Angry Conversations with God Read Online Free PDF Page B

if this will help. For centuries society had blamed God for being a vengeful God. When you were young,
     the Vietnam War was going on. Your church was trying to practice peace. They were trying to turn the other cheek.
    Susan: But they didn’t turn the other cheek; they turned the other way. They rolled over and played dead.
    Jesus: You’re right.
    Susan: Do you blame me for thinking you were a wimp?
    Jesus: No. I don’t.
    Rudy: When I was a pastor and saw weird things go on, I was told to “let the Lord take care of it.” It’s messed up.
    Jesus: You think I don’t know that? I feel it every day.
    I guess I could see Jesus’ point of view. He spent his lifetime fighting on behalf of the poor and oppressed. He died on a
     cross to end that oppression. Yet it was still going on. No wonder he still looked depressed.

Chapter 3
MY TWO DADS
    HERE'S A QUESTION PEOPLE OFTEN ASK A COUPLE: “HOW DID you two meet?” I suppose the Father would drag out some impressive Bible verse about how he knew me “before the foundation
     of the world” (Eph. 1:4 nkjv). However, I'd like to stick to the period of recorded history in which I was alive, aware, and
     able to respond.
    As soon as I was aware of God, I responded. I memorized the Apostles’ Creed when I was five, and when I said the words I meant
     them. I believed in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth.
    But while Jesus was easy to picture, picturing God the Father was hard. God didn't have a body: that was the whole point of
     Jesus. Pastor Ingebretsen said God was a deep and powerful mystery. He had a voice of many waters. He was an all-consuming
     fire, a rock and a fortress, a strong tower. When he got angry, smoke blew from his nostrils. Okay, maybe God had a nose.
    When I turned seven, my birthday fell on Easter and my mom gave me a big gift. I had skipped half-day kindergarten, so while
     my dad said I was too young, my mom thought I was ready. She took me to the Bible bookstore to pick it up. It was a white
     leather Bible with a gold zipper, and there on the front was my name embossed in gold letters. I got to have my own Bible.
     I got to read it myself!
    We read about Jesus during devotions, but we also read the Psalms. Mom said they were written before Jesus was born, so that
     meant they were about God the Father Almighty. They didn't say what God
looked
like, but they showed what he
was
like. God was a refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. He made me lie down in green pastures. He forgave all
     my sins; he healed all my diseases; he redeemed my life from the pit and crowned me with love and compassion. Psalm 8 made
     me think of the times I looked through our telescope at the rings on Saturn. I wondered how God could even think about me
     and care about me. But the Bible said he did. What's not to love about a God like that?
    Mom's favorite psalm was Psalm 24:
    The earth is the L ORD'S , and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established
     it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the L ORD ? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
     nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the L ORD , and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.
     Selah. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is
     this King of glory? The L ORD strong and mighty, the L ORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come
     in. Who is this King of glory? The L ORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
( KJV )
    Before I understood what glory or the everlasting doors were, the poetry worked its deep and powerful mystery on me. I wanted
     to be one of