No, I am not. The point here is to see that this is not about your brother, but about his absence in your life. Your brother isn't suffering anymore, but you are, and I am truly sorry for your loss. I can't even say how I would react in that position, and it is really presumptuous of me to comment, period.
Man, I can't lie, if my only older sibling died, I prolly would be pretty upset with God; or would have been, at a younger age. You say you don't blame God, but this seems to have thrown "if" into your belief system?
I understand it fine, and you know it, so this becomes self-serving.
You got the point, which is that if you are proceeding from "if" here, we can't really have a conversation. My premises are different than yours.
Not only do I believe that God--if He in fact actively did anything where your brother is concerned, which i doubt--will never fail, or lie, I also anticipate a..."death" much more horrible than your brother's, well prolly not but more horrible sounding, from following this belief. And I've had lots of pastors tell me different; that I would fly away, tra-la, and God would temporarily suspend free will to save my domain when the going gets tough, or any number of other things that they surely genuinely felt to be true.
I don't even hold it against them--they are not my source, and I have been amply warned of this in the Bible, paraphrased "lean not on your own understanding, and take what anyone tells you with a grain of salt--come ask Me about it, and trust the spirit's guidance. Do not listen to men."
Good point byrd. How many of God's prophets died a natural death? The Apostles? Even Naboth who was following what the Lord said, died a stoning on the word of liars.
Should God's elect of this day expect a cushy life?
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It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. (Psalms 118:8)
Yup. The dichotomy there is funny--we're told to expect to always be taken care of, and also to prep for a martyr's death, lol. This was hard for me to get for quite a while.
Prolly doesn't help any, but T's brother got the same answer Christ got.
Martyrs deaths are sooo 1600s. Living life in abundance is the new cool thing to do.
I'd say do both. I tried to make the latter into the human def of "prosperity," which didn't work for me, to answer your intent here, and had to discover God's def of "Life more abundantly" for myself, which dang, did not in fact have anything to do with a Bentley, as I naturally at first assumed.
I'd say do both. I tried to make the latter into the human def of "prosperity," which didn't work for me, to answer your intent here, and had to discover God's def of "Life more abundantly" for myself, which dang, did not in fact have anything to do with a Bentley, as I naturally at first assumed.
Doesn't it say something about Bentleys in Leviticus?
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1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
I’m dredging up old things here but this whole conversation has intrigued me.
Timmy, this reminds me of my grandmother. When I came into the church my grandmother died (of cancer as well) shortly after… She never knew Christ. She tried repetitively to go to churches and she was constantly turned away because my grandfather was a bootlegger and they didn’t want their type in their church. There was a number of local churches she could've gone to but because one or two turned her down, she gave up. Now if she TRULY wanted to know truth or know god, she would've tried everything within her power...
So, skip up to her death… she was not Christian… my uncle (it was his mother) who is a preacher (not an Apostolic/Pentecostal rather more Southern Baptist) prayed with her and ran her through a process of her “salvation.” This troubled me a lot. I knew she hadn’t received the spirit and that she was not baptized in Jesus name as well as had no works. This tore me up inside, especially watching my family members who was giving each other false hope, telling each other she was in heaven now and that it was a lot better now… when they could have used this time as a warning. Taken it as a reminder that we need to get straight (I’m not advocating that they speak bad about her. I loved her, she was my grandmother. I cried almost incessantly at the thought of her torment and felt that at the funeral they could’ve at least talked about her life and not mentioned anything about heaven or hell…) Rather they took the opportunity to fill all of our family with false hope. Setting an example for those there that all you have to do on your death bed is believe and ask and poof you’re in heaven.
Now I spent about a week to two weeks confused at what had happened and saddened and angry with god. I felt that I had just become a Christian… if god would’ve just given me time… I could’ve spoken to her, sparked her interest in the word… as many ways out of the situation I could think of I was throwing before god. What I failed to realize was my thoughts and actions were selfish.
She had lived her life and made the decisions she chose to make and I for one would not have been able to change a thing and that it would’ve ultimately came down to her. Also, I forgot that God does not deal with these things lightly. He doesn’t just go around “Hmm who am I going to pick off today.” This is a battle, this is a war, and god is commander in chief and we are but recruits and soldiers.
Einstein once said (this is a paraphrase in quotes haha), “I cannot imagine a god who would reward part of his creation and punish another”
What I would say to him, “Yes but as a creator yourself, that which you create… you create for a purpose. This doesn’t apply just to things but your theories as well. Those that complete the task that you want them to complete, you meditate on or perform for… and those that do not… You still work on them and still keep trying but eventually a point comes where it will not work, it has not served the purpose you thought/created it for and you toss it aside. You don’t do it out of anger or out of hatred for the creation but rather purpose and it cannot be used. Therefore you must abandon it and move on”
Now Timmy, I am not making any assumptions on your brothers faith or where his salvation lay… but I can say this… If he served his purpose, then he was taken away for a reason and the outcome of that situation is greater than any of us can imagine. If he did not, it wasn’t out of hate or out of anger or a form of punishment to him but rather his time was up. He had been given the chance to do what needed to be done, the same as you have and the same as I….
And that’s one of the hardest things that I can find to accept… but based on the things I have been shown and experienced… it is truth.
The world parallels this occurrence perfectly in all endeavors it undertakes. You perform your good if not your out. That’s a common principal in sports, academics, creation, music, almost everything abides by that law. What makes it different for us?
Thanks for posting, Dalton. I am sorry for your loss.
I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to quibble with some of your post. ;) In my experience, it is not true that "you perform, you're good; if not, you're out". Hardship, pain, suffering, and death strike wherever they may, and sometimes it's a matter of reaping what you sow, but not always. My brother took good care of himself (better than I do!), was active, athletic, didn't smoke, etc. He was a good husband and father, and would have been an awesome grandfather. He died a few weeks after his first grandchild was born. Now he has 8. (I think. LOL!)
Nobody can ever convince me it was his time to go. Not in the sense that his work here was done, and he wasn't needed anymore. Or that he was no longer "performing". No, it's just a case that you-know-what happens. Nothing more.
I am glad not to wonder (anymore) why God "took him". He didn't "take him." My brother just had bad luck with a horrible disease. Looking for reasons will drive you crazy.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
Re: Do You Need A Miracle?
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