Earlier this week John Piper made some noise for declaring the tornadoes that ripped through so much of the Midwest and Southeast last Friday to be God’s sovereign finger of judgment. Here’s some snippets of what Piper had to say (you can read his whole post here):

If God has a quarrel with America, wouldn’t Washington, D.C., or Las Vegas, or Minneapolis, or Hollywood be a more likely place to show his displeasure?

We do not ascribe such independent power to Mother Nature or to the devil. God alone has the last say in where and how the wind blows. If a tornado twists at 175 miles an hour and stays on the ground like a massive lawnmower for 50 miles, God gave the command.

God’s will for America under his mighty hand, is that every Christian, every Jew, every Muslim, every person of every religion or non-religion, turn from sin and come to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus rules the wind. The tornadoes were his.

I’ve seen one and only one reaction to Piper’s remarks: Absolute disgust.

Similarly, Pat Robertson came out yesterday saying that if people would have prayed more, they could have been spared of the tornado’s wrath.

Part of the irony of it all is that Minneapolis was hit by a tornado 2 years ago, just a few days before I traveled there to visit family. Piper blamed that tornado on the ongoing conversation with a Lutheran denomination over homosexuality.

In a similar vein to Pat Robertson with Haiti and Jerry Falwell with Hurricane Katrina, it seems Piper wants to declare God’s intent behind the natural disasters that happen day after day on earth.

But really what’s the other option other than saying that God was behind all this? Should we blame pure happenstance? Is this Satan trying to gain control in our world? Those of us with a faith in God, have to, in some way, declare that He is a sovereign God. Christians do not believe in a God who created a world, set it in motion, and gave a blind eye to everything that happened moving forward. No, God stepped into history, in the form of a person. So clearly, God is His sovereign power, cares about us enough to step into our lives in a full sense.

(If you’re interested in this topic of God’s sovereignty, check out this great blog series on the topic)

On some level we can agree that either God was actively apart of this tornado taking shape or he was actively involved by allowing it to happen.

I’m not advocating for us trying to declare God’s reasoning behind every action or inaction that takes place in our lives. To me, that is foolish. It seems clear to me that from Scripture that rain falls on the righteous and unrighteous.

I don’t want to spend time debating whether Piper was right or wrong with what he did. That’s been done all over the place and I’ve yet to meet anyone who completely agrees with him.

What I want to discuss is this disagreement with Piper declaring God’s sovereignty to be apart of those tornadoes.

If it isn’t God, who is behind these incredible forces of nature?

Why do they happen? Is it all just a mystery to you?

What conclusions do you come to as you wrestle with this tough subject?

I’ve been reading The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin the past few weeks. I really appreciated how he tackled this subject of election and how it should cause us to live and it is easily one of the best and most challenging things I’ve read in months:

“To be elect in Christ Jesus, and there is no other election, means to be incorporated into his mission to the world, to be the bearer of God’s saving purpose for his whole world, to be the sign and the agent and the firstfruit of his blessed kingdom which is for all.

It means therefore, as the New Testament makes abundantly clear, to take our share in his suffering, to bear the scars of the passion. It means, as Paul says elsewhere, to bear in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of the risen Jesus may be manifest and made available for others.

It means that this particular body of people who bear the name of Jesus through history, this strange and often absurd company of people so feeble, so foolish, so often fatally compromised with the world, this body with all its contingency and particularity, is the body which has the responsibility of bearing the secret of God’s reign through world history.

It is the calling of the Church to bear through history to its end the secret of the lordship of the crucified.”

“Bearer of God’s saving purpose for his whole world”

Now that’s an election, whether we agree with the doctrine of it or not, we can all embrace!

Well the long sovereignty series has drawn to a close. If you haven’t had a chance to read all of the posts you can always head back here to check out the series schedule which has links to each of the posts.

One of the dangers of making the series cover a topic this broad was that many people would essentially say the same thing, but as it turned out I honestly don’t think anyone had the same thing to say.

I was thinking this morning about what was one thing I learned or an insight I gained from reading all of the posts on sovereignty.

For me the insight would be that God shows himself to us far better in life than he does in theology books. We often come to our conclusions about His sovereignty through systematic theology and build our own theological convictions around our conclusions on His sovereignty. Yet, our conclusions on His sovereignty matters little until we come to interact with it in our lives.

What is an insight that you gained from the series?

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Today’s post is from Rose Braun. Rose is married to the writer of this blog, Tyler. This will be the very first blog post ever written by Rose. She graduated from George Fox University with a degree in Fitness Management, and is currently attending Massage Therapy school.

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When I first decided to write a post for the sovereignty of God series I thought:

1. This will be fun.
2. I haven’t ever written a blog post before (it will be good for me to do some of this, “social media stuff”).
3. I don’t journal much like I used to, so this will force me to write something from my heart.
4. It’s a very interesting topic.

Now as I sit here and gather my thoughts, I am realizing that this topic is far more complex to write about (“The Sovereignty of God”), than I thought.  I suppose I am feeling a bit intimidated.

You may be wondering, why intimidated. In my mind, I am writing to a bunch of great writers, theologians, authors, and avid bloggers with which I am about to share some of my heart, which I suppose is humbling and personal all-in-one.  I also have little to no theology knowledge.  All I know are a few big words, and interesting discussions that Ty and I have about his classes at seminary.  So don’t expect to learn about a “new way of thinking.” I am just going to be me, so here goes.

In the last 24 years of my life God’s sovereignty has been so very present, and I mean that in the most non-cliche way possible.  Most of the time I didn’t allow myself to see his sovereignty, but none the less it was always there.  So, instead of writing a long post on how his sovereignty has carried me through life, I will touch on a recent area of struggle.

Three words, priorities, balance and consistency  Who doesn’t struggle with these things, right?  Let me back up a little.

Ty and I started dating when I was a junior in college.  He was truly my first love, and my everything from the start of our relationship.  I remember early on in our dating years, going on walks and discussing our relationship with the Lord.  The first time I asked him, “How are things with you and God?”, his response was something like, “good.” Very general and to the point, not a whole lot of anything to it. My first thought was concern.  I wanted us to be on the same page spiritually, and I felt as though I was on fire and he was dragging behind me.

Throughout our relationship we both grew and became compatible spiritually and I felt as thought he and I were both growing daily.  We would challenge one another, pray together and it was how it was “supposed to be” in a relationship.  After we got married, I noticed that I had a more difficult time keeping on track with my time with the Lord.  I was allowing Ty to become an idol in my life, above all else.  I was so happy to be married and so in love with him that my focus was solely on him, and very few other things.

Slowly week by week and month by month and year by year, I would dig into the Word less and less.  I would always go to Ty first with my concerns and frustrations, instead of going straight to the Lord.  There would be times when I wouldn’t converse with God for weeks, except maybe at church, and I even wondered if it really mattered anymore  (as I write this, my eyes are filled with tears, and it’s hard to see my computer screen).  I realize that this is still a very real struggle for me.  How can I allow God to truly be my first love and the reason for my every breath?

He is taking me on a new and exciting journey.  I have learned many things about myself,  but more importantly I have been blown away by Him.  To me, this truely shows God’s sovereignty.  Even when we ignore him, step on him, and turn our back on him, he is still patiently waiting for us whenever we are ready to come back to him.

“Thank you Lord for loving me, even when I didn’t love myself. Thank you for the incredible gift of a husband that you have given me.  Allow me to use our relationship to bring you alone glory.  Wipe away the guilt I still sometimes feel.  Replace it with your unexplainable and contagious love.  Show me what it means to keep you first on a minute by minute basis.  You are incredible and so sovereign and I am forever grateful. I love you.” Amen

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Today’s post is from Jan Owen. Jan lives in northern Alabama with her husband and works as the Worship Minister at The Brook. She is also the founder of I am also the founder of GiveWorship, a program that supports worship ministries in 3rd world countries.

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I am not a theologian. The thought of sitting down and debating differing views of the sovereignty of God does not fill me with joy, although I don’t mind sharing what I believe or engaging in an honest conversation. So this will not be a theological or academic treatise, but simply my observations and conclusions as a follower of Christ. They are imperfect and unfinished. This is something I admit with total honesty. I’m okay with that.  I know I have much to learn.

I’ve been a believer for 33 years and have walked through more joy than difficulty, and have stayed buried in God’s word through all the adventures life has brought. Along the path of my spiritual journey, I’ve learned much about the sovereignty of God as I’ve sought Him in both the glorious moments as well as those times when life truly hurts and makes no sense whatsoever. I’ve had my share of questions and wondered at times about things that bothered me, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I am incapable of understanding all of the intentions of God. His ways are above my ways, his thoughts above mine. But after all this traveling (I sound ancient, don’t I?) I can trust this one thing: God’s intentions towards me are loving. Period.

I believe this question of God’s intentions is where we most often get stuck in the question of sovereignty -  we long to know and be assured that God is good, and that he is all powerful, and that his love is towards us as individuals, not just some murky all encompassing love, but a real, true love for me, and for you. So evil – when it surely comes – confuses us. It makes us doubt God. And while most of us would not doubt his power, we might doubt his power towards us. We might wonder why he did not intervene on our behalf, or why he allowed a certain painful stage in our journey to occur.

I think we too often blame God for the free will actions of man – and perhaps for our own choices. We do live in a fallen world filled with resulting evil and people do things that are sinful. We all suffer as a result, not just the person who sins in action. This is part and parcel of the curse of sin! We also live in a state of “dying”, we are redeemed but not finally. Our bodies are fading away, and so we deal with the consequences of that as well. Truthfully, we are not in heaven – yet. And so we continue to battle sin – in others, in ourselves, and in the natural world that groans for the return of Jesus. And we live with the battle scars, and wonder why God allows the battle.

In all of my discussions of sovereignty this has been the key question for people. They want to know why God allows suffering, why does God allow the innocent to suffer in “the war”. They long to make sense of the pain of their lives, and who can blame them? I certainly don’t have all of the answers. I’ve sat by the bed of friends as life support was disconnected, I’ve held the hand of my grandfather whose mind was ravaged by Alzheimers, I’ve prayed with a parent whose child had just been in a head on collision, I’ve “babysat” a dear friend having a psychotic break as they suffered from many, many mental problems. None of those make sense to me. None of those are things I would wish on anyone. And I do not believe they are God’s desire for us either! Yet in each of these instances I have felt the sweet presence of God and I witnessed His love and power at work for good.

I have seen God use pain in some powerful ways. I don’t believe he ordained these circumstances, but I do believe he has the power to use them to bring us – and others – closer to himself, for eternity. I have peace about that. I believe he has the power to redeem us in the midst of the pain we suffer as we live in a world damaged and riddled by sin. I do not believe Satan has the final answer. I know God does.

One day we will see our Savior face to face. And we will understand.

For now, I trust in my Savior and his love for me. It is perfect.

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Today’s post is from Ric Wild. Ric currently lives in Chicago after spending the past 2 years in New Hampshire doing an internship at a church in Rye, New Hampshire. Ric just recently got engaged to a girl he met in that area named Carol and we are both so excited for them after meeting Carol in May. Ric and I have been good friends since 8th grade and he is currently attending North Park Seminary in Chicago in pursuit of an M.Div.

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I must admit that I have a difficult time making sense out of the sovereignty of God.  When I survey the whole of Christian Scripture, I am confronted with a God whose dealings with humanity are sometimes varied and complex.  In some instances, God seems to be controlling human decisions in a puppet-like manner.  Other times, God seems almost manipulated by human pleadings.

An example of God controlling human decisions is in the Exodus story when God hardens the heart of Pharaoh.  The text is explicit: “But [God] will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” (Ex. 4:21).  In this case, God’s actions seem to overrule the will of the Pharaoh to enact a specific outcome.

After Israel’s journey from out of Egypt, God’s anger burns against the people because they have turned to idol worship.  God wants to destroy the people, but Moses seeks the favor of God on the people’s behalf, and in the end God relents and does not bring disaster upon the people (Ex 32).  Moses gets God to become more lenient with the people.

In a single book of the Bible, Exodus, God’s sovereignty is displayed in two radically different ways.  What are we to make of this?  Perhaps advancing to the book of Job will provide a needed perspective.

The book of Job, at least at the popular level, is seen as a book about human suffering and perseverance.  Job endures unimaginable suffering at the hands of Satan.  In the end, Job proves to be a righteous man and overcomes his infliction and receives a great abundance from the Lord.  But let us not forget who invokes Satan to put Job to the test.

I believe Job is a book primarily about God’s sovereignty.  Human suffering and perseverance have their place in the narrative, but God’s sovereignty is at the heart of the book.  The book is about a God that mystifies expectations and categorizations.  It says to us: Just when you think you’ve God all figured out…BAM!  God does something entirely unexpected.

Putting one’s trust in a God like this is scary business.  I am a person who thrives on predicability and consistency.  I don’t like it when things don’t go according to plan.  I want safe and comfortable.  However, God doesn’t seem to operate this way.  And so I must ask myself: Am I Okay serving a sovereign God that acts outside of what I find predicable, consistent, safe and comfortable?  Am I willing to trust God?  Am I willing to let go of my insecurities and throw myself into the unknown?

These are not questions easily answered.  I suppose I have answered Yes to these questions and to have answered as such is in part what it means to be Christian.  However, I suspect that these are the kinds of questions that will linger for a lifetime.

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Today’s post is from Brent Hodge, otherwise known as @inworship. Brent was the first blogger that I met in real life after getting to know him through his blog. Rose and I have had the privilege to get to know him, Tam (his wife), and their two kids since then. They are the real deal. Brent is a worship pastor in southern Oregon at Table Rock Fellowship.

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God’s sovereignty has absolutely nothing to do with me.

Have you noticed that theology surrounding the sovereignty of God, usually directs our thoughts towards humans having choice. In essence, when we discuss God’s sovereignty, we most often bring it to something we can understand or relate to. “Do we have free will?”. Then from there we determine or discuss God’s involvement in our decision making process. This seems very arrogant.

I don’t claim to be a theologian, nor am I seeking to be one. I love to learn and study, but I refuse to replace my “unknowing” life, with my “knowing” life. For me, to “know”, is to replace my reliance on God, with my own resource.

So, what about the Sovereignty of God? Well, to me it is a mystery. One of those beautiful mysteries that, I believe, we attempt to know and understand. One of those things that we try to wrap our head around and “know” as humans. But, when God tells us “His ways our not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts”. How can I ever seek to understand Him?

To me, the sovereignty of God lies in this relationship with Him. The unknowing. Everyday, I choose what I will wear, what I eat, how I steward the blessings I have, Who I am in my beliefs and how the light of Jesus pours out of me. I choose. And yet, my choice, does not alter God’s plan for His kingdom. His plan is set. Does this mean I am a puppet? Not sure, but I don’t feel like one. He’s declared that He desires my heart. My intent. How can I give this to Him without choosing? And yet, My choice to step into a vehicle may be His plan to take me from this earth.

One of the definitions of Sovereign is “an acknowledged leader”. For me, this is what God’s Sovereignty boils down to. Control. In thinking of God’s sovereignty, I think a better word than choice, is control. Am I truly ever in control? Control determines everything. Who or what controls my life? And does this influence determine my choices? Everyday, I  will choose. But everyday, I either surrender to God’s control and sovereignty, or I rebel against it. And when all is said and done…God is God. Everything goes through Jesus. I will have to answer to Him and Him alone. God is in control.

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Today’s post is from Andrew Jones, otherwise known as Tall Skinny Kiwi. Andrew is an active participant and leader in the conversation surrounding the emerging church, emergent, and missional. He was probably the earliest Christian adopter to blogging since he started in 1997 and then under the name “Tall Skinny Kiwi” in 2001. Currently Andrew is traveling around parts of Europe with his family in a truck for the purpose of Christian ministry and wrote this post from somewhere in the middle of Belgium.

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I went through my photos this morning to find an image on “Sovereignty”, as part of this blog series.

There is an image of our truck getting horribly lost in Poland this summer. We were on our way to a Christian Festival and the highway was blocked off. The GPS took us on a 4 wheel drive excursion that was really quite scary. But in the end, we arrived at our destination, which was somehow inevitable and sure.

God’s sovereignty suggests to me that eventually, God gets what He wants, even though the journey takes unexpected detours.

Many years ago, when God’s people refused to enter the promised land, God threatened to disinherit them and start again with Moses and his descendants. Moses appealed to God’s character and pleaded for forgiveness on behalf of his people. God relented, forgave, and went back to Plan A.

But, said God, “as truly as I live, the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD”. (Numbers 14:21). Or in other words, there might be twists and turns in the road, but eventually, in the long haul, God will have his way. Sovereignty, as I understand it, is connected to the missional purposes of God.

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Today’s post is from me, Tyler, the author of ManOfDepravity.com. You can read more about me here.

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I remember asking my theology professor if he had ever changed his opinion on how much sovereignty God exerts. He simply said that he and almost all the rest of the professors changed and continue to change all the time. I think that says volumes about this topic. I certainly want to come to some sort of conclusion, but I also want to recognize that God-fearing, educated, men and women, are unable to land on something and stick with it.

And I think that is what I’ve loved most about this entire series. People from various perspectives and opinions have shared thoughts and have been able to have dialogue about this topic. While the goal should always be to come to know and understand who God is in a deeper way, we should always be able to having a thoughtful, caring discussion.

The Bible says that God causes things to happen, and it also says that God changes his mind. Sure we could come to agree on one of those, and then find a way to explain the other, but let’s be honest…none of the explanations make much sense. Somehow God is both of these things: static and fluid.

The question you ask is: how is that even possible? Can something truly be static and fluid?

And to that I would say: I don’t know, but I think it has to be. Because if the Bible is truly saying that God can cause future things to happen, and God can also change his mind, then clearly he is both.

Romans 8:28 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible. It essentially says that God causes good things to happen to those who love him. This verse only makes sense if God has the ability to cause things to happen. In no other way can you read that verse and believe it to be true.

Jeremiah 3:6-7 is not one of the most popular Bible readings. It essentially says that God thought that Israel would do something, but they did not. This verse only makes sense if God does not know everything, and has not caused everything to be as it is. In no other way can you read those verses and believe it to be true.

As I’ve studied throughout the summer my favorite verse to rely on is Isaiah 55:8 // “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.

I think so much of today’s theology is trying to put God within human limits (and clearly God has done that in some respects through the incarnation), yet God himself has stated that he isn’t like us.

In day to day relationship with Christ I find myself interacting with His sovereignty in these ways:

• Trusting in faith that he has good for me.
• Knowing that part of my future is up to me.
• Relying on the Holy Spirit to show me that good way.

I’d wholeheartedly welcome your thoughts.

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