Fruit and nuts

You may have gathered that Zac's can be a little chaotic on times; last night it excelled itself.

I can't even begin to describe it; you had to be there. On Facebook Sean said, '... getting more convinced that Zac's Place is a 'fruit and nut' bar ...'

We're looking at David and there was a really good message in last night's reading about the grace of God but I wondered how many people had taken it in because of the distractions.

Just as I was leaving, Keith came over and chatted to me. We talked about one of those distractions: a man who wanted to know why God didn't step in when a child was being raped. There are all sorts of Christian explanations, reasons and 'answers' to that question, including the ideas of free will, sin in the world, and so on but most of us would admit that we can't comprehend it. It's evil and as the questioner said, 'If God can step in and part the Red Sea, why doesn't he step in there?' I don't know.

For me, where I am, where I've made the decision to follow Jesus, I have to say that I continue to trust God, and hang on to that. By the finger-tips maybe. Knowing that if a child of mine was raped I'd want to kill the offender.

But I didn't mean to go into that question. What I was going to say was that the questioner was one of those who didn't really want an answer. He had his view and though he asked the question he didn't listen to the answers. the most frustrating sort of questioner.

So Keith and I were discussing this and Keith said, 'Even if I don't understand what the Bible's about or learn from that, I learn about God just by seeing the patience Sean has. In answering the question he was so patient; I was learning from that.'

So my doubts about the benefits of the study were dealt with very effectively. This is what Christianity is about. Not about the Bible - though it provides a manual for life - but about living that life, and showing God to others through it.

I have such a lot to learn.
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