Why God Wills You to Suffer

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William Lolli. Why God Wills You to Suffer

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?

PART 1: GOD’S WILL. IT WAS GOD’S WILL

IS SUFFERING A CONSEQUENCE OF FREE WILL? ANSWER: NO

WHAT ABOUT CAUSE AND EFFECT?

THE FAILURE OF HUMAN REASON TO INDICT GOD

PULLING WINGS OFF OF BUTTERFLIES

OUR TWISTED PRAYERS TO GOD FOR RELIEF

WHAT IS YOUR CONCEPT OF GOD? HOW “ALL MIGHTY” IS THE ALMIGHTY?

CAN THE WILL OF GOD AS IT PERTAINS TO SUFFERING BE KNOWN?

PART 2: WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GARDEN. TAKING LIBERTIES

A RADICAL PROPOSITION

DID SUFFERING START IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN?

MAN AS AN INNOCENT BEING

CAN GOD RIGHTLY JUDGE FREE WILL?

WAS THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL BAD?

WHAT ABOUT DEATH? DID SATAN CREATE DEATH?

BUT BACK TO DEATH: DID ADAM CREATE DEATH?

THE BEGINNING OF DEATH AND THE END OF DEATH

THE GENESIS FRAMEWORK SUMMARY

PART 3: THE ORIGIN OF SUFFERING. GOD REVEALS HIS DEEPER SELF TO ALL OF CREATION

TAKE A MENTAL CHARLIE HORSE TEST

USING YOUR IMAGINATION

TAKE A QUICK SELF EVALUATION

COMPARING GOD’S SUFFERING TO MAN’S

A WARNING

PART 3 SUMMARY:

PART 4: PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE. THE GRAND PLAN – PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE

WHY DID GOD DO IT?

JESUS AS THE EXPRESSION OF GOD’S DIVINE SUFFERING

HEY WAIT A MINUTE! I THOUGHT IT WAS ALL ABOUT “GETTING SAVED” (...AS A WAY OUT)

BUT AREN’T WE MORE THAN CONQUERORS?

THE ANSWER TO WHY DOES GOD WILL US TO SUFFER?

BUT CAN WE REALLY KNOW GOD?

OKAY. I CAN KNOW GOD. BUT ONLY GOD IS HOLY. HOW CAN I BE HOLY?

PART 4 SUMMARY:

PART 5: THE END OF SUFFERING. IT IS OVER YET?

WAIT! WHAT ABOUT THE RAPTURE OR THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB?

WHAT ABOUT THE 1000 YEAR EARTHLY REIGN OF CHRIST?

THE WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

COPING IN A WORLD OF SUFFERING

THE NEW RELATIONSHIP

PART 6: TOPICAL CONCLUSIONS. THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR

WHAT ABOUT BABIES, INFANTS, AND CHILDREN?

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

THE POPULAR NOTION THAT JESUS CAME TO END SUFFERING

SO WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?

THE PATH TO SALVATION

AUTHOR COVER BIO

Отрывок из книги

As I write this preface in November of 2013, the media headlines are reporting the death toll from typhoon Haiyan after its swath through the Philippine Islands. Some are saying it is the most powerful and deadly typhoon ever recorded. Tornadoes in the United States this year did some nasty damage too, killing and destroying.

Both times my local church stepped in to help, and the calls went out for our Christian community to “pray” and “give”. No one can argue that praying and giving and helping those in need who are victims of these Acts of God are the right things to do.

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Through these failures I was compelled to do more self-examination. I did not – and do not—doubt Jesus at His word that He came to give us an Abundant Life. So if He is not wrong, I must be. I concluded that I had mistakenly connected this “Abundant Life thing” to the kind of happiness known to those who are materially comfortable. Even further than this, I concluded that what I was really seeking from God was to avoid all manner of suffering.

Being honest with myself, I had to conclude—yes, that was it. I was tired of being poor, being kicked, and generally tired of this old sinful world. I was not necessarily envious of others, per se. I didn’t want someone else’s life, wife, home, car, or money. But I did want to earn my own, make it on my own, be a success, and thereby be a benefit to my community and not a burden to others.

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