The topics "Omnipotent God" and "Free-will" have lead me to some friendly debates between me and an Atheist friend of mine (what a combination we are!). His argument:

"God is not all-powerful. Otherwise we wouldn't have free-will and the freedom to make decisions for ourselves. And if He is really all-powerful, why do bad things happen in the world?"

The idea to me that all of us have free-will, and that nothing within ourselves is controlled by any omnipotent being, is a good one, but it doesn't really fit that close with my own beliefs. I have come to wonder if everything is supposed to be so black and white...like we're either controlled by a higher being, or we're not. What if we, ourselves, have free-will, but outside elements are controlled by otherworldy sources?

As for the question as to why bad things happen in the world, it's a harsh suggestion, but sometimes it seems that bad things NEED to happen so people can learn from them. For example, 9-11 was a horrible day in our history. But it brought a nation togther for a brief time and we learned that we need to tighten up our security and (politically) fight back- that's a whole other discussion, by the way. Or perhaps on this level, Satan (if you believe such exists) is also powerful to a certain degree and wreaks havoc on the land.

I guess I believe in fate and control in the hands of a higher power, but I do believe we have some control over what we do...which seems odd if God truly knows that I was going to do something trivial as typing this up tonight and posting it on the webboard. Wouldn't it be weird if God really knew tomorrow I was going to go to store and buy groceries long before I ever knew?