Today is Wednesday, June 25th, 2008; Karen's Korner #1343

Margaret Cramer shared a couple of paragraphs from a book she had just finished reading. It followed a recent church sermon and a conversation I had had with her. I hope that the words can make some sense to you, as a reader, and touches the hearts of at least a handful of people who read what she shared from the book
 
According to Margaret, the book is written by Michael English and is titled 'the prodigal son comes home'. "It is a sad and glad story at the same time," she said."If you do not know who Michael English is, he was a pinnacle Christian music artist, at the top of the trade and fell hard. These are the last four paragraphs of the book:"

 
"My relationship with God has changed too. The God I thought I knew as a child and, really, for most of my adult life was a lot like Daddy used to be: stern, ready to blame and punish.  I didn't learn much at all about grace and mercy. I grew up thinking that if you were in a backslidden state, you were going to hell.  And when I was a raging addict, short of killing somebody, I could have slid no farther back. I had no hope.

"But from what I've seen over the past few years, I've had to reconsider. It's now hard for me to believe that a God who loves me so much, who has poured out His healing mercies into my life, would have rejected me at my
lowest point.  Isaiah writes that God sees the end from the beginning. That means He knew I also thirsted for righteousness, longed for it, reached for it, but could not find it within myself to grab hold of it. He knew I would
come running back to Him and that He would greet me with rings and feasts. How then could the same God have sent me to hell had a car hit me while I was on a drug buy?

"That is something I still wrestle with, and I know there are whole camps of preachers who are way smarter than me dug in like armies on each side of this debate.  As a recently reformed semiprofessional sinner, I'm not going
to pretend to make some profound statement here on a centuries-old debate. But I will say that my own experience with a patient and loving God has me thinking hard about it. At the very least, I know this:  we always have hope.

"It''s not like I got hold of some good theology somewhere and now I understand everything. It's more like I'm at that place where a lot of new Christians are - seeking and hungry. I can't stand to lie in bed anymore. I know it's going to be good. And when I lay my head on the pillow again each night, I can rest well in Him, knowing that finally, after all my wandering; my heart is back at home."

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