The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I wrote a blog not too long ago dealing with what a friend of mine said when I mentioned to her that she should play the lottery since she had been getting so lucky as of late and she responded with, "Sometimes I don't think God wants me to have money." She also claims to believe in free will. I received a comment on my blog that read, "When a 'christian' believes in free will, that means that they believe that God gives man the choice to believe and follow him." That comment left me scratching my head, so I did some research. The definition of free will is "the belief or the philosophical doctrine that holds that humans have the power to choose their own deeds." This definition seems to differ amongst Christians. Whereas some may believe in predestination, others believe in free will, and others yet seem to attempt to blend these two together. I do not understand this logic. If the comment left before me was true, how could it be constru...

Have you ever been talking to someone about a problem in your life and all they come back with is, "Well, you know, everything happens for a reason"? They'll say that or "You know, God has a plan for you." It reminds me of what a fortune cookie might read or what one's horoscope might say on a particular day. It's like a cop-out line in any conversation where a problem appears. Someone could be watching "The Young and the Restless" while listening to this problem and when their friend stops talking, even without hearing 86% of what was said, they can come back with, "Well, you know, everything happens for a reason" or "God has a plan for you." Now, I'll be honest, I used to think this quote was truthful, that everything did in fact happen for a reason. I also think it's probably a healthy way to look at things. If someone can just look at everything in life and say to themselves, "Well, I don't know why ...