It needs to be said

If you are in the dark about what I am talking about in this blog post, please refer to my previous blog post.

I have a few things to say, since some people are not at all happy at what is happening to me. I don't feel the same. I feel excited and exhilerated. This is not the unsure feeling I had as God first drew me to Him. In that case I knew I was safe and in good hands, but was quite unsure who's hands were the good ones anymore. In this case, I not only know I am in good hands, but Whose hands those are. :) This allows me to follow God without fear of where I am being led.

Yes, I do feel that God is showing me something new, bringing me into a truth that would have made me angry not too long ago. That can only be a work of God in my heart, making me open to things that I before found repulsive. Yes, God has used Dr. James White to articulate these things to me, but his words would fall on deaf ears without the work of God.

Quite simply, this is where I feel God is leading me; to not follow would be sin.

I can see these things in the way I came to Christ. Total depravity - that man can only use his will against God? Yes, my initial reaction to the drawing of the Father was to fight back and dig my heels in. I didn't want Him in my life. Irresistible grace? Well, when I got to the point of "choice" I realized there was only one "choice" to make - the one for God. I could not have done anything else. Unconditional election? There was certainly nothing good in me that would cause me to choose God. I was a Pagan worshipping other gods for crying out loud! Only a sovereign God could take out my heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh (Ez. 11:19, 36:26). Only a sovereign God could save me.

I tried to hold onto my Arminian ideas. I did. I wanted to be convinced. That's why I read Chosen But Free by Normal Geisler (the link is to the second edition, which I read; the 3rd edition has just come out). Unfortunately, I don't feel Dr. Geisler made a cogent argument based on Scripture.

After that I read The Potter's Freedom. I feel that Dr. White did a wonderful job of exegeting all the relevant texts, including answering the common proof tests put forward by Arminians. Most of the material was totally new to me; I had no idea that there were answers to these texts! I read it slowly and carefully. The Potter's Freedom, quite literally, rocked my world.

After that I read Debating Calvinism, trying to get, perhaps, a better defense of Arminianism from Mr. Hunt than Dr. Geisler managed. However, once again, I felt that the weight of Scripture was on Dr. White's side. (Here's my Amazon review.)

I'm not writing this to argue. I am simply sharing my heart about what I feel God is doing in my life. I am wowed and humbled that He would not only save me, but reveal Himself to me more and more over time (as He does with all believers).

Please be kind. As friends I only want you to be happy at what I am discovering, not jump on me as if I'm going off into some weird heresy (as some were concerned when I first came to my views on the Sabbath). God didn't lead me astray then (I'm not in some weird cult am I?), and He won't lead me astray now. I only wish to follow Him and His word. There is no other rule for faith and life other than His word, the Bible.