{"id":89388,"date":"2025-08-13T11:34:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T16:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=89388"},"modified":"2025-08-13T11:34:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T16:34:19","slug":"dont-call-me-god-ill-call-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-call-me-god-ill-call-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t Call Me God, I&#8217;ll Call You!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Phillip Mullins<\/p>\n<p>People want God involved in their lives on their own terms and in their own time.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some do not want to be responsible to God when they are healthy. They want to be free to chase after their desires and pleasures. Yet, when they face a serious illness, they call out for God to help.<\/li>\n<li>Some do not want God involved in their marriage. They think they know how to treat their spouse, and they don&#8217;t want God&#8217;s standards interfering. Yet, when they began that marriage with a wedding ceremony, they asked for His blessings on them.<\/li>\n<li>Some do not want to heed God&#8217;s will on raising children. They give little thought to the impact of their example. They think disciplining them, teaching them morals, and teaching them the Bible is not all that important. Yet, when their child has grown to be a teen and they are in jail or pregnant or on drugs, they want God to storm in and fix the problem.<\/li>\n<li>Some do not want to submit to God&#8217;s standards of honesty and dependability in their job or at their business. But when they are on the verge of being laid off or their business is about to go belly up, they want God to bail them out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That is the kind of relationship people want with God, but it is not the kind of relationship He allows.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Seek first the kingdom of God<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 6:33).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple<\/em>&#8221; (Luke 14:33).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Present your bodies a living sacrifice<\/em>&#8221; (Romans 12:1).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus<\/em>&#8221; (Colossians 3:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When it comes to having a relationship with God, it is either all or nothing. You can&#8217;t expect God to be your Savior and Provider in times of need when you have refused to allow Him to be your Lord and King every day.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Phillip Mullins People want God involved in their lives on their own terms and in their own time. Some do not want to be responsible to God when they are healthy. They want to be free to chase after their desires and pleasures. Yet, when they face a serious illness, they call out for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[616],"class_list":["post-89388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-accountability"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54892,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-we-really-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":89388,"position":0},"title":"Did we really get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have an issue that has been weighing on my mind. Like many of your questions, it has to do with sexual activity. Six months ago, I met an amazing, wonderful girl whom I fell in love with. We have spent so much time with each other (after\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20109,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/teaching-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":89388,"position":1},"title":"Teaching Love","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 13:11-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I received a complaint several years ago. After reading an article on why sex outside of marriage is sin, the reader complained, \u201cI wish you guys would pay more attention to the golden rule, \u2018love thy neighbor,\u2019 than all the homophobic and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-took-vows-before-god-isnt-that-enough-to-say-we-are-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":89388,"position":2},"title":"We took vows before God, isn&#8217;t that enough to say we are married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God disapprove of my marriage? I have been with my (wife) for over 3 years now. I know that a marriage must have a witness for it to be true. The day we wed we were under the canopy of heaven (outside.) We asked God to be a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20146,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/weve-been-living-together-for-five-years-and-dont-need-a-paper-to-prove-our-love-but-i-want-to-make-it-right-with-god-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":89388,"position":3},"title":"We&#8217;ve been living together for five years and don&#8217;t need a paper to prove our love, but I want to make it right with God. What should I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 7 years. We have lived together for 5. We are not ready for marriage. He and I think we don't need a piece of paper to prove our love, but I want to make it right with God. Is there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43326,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-handle-marrying-a-hindu\/","url_meta":{"origin":89388,"position":4},"title":"How do I handle marrying a Hindu?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian, baptized when I was 16 years old. I used to live with my parents and I never used to eat anything offered to idols or entered temples. Four years later I thought food won't hurt us nor would going to temples hurt our faith in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23233,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doctrinal-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":89388,"position":5},"title":"Doctrinal Matters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer When we think of \u201cdoctrinal\u201d issues, we tend to think of matters like marriage and divorce, the work of the church, baptism, etc. We work hard to try to get these right, and there are often sharp disagreements over the nature of these \u201cdoctrinal\u201d matters. \u201cDoctrine\u201d means\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/love-your-neighbor-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}