as the deer pants for the water so my heart longs after ... the deer pants for the water so my heart...
TRANSCRIPT
BERE REGIS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH in Butt Lane
The crowds cried out
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord!”
Palm Sunday Service
13th April at 10.00am
Jesus said
“It is finished! .. Father, forgive them
for they do not know what they are
doing”
Good Friday Service
18th April at 10.00am Meditations on the Cross in Word
and song
The angels declared “Why do you look for the living
among the dead? He is not here;
He has risen!
EASTER SUNDAY FAMILY
SERVICE
20th April at 10.00am
Celebrate the resurrection
with us today!
Further information from Pastor Jim Morris on 01929 471270
Bere Regis Congregational Church
April 2014
As the deer pants for the water so my heart
longs after You, O God
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In Chapel we often sing a
worship song based on Psalm
42.
“As the deer pants for the
water, so my soul pants for
You O God. My soul thirsts for
God, for the living God. When
can I go and meet with God?”
Here in Dorset we are blessed
with much wildlife, including
varieties of deer, especially in
and around Wareham Forest.
The psalmist here alludes to
these animals and their
innate need to find regular
water holes—it’s part of
their survival.
The human heart has an
inbuilt desire to hunger and
thirst for things that
satisfy. Jesus said there is
only one place we may go
to find such satisfaction. He
said “blessed are you if you
hunger and thirst
after righteousness.”
Matthew 5:6 Ultimately only
Jesus can give that satisfying
life-giving water of life.
A Roe Deer
Welcome to the April edition of our
Magazine
Easter Celebrations - join us this
year for our services over Easter—
main ones are listed on back of
Magazine
Why God? — we look at that
perplexing question of pain and
suffering - does God really care?
The Stand in— how would you feel
if you had committed a serious
crime and then someone took the
rap for you? See Junior Page
Missionary Page featuring an-
other of our overseas missions—
this time UFM.
News Update - Chapel news and
prayer items.
Bere Regis Congregational Chapel, Butt Lane
Sunday Worship 10.00am Morning Service Join us in family worship—youngsters have their own Junior Church time . We
do have occasional Evening Fellowships at 6.30pm—please check for details in this
magazine or phone Pastor Jim on 01929 471270
Tuesdays 9.30-11.30am Chapel Toddlers Group a time for mums & carers to relax and get together as the toddlers interact
together—in the Chapel (during term time)
7.30-9.00pm Fellowship Group want to know more about the Bible and pray in a friendly atmosphere? Held in
Manse Long Room
Wednesday 10.30am Ladies Share ’n Prayer an opportunity for coffee and chat—and a time of prayer together—held in various
homes—phone Janet on 01929 471270 for more info.
Fridays 6.30-8.00pm Son Seekers Club A Christian youth Club for youngsters from 7-12 years. (during term time)
Web Site: bereregischapel.org
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BERE REGIS CONGREGATIONAL
CHURCH
Services for April 2014 Sunday 6th April
10.00am Communion Pastor Jim Morris
Followed by Prayer Lunch in Manse
Sunday 13th April Palm Sunday 10.00am Pastor Jim Morris
Good Friday 18th April
10.00am Pastor Jim Morris
Easter Sunday 20th April
10.00am. Family Service Pastor Jim Morris
Sunday 27th April
10.00am Communion Pastor Jim Morris
Junior Church for the younger ones is every Sunday at 10am
Crèche facilities can be arranged
For more information phone Pastor Jim Morris on 01929 471270
This month we celebrate the momentous, life-changing events of Easter. Join us as we remember with thanksgiving God’s great love
for us!
The Service concludes with refreshments
Everyone Welcome !
Bere Regis Congregational Chapel
www.bereregischapel.org
Minister
Rev Jim Morris, The Manse Flat, Butt Lane, Bere Regis, Wareham, Dorset BH20 7HZ.
Tel: 01929 471270 Email: [email protected]
Deacons
Gilbert Griffin, Church Lane Cottage, Bere Regis BH20 7HH Tel: 01929 471326;
Paul Jackson (Fabric) Heather Cottage, Moreton, Dorchester D12 8RL Tel: 01929 462035
Email: [email protected];
Ivan Stevens (Treasurer) 157 York Road, Broadstone, Poole BH18 8ES Tel: 01202 695903
Ben Bennington 1, Ashley Barn Cottages, Briantspuddle, Dorchester D12 7HL Tel: 01258 837067
Graham Gee Rose Cottage, Butt Lane, Bere Regis, Dorset BH207HZ Tel: 01929 472484
MISSIONARY NEWS
Another insight into Missionary work—a brief profile on
the work of UFM. Their latest magazine is on the
Literature Table in Chapel.
UFM was established as the Unevangelised Fields Mission in 1931. Today we work in partnership with more than 50 UK church-
es in sending missionaries into cross-cultural ministry. God calls missionaries and churches send them out. We work in partnership with churches to make this possi-ble and to provide the expertise needed to work effectively in cross-cultural mission. We also work with partner missions and churches around the world. Our great con-cern is not to preach ourselves but to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. In facing the contemporary challenges of world mission the following 10 values are important to us: Presenting the challenge of the Great Commission to churches and Christians Working in partnership with sending churches Enabling Christians to serve effectively in cross-cultural mission Establishing teams of missionaries and national Christians Providing effective pastoral care and support Undertaking strategic training of national pastors and church leaders Being flexible and innovative in developing ministries and partnerships Expressing the love of Christ in word and action Nurturing a servant spirit in all our leaders and missionaries Fostering an ethos of grace in all our relationships and in our acceptance of each other (find out more about them on ufm.org.uk)
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The Resur-rection: convincing the sceptics!
With Easter upon us and the reminder of new life through the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ we ponder again these miraculous and mind-boggling events. A man who claims to be God is brutally executed on a rugged Roman cross on the Friday. By Sunday this same man has bounced back to life having escaped from a sealed tomb single-handed, and is encouraging his shelled shocked disciples. Great story—ah! - but do you believe it? Or is it all part of that rich tapestry of Christian mythology that cheers us up and gives us hope!
It is easy to be sceptical about these supernatural events—so how does the Bible go about convincing the sceptics? How can we know that the Bible account is true? Couldn’t the disciples have got together and constructed a story that kept the memory of their dead leader alive? Probably some of the most reliable evidence that this was in fact a well documented historical event was that the early sceptics were—wait for it—the disciples themselves !
Look at the historical accounts in the Bible of that resurrection day and you will see that there is not a shred of evidence that any of the followers of Jesus believed that He had risen from the dead. Jesus had spelt it out in plain language—see Matthew 16:21 “from that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hand of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life”. What part of ‘killed’ and ‘raised to life on the third day’ didn’t they understand?! On that occasion this idea of a Messiah (Chosen Deliverer) who has to be slain to win a victory seemed alien to these Jews—no wonder impulsive Peter said, “Never, Lord”.
And yet those events were played out before their eyes exactly as Jesus had prophesied. They witnessed His arrest (well actually most of them ran away); the mockery of a trial; the passing of the death sentence fuelled by an angry lynch mob; The pathetic sight of their leader, nailed on a rugged cross between two thieves.
It was over. Christianity was finished before it had even begun! They did the right thing and thanks to the generosity of a rich man called Joseph of Arimathea, they laid His body in a garden tomb. The Roman authorities tightened up their security, sealing the tomb by rolling a two ton piece of rock across the entrance and posting a 24 hour guard on this famous grave. The disciples went home to lick their wounds and ponder their future.
THE WIDER SCENE Pastor Ray Hea-
ley
Believing is seeing!
Years ago a man walked along the famous Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scotland,
and spotted an impressive window display of some paintings. One of the pictures
entitled Crucifixion, portrayed the death of Christ on the cross. The man was trans-
fixed. It was not simply the artist’s skill that made him stop, but the painting stirred
within him some long-forgotten memories.
Suddenly he realised he wasn’t alone. A small boy was standing staring at the same
painting. As their eyes met, the boy launched into an uninvited explanation. “That’s
Jesus, sir, on the cross. They nailed Him there with that crown of thorns on His
head and they killed Him. He was a good man who died for us. That’s His mother
standing there, watching what they did to Him.” The man felt a lump rise in his
throat. The lad continued, “He died for our sins and then they buried him.” It was
too much for the man, who simply nodded and walked away. He had only gone a
few yards when he felt a tug on his coat. Turning, he saw the boy, who blurted out
breathlessly, “I forgot to tell you, sir. I forgot to tell you He rose again.”
Years ago two men walked together along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus with
heavy hearts, as they discussed what they had witnessed and seen with their own
eyes, as their leader had just been crucified. A stranger joined them and listened to
their conversation with more than a little interest! Had they forgotten so soon what
they had been taught over the previous three years? Then this ‘Stranger’ explained
to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning Himself, and their hearts
burned within them. Yet it was only later at the meal time, when He ‘broke the
bread’, that their eyes were opened and they recognised that this Stranger was Christ
Jesus, their living Saviour and Lord. Luke 24:13-35
Jesus’ word to His disciples after His resurrection was ‘Peace’! Thomas was not
with the disciples on that occasion, and when told that Jesus was alive refused to
believe it, unless he could see for himself. Eight days later Jesus came again to the
disciples, and this time Thomas was with them. Again Jesus’ word was ‘Peace’, and
to Thomas He said, “Touch me and see that I am alive”. Thomas saw and believed,
crying out, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said, “Because you have seen me you
believe, blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet believe”. John 20:26-31
When Joyce and I visited Israel we experienced a very special time at the Garden
Tomb. We believed and saw, as we read on a plaque on the door of the tomb HE IS
NOT HERE – FOR HE IS RISEN. Do you believe it? Is Jesus a ‘stranger’ to you,
or is He your Saviour and Lord? The little boy got it right. We need the whole story
of Jesus to complete the picture. Never forget He rose again. 1 Corin 15:12-20 www.bereregischapel.org
As a Church we promise
To faithfully proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation through
Jesus Christ as the only Saviour.
To encourage awareness and growth in Christian truth by
upholding the teachings of the Bible as God’s revealed Word to the
world.
To offer Christian love, care and pastoral help to anyone in need
Sunday Morning. Dawn breaks. Mary Magdalene and some of the women journey
to the tomb with spices to anoint the dead body of their leader, They see the stone
rolled away and immediately come to the conclusion that body snatchers have been
at work! “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where
they have put Him”. (John 20:2). They are told by angels that Jesus had indeed
risen—just as He said. So they run back to their men folk and in breathless tones
share the news. The men look at them as if they are hormonal over-excited women!
“But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like
nonsense!” (Luke 24:11). At least Peter and John venture out to verify the story and
find the grave clothes laid out like a chrysalis. Meanwhile, outside the tomb, Mary
Magdalene had remained—to grieve and to mourn. Two angels speak to her and
again we hear her despairing cry —”They have taken my Lord”. Even when the
Lord Jesus approaches her personally she assumes He is the gardener—until He
calls her name and, in a moment of wonderful revelation, she cries out “Rabboni” -
and her doubts evaporate!. Fast forward to the frightened disciples hiding behind
locked doors, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and of course, doubting
Thomas—the Victor Meldrew of the disciples (!)—and you see that unbelief isn’t
limited to atheists.
Today we may chose to doubt the events of the resurrection recorded in the
Scriptures—but remember at the time they could easily have been refuted by the
Roman authorities. So far from being the end of Christianity—these events became
the springboard for the only religion in the world that doesn’t follow a dead leader.
We are told that ‘death could not hold Him! And furthermore, we are told that “by
His death He has destroyed him who holds the power of death—that is the devil—
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death”.
(Hebrews 2:14,15) And Romans 8:11 tells us that “if the Spirit of Him who raised
Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.”
Is He living in you? If not, why not invite Him into your life today?
April 2014
Here is a word search for you
Y R S S I E O M R E E W S
E E I P F A U L T S V R R
N O I T A R T N E C N O C
O R K S L Y I S N S J N L
M E L A S U R E J B E G M
T N A B S A A E N L S M N
E O A B R O K E H D U E F
K S L A N I M I R C S S C
C I C R C U R E L E A S E
O R V A N M E R O O Y E R
P P M B M P I N A N R K T
A N O N O P I T L B E K B
A H C Y W O O R L E P I P
Barabbas * broke * camp *fault *concentration * criminal * friends *
Jerusalem * Jesus * love * mess *pay * pocket money * prisoner * release *
someone * teacher * wrong *
Just a Smile
A friend’s little boy told me, “It won’t be long till my birthday - only three dustbin days.”
A former chorister was asked why she had given up singing in the church choir. “I was absent one Sun-day” she replied, “and somebody asked if the organ had been mend-ed.”
☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
Cleaning Rota
April 6 Joyce Healey
13 Joyce Healey
20 Pastor Jim & Janet Morris
27 Michelle McCowen
The Stand In. It’s not me, I didn’t do it. Is it always someone else when the teacher asks ‘who made this mess’ or Mum says ‘who broke this?’ And if we hadn’t done it, would we offer to clean up the mess, or pay for what is broken out of our pocket money? Even though it wasn’t our fault and we hadn’t done anything wrong? The answer is probably ‘no’. Why should we? It wasn’t our fault! It wouldn’t be fair. But then things often aren’t fair! It wasn’t fair that the crowds in Jerusalem that first Easter, shouted ‘release Barabbas’, a convicted criminal. They could have shouted ‘release Jesus’ - Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong after all. Jesus told us, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 There have been others who have followed His example, like Maximillian Kolbe, a priest in a German concentration camp, who took the place of another and was killed instead of Him. But Jesus didn’t give His life so that just one person was saved, He died so that we all can know for-giveness for our sin. But we have to come to Him individually to receive that forgiveness, it doesn’t happen automatically. Have you asked Jesus to forgive you and committed your life to Him?
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Bere Regis
Congregational Church
We have heard from Patrick Steen that the Lord continues to bless and encourage
him in Germany. Recently we had the joy of meeting another young soldier from Bo-
vington—Jadyn Hewitt. Initially referred to us from SASRA, he is in training on
tanks for the next twenty weeks before embarking for Germany and as a young
Christian is looking for regular Christian fellowship. Please pray for these young men
in the services.
Update on Helen’s brother Ron—who survived an horrendous head-on car
crash and sustained multiple fractures in his leg. He is now home but not yet mobile.
Indeed it is going to be a slow but sure road to recovery. Pray for Ron and for Helen
and Ivan Stevens as they journey between here and Devon. Also prayer is
requested for Helen’s cousin, Eileen, who is seriously ill in Yeovil.
We continue to pray for our village and any who are going through difficult times. In our own fellowship we pray for Mary Overton, who hopes to return to Sunday wor-ship as the weather improves. Carol Blues fell and dislocated a shoulder and suffered a fracture recently and is improving slowly. Please pray for Carol. Basil Norgate has had a few weeks clear of vertigo for which we give thanks to God. Remember him, please and his wife Beatrice. Pray also for Pastor Ray Healey and Joyce; Helen Stevens (trapped nerve ) and for Ivan with their family commitments. Most of our small fellowship have faced health issues and we continue to look to the Lord for His healing touch upon their lives.
Recent news from David & Hilary Smith on Skype. He requests prayer as SASRA seek a replacement for their Executive Director. David enjoys his opportunities to talk to service personnel about the ministry of SASRA He was able to supply 33 Bibles to fellow SASRA member David Meryon who was going to give a copy to each member of his platoon as they go off on active service . He also has a visit to Sandhurst planned for later this month. In the meantime the family are well and Emma has just celebrated her 18th birthday! How time flies! Please remember Da-v i d , Hilary and the family at Farnborough.
The next two Prayer Lunches are scheduled for Sundays the
6th April and the 4th May, following on from the Morning
Worship. Join us for fellowship and prayer— in the Manse.
mother had given him. As he held it up, on
the reverse side of the crochet bookmark
was a tangled web. There was no rhyme,
no reason, no pattern, nothing—a total
mess. But on the other side it said, ‘God is
Love’. The world may seem a tangled web
to us at times, but behind it all is the love
of God working on our behalf to bring
comfort and healing.
There may be someone reading these
words today and you are in the midst of
all the confusion and hurt of suffering—it
may be a bereavement, or a broken
relationship, or a crisis of career, or a life-
threatening illness—and you are asking
that universal question—why?
May I invite you to hand your feelings and
emotions over to the Lord ?—recognise
that He loves you and cared enough to
suffer for you through His Son on the
Cross. The Cross became a Christian
symbol of suffering and sacrifice, but it is
also a symbol of hope and deliverance—for
it points forward, via the empty tomb, to a
day when there will be no more suffering.
For the Christian, suffering is just for a
season, but eternity awaits us, when God
will change our frail, decaying, mortal
bodies into a body that is like Jesus’
resurrection body. We shall be reunited
with those who have trusted Christ and we
shall spend eternity in the presence of the
Lord. And in that place as Revelation
21:4 reminds us, “He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes. There
will be no more death or mourning
or crying or pain, for the old order
of things has passed away.”
********************************
We are here as a church to offer a helping hand or a listening ear to any who are in need—please do not hesitate to contact us on 01929 471270
Special Week-ends for 2014
17th/18th May
Saturday /Sunday
Tim Palmer
( New Tribes Mission)
11th/12th July
Friday/Saturday
Outreach UK Training W/E
various speakers
11th/12th October
Saturday/ Sunday
Teaching on
The Feast of Tabernacles
Bryan Sheldon
Free events—all welcome ! Please note the visit of John Mackay is
now on Tuesday, September 9th and not
on the 2nd as stated in last month’s
magazine
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This month we pray for families and indviduals in ….
Chamberlaynes, Doddings, Egdon Close, Elder Road, Green
Close, Hollow Oak and Lane End
In these days we are seeing an escalation
in natural disasters—earthquakes,
hurricanes, floods, climate change etc,
that are causing untold pain and suffer-
ing to millions. Yet God created a world
that was geared to feed and provide for
every living person. Today there are
enough natural resources to sustain
many time the present population of
earth. But as yet man has not managed to
work out a fair system of distribution.
Greed and selfishness stand in the way—
and so poverty and suffering continues.
What can I do ?
The first step, if you haven’t already done
so, is to get right with God. People often
voice their disapproval at God by saying,
“Why doesn’t He do something about it?”
The answer to that is that He has
done something about it ! God could
have given up on us and walked away—
after all, we have been unfaithful to Him.
Yet in love He was willing to forgive us
and deal directly with the sin problem—
the source of pain and suffering. It
involved Someone having to pay the
ultimate price for my sin—death.
In Hebrews 2:9 we read, “ But we see
Jesus, who was made a little lower
than the angels (When He took on
our humanity) now crowned with
glory and honour because He
suffered death, so that by the grace
of God He might taste death for
everyone.” The Bible says we need to
personally respond to the offer of
salvation God has made to us through
His Son Jesus Christ—a way out of the
dead-end existence of this world; a
deliverance from the judgement that all
will face if they continue to reject God’s
eternal principles. And most encouraging
of all—a way into renewed fellowship
with Our Creator God.
That same passage in Hebrews goes on to
talk about Jesus as the Author of our
salvation being ‘perfected through
suffering’. (Hebrews 2:10). The word
perfected there is being used in the sense
of completing, finishing the work of
salvation. And to do that Jesus had to
suffer for us. Because of this He is able to
enter into our suffering—He can fully
empathise with our hurt, our pain and
our suffering. He understands. The actual
verse (Hebrews2:18) says, “Because He
Himself suffered when He was
tempted (tested or tried), He is
able to help those who are being
tempted ( tested or tried).
No one said it would be easy. And,
although suffering is never ’good’ in
itself, God can use it in a number of ways
to strengthen us and help us to grow into
mature Christians. It can draw us closer
to Him and make us into a more rounded
human being. And although many things
in this world have gone terribly wrong ,
God is still there working His purposes
out. In fact the Bible says that “in all
things (good and bad) God works
for the good of those who love Him
and have been called according to
His purpose”. (Romans 8:28).
Handley Moule, when he was the Bishop
of Durham, had the task of visiting the
relatives of 170 miners who were killed in
a mining accident. While he was
wondering what to say to them,
he picked up a little bookmark his
This month we say “Happy Birthday” to the following:
7th Jo Bowkett and Jazmin Wyatt; 12th Sue Close; 13th Ashley Gee (he will be 18!); Isabelle Wyatt; 19th Janet Mor-ris; 27th Bill Kneale and 30th Marianne Paterson. May you
each know God’s richest blessing.
EASTER IS COMING! We are looking forward to celebrating the exciting events of Easter this month and we invite you to join with us . We have Services on 13th April—PALM SUN-DAY; 18th April—GOOD FRIDAY and 20th April—Family Service for EASTER DAY . All Services commence at 10.00am and are led by Pastor Jim—you are all welcome! See back page of Magazine.
Web Site: Our Chapel website has been running for a good few months now and is regularly updated. Our thanks particularly to Graham Gee for maintaining the web site.. This means of course that you can access our church from anywhere in the world. We have had quite a few interested people looking in at this internet site.
First of our week-end events next month. We look forward to a visit from Tim Palmer (pictured here with his wife, Joanne) of New Tribes Mission as he leads a special Missionary Weekend. The dates are Saturday/Sunday 17th and 18th May. We hope to publish further details of the times over the week-end in next month’s magazine—but for advanced information please contact Suzie Gee on 01929 472484.
Both Chapel Toddlers and our Son Seekers Club will be taking a break over the Easter holidays and will resume on Tuesday 29th
April (Chapel Toddlers) and Friday 2nd May ( Sonseekers Club).
Holiday Club Team—prayer needed. We are hoping to give our Holiday Club plans a much needed review as we look forward to the Summer Holidays with the youngsters of the village. Pray for Pastor Jim and the Team and they decide on this year’s themse and make the necessary plans. Any suggestions gratefully received!
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inherently good and loving? Because He created us in love and love is not something you programme into another human being. Most of us want to be loved freely and voluntarily by someone. Love cannot be forced; it can only be love if there is real choice.
Not created as robots
So God gave human beings the choice to love or not love Him. To obey His commands for life or to reject them and act independently. Given this freedom, men and women from the beginning have chosen to break God’s laws and the result has been the violence and suffering that we are reaping in our world today. The Bible makes it clear that, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). If God had intervened by some miracle to remedy that first sin of Adam and Eve, He would have to continue to intervene down through history. Our basic freedom of choice would be lost and the whole of our existence would be like some cosmic computer game with God controlling our every move. God has not made us to be robots—He has given us a greater dignity than that! The initial surge of rebellion was encouraged by a fallen angel called Lucifer, also described as Satan or the Devil. He is described as ‘the father of lies’ (John 8:44) and his task is to blind us to the reality that there is actually a way back to peace and fellowship with the living God.
So pain, suffering and violence are all the consequences of man’s rebellion towards God. We live in a fallen world that is fast coming under the judgement
of God. However, it is important to stress that not all suffering is a direct result of our own individual sin. God doesn’t cause someone to lose their job or contract a terminal illness because He is judging their personal sin. Job’s comforters in the Bible told him that his suffering was the result of his sin—but God said they were wrong (Job 42:7-8). Jesus repudiates the link between personal sin and suffering ( John 9:1-3).
Reaping the effects of sin
We are part of a world that is reaping the cumulative effects of sin down through the ages. And because man was created to have dominion over all creation (e.g. nature, plants & flowers, the animal kingdom) when Adam sinned, it affected those areas he had responsibility for.
This is probably the most frequently asked question about the God that Christians follow. We believe that God is love and that He is all—powerful. In his book The Problem of Pain, C.S Lew-is stated the argument when he wrote, “if God is good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God is almighty, He would be able to do what He wished. But His creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both”. Theologians and philosophers have wrestled for centuries over the problem of suffering and no one has come up with a simple and complete answer.
Why me, God?
Many times in our own church we have prayed much over those seriously ill, and some of them have been heart-rending cases, yet the outcome has not always been what we would have wished. Most of us in life, faced with a deep personal crisis, have asked the question—”why me God?” “What have I
done wrong that you should punish me in this
way?” To begin to answer this question we need to go to the beginning of time, to creation, when God created a perfect environment for men and women. God looked on all He had made and saw that it was good (Genesis 1:31). Adam and Eve walked in perfect fellowship with their Creator God and enjoyed eternal life. They lived on a planet and in a universe that was per-fectly balanced and totally and utter-ly environmentally friendly. There were no poisonous plants or vegetation and animals lived harmoniously together. Death and decay were unknown. So what intrusion caused such a change?
Free will—basic ground rules
God created mankind to have free will. But He set some basic ground rules—the penalty for disobeying those rules was severe—death (Genesis 2:16,17). So we can see that God has given us a degree of independence and choice, but within a framework of accountability. Why didn’t God just programme us to be
At Easter time
we look at
possibly this
most perplexing
question and
attempt to find
some honest,
Bible-based
answers