Does God make mistakes? The answer to that and other questions on this edition of E-lite. Hi, I'm Mike Kellogg and you are now listening to Key Life, where you can find honest answers to honest questions about God's Word. Now, here is Steve. Thanks, Mike. This is Friday and as usual, my pastor in his gracious way takes time from a very busy schedule. I mean, I do appreciate that. Oh, it's good to be here. Most busy people in our culture are pastors. I mean, it never stops. It's amazing, yeah. You know what I do? Well, yeah, but nothing like that. You know what I do, you know, at the end of the day, I can sometimes do what I was supposed to do. Clean off my desk and it's all done for that day and I start fresh the next day. You haven't done that in 20 years. I mean, it's always sticking out. There's always stuff left and it just never stops. Unless I just sweep it off and throw it away. Yeah, it doesn't pretend you didn't say it in the first place. But I do appreciate you're coming in. By the way, we love to get your questions. You have to write them down. Send them to Key Life, post office box 5,000, Madeleine Florida, 32794, or in Canada, Key Life Canada, post office box 32150. Can breach Ontario in 3H5 and 3? Or you can email questions at Steve at Key Life.org but be sure and give us your regular mailing address if you want a response. And you do always get a response from me or a staff member on the broadcaster in the magazine. Because we love to get your questions. And by the way, don't use the 1-800 number. You can get the magazine. You can become a part of our 3-key-life tape family. You can get some of the hundreds of thousands of pieces of literature and tapes. George told me we sent out 750,000 pieces of literature and tapes last year, I think he said. But in any way, you can get any of that for. You can make contribution to help us do that, if you like. But you've got to write the question down. Before we turn to the questions, Pete, would you lead us in praying? Our Father, today we do come into your presence and praise your name. Lord, as we think of who you are, we honor you for being the God who is high and holy and lifted up so much so that Isaiah trembled in your presence. We know that the angels bow before you because of your righteousness, because of your faithfulness, because of your power, and your love, and your insight, your wisdom, your goodness, and kindness, truth. Lord, you just, we could go on and worship you and honor you. And we praise you for being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that we have been redeemed by the work of Christ and that your Spirit dwells in our hearts and gives us encouragement and strength for our everyday life. Lord, we thank you that Grace was not just a one-time thing, but that is an everyday occurrence in our life because of who you are and we give you honor. We look forward to worshiping you on Sunday, and we pray for our leaders, we pray for those who are pastors and teachers and priests who will be right on the forefront. Lord, give them strength, give them the message, give them the energy to speak, and Father, may they not move to their own perspective, but get to yours and may they speak it in a gracious way. And now, Father, we pray that you adhere. Here are questions and give us wisdom as we talk to your people. We pray for you to be honored as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, Pete. This is from Ontario, Canada, this God, make mistakes. My short answer is no. Now, you can expand on that. Well, if y'all were listening, it may have been last Wednesday or two or three Wednesdays ago. A listener from Canada had been really upset with me because I was dealing with some of the, while I was speaking of Dr. Clark Pinnick at McMaster University, and I said that his theology came from the pit of hell and it smelled like smoke. And my brother, it was a very kind letter, but he said, you know, that was not appropriate. And I told him, I say that about every, I say that about spinach. It was more a colloquial thing, but I did apologize, but I did say that a lot of the new theological views in Clark Pinnick is the one that's probably associated with it. But God is sort of playing this game with us and is in fond hope that it'll turn out okay, and I have some real problems with that. But, you know, from a theological standpoint that flies in the face of everything that we are, I think is well, as reform, but also as evangelical. Yeah, we really believe that God's God and that at creation, he didn't make any mistakes. He, that he's omnipotent. That's all powerful. And I'm missing it. He's all knowing. And I'm no present, that he's always present, that he's the creator, sustainer, ruler, and planer of the universe, which, and at the same time, we don't want to, and maybe that's where Clark Pinnick is speaking, we don't want to set aside our responsibility and our freedom, our involvement in this. But no God doesn't make mistakes. And if he does, we got a problem. Yeah, and mean scriptures clear, Ephesians 11 says God works all things after the counsel of his own will. So, we're pretty big on God's sovereignty, but at the same time, big on man's responsibility too. And the reason some of you're saying you can't have both of those is because you're Aristotelian in your logical and thought forms. And if you were hebraic the way we are, those of us who are very spiritual, you would simply say, I don't know. But I know. I think that has extreme practical implications too, doesn't it? Yeah. How do you deal with suffering as a pastor? That would make you almost want to go to some of the directions that Pinnick and others are advocating because it does seem as if God is good. God's, let me ask the Odyssey, the problem of evil. How does a good God who is also omnipotent? How does he deal? How does he allow it? Well, I mean, man, those are the huge issues and the reality is, is God does allow people to suffer. Those he loves, those who are his own lot of sun to suffer. He doesn't, I don't know if he sits in the heaven and says, look, I don't like the way you part your hair or more, give you cancer. But there has to be ultimately a trust that even the cancer is a part of the ultimate will of God. And that Romans 828 is still true, that all things do work together. Oh, man, that is true. And it does say in Scripture that a king revels in revealing a matter where God in concealing matters. That's true. And so there's a lot of mystery. He shrouds himself in it. And that's where that was, as we talked about last week, the idea of faith is an ongoing trust in the Father. That though he slighted me. That's right. That's right. And certainly Paul was that way. If you read 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, man, he went through so much for the sake of the gospel. That's true. And I remember when I was a young pastor, and I was not a believer, not a red hot one in those days. I'd come out of a graduate school of theology that was just decided with me. And I remember I shared a funeral with a very famous liberal preacher, a very large church. And this young lady had died of diabetic shock, and the baby she in her womb also died. And he opened the sermon that he gave by saying, I will not say that a loving God had anything to do with this tragedy. And I didn't know, I mean I didn't know anything, but I remember even in those days thinking, you know, if God had anything to do with this, we got a bigger problem than Debbie's death and the baby's death. And so the alternative, if God makes mistakes, is pretty scary. That's right. I would rather have mystery in my life and not understand God fully rather than try to live my life in a God who really is not in control. So true. And well said. This is from Indiana. What does the Bible teach about intercession in regard to the Trinity? You know, are they are they struggling with who do you pray to? Well, you know, they may be asking this question because of that long series I did taken from my book and I'm not above trying to sell books on this program. Call follow the wind that Baker books published. Great. And I need the money. Get it. Yeah. That's true. Actually, I don't get anything for it all goes to key life. But, but I think probably this person was asking the question because the subtitle that book was our Lord, the Holy Spirit and the question was how about addressing the Holy Spirit? Do you pray? Do you pray to the Father? Do you pray to the Holy Spirit? Do you pray to the Son? I've noticed in your prayers, your prayers are generally prayed to the Father. Yeah, I think I certainly don't think that somebody is committing heresy if they say Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit give me strength today. I don't think that's heresy. And I generally though the tenor of scripture, scriptural prayer seems to be pray to the Father through the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. So I think that's it seems to preserve the economy of the Trinity that scripture. Yeah, it really does. But I think we have to be very careful. There isn't. It isn't. I don't think the Holy Spirit says to the Father because there's no jealousy. Right. Right. Or the Father says to the Holy Spirit that was mine and he prayed to you, I ain't listening to this one. Or that Jesus says, I'm really upset. I haven't gotten but four of the last thirty prayers from that believer Sam. I'm really upset with it because I don't think God does that. The Trinity suggests there is no jealousy because it's one three persons in one. And I don't want to say any more about the Trinity because you know you you know it's hard to explain the Trinity without getting into heresy. That's that's really true. Getting getting stripped up. You can't play one member of the Trinity off again. I don't know. I think that's the bottom one. That's around about pretty helpful answer. I think we gave. Let me see. We got a little bit of time. What are the qualifications for church leadership? That's an email. By the way. Well, in our church, the main qualifications that they agree with me philosophically are totally loyal and vote on your side and vote for a race every year, except when you need it twice a year. Now, and I learned that all for me. You know, first Timothy three and Titus one gives those qualifications and it's fascinating because most of the qualifications are our spiritual in terms of Christ's likeness. But an elder must not be one who's, you know, who really likes fighting verbal conflict just for the sake of. You know, it really needs to have a Christ like representation. You know, if you go read those passages and Timothy and Titus, do you think anybody lives up to them totally? Yeah, you know, one of our elders, somebody in our church said that one of our elders was the most like Jesus Christ that he'd ever seen. I said, was that me? And I said no. But nobody lives up to that. I don't think fully. But it's the thrust of a lie. You know, when I believe about the maturity thing must not be a new believer. I used to say that so they know a lot and have been in a long time. I don't, I think once you're a leader in the church and you see all the stuff that goes on in the church, you lose your faith. If you haven't been around a long time, get your eyes on Jesus. You are right. I've had elders that are no longer serving say, I can't do that anymore. I know too much. That's true. But those are good. I mean, leaders ought to be people that are moving in their lives direction through the Christ's life. We're not there. We're starving. We just started. Well, that's this again. All right, guys. And you will, won't you? Yeah. I've got to learn some dirt on you. So just in case. Whenever you write a call, give us the call letters of this great station and key life is a production of key life networks.