Scripture
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”
~Revelation 19:6, NASB
Quote
God’s transforming power brings light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow, gain out of loss, and life out of death.
~Elisebeth Elliot {Lamp unto My Feet, p.116
If God is truly omnipotent, there can be no evil beyond His control. If you think about it, God must be good, and He must be almighty; otherwise we would not exist. Evil has a self-destructive nature. No enduring order could survive if evil was in control. How do we explain the MYSTERY OF EVIL? No mystery can be fully comprehended by man. I am a fan of the Beverly Hillbillies and I am most entertained by Jethro. He told Uncle Jed he has solved the problem of smog by inventing an electric car {1960’s}. The problem was, it had to be connected to an outlet and Jethro ran out of extension cord. We have some Jethro theologians who have all the answers about everything. They can resolve any mystery. If you take my advice, you will pay them no attention to the person who has all the answers.
What we do know about evil is that it is like the ocean or a sea. It is deep and expansive BUT it does have a bottom and a shore line. It has boundaries; it can go only so far. The devil is not free; he is on a leash. He can go so far and he runs out of chain. Trust me, if he was omnipotent, he would destroy us completely. A second thing we know about evil is that God can transform it into good or as Jack Taylor said, “God uses it to bring about good.” Take calvary for example: the demons were dancing when Jesus died, they thought they had won the decisive battle but in reality, they had lost the war. God transformed the cross, the symbol of death, into a symbol of glory and life abundant.
There are times when we shake our heads in unbelief, how can God transform this tradegy? The one thing we must remember is that the disciples felt the same way the day Jesus died.
Extra
One of my old preacher buddies, Lynn Marshall, was promoted this week. His COLS is today at Piney Groove Baptist Church just south of Ardmore. He pastored Vestavia Hills here in Morgan County before retiring some 20 years ago. Lynn and his wife Faye went on a mission trip with us around the turn of the century. He was a good man and a good pastor. Lynn was also a personal evangelist. He loving sharing the gospel with lost people. He had that gentle demeanor that is so helpful in sharing the good news. LORD willing, I will be going up today for the service.
October is a beautiful month and a dry one, this one more than normal. It appears that we are not going to get one drop of rain in October. I can see dust on the leaves of the trees. When ever the rain comes, I will be thankful. It will be a day of worship for me.
Things are happening at Grace Point. We have new pavement in front of the fellowship hall. Our 49er luncheon is this Friday at 11:30. We usually have about 30. Then on Wednesday night October 30 at 6:00, we have jambayla supper with Pat Smith as the chief. We have an all night prayer meeting on November 4 {6:00-12:00}. We are asking God to somehow keep the dems from cheating again. Then we host the COMMUNITY REVIVAL on November 10 and after the service, we have a reception. We are going to be busy God willing.
Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.
PS…We got our verses in two weeks. I am returning the boards today. THANK YOU Grace Pointers. {Wycliff Bible Translation Project}