God's Sovereignty & The Gospel Call

One of my favorite reformed bloggers is Alan over at Calvinist Gadfly. Alan is very articulate and very respectful in his tone, not to mention quite knowledgeable. Plus, I can just use his sidebar as my sidebar since he lists a whole lotta great links. ;)

Here is an interesting post worth reading... er...listening to.

But 'afore you do that, let me preface it by saying this. I'm not much into labels, meaning I don't call myself a Calvinist. I don't follow this man, John Calvin, though I do hold to/agree with much of this teachings. I do so only because they are biblical. I was awakened to this 'new' view of reformed theology, or doctrines of grace, a little over two years ago when God, in His wisdom and by His mercy, opened my eyes to the biblical understanding of His sovereignty. And that's what it's all about isn't it, when you get right down to it? The sovereignty of God. Just before God completely changed my core thinking, I remember being in an online discussion with some friends from a private Christian message board. Two of them were reformed, and then there was me. I certainly didn't know the term for it then, but I was of the Arminian persuasion, just having at it with (what I now understand to be) the typcial verses to PROVE God's universal love, desire to save the 'whole world,' et cetera. Basically, it was a complete man-centered theology.

Fast forward to now. I continue to be amazed by what God shows me. No doubt, He has given me more discernment, and He has given me a whole new perspective. In reading through the Bible, I now read it through the eyes of His sovereignty. What a radical difference that has made! He's given me such a hunger for His Word, a richer, deeper relationship with Himself, a greater desire to bring the Light to a dark world, a better (not perfect) marriage, and on & on I could go. During this time, I've wrestled through some difficult and weighty texts of Scripture, and have become convinced that God alone is in complete control of His creation.

Anyway that said, the above link to an interesting little song is quite telling. There are 193 comments following, some of which perhaps got a little out of hand, but are still worth the read. Bottom line: the gospel of Christ has been neutered, if not hijacked. I pray that God will have mercy and open the hearts and minds of His people, who have taken that gospel and twisted into something often times not even remotely resembling the Truth.