A while ago my friend Tyler asked me to be a part of a blogging series on the sovereignty of God. The post I submitted is being featured today and you can see the schedule of people posting here and you can see the posts themselves at Tyler’s blog.
Here is my submission, please let me know what you think.
“I believe in God, the Father almighty.” These are the opening words of the Nicene Creed. The Bible along with ancient statements of faith inform us that belief in an “almighty” or sovereign God is an essential part of the Christian faith. But, what does it mean to say that “God is Sovereign?” The theology involved in the sovereignty of God is complex and fills volumes of books. It is therefore difficult to distill a concept which can be so involved and complicated into something which can grip people’s hearts and provide opportunity for real change in their lives. For example, recently, a member of our congregation who was a 40 year old mother of two passed away unexpectedly. The question becomes how do I explain to her two sons (one a second grader and one a fourth grader) that God is still in control and that he loves them in spite of this terrible tragedy.
For the rest of this short submission I would like to address, very generally, what I consider to be a good outlook on the sovereignty of God. (As a way of qualification keep in mind I am heavily influenced by Wesleyan Theology and will be operating with certain theological presuppositions.) I’ve come into contact with many people who struggle with the tension of a God who is good in nature and a world which includes human suffering. It’s the classic problem of pain argument. Many of these people operate under what I consider to be a lower view of God’s sovereignty. In other words, the idea that for God to be God he must be in control of every detail. That is to say he is the cause of everything. Theologically speaking this term is known as, “omnicausality” (now you can sound smart in your small groups!). This understanding of how God works in the world comes with its own set of issues and questions, which I will not get into here.
Rather, I think it is better to understand that God is not the cause of everything, for God cannot be logically impossible. An example of this would be to say that God is the source of all that is good, and that God is the source of all that is evil. This is simply not true. God’s sovereignty does not mean that he is the direct or sole cause of all that happens; rather he is Lord over all that happens. (This is what I would consider a higher view of God’s sovereignty) In other words, God is capable of dealing with all circumstances, and nothing can ultimately defeat or thwart his plan for his people. This is a simple yet profound distinction which has had significant impact in my ministry and can help even two little boys dealing with the passing of their beloved mother.
I’ve recently had several conversations with people who consider church technology to be important. “What does church technology communicate to you?” I asked. They told me that things like good quality websites, the use of various forms of media, and the like are important in terms of how that church is interacting with its surrounding/current culture. Some people I’ve talked to even told me that they would look a churches website and that would help to determine whether or not they would visit the church? I am a huge proponent of updating church technology. In fact I recently pushed our church to update it’s look online (you can see it 
Wow, this is the third post of the night. My mind is racing with a bunch of random thoughts…so I’ll blog! I have a pastor friend who always tells me, “Blogging is writing without thinking.” It’s pretty funny when he says that.
Today Christina and I are celebrating our 5th anniversary! What an exciting time in our lives. 5 years have come and gone so quickly, with so much happening in between. We have moved 5 times in 5 years, have had more than one job transition, traveled to Europe, been to Seminary, gained many Friends, have seen a few pass away, planted a church, began a career, became an aunt and uncle, have seen all of our siblings marry, and are 7 weeks away from our first child. The list could go on and on. Most of all I am grateful that I get journey through life with the most amazing wife of all time. She’s beautiful, kind, compassionate, loves Jesus and loves other people. She’s a servant through and through and willingly gives of herself to see others succeed. She’s supportive yet driven herself and constantly reminds me to enjoy the beauty of life all around us. One of the great things about being married is that we get to experience life and Jesus through the perspective of another person. In other words, all you guys out there, stop trying to fix everything and start listening more to your wives! Stop thinking you are always right because our wives are most likely right more often than we are! My point is that I am incredibly blessed to be married to the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, my beautiful wife Christina! So basically I win!!! Yeah!!! Happy Anniversary Christina, I love you.
