not fully consistent with the concept of forgiveness.

There is also the problem with the incarnation and timelessness. While much of Christendom speaks of God “stepping into time,” it's not clear how coherent this idea is. Once one steps into time, there is temporality in which there is before and after in the involvement of time.


Middle Knowledge

A view both of God's foreknowledge and God's providence is called Molinism which utilizes what is called middle knowledge. Middle knowledge is the knowledge that is not of what actually occurs in the world, but rather, it is knowledge of what would occur if a certain state of affairs had obtained. The true propositions of middle knowledge are called “counterfactuals.” Counterfactuals are stated like so: I would have had a more powerful laptop if I had upgraded to 2 gigabytes. (Note that these are not simple conditional statements. There are technical logical differences, but I will not go into them.)

According to the Molinists, there is an exhaustive fact of the matter about what we would freely choose in any situation where free choices are possible. So if I had been in a situation in which I would have to choose between chocolate ice cream and green tea ice cream, the counterfactual of freedom would be that I would've chosen green tea. According to them, God chose which counterfactuals would become true by choosing which world to create. Now Molinists believe that freedom is preserved because God cannot determine what the counterfactuals of freedom are.

Molinism represents the closest thing there is to a middle ground between free will theism and Calvinism because God exercises almost as much control as he can over the course of human history, and yet he can't determine that persons would choose just anything because there are only certain things that they would freely choose in certain situations. This allows for God, according to most Molinists, to create the best possible world even though such a world involves evil.

I can't tell that this does anything to address the omelet argument, but Molinism also has its own unique problems. For one, there are what are called grounding problems. There is the question of what makes the counterfactuals true when they are true regardless of our existence and before we exist. I have observed a problem that arises from my own category of self-determinism (this is explained in my “3 problems of evil” thread in the section “One matter of consistency.”) Free will of the libertarian sort is supposed to establish self-determinism, or, in other words, it is supposed to establish aspects and behaviors, the necessity of which arises within us through our own conscious decisions. The counterfactuals of freedom are quite true apart from our actually conscious actions; hence, the counterfactuals of freedom are not really determined by us.

Furthermore, given that counterfactuals describe deterministic physical events (eg: if the meteor had hit the moon, it would have moved out of orbit), it is highly dubious that they could describe libertarian free actions. It seems to be contradictory to add the layer of counterfactual over the description of the libertarian act. If I am free with respect to x in such and such circumstance, then it isn't the case that I would choose x and it isn't the case that I would not choose x. What is true is that I might and might not choose x.



Open Theism! What's That!?!

I have been accused of being an open theist on account of my approach to these questions and that accusation is right on the mark. But people wrongfully say that the position I have articulated here is open theism. Well, it is a central part and it is the most controversial aspect, but the point of open theism is not to solve some unimportant theological logic puzzle that only overly rationalistic nerds get exited about. The open view is a development primarily within evangelical Christianity that desires to consistently work out the notion that God, who is personal, can be affected by what we do and we can affect God's plans (e.g. through prayer or sin.) While most evangelicals would respond to that claim with, “Well yes, of course, duh!” there is the issue of consistency. There is a strong strand within the tradition of the church that says that God is immutable (that means he can't change in any way shape or form), impassible (which means that God either has no emotions or if he does have emotions, he is perpetually, completely happy), timeless, simple (he has no parts) and he exercises meticulous sovereignty (meaning, God determines and controls everything that happens.) While the tradition has treated some of these claims with more controversy than others, the open view says no to all of them (though simplicity is related, it's not quite as important, and some open theists may hold to it.)

Besides many of the biblical and philosophical reasons described in this post, there are other reasons for open theism such as concerns about the effectiveness and influence of prayer and my reason for searching it out, the problem of reprobation which I find to be one of the greatest theological mistakes ever made in the history of the church. I won't spell out that problem, however, and may leave it for another post.

For more resources on Open Theism, I recomend the following websites:

www.opentheism.info

www.gregboyd.org



*Scriptures are quoted from the ESV unless otherwise noted.