Is he really in charge?

We'll take on this subject in Week Three. It's a tricky one, isn't it. Again there are three things we want to explore.

First of all, there's human freedom. When you make choices in life, you do it by yourself. Whether it's "What shall I have for supper?" or "Which career would I be best cut out for?" or even "Should I mug this old granny and run away with her handbag?", you don't feel there's some hidden divine force mysteriously pushing you towards the choice you make. So if humans are free, where does God's overall control come in? 

Second, there's the whole business of prayer. You don't always get what you pray for. So is God really able to fulfil people's requests? Does praying about something actually make a difference? Can we measure the difference prayer makes, or is it all just unproven? 

And last of all, we'll take another look at evil. "There can't be a good God when the world's like this," people say. "What about Auschwitz? Where was he when the bomb fell on Hiroshima? Why did so many churches get flattened when the earthquake hit Nepal? He's not very good at looking after his own, never mind anybody else."

Fair criticism? We'll let you decide. But as ever, we'll supply a few ideas to get you started, and show you what the Bible has to say about all this.