quzah - i'm not divorced. i see divorce a lot as a teacher, from both the parents' side and the kids' - it's horrible. yes, i have some strong opionions of divorce.
your abbriviations were interesting. and the one sided conversation you had with you and you (as me) that was fun.
the truth is though that i don't know that there is a free will.
and now God looks even more horrid.
here's where our logics divide from one another: you describe God as creating all these things because he (or HSI) was bored. i have trouble agreeing with that. a engineer/mechanic thinking person didn't create the first computer because he was bored-there was an ultimate purpose behind it. eli whitney didn't invent the cotton gin because he had nothing to do on the farm one day. he had a reason. if we, as people-reasonably far lesser beings than a God-create and invent for a purpose, i would have to believe that God had a reason in making the world and all creation.
He declairs his purpose as to bring glory to Himself. How vain! How arrogant! but if He is God and there is NO higher, He has that right. working with clay on a potter's wheel, my clay has never said to me "why are you making me a bowl?!?!?! how dare you!" and after the bowl is fired and glazed and fired again, it doesn't sit in a show window complaining that i, the potter, am getting the compliments for it's beauty. i'm the potter, i'll do what i want with the clay. God compares himself to a potter-hence the example.
so, if God's purpose in creation is to bring glory to Himself, how does he accomplish this. (get ready, it's story time)
israeli history says God called this nation apart. you've got abraham way back there being told that God will make him the father of a chosen people-eventually this would become israel. moses comes along centuries later to lead this people out of egypt to their "promise land." He, God, chose a small group of people (and they weren't perfect people, some weren't the kind of people you'd want living next door to you...) but this minority of people were set apart to bring God glory. why not ALL the world? why only a fraction of the population? here's the pot complaining to the potter again.
jesus christ enters the picture. the rejected messiah. His life would appear to be a failure except for the fact that his teaching, even after his humiliating death, changed the world. but, now in the modern world, God's blessing of heaven is the same story as it was with israel. it's only going to be a fraction of the population that is in that "right" way to heaven. is God unfair to choose only a small populas acceptable for heaven? if i believed in God and believed that "right" path to heaven-i'd feel pretty priledged, i'd probably thank God every day for choosing me, i'd read His Bible, worship Him, bring Him glory. and that's His purpose. if i didn't believe in God or in that "right" way-because it's so narrow minded, i'd hate God-maybe i wouldn't voice that opinion but i'd be angry. why only some? i'm just a clay pot. i can't understand His thoughts. (then why do you write so much cynthian.?
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have you ever walked though a maze of hedges or a cornfield maze? on ground level, walking though, it's hard. it's confusing, it makes no sense. from a helecopter in the sky it's very clear. my understanding of God's ways are down here on ground level-it's confusing at times and makes no sense. God's understanding is up there in the helecopter-it's very clear.
such is what i've learned of God's purpose and plan. why is it so offensive to have only one way to heaven? you've got to have a ticket to get into a concert, that's really the only way in. (legally). is the hosting centre (God) unloving not to let everyone who wants to come to the concert? no. they didn't all have tickets. what if i have a ticket for another concert-same band (same God)-but different city? (i'm trying for heaven with islam and God wants faith in jesus Christ) yeah, that's not going to work either. but i really want to go. i'm sincere. it's still the wrong ticket. no show.
is the why is it so hard to accept that one way? if i have cancer and there's only one thing that will cure me why would i try all the other non-working methods first? if God declaired there's only one way to heaven, why wouldn't i believe Him? why try another way and hope for the best when there's a guarenteed way?
i don't normally write this much. that might be hard to believe right now....who would have thought that picture would have created such an outpouring of opinions....interesting blog crew.