Christina Alberino

Ergun Caner

Theology 202

                                                     Chosen But Free

In Geisler’s book, Chosen but Free, he mentions the argument of predestination. But before Geisler mentions this, He talks about God’s various characteristics that obtain to the fact of predestination. He mentions that God is all knowing and all powerful, He is creator above all. I completely agree with what Geisler mentions here, God knows everything and He knows who will be saved, but I think we have the choice to follow the right or wrong path. I do not believe that we should not witness to people because of predestination; I think it is important to tell others about Christ so that they can experience this all-knowing and all-powerful Christ like we get to experience.

Personally, I think that Christians should not spend so much time arguing about if predestination is right or wrong, or if free will is the correct route, but instead use that time to preach the Gospel and tell others about Christ because in the end of is not about who is right or wrong but it is about choosing the creator over all. God loves each and every one of us, even those who do not know Him. I do like how Geisler brought up this topic though, because it helped me to look deeper into predestination and helped me to understand both sides of the view better. God could not allow us to all become saved and love Him because than it would not be like we truly love Him. It would be like we were robots and truly did not have a choice to follow Him. He therefore, gave us the choice to follow Him, but He also knew beforehand who would follow Him in the end, and this is how the argument of predestination and free will came about. I think that we can decide if we want to follow Him and it is the most important decision we will ever have to make.

Another subject that impacted me was on pages 31 to 50. It talks about why God being all powerful and in control allows sin to be in the world. This is a question that most people ponder and never end up finding out. My grandmother once asked me this question, and I sadly was not able to tell her the answer. That was about 3 years ago and until this day I always thought about it and wished I would have given her the correct answer. On page 44 it explains how, God allows sin because we have the free choice to pick and choose what path we want to go down. Through free will we choose to sin. God loves us and wants us to love Him back and if we choose Him over the world, it brings joy to the Lord. When we choose evil and sin, it helps us realize how much we need Christ in our life. By making foolish choices, we can learn to correct them and in the end it will help us to be more like Christ. It is not that God chooses for us to sin, for He has not part in us sinning but he gave us the choice of free will. We have the choice to sin, God does not place sin in us, it is completely our choice, and we need to make drastic decisions everyday: to follow Him or the World.

The Act of Worship

Christina Alberino
Ergun Caner
Theology 202

I always hear pastors say that worship does not stop when the singing stops. For a long time, I never understood the different and various ways of worship. I always saw it through singing and did it through singing. In theology, this semester, I learned how much further worship goes. Worship can be seen through our attitudes, actions, and personality and we should worship Him through our daily time with Him. Every day, if we are in the Word, doing daily devotions and talking to Him, it is all praise. It should be seen and used as the time to worship Him. In churches, people think, Worship God in the beginning and then just listen to the speaker for the night. Worship should be used throughout the entire service. Even as the body of Christ, the church as a whole should worship God. Through caring and loving one another in the church, you are worshipping God and following his path. But, not only in church or in quiet time should it be seen, but through daily actions, attitudes, and living everyday for our Lord will we be worshipping him. Worship is an act that separates us from just being another person in the crowd but it makes us stand out and shows that I do not live for the world, but I live for the creator of the world. Worship allows me to have a personal and intimate relationship with my creator and Savior. Worship shows that my life has meaning and that God made us all for a reason. Worship is to the God of all and we should worship Him each and every day and not only in Church. Worship is a true act of love and praise it should not be done for “bonus points” or simply to feel better about yourself as if you did a good deed, it needs to be sincere and meaningful. Worship goes far beyond what most people take it as and should be used each and every day.

Testimony

Professor: Dr. Caner
Theology 202-003
Christina Alberino
Topic: Write Testimony without using "Christianese"
                                                           My Testimony/ Salavtion
                                         

            When I was 4 years old, my brother, Nick, was talking to my mom about living forever. He said that when we die we will go to a place where everything is perfect, Heaven. I loved that idea and I knew that the only way to get there was through Jesus.

 My family told me about Jesus, and even though I never met Him, I knew who He was through reading a book called, The Bible. My family told me that He loved us, created us, and created the entire world. I learned that when we are doing things that are wrong He will forgive us for it if we ask Him to. My church taught me that I can even talk to Him through something called prayer and that He will hear us when we pray. 

So I asked Nick how Jesus would help me get to Heaven and forgive me for doing wrong. He told me that I have to believe He is real even though I cannot see Him, to love Him, pray to Him, read the Bible, and try to not do bad things. From that day on, I did just that.

There are always days where it’s extremely hard to do the right thing and you end up doing the wrong things, but when I pray for forgiveness I know he forgives me. Even though it’s hard to these things, I would not change my decision for it was the best decision I ever made.