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Is the World out of Control or Not?

Deeje

Avid Bible Student
Premium Member
Certainly. I can tell by the detail of your response that you are quite well-scripted in their doctrine. I respect the effort that goes into that.

I was actually well scripted in Christendom's doctrines before I chose to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses.....so I had a lot of baggage to get rid of before I began my true education. I am now well scripted in the Bible.....I never was before. Church doctrine never made a lick of sense to me anyway. I was always searching for answers that the church never provided.

I have no problem with the injunctions for Christians to let their Light shine before the world, which is the great commission. But "to warn them of God's intentions so that they can take the necessary action to avoid their own demise," does not do that. It is not letting the light of Joy, and Love shine forth. It's peddling fear to make converts.

'Letting our light shine' is natural for Christians.....we just cant help but talk about our God and his amazing promises for the future....but the 'preaching of the good news of the Kingdom' comes with a warning....you see, it has to.

Daniel 2:44 tells us that the Kingdom is 'coming' in a way that most people are not expecting.....believer and unbeliever alike. Like the flood of Noah's day, it will come by surprise, and eliminate from existence all who oppose it....."crushing" them like ants. He has warned them for decades that his anger will be expressed towards a world of humankind who have alienated themselves from him.

If I warn people about that, am I doing them a favor or am I just trying to scare them into submission? :shrug:

I can pretty much summarize at the outset that to warn people about God, and that they better convert, or else, which is what you just said amounts to, that they should "avoid their own demise," in your words, is NOT an invitation of Love. It makes people come to God because they are afraid he'll destroy them.

You know, its not like that at all in our experience. Most people who have chosen their religious position and who wish to remain in Christendom, (or other faiths) respond to our message like its water off a duck's back. They don't want to know about any of it because they are quite content with what they have been taught, and if they are wrong, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 applies .....but we have to tell everyone the message regardless of what they believe. (Ezekiel 3:17-21; Matthew 24:14) It is a command. (Matthew 10:11-15; Matthew 28:19-20) One day, our preaching will stop, just like Noah's did.

For those who are on the fringes of Christendom, like the "lost sheep" that Jesus was sent to, we comfort them by showing them that there is no hell. That suffering for all eternity is not the kind of thing a loving God would do. Hell is way more frightening to most people than simply disappearing from existence.

No, a loving God would inform people about his intentions, just as God had Noah warn the people about their world being brought to an abrupt conclusion back then.....he then left it up to them to act on the information...so do we.

2 Peter 3:3-7....
"First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires 4 and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.”

5 For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; 6 and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. 7 But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people."


The destruction of the "ungodly" is not just a possibility, but it is inevitable as far as we can see.
If people don't want to know...that is their choice.

So....if a tsunami is coming, and I have the means to warn people to get to higher ground, what kind of a Christian would I be to just go to that place of safety myself, without giving them the opportunity to make that decision for themselves? God has instructed us to do this.

Now, those who profess no religious beliefs in particular are often disturbed by world events and want answers about the future that can give them some hope....solutions to problems that man either cannot solve, or doesn't want to and is still adding to them. These are often delighted to learn that the Bible predicts a wonderful future for those who obey God and do his will. The only choice they see is destruction either by man or by God, and at least God has a future for those who obey his direction. Man will simply just lead us all to extinction by his own stupidity. It is comforting to know that God will never let that happen. What he purposed at the beginning will be accomplished at the end. (Isaiah 55:11)

That is NOT Love. That is Fear. To come to God out of fear, is not a response to Love. It's about self-preservation. It's not about Love at all. There is no sugar-coating that.

In speaking of those who lived and died before Jesus opened the way to heaven, Paul wrote...."Moreover, without faith it is impossible to please God well, for whoever approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him." (Hebrews 11:6)

God is a rewarder. Why do we need a reward? Its the way God made us. We are incentive oriented. Making an effort gives God something to bless.....he rewards us with the life he has already programmed into our hearts....one with no sin, no satan, no war or crime or violence. The reward is an expression of God's love for us....and our obedience is an expression of our love for him.
Those who love God and whom God loves, don't need to fear. There is nothing to be afraid of....
 
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