Day 61 - 2 Peter

I am not a Calvinist.  Now, I respect what John Calvin meant to the Christian faith, and I have many friends who are dedicated Christians, some even fantastic pastors, whose theology is formed by Calvin.  I'm United Methodist, which means I lean more toward a Wesleyan theology, shaped by the thoughts of John Wesley.  However, I'm first and foremost a Follower of Jesus, and my theology is most formed by Scripture.  And I can't read the Bible and accept what today many would call a Calvinist theology.  That's all a bunch of seminary mumbo-jumbo.  What do I mean?  I simply reject the notion that some of chosen and some are not.  And, if I had to say why, 2 Peter 3:8-9 would do the trick:

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

This passage has always spoken to me for a few reasons. 

1. It makes dinosaurs make sense.  That has nothing to do with Calvin and predestination.  It just makes things make more sense that God's days are not like ours, which means Creation might have looked a little different than our 7-day week with 24 hours.  Time is irrelevant to God.  He's outside of time, which, for the most part, blows my mind.  But at least this clears things up to me.
2. God wants all people to be saved.  That's it.  God doesn't want to see people perish and end up in hell.  God desires ALL to come to faith in Christ.  He didn't create some so that they wouldn't just to even things up.  There isn't a special chosen group that are supposed to enjoy heaven and God's blessings.  All are creations of the Most High God. 

I respect Christians who have a different opinion of what it means to be chosen, but I just don't understand it.  This is one of the passages to me that reveals God's heart -- all are chosen.  All are under the blood of Christ if we choose to be.  I hope you know that.  Maybe you were made to feel like you didn't belong in church or that you had to clean up your act, your attire, your tattoos, or your habits before you came to Christ.  That's not true.  Jesus does the cleaning...we just come.  All are welcome.  All are chosen.  All can be His children.  And He is waiting -- patiently -- for you to come home.