This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering and it is an explanation we hope people will understand A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and as the barber began to work, the subject of God came up. The barber said, "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say that," asked the customer? "Well, just look at all the sick people, the abandoned children, homelessness, and all the pain and suffering in this world; if a loving God existed, there would be none of these things," replied the barber. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop; once he got outside the customer saw a very stinky homeless man with long dirty hair lying in an alley. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop and said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist!" "How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber, and I just worked on you!" "No!" the customer yelled, "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no bums with dirty long hair lying in a alley like that man outside." The barber replied, "Sir, let me explain something to you. Barbers DO exist, but what happens is this: people like that man lying in the alley don't come to me, nor any other barber." "Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God also exists. What happens is people don't go to Him either," (Jeremiah 3:22). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
A car wreck, be it a fender bender or a major crash, cannot be foreseen. One can be backing out of the WaWa store and within the hour, be lying in pain inside an ambulance speeding toward the local hospital. Nothing in life is for sure, and even though the next moment might seem within reach, it may very well not be. Man can't do anything about this unfortunate situation, but man can surely learn something from it. Consider what the Bible teaches on the uncertainty of life by reading the following scriptures (1 Samuel 20:3; Psalm 146:3–4; Luke 12:15–20; James 4:13–15). From all these verses we learn that nothing in life is for sure. We may plan for it, we may talk about it, and we can even put a down payment on it, and still it isn't guaranteed (Proverbs 19:21). It is best to say, "If God wills" when talking about doing something. It is best to remain focused on the point that we cannot get too wrapped up in things because they can easily go the other way. Keep this in mind, and do your best work right now because who can say if you will be here the next 10 seconds (Ecclesiastes 9:7–10; Acts 5:5; Matthew 6:25–26; Philippians 4:6). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
Getting to heaven isn't as easy as some people may think—getting to heaven will be contingent on a person's desire to change. Don't expect change if a person has the attitude of "this is me, what you see is what you get!" or "I'll live my life the way I want to!" A person who doesn't change will not make it to heaven because the only people who will be in heaven are those who have repented, which means they have changed. That is why the Bible calls upon men to repent and have a change of heart because one cannot get to heaven by remaining as he is—one must change (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30; Luke 24:47; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Matthew 7:21; Revelation 22:14). Maybe this article will cause you to reflect on what you need to do to change your life so that you can go to heaven. At the same time I would like you to read what Jesus said about change in Matt. 10:37–39. He teaches that one must change in order to be saved, but those changes are for your good. In order to get to heaven, one may have to change the religion he grew up in, change the pleasures he may love, change the friends he may have, etc. But if one wants to go to heaven, he will do these things because he values his soul above anything this old world might offer (1 John 2:15). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. |