Wednesday, October 6, 2010

"G" is for God, What must He think?

While watching TV shows, listening to the news and reading current events on the Internet I have come across situations where people do things that just blow my mind and make me wonder what God must think.  I imagine Him up in heaven just shaking His head and wondering how the humans that He created in His image could act so unlike Him.

Some people do immoral, illegal and definitely cruel things in His name, and they really believe He told them to do these things or that he would actually be pleased with their behaviour.  There are other people that take His word, verses from The Bible, and pick out single sentences using them out of context, twisting the words around to make them fit their cause.  And there are others that remind me of young kids playing in schoolyards, because they haven't grown up or matured enough to be able to interact with others without situations escalating out of control.  These people and situations really make me angry and sad at the same time.

There was an Oprah repeat on the other day about a man named Tony Alamo.  He honestly believes that he is God's prophet and that He speaks directly to him.  He had a ministry with his wife, which seemed more like a cult, until she died.  He placed her body on a table in their home and had his parishoners pray over her for six months.  He said that God told him she would rise from the dead, be resurrected.  She didn't, but for some reason the people still followed him and "his word" anyway.  Alamo had many "spiritual" wives that he wasn't legally married to, some of them were as young as eight years old when they had their "unions".  A few of those brave young women were on the show.  They escaped from the compound, spoke out and he is now serving an over one hundred year sentence.  These women said that he told them that God spoke to him and told him who to marry and when.  The idea that some people think and believe that God speaks to them is not a new phenomenon, it has happened before and someone else will convince others that its true again.  Being a Christian this concept really bothers me, but the seriously disgusting and blasphemous thing about it is that this guy has sex with, rapes little girls and believes that God told him to do it and actually approves of his behaviour.  That's not the God I know.

Then there was the pistol-wielding preacher from Florida, Terry Jones, that wanted to declare September 11th of this year, nine years after 9/11 the "International Burn a Koran (Qur'an) Day".  Another piece of work.  When I first heard about it I thought it was some sort of a joke.  But then an image of the Pope came on the television and the news anchor said that he and other religious leaders from around the world were very disturbed by his plans and begged him to put a stop to them.  But he wouldn't be swayed.  Eventually someone got through to him and the event was cancelled.  I actually said out loud  "What is wrong with this person?" while I was watching the story.  This guy is a Preacher and wanted to burn a book that is just as sacred to Muslims as The Bible is to Christians.  These people that profess to be Christians yet turn around and behave so intolerantly aren't pleasing God.  Do people not take the idea of  "The Golden Rule" seriously anymore?

Other situations that I wonder what God would think about are the story's of people like Bethany Storro, the girl that threw acid on her own face yet blamed it on a fake African-American woman and Ashley Kirilow, the girl that faked having Cancer on Facebook and bilked caring and compassionate people out of close to $30,000.

I just find myself wondering what this world is coming to and what can be done about it.  If everyone thought and cared about other peoples feelings, beliefs and opinions as much as they think and care about their own, would be a really good start.  Don't you think?  

             

3 comments:

Rob ("B") said...

I find it even more scary when our elected leaders claim to have conversations with God. That's right G "W" Bush, I'm talking to you!

Debra La Chelle Dupree said...

Discernment, discernment, discernment! If you do not know the difference between God speaking to you or the devil you should not act on anything. As Christians, we should know the difference between good and evil. Good should produce love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, kindness, self-control, faithtulness, and patience, The Fruit of the Spirit. We need to learn how to open our eyes more to why we want to act in a certain way and ask ourselves if The Holy Spirit is guiding us to act in a particular way, and how God feels about the act. Too often, we follow the flesh and say we are following God when the act possesses no godliness whatsoever.

It is not unheard of for God to speak to His children. I tell people all of the time to learn how to recognize God's voice when He is speaking to them. You will never grow in Christ if you do not. For me, God speaks to me directly, through other people like "Joyce Meyer", my spiritual mother, through dreams, books. We speak to God through prayer and heartfelt conversations. Speaking to God and receiving responses from God is how we grow, in Christ and become obedient. People who make cruel acts in the name of God are no surprise to God. God knew what they would do prior to them doing it. As a matter of fact, He gave them over to the very thing they so wanted to worship. We spread the Word of God because as Christians this is what we are suppose to do. After that, God has it covered. You can teach/preach the Gospel, you can live the life. Only God can bring them home.

Thanks for writing on my favorite subject, "God", Phanti. You are correct in saying that too many people do not grown in Christ. I tell you, we have more mature churchgoers than we do Christians. When we learn to want the "Will of God" Only, we are mature indeed.
Much Love.

Debra La Chelle Dupree

Debra La Chelle Dupree said...

Discernment, discernment, discernment! If you do not know the difference between God speaking to you or the devil you should not act on anything. As Christians, we should know the difference between good and evil. Good should produce love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, kindness, self-control, faithfulness, and patience, The Fruit of the Spirit. We need to learn how to open our eyes more to why we want to act in a certain way and ask ourselves if The Holy Spirit is guiding us to act in a particular way, and how God feels about the act. Too often, we follow the flesh and say we are following God when the act possesses no godliness whatsoever.
It is not uncommon for God to speak to His children. I tell people all of the time to learn how to recognize God's voice when He is speaking to them. You will never grow in Christ if you do not. For me, God speaks to me directly, through other people like "Joyce Meyer", my spiritual mother, through dreams, books. We speak to God through prayer and heartfelt conversations. Speaking to God and receiving responses from God is how we grow, in Christ and become obedient. People who make cruel acts in the name of God are no surprise to God. God knew what they would do prior to them doing it. As a matter of fact, He gave them over to the very thing they so wanted to worship. We spread the Word of God because as Christians this is what we are supposed to do. After that, God has it covered. You can teach/preach the Gospel, you can live the life. Only God can bring them home.
Thanks for writing on my favorite subject, "God", Phanti. You are correct in saying that too many people do not grown in Christ. I tell you, we have more mature churchgoers than we do Christians. When we learn to want the "Will of God" Only, we are mature indeed.
Much Love.

Debra La Chelle Dupree