Beck's Common Sense Book & God's Permissive Will

I just started reading Glenn Beck's new bestselling book, "Common Sense," and it's a very sobering task - to say the least! I almost feel like I don't want to share this information with my grown, adult children! They might wonder whether or not there is any REAL, genuine hope for our Constitutional Republic when they see what a horrendous mess all the Washington bureaucrats (especially the continually re-elected "lifetime" leftist progressives - the new buzz word for socialists) - have made of our once great, prosperous and celebrated nation!

The statistics shared by Beck in the first few chapters are astounding! We learn about the corrupt reshaping and redefining of America.

Beck:

"America has let thieves into her home and that nagging in your gut is a final warning that our country is about to be stolen. Our Founding Fathers understood that WE are an intuitive people. If all of that is true, then it only makes sense that He would alert us to our impending loss. [link added - mine]

And now He is - shame on us for ignoring Him for so long."

The election of ObamaFRAUD is but one of a larger wake-up call from God to get our act together and save this nation from destruction through the coming tyranny of our out-of-control government!

We all need to DO SOMETHING! EVERYONE SHOULD BE OUT ON THE STREETS PROTESTING ON JULY 4, 2009!! Go to your barbecues in the evening.

Christians? WHERE ARE YOU? SPEAK UP FOR YOUR NATION!

Please don't use the excuse that this must be "God's Will." Do you think that Jesus was kidding that we are to watch, wait AND WORK until He returns for His Bride (all Christians everywhere)?

For the moment, I am going to veer away from the discussion on Beck's book. I want to share with you a conversation that I had years ago with a dear Christian friend named Susan Smith. It was on the topic of God's Perfect Will and whether or not there is such a thing as His Permissive Will that exists under, and within, His Perfect Will. I will explain.

As a reference, I am providing the link to where this conversation first occurred on my blog. It was in the comment section of Meaning of Katrina - A Sign?

Here is the portion of the conversation where we discussed God's Perfect Will and His Permissive Will that exists within His Perfect Will.

We had been discussing the criticisms that had been hurled at our nation by other countries around the world because of how the Katrina disaster was mishandled by the Bush Administration. I will pick up the conversation there.

Christine: ...some people don't like to read about Christians speculating what the recent disasters (tsunami, Gaza pullout, hurricane) mean. But I think that we ALL (including Christians!) NEED TO TAKE A HARD LOOK at ourselves to see what God is trying to show us and what message(s)/lesson(s) can be taught to each and every one of us from these events!

Susan: Hi Christine:

I do not think "upset" is the proper term to describe my feelings of sadness over the harsh and critical words I am reading about my country.

Can you name a country on earth that has blessed Israel more than the USA? When I moved to Israel more than three years ago, I was what one would call a gung-ho Christian Zionist.

Today, I KNOW God is in control and I believe the Gaza pullout is in HIS divine purpose. One can make the land an idol. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. (ss)

Christine: Can you be more specific about the criticisms you are reading about your country? Are you talking about the U.S.? Which criticisms against America are you referring to? Unfortunately, there are PLENTY to go around and they are varied as can be!

I'm just trying to understand what is bothering you, Susan. Are you referring to the criticism that is rampant against the Bush Administration and evident in our news media? Or, the criticism over the war in Iraq? Or, the criticism being hurled at us by the Muslim terrorists? Or, the criticism that evangelical Christians have pointed out over the moral relativism that has taken hold in America through liberal secular legislation, judges and education? Or, ALL of the above?

One more thing. Do you see the increase in natural disasters and the decisions and happenings involving the land of Israel as signs of the "birth pains" of the End Times?

Jesus told us to watch for such things as these. The Scriptures are quite descriptive of what to watch for (as evident in Robert's Revelation 18 post). Of course, no one knows the "day or hour" but Jesus DID tell us to watch for the signs where our redemption could be near.

Do you think that the increase of all of these signs as predicted in Scripture is possible evidence that the marriage supper of the Lamb and of the Second Coming of Christ is getting closer?

Susan stated: "Today, I KNOW God is in control and I believe the Gaza pullout is in HIS divine purpose. One can make the land an idol. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."

Christine: Let me ask you this. Do you think that it is possible that God, in His permissive will, allows the errors, sins, and mistakes of mankind (and their governments) to occur? Of course all of human history will lead to His ultimate divine purpose, but is all that happens to be considered His perfect will for us? I guess what I am trying to ask you is this: isn't the Bible filled with situations where Gods' Perfect Will wasn't followed and thus Israel, as a nation, needed to be rebuked and needed to be called back to repentance for her sins?

It is true that Gods' Perfect Will, WILL be accomplished, despite the fact that so many of mankind currently live in disobedience and rebellion to it. In Gods' permissive will, evil, sin and death is allowed here for now. Even Jesus said, "in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world."

The evil, sin and death won't be gone forever until all is accomplished. It is through the Law, the Prophets and the Church (people, not a building) of Jesus Christ that people are called to repentance. We are to be salt and light within this world to those who are lost and perishing.

Yes. God is ultimately in control of the destiny of human history. But Jesus gave us the commandment to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Evangelism is our assignment here on earth. Part of that evangelism is pointing out the need for people to see their sinfulness because they have broken the Holy Law of God. Without that Law and their realization of their sin, they cannot be truly born again in Jesus Christ. They risk becoming "false converts" as is pointed out in "The Way of the Master" book.

Here I go again! Posting my next blog subject here in a reply! OK. I'll end here for now and I await your reply.

Please know that I love and respect you, my sister in Christ, and I am not doing this to start an argument between us but to seriously discuss our differences on this issue.

Love in Him,
Christine

Christine: I found this quote in an article I was reading today:

"A venerable confession of faith states it rightly: "God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any way to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures."

I think that is a good definition of what is meant by Gods' "permissive" will.



Susan:
God's will is God's will... I have never been able to find in scripture much support for the idea of God's "permissive" and his "perfect" will in my life even though I am aware there are many Christians who believe there is such a thing. God is not limited by time and every single day we live is no surprise to him. HE knows the future.

"One can make the land an idol. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." I wrote in my previous post. This morning I am in charge of devotions for our HQ staff here in Jerusalem. I plan to share that the written Word of God can also become an idol. My mentor told me this years ago, and she is correct.

Thank you for assuring me you are not trying to start an argument, Christine. I do not contribute to blogs in order to debate... I contribute to be a blessing, not a curse and I do the best I am able to follow the leading of the Lord with my choice of words. Words are powerful regardless of who uses them.

Truth is truth, regardless of who speaks it. There are times when silence ministers much more than words. Yours in Christ,

Susan

Christine:
Hi Susan,

Thanks for responding. I'm glad you were able to find the comment among the tirade of Thomas.

Stephen warned me long ago that Thomas wasn't a person "seeking", just a person who tends to mock, disparage and destroy the witness of Christian believers. It took a while for me to reach the same conclusion, thus, I have taken the advice of the Bible and have "shaken the dust from my sandals and left that house"...so to speak.

Mat 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.


Mar 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.


Luk 9:5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.


First, I want to admit that I could be wrong and you, absolutely right about the "permissive" will idea. But, I have found evidence of this throughout Scripture in the accounts of the disobedience, reprimands of the Lord, repentance of the people and reconciliation back to relationship with God in the Old Testament. I also find evidence of God's permissive will within the Lord's prayer:

Matthew 6:10 KJV - Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.

Jesus was praying that the Father's will be done here on the earth as it is in heaven. This indicates to me that God's Perfect Will IS DONE, ALWAYS, in heaven. After inequity was found in Lucifer and he was cast out of heaven as Satan (along with 1/3 of the angels who fell with him and became demons), Scripture tells us that the remaining angels were "sealed" by God. But obviously, since man was tempted by Satan to sin and we live in a fallen world here, God's Perfect Will is not always done here on earth.

1 Timothy 5:21 KJV - I charge [thee] before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

God's angels can no longer "fall" today. Following the angelic revolt of Lucifer (now Satan), God "elected" or permanently confirmed the holiness of the angels who chose to remain loyal to Him. God has apparently given them a special grace of perseverance to enable them to permanently retain their position as holy angels.

The question that arises in my mind is if God's Perfect Will was always done here would we need to pray for it to be done here?

Jesus told us that "in this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! For I have overcome the world!"

The ultimate victory is clear because of Jesus sacrificial death and resurrection, but it will be realized totally and unequivocably (even by nonbelievers) at the culmination of all of history at the Lord's second coming.

I previously shared:

"A venerable confession of faith states it rightly: "God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any way to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures."

And I stated:

"I think that is a good definition of what is meant by Gods' "permissive" will."

I think what I may have left out is the important fact that God's current "permissive" will exists within His Perfect Will. It's not to be regarded as a separate entity.

Revelation reveals the idea of permissive will in the following verse:

Revelation 22:11, 12

11 Let the one who is doing wrong continue to do wrong; the one who is vile, continue to be vile; the one who is good, continue to do good; and the one who is holy, continue in holiness."

And the judgment at the culmination of all of human history reveals what will eventually be done:


12 "See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay all according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

There are probably many more examples that I could post, but I just wanted to share these few for the purpose of clarity.

Again, if I am misinformed about this then I apologize and I thank you for pointing out my error.

Love in the Lord,
Christine

Susan:

Good morning, my West Coast sister! I am glad you finally decided to get up today. It is almost my bedtime across the ocean, but I was pleased to see your post before I log off for the night. No apology is necessary, Christine. Debating or arguing or even discussions with many words about God's "perfect" or "permissive" will, simply do not interest me. It does not matter to me, who is right or wrong. I refuse to have anything to do with foolish or stupid disputes, because I know they produce quarrels (see 2TI 2:23).

Christ crucified is all that matters to me, because He is my life. Praise His Name. I often sin when I use many words, so I will close by telling you it is a joy to call you my "sister"... even if 'crazy lady' sometimes brings a smile to my face. I am going to log off now, BEFORE you reply and get me tickled before bedtime! God bless you, my friend. Much love from the Middle East,

Susan

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Our debate essentially ended there. As Susan stated, we didn't want there to remain a "foolish or stupid dispute."

However, I think that those Christians who refuse to stand up against the Obama Administration - all the while KNOWING how damaging it has been for our nation, might need a wake-up call.

I think that Glenn Beck's book will do just that.

You see, perhaps it is God's Will that we DO FIGHT TO GET OUR NATION BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK AGAIN!

What do you think?

Back to Beck's book.

Glenn doesn't spare any one of the two major political parties in his criticism against them. Both are heavily responsible for the mess that we find ourselves in today.

Chapter two is entitled, "Money - The Real Opiate of the Masses." Sounds familiar...doesn't it? Recall the old adage, "the love of money is the root of all evil." The truth is, the MISUSE of money by our Federal Government is just as damaging! One of the subtitles in the chapter reads, "Debt: How They Purchased Our Silence and Subservience." The discussion about our trillions of dollars national debt on the next few pages is MIND-BOGGLING! Glenn shares it in simple terms (especially good for the person who might fall asleep trying to read a chart or diagram) that will make you sad...AND MAD!

The second subtitle of Chapter Two reads, "Now How Much Would You Pay? The World's Largest Ponzi Scheme." Recall the Bernie Madoff scheme where he bilked investors out of $50 billion? Glenn states, "but that looks like a petty theft compared to the money stolen via Washington's Ponzi schemes."

He's absolutely correct. Read that chapter - and weep. Social Security is labeled as a great example of a "legal Ponzi scheme."

In the past, I have mentioned that the abortion of over 53,831,150 (as of 6/25/09 at 8:17 a.m. PT) CHILDREN has had an enormously devastating affect upon the Social Security system in this country. It is not the only reason the system is in trouble - but can you see how it MUST have had an enormous effect upon it?

When Social Security was created, abortion was considered a horrendous, illegal evil in our society and nation. Now? We have a usurper in the office of the presidency who is SO EXTREME that he voted AGAINST the Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2004!

I wonder. If someone did the math on this American Holocaust against vulnerable, innocent babies who cannot speak for themselves - and the children and grandchildren that they COULD HAVE HAD - what affect would it have had on preventing the Social Security Ponzi scheme?

Back to the book.

The third subtitle in Chapter Two reads, "But Wait, There's More! Our $100 Trillion Bipartisan Betrayal." When you read how badly our government has handled Medicare, you would have to be OUT OF YOUR MIND to think that Obama's latest scheme - "Universal Health Care," would EVER BE MANAGED CORRECTLY OR SUCCESSFULLY.

Beck:

The lecherous politicians who lied to us about funding Social Security and Medicare are the same ones who are now trumpeting "free" universal health care. and instead of pointing at their track record and laughing hysterically, we sit by and listen receptively, as though this time might somehow be different.

When politicians want money, they traditionally write a bill that provides lots of overly optimistic details about the particular program they want to fund. That's why it's so interesting that Obama's request for $634 billion to be put into a "universal health-care reserve fund" really doesn't come with a plan about where the money will come from who will be eligible for it, or how it will be spent.

Common sense should tell us that, given our experience with the Social Security Trust Fund, the very notion of another "reserve fund" is absolute insanity.

Did you see any of the Obama infomercial on his latest Ponzi scheme of "health care" last night? Did you notice the looks on several people in the audience there? To me, their faces looked quite incredulous. I don't think that they were buying what Obama was trying to sell.

There was a huge contrast between a doctor (on video) who inadvertently seemed to be advocating ending the life of the elderly whose continued care in the hospital is "too expensive" vs. the woman (there in person) who spoke of her then 99-year-old mother who had a transplant and is now 105 years old. Who should make these decisions on when a person should live or die? God. That's who.

Back to Beck's book.

In the fourth subtitle in Chapter Two, Glenn writes, "But That's Not All! Act Now and We'll Also Include a Financial Meltdown!" In this section, Glenn explains how our debt to China isn't something to say "whew!" about. Some have been erroneously convinced that "our ship missed the iceberg and is not really sinking." The truth is, "but it is sinking...and so are the lifeboats."

I know. All of this bad news is hard to take. But what's better? To know the truth or keep our heads in the sand??

Glenn discusses inflation. Have you already seen prices going up? I have - especially at the grocery store! But this is NOTHING - yet. As our dollar gets weaker - so will inflation increase. Be forewarned.

I have a lot more to share, but will continue this post later today. Chapter Three discusses, "The Political Weapon of Choice: The U.S. Tax Code." The last several paragraphs of that chapter (as Glenn often says) will make blood shoot out of your eyes!


He ends Chapter Two with this:

Our legacy to our children need not be a lifetime of servitude to our country's creditors--but the insanity must end now. The time available to save our country will run out well before the money does.

Wake up America!!! And DO SOMETHING!

Hat Tips:

Glenn Beck's "Common Sense" book.

RepubX

My conversation with Susan Smith.

LA Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust

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Update 6/26/09:

Found this essay on God's Permissive Will via Geocities.com.; written by Gregory B. Dill.

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Here is another essay. This one reminds me so much of what has happened here in America as a result of the election of Obama.

God's Perfect Will or His Permissive Will: The Choice Is Yours

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel , Go ye every man unto his city. 1 Samuel 8:19-22

The nation of Israel experienced the blessings of being God's chosen people. During the oppression of their years in Egypt , during their forty years wandering in the wilderness, and their long awaited entrance into the Promised Land, God had led them and provided for their every need.

Now the theocracy was being rejected. The people were demanding a king to rule over them, even though this went against the counsel of the Prophet Samuel. They were disregarding the Holy Spirit's leading of God's man: Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.

It is a dangerous thing when God's people do not acknowledge the heart of those who preach His Word. Hebrews 13:7 says, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

God desired a people who were separated from other nations; He wanted Israel to follow Him. Samuel knew that a king would take Israel away from God's divine direction. He knew they would experience difficulties and war, but the people were blinded by great visions of grandeur and wealth.

Because the Israelites chose to follow the wrong king, they relinquished God’s promises. They gave up God's best and settled for His permissive will. Psalm 106:13-15 states, They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

My friend, God may allow you your way, but you will not prosper or be as productive for Him. You will not experience the blessings that come from following the King of Kings. The Israelites paid a high price for their choice, and their country has never experienced the same level of greatness.

When we do our own thing instead of following God's plan for our lives, we experience heartache, disappointment, and loss of prosperity. Isn't this too high a price? Let's purpose to follow God so that we can experience the blessings of His perfect will.

Hat Tip:

Fundamental Forums.com