my relationship with Bonnie #5

Once again I was blessed to share an hour with Bonnie.  She brought back Lori, who just returned from Italy.  What a wonderful trip she must have had.  Lori gave me a bookmark of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  How sweet is that?  No, there wasn't anything about Jehovah's Witness written on it - just a pretty bookmark.

I was also invited to attend a meeting in the Kingdom Hall.  I was very pleased to be invited.  I am considering attending a meeting there one Sunday, because I am very curious what happens.  No, I'm not converting, but I believe it is important to view all types of worship - whether that be in a Temple, a church, a Mosque or in a Kingdom Hall.  If I have any friends that worship in the above, please invite me to attend.  Or at least allow me to understand your faith on a deeper level.

So today we started studying the first chapter in the book, "What Does the Bible Really Teach?"  The chapter is titled, "What is the Truth About God?"  I was moved by the information which illustrated God is NOT hardhearted, that he is LOVE.  One statement was particularly special, "...God is not the source of the wickedness you see in the world around you.  Granted, he does allow bad things to happen.  But there is a big difference between allowing and causing something to happen."

I have a background of being told: it is God's will.  When someone dies, we are told, "God needed them to work in heaven"...or, "God needs another angel."  Is this true?  Did he make them die?  I don't believe so. 


In James 1:13 -15 states:
NIV
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me.  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, give birth to death.

If a parent lets their child leave home and the child pursues a bad way of life, does that mean that the parent is to blame? 

Recently I read, "The Shack."  If you haven't read that book, you should pick it up.  If you haven't read it, you might want to skip the last part of this blog - it gives a bit of the story away.

******************************

Mackenzie (Mack - the lead character) is told that God loves all His children.  Mack can't believe this, because his daughter Missy was brutally murdered. How could God love the man who murdered Missy?  Mack doesn't understand how this is possible. 

So he is told to chose two of his five children to go to heaven and the other three to go to hell.  Mack became infuriated.  He couldn't choose.  He ends up offering himself to spend eternity in hell.  The following is a quote from the book:

"You have judged them worthy of love, even if it cost you everything.  That is how Jesus loves."  When he heard the words he thought of his new friend [Jesus] waiting by the lake.  "And now you know Papa's [God] heart," she added, "who loves all his children perfectly." p. 163

On page 164 there is another passage that I find heart opening.  Mackenzie feels God should have stopped Missy from dying, if he loved her.

"He doesn't stop a lot of things that cause him pain.  Your world is severely broken.  You demanded your independence, and now you are angry with the one who loved you enough to give it to you.  Nothing is as it should be, as Papa desires it to be, and as it will be one day.  Right now your world is lost in darkness and chaos, and horrible things happen to those he is especially font of."

Putting a new perspective on the relationship between God and our universe is almost overwhelming.  But I believe it to be true.  If only I could truly love ALL my neighbors...