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Merciful Providence
God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass;
Saturday, May 13, 2006 - In accordance with God's Sovereign eternal decree, His merciful providence and His abundant common grace, Liverpool today won English soccer's most prestigious Cup competition, the FA Cup, beating West Ham United 3-1 on penalties after an all-time classic final finished 3-3.
"Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." - Proverbs 25:25
- Pastor John Samson
Posted by John Samson on May 13, 2006 12:46 PM
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John
No John, I think this perhaps took God by surprise. He did not arrange this. It was a matter of chance thwarting divine providence and, in fact, this one event tore a gaping hole in the cosmic fabric. The universe may be unraveling as we speak and we are the passive victims.
So when are you going to post the results of your show?
Posted by: John H | May 13, 2006 01:14 PM
John,
I couldn't disagree with you more. If you were watching the game John, you'd know it was the 3 West Ham goals in normal time that took the Lord by surprise. One was an own goal turned into the net by a Liverpool defender (how could God know that this would happen??); one was the direct result of an error made by the Liverpool goalkeeper; and the third goal was an attempted cross that ended up drifting over the head of everyone into the back of the net. The West Ham player was shocked, the entire West Ham team were shocked... the Liverpool team were shocked.. Heaven was stunned!
Because of a rebellious gust of wind that was operating in the stadium (outside of Providential control), God's plan for Liverpool to win the 2006 F. A. Cup was falling apart at the seams. Just as the entire universe was unravelling before our very eyes, God, now seeing that there was a real problem, stepped in (re-adjusting His eternal decree to take into account the calamity that the wind gust had caused) and responded by hurriedly ordaining that a stupendous 35 yard shot from Liverpool's Steven Gerrard would tie the score with the game about to end, setting up extra time and the nerve jangling penalty shoot out. Outsmarted, there was nothing that the devil or even man with his libertarian free will could do to thwart God's purposes now, simply because there was no time left in the game to do so.
After all of this, heaven and hell were pretty battle weary in extra time... no one delivering the fatal blow to end the game. Of course, heaven was extremely nervous over the outcome of the shoot out (as it could have gone either way), but fortunately for God, luck was on Liverpool's side, and His ordained plan finally took place. To say heaven was relieved would be a huge understatement.. :-) Obviously, we all hope that the gust of wind will not re-appear elsewhere and that things can get back to normal once again.
Regarding the radio program, I've been waiting to be able to provide a downloadable version so folk can hear it. I still hope to be able to do this.
James White and I covered some intriguing topics in the 2 hours, from Islam, Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, the nature of man's free will, the five solas and the Biblical Gospel and fielded many interesting calls. I think it went well, judging by the positive responses we've had, though I am also certain that some listeners would have been offended.
Posted by: John Samson | May 13, 2006 01:32 PM
Amen.
I'm not a Liverpool fan but they're currently my favourite premiership side and Gerrard is a legend.
More importantly, God seems to be rather in control of the England test match at the moment.
Posted by: Paul Huxley | May 13, 2006 02:39 PM
In 25 days, we'll partake of that little slice of heaven that happens once ever four years... (the World Cup)
Go Argentina!
Posted by: Berny | May 14, 2006 12:28 AM