Reflections ... 3rd Verse

I suspect that many in our country, both among the religious and the non-religious, are not as familiar with the Pentecostal-Assemblies of God-Independent Bible churches as they should be. The major Pentecostal and Assembly of God church 'denominational' groups have websites on which they sketch out their belief systems. They are a worth a look, but always remember that there will be individuals and churches who will likely have some deviation from any official statemet of beliefs and practices.

The Pew Center has posted a helpful thumbnail sketch of Pentecostals on its website. Let me summarize some of the more significant points:
*** While only slightly more than 4% of the country are in these groups, they account for at least 13% of evangelicals. The greatest concentration of these groups is in the South.
*** Pentecostals are very faithful in church attendance and prayer and they are very certain about their belief in God.
*** They believe that the Bible is the literal Word of God and have received direct answers to prayer.
*** On the hot button social issues, they have very conservative views. For example, 35% of Pentecostals believe that abortion should be illegal in all cases.
*** They believe that the government should do more to help the needy and that religion should play an active role in politics and public life.

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To restate a point I have made before, my intent in doing this blog is to present items that I hope will generate some thought on the part of the reader. It is impossible to do this, at least for me, without showing some of my perspectives, but I have chosen to present ideas with which I disagree as well.

One reader, Anonymous, has chosen to make several comments about my last posting that I would like to address.
1) Anon said, "I can't imagine that you would not want a public servant to have a strong sense of ethics and a moral compass." In re-reading my blog, I did not say anything about desiring a public official who did not have a strong sense of ethics and a moral compass. There is a difference, however, in having a strong sense of personal ethics based on one's particular religious interpretations and expecting or working for national policy to reflect that.
2) Anon said, "You talk about legislation, when in fact she is running on a ticket to take an executive role." That is true. Yet, we elect a President and Vice-President to lead the country, and both executive positions have a great influence on what happens legislatively as the past 8 years have shown. This does not even factor in the influence of Presidential signing statements on the implementation of legislation as used by President George W. Bush. I know that Sarah Palin will not be the President, but no one knows what influence she may have in a McCain administration.
3) Anon said, "Second, do you not believe that God has a plan for the world, and that things are unfolding according to his plan?" This is the second time that someone under the Anon banner asked this of me. The last time this question was raised was in response to my tirade about Kirk Cameron's assertion that everything, including catastrophic illnesses, like cancer, and natural diasters are attributed to the hand of God.

My answer is simple. It all depends on what you mean by a "plan for the world." Do you assert that God is the direct causal agent for absolutely everything that happens in the world? And, that, thus, all that does happen is part of a coherent and directed path for all of the people in the world? If so, then, - No, I do not believe that all things that have happened are according to God's plan.