Listed below are extracts from the book with statements of faith. But not using words like a preacher would. Here they occur in ordinary conversation, usually between two or more struggling teenagers. Click Read more... to see any additional information. Use the Search box in the sidebar. E.g. Entering forgiveness will bring every post containing this word.
Just because God knows how each of us will behave doesn't remove the free will he gives. Rather, it means he's aware of how we will exercise that free will. It's a bit like when you know someone well, you can often be pretty sure how they'll behave in a particular situation. Of course, you can't be absolutely certain, but God can.’
But later, Job got to understand things differently. That God is always there no matter what we feel or what happens to us, and he never stops loving us. As St. Paul writes later... Nothing whatsoever, not even the most unimaginable disaster, can separate us from God's love...
‘Can you ever lose the Holy Spirit?’
‘No. Once you become a Christian, no matter what happens in your life, however much you might slip into your old ways, the Spirit will fight to get you back on course. But it sometimes needs a bit of topping up. The world can seem to dull its strength because temptations increase the other power inside you, called flesh. The Spirit and the flesh are in a continual struggle throughout our earthly life. Sometimes, the flesh sort of wins. That's when we do things we shouldn't.’
‘God doesn't send anyone to hell. It is the just consequence of the things we've done wrong. Every one of us will die with a long list. You, me, my mum, your parents. We all deserve hell, and that's where we'd end up if it weren't for Jesus' death at Easter. He paid for our sins by suffering unjustly for things where we should be punished. This is why accepting Jesus means we can be sure we will be with God forever when our life down here ends.
The story made Peter laugh, and just when Janet had hoped they could talk about other bits of the book, he asked if Satan really existed. With a silent sigh, Janet explained that the devil was a real force. Once an angel who thought himself better than God, he broke ranks and opposed everything God did. Causing pain and misery in what would have been a perfect world.
‘Was he that snake thing?’ Peter asked.
‘Yes, the serpent in the Garden of Eden who persuaded Adam and Eve, our ancestors, to do the worst thing they could. Try and obtain wisdom that would make them equal to God. That was when wrong, or sin as the Bible puts it, came into our world, and we've all suffered the consequences ever since.’
Janet continued by saying that the devil is a powerful force today, but he won't win. God will, and the story of how that happens is in the Bible's last book, Revelation.
‘I think God is reminding us that it's the Cross that saves. What Jesus did for us. And that's what we must put our trust in. We may believe Jesus existed, that he was the Son of God, he's alive today, and that he loves us... That's all true and what many people think, including the devil. But it's not enough. What makes us followers of Christ is believing that he sacrificed his life for us. And by doing that, he paid for all our sins, so we're right with God. It's this belief that brings us close to God, which is where he wants all three of us now.’
God wants us to understand we shouldn't debate divine providence. Like asking why bad things sometimes happen to the good guys. His power is so great, and his ways so different from our world that we wouldn't understand the answer even if he were to explain. All he expects is that we have faith to believe and trust in him based on what the Bible says regardless of whatever misfortunes befall us.
God is always there no matter what we feel or what happens to us, and he never stops loving us. As St. Paul writes later... Nothing whatsoever, not even the most unimaginable disaster, can separate us from God's love...
God is in control, and it's no good wishing anything back the way it was. We need to face things as they are and try to make them better with his help.
Sometimes I'd cry out to God in despair. Then I'd look at the sea... and remember those words in that great hymn about God. 'Wisdom, love, might, boundless as the ocean's tide'. And that made me feel a little better, realising he was still in control even though what was happening in my life hurt so much and made no sense.
There are people in our congregation who think God is some remote being who's happy if they turn up each Sunday, keep doing the flowers and putting money in the collection. But he's not much interested in that. What God wants is us as his friends.