August 28, 2008

August 27 The God of "BAM"

The last day with the four female theologians was a good one...we all hiked down to the village to Bugaboos for cinnamon rolls. Then Deb and I took a long mountain hike that involved berry eating and drinking from fresh mountain streams.

Then took the girls down to Vernon for a sincerely scrumptious Thai dinner that included some of the best Pad Thai I have eaten anywhere. We celebrated Lindsey's birthday since she is going to be in Long Beach without us on September 6.

Spent some time in Acts and marveled at the actions of God in smiting Ananias and Sapphira...sure they lied to the apostles and consequently to God...sure they conspired in such a way to make themselves look generous...sure their pride and reputation was more important than the gift they were giving...sure this was the start of the NT church and God wanted to set a standard of holiness....sure God wanted to endorse the apostolic authority in such a way that led to respect for the offices that Jesus had established...sure God wanted the NT church to be purified...BUT all that said I have to admit..."whoa! pretty strong action from God. You lied? BAM!"

So here's my take...1) Don't mess with God...we want to think we can put God in our little nice warm fuzzy boxes...God is love but God is God and can take whatever action He deems appropriate...It's His game, His rules, and He's the referee...we don't live in a democracy but a theocracy...2) We don't know what's behind the scene. God will always act out of love and justice and when we don't understand part of the reason is that we only see our side of the picture.
3) Ask God when you get there...but to judge God now only hinders your heart and limits your living...Don't feel bad about having questions but don't let those stop you from TRUSTING God now and trusting you will understand later.

Sometimes our God is the God of "BAM!"...His prerogative.

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