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COUNTERFLOW

Posted by Jojo Agot on November 6th, 2009

Many people blame God for everything that goes wrong with their lives. They think God doesn’t care or He is too busy with God-business that He doesn’t have time for us mere mortals. Others make this an excuse not to believe in God. “If there is a God up there, how could He let this happen to me?”

Whenever I hear people gripe like this, there is only one picture that pops in my mind: a one way street. You could only drive towards one direction and you can’t make a U-turn without endangering yourself.

We get ourselves in trouble not because God doesn’t care but because we are driving against the right direction. Every time we choose to sin, we open up our lives to potential trouble. Sure God can forgive us anytime we ask for forgiveness but sometimes the consequences of that sin cannot be undone.

But what if you didn’t do anything wrong? What if it’s not really your fault that something bad happened to you? In that case, I still think that the highway analogy has another side to it. Maybe you got hit by a reckless driver. Not really your fault but somebody else did it to you.

I know this simplistic traffic analogy doesn’t answer all questions but it helps me process stuff in my head. It helps me believe that when something bad happens, it is not the inventor of traffic lights’ fault. Most of the time it’s just between me and another reckless driver on the road.

Popularity: 17% [?]

GOD IN A BOX

Posted by Jojo Agot on October 27th, 2009

I just came across something that sounded funny to me today. It’s in 1 Cor. 1: 22-23. It says that the Jews demanded miraculous signs and the Greeks needed intellectual evidence, but God sent them the gospel of a crucified Savior. This scandalized both of them. Can you see the humor in that verse? People think it’s stupidity, God thinks it is wisdom and power.

Lessons I learned:

1. Don’t put God in a box. Both Jews and Greeks wanted something they feel would lead them closer to God but God gave them something better, something they didn’t know they needed.

2. Don’t reject the gift because you didn’t like the wrappers. Jesus is God’s ultimate gift to save humanity but people rejected Him because they were scandalized with the fact that He was crucified. Many people would have preferred it if He came down to earth riding the clouds, doing aerial somersaults and flashing fire from His eyes. That would have been awesome to look at. But He came in a manger and died on a cross like a criminal. He was not popular among the religious groups. He was not like what most people expected. That’s the reason why they didn’t get the gift He offered.

Popularity: 23% [?]