Chosen but Free?

In Geisler’s book, Chosen But Free, he is attempting to answer a question that churches have been debating for decades.  He basically outlines Calvinist and Armenian beliefs and attacks the question of predestination, and leans more towards Armenian views in the process. The title of this book seems to be a contradiction in itself when one first reads it.

This old question is one that inspires controversy. Giesler acknowledges that this is a hard subject but does his best to back up what he is saying with scripture (2Timothy 2:15). His example of the cross is helpful when determining my beliefs on this subject. Jesus still used his own free will and allowed the Romans to crucify him on the cross. Another helpful example is that Lucifer rebelled against God with his own free will. If we do not have free will then this suggests that God is the one who put sin in us and that God has sin, which would destroy much of what the Bible tells us about God.

Giesler also makes a valid point about your particular stance on the subject of Calvinism/predestination. Many people view it in a black and white manner and that you have to be an extreme Calvinist or else you are not one at all. Most Christians fall in the middle ground on this subject, including me. In a sense I believe in predestination, because God is omniscient and knows who will ultimately choose to follow him. But I also believe that God created us with free will and does not force us to follow him.

Sometimes Christians argue so much about a theological issue that it does more harm than good. Chapter eight in this book asks, “Why does it even matter?”, question that I ask myself often. Some things are not essential to salvation and there is room for different views. In this case the issue of predestination is questioning God’s character and as Giesler said; our view of God defines what we believe and defines our Christianity.

This book is a great introduction to Calvinist beliefs juxtaposed next the bible verses that support them, or possibly disprove the view point. The most important part of all of this is that as a Christian you know who you believe God is and are able to back it up with biblical text.

A Little Bit about Worship

     Worship is a key component to Christianity. Christians praise, and worship their God and Jesus for the work he did on the cross and continues to do in our lives every day. When it comes to the style of corporate worship or even individual worship many times a debate arises in our churches.
      Typically those of an older generation prefer to stick to singing hymns as churches have done for centuries. And a good portion of the current generation are fans of Chris Tomlin, Superchick and Mercy Me (contemporary christian artists). So who is singing the right music according to the bible? They both are. Hymns sing in the third person about our amazing God and contemporary music is praise that is sung to Him. Though it is important that others hear the message of the gospel through hymns, it is equally important to sing praises to the God who saved you!
     My home church split into two services over this issue. In the morning was contemporary and the later service was hymns. Despite the fact my younger generation has trouble getting up in the morning, and  attendance slacked in the service they appreciated the music more in, this did not solve the problem. Fellowship is a key part of any church and the people of a church should not be divided. There are a few things most of us can agree on, and that is that a church needs to be centered on the word of God, have fellowship and is a positive place (not a place to just argue).
    So what's the answer to the problem? You have to sing both praises and hymns. Grandma and grandpa will be happy as well as your unruly teenager. And most importantly, our great God will recieve a little of the adoration he deserves.

A Little bit about Jesus

I come from a family that is almost entirely Christian; I have attended church since I was very young and spent every summer at a week-long camp that my church put on. One year at camp when I was eight years-old, a man came and spoke to us about who Jesus was. He explained that we all did things that were bad, whether through our actions or thoughts that made God unhappy. He said, God has created the world and made us with his own hands. If we decided to live our lives in the way Jesus had asked us to in his book, the Bible, then we would be able to go to heaven and be with God for eternity when we died. I was a very frightened child, despite my loving family, always scared of what was going to happen and this man explained the answer to my problems! I made the decision in my heart to follow the Bible and Jesus by praying and living my life how Jesus wanted me to. Today, I have been a Christian for almost twelve years and God continues to direct my life, make me feel secure and has become the most important thing in my life. There are times when life is hard, but God is always there for me.