Addendum 12.30.08:  Now, I'm inclined to think that God's omniscience can be maintained AND He is not responsible for the advent of evil.  God knows all that can be known.  The future cannot be known, as it does not exist. 

The Cause of Evil (Jan 14 2007)

God allowed evil to enter the world.  People try to pass sin off as something out of God’s control.  I would argue that the entrance of sin in the world/the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was all part of God’s plan.  Romans 8:28.  This is why:  God is omniscient.  Thus, if one believes in complete free-will, by giving Adam and Eve the ‘choice’ to eat of the tree, He essentially allowed evil into the world.  He knew what they would choose.  Because He is omniscient, He knew that Adam and Eve would choose to eat the fruit.  So by allowing them to eat the fruit, He allowed sin to enter the world.  Take, for instance, a neighbor who has a dog.  One day, he purposely does NOT chain his dog to the fence, KNOWING that the dog would run to the next door neighbor’s yard and tear up their flower beds.  So by allowing the dog to run free, he allowed the dog to tear up the neighbor’s yard.  This analogy applies even more-so to God’s case, BECAUSE He truly DOES know what He is doing, since the neighbor can’t 100% know what his dog will do.  Thus God allowed evil to enter into the world.

God is Omniscient (Jan 14 2007)

 In response to God being the cause of evil, someone once attempted to counter by saying that God wasn’t omniscient.  I responded back that if that were the case, time would be out of His control which would make Him not God (not omnipotent.)  Then he responded that God limits His knowledge.  He purposely refuses to know the future.  Besides God not having any reason to limit His knowledge, that idea does not make sense.  For this reason:  God is not becoming; He is being.  God is perfect.  Thus, if as time went on, God’s knowledge changed…(because through the acquisition of knowledge, His mind gained more knowledge), then He would either be changing for the better or for the worse.  One cannot change and stay the same.  So if He changed for the better, then He was not already perfect.  And if He changed for the worse, then obviously, He is becoming less perfect.  Thus, God is omniscient, and He doesn’t limit His knowledge in any way. 

GAR!

 By the way, I'm now going to always theme my music to coincide with my blog topic.

I don't think I can advocate the death penalty.  Saving money isn't a good enough reason.  Either way, if they get life in prison or death, they won't be able to kill again.  So the only reason we should dispatch of these men is money?  Is that a valid reason?    Is my money worth more to me than a man's life?  Murderer or not?  We are all just as guilty.  We've all broken the ten commandments. 

Shoot.

So last sunday in the middle of a pleasant Church service at Caves Christian in Crackville, the thought occured to me-- Even if my life is a failure, I am not a failure if I have done much to serve the Lord.  Thus I realize that I must devote much of my time to service.  I pursue too much of my own interests and furthering my own agenda.  I understand that I'm working towards a job in which I hope to serve the Lord; however, there is so much I can be doing here and now--and the work that I do now is just as precious to the Lord as all the work I hope to accomplish with a degree.

My New Year's Resolution: Do more volunteer work to serve the Lord.

All I have to do is get my lazy butt out of this chair that I'm currently sitting in.  Haha.

Another Christmas has come and gone.  Another year has come and gone.  It is 2007.  Another year closer to the grave.  The sands of time are filling my eyes.  I'm trapped in the hourglass blind to freedom. 

Let's not be depressing.

I'm getting closer to heaven--closer to the destruction of this hourglass prison.