Choice

I commend your "no guts" honesty sir. In that position, with the prospect of standing up and speaking to the congregation in Church, I could only tell them about what happened to me. I could not speak with any authority on The Bible, I don't know that it is the "word" of the creator of them and the Universe. I could only tell them that in my experience there is someone out there who answers to the name of "Jesus Christ" and this someone will sometimes give you things if you ask for them. I could not tell them why.

You wrote:

We are called to surrender our will to Christ, yet to do so requires a conscious act of the will.

I think this is about "who choses what I do?" isn't it?

I would say that you are the final arbiter in choosing what you do. You get up in the morning and choose whether you want toast or cereal. Now, you might pray, seek guidance, and believe that a message of "cereal" comes back. Then you might say .. hmmm.. but I really want toast! If you follow the cereal recommendation then you are following God's will. If you decide to eat toast then you are not submitting to God's will. Either way, it is your choice what you eat.

We have free will. Not sure what the closest example would be .... "if you love someone then set them free?"

The interesting thing is, how do I know the message that comes back is from God or Satan-masquerading-as-God? (or someone else? or me ?). And if no message comes back at all then what do I do?

Osama's people think it is God's will to fly planes into buildings, George W. thinks it is God's will to bomb Iraq .. it's worrying to me to give up my will. I'd rather work problems through rationally.

Those movie quotes brought back some great memories - thanks. They missed my favourite which is from "Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes" back in an exchange between Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), just as the gallant correllian-ship captain is about to be frozen in carbonite, with a good chance of dying in the process:

Leia: "I love You"
Solo: "I know"

In the making-of series it turned out that Ford just invented that off of the cuff! Brilliant.

Current song: "What if?" -- Coldplay