From the beginning of human creation, God has always given man a choice to obey Him or not. The track record of disobedience reveals a consistent cycle of leaving the ability to make our own decisions on how to serve God, to some form of subjection to a higher human authority, to forms of slavery.
Tim Martens is the pastor of the Northwest Arkansas and Springfield Missouri congregations. Prior to becoming a pastor, he has had successful careers in business and education as well as being a newspaper columnist.