A drich blog

[Drich]

I work with alot of electrical/electronic issues durning the course of a given day, and I have developed diagnostic a logic for checking circuits. At it's core it strips everything down to a set of simple questions. Is electrical power present? Then is electrical power present? Is it avaiable in the right voltage? if yes then A if no then B.

I take this metric and apply it to a whole host of other things, while it yeilds answers oten time it seems cold or robotic. Which is what it's supposed to be when one wants to get to the root of an issue.

I will apply something similar to your people, not as a way to dehumanize anyone but to give you a black or white answer when most believe their are no black or white answers to be given.

Why? Because even if in the throws of death a person looses faith their efforts, their life not be invain.

The couple I spoke of were certainly taken past their limits.

I am just now getting a taste of all that is to come with cancer, and I have no doubt that they were both tasked past their limits. That said being place beyond one's limits is just the oppertunity to be faithful to what one has been given. It doesn't mean that they were. to be faithful through trials yields Spiritual rewards, those are garranteed

Again, the couple I spoke of were wholly committed to god and their religion.

I am not doubting that.

But their manner of death was heinous. They both suffered greatly. Christ may have likened it to a seed, but we're talking about living, breathing people withering away to nothingness.

Look how Christ died, Look at the way all the apstoles including Paul died, they were either stoned or crucified... Given the choice I think I would choose the option that has hospice pump you full of morphine and have one drift off.

How do you know they weren't? Maybe it is not what they would want for themselves at the moment, but without a doubt now they would not give up what they have been given to come back if all is as you say it was.

How do you know they were?

See the bold.

I definitely agree with your point there. Their deaths proved that there is no reward for living life on your knees in awe of some divine being.

Whatever happens in this life good or bad is not ment as a reward. The good as well as the bad are tasks or 'talents' or responsiblities (As per the parable of the talents.) we have been saddled with to see if we will be faithful to what has been given us.
Cancer is a job or task we have been given to test AND Train/teach us for what is to come. Like wise so is a sucessful business where you make lots of money. Each has it's benfits and each has it's hardships. But, in the end the question will be the same. did you honor what you were given or did you just bury your lot because it was not what you wanted?

Of course we haven't been promised a good death. If we were, even the faithful would have recognized it as a whopping lie centuries ago. Your second point is one that sticks in my craw; when confronted with a terrible death, we'll become more pliable to religion because of our fear of meeting the same miserable fate.

Well, fear not, because God wants nothing to do with those type of people anyway. (Those who live hell bent till/only because death is upon them.)

They were definitely everything I described. Suffering and dying from a disease is not what is best for anybody. Matthew 17:20 describes prayer as able to move mountains. Even if this is viewed as a metaphor, it means prayer is able to achieve the impossible.

Indeed, however if you want to do a word study I can show you in the greek that the phrase "Move mountains" refers to doubt and disbelief. Not to cancer or literal mountains.

How can I say this for sure contextually? because in all of Christ ministry He only Gave one example of prayer. and it is known as the Lord's prayer. In this prayer we start out by praising and acknowledging the authority of God
"Our Father who is In Heaven, Holy is your name."

Then the next efforts are centered around changing the will of the indivisual to that of God and having the indivisual accept the will of God for them.
"Your Kingdom come Your will Be done on Earth as it is In Heaven"

Then we have the petition port of the prayer where we have been given the example to ask for your daily needs. (At this point on can argue for health, but again God's will exceeds our own.)
"Give us this day our daily bread."

Next we pray a condition to the forgiveness of our sin:
"Forgive us of our sins as/if we forgive those who sin against us."
Meaning if we can not forgive our sins will not be forgiven as per the parable of the unmerciful servant.

Finally we ask that we be removed from temptation and saved from evil.
"Lead us not into temptation but deliever us from evil."

In short what it means to pray is to follow this model where we put God's will over our own. Meaning prayer is not a way for us to change God's mind or a way for us to ask Him for what we want, but Real actual prayer is to help change us to want what God wants for us. Asking for 'stuff' without concidering what God would will or want is called petitioning God (often misidentified as prayer.) Petitioning God is not a sin matter of fact Paul says we can go to God with our petitions as well as prayer directly. That said however Prayers will always be answered positivly while petitions may or may not get answered at all.

Surely, prayer is sufficient to remove cancer if this is to be believed. If he heard their prayers and those praying for them and failed to intercede when it was within his power then he is a cruel, malevolent being unworthy of allegiance, let alone worship.

If a greater good is served in cancer then why would he have it removed?

Asked another way:

If the people you are talking about would have been given the choice to die the way they did and it save a soul that would otherwise be doomed to Hell, or die together in their sleep, and someone like you be lost forever which would they have chosen?