Do you think Biblically?

If you made a list of the top 10 reasons to praise God, what things might be on that list? The apostle Paul had a list and do you know what were number 1 and 2 on his list? Did either one on his list make your top 10? OK, go to Ephesians 1:3-14. By the way in Ephesians 1:11 you have one of the most sweeping statements in the Bible on God's sovereign control over all things. Paul starts out by extolling God for the many blessings that have been brought to us by the Father through the Son. The things that begin this list of blessings are dual truths, that God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, (Eph. 1:4) and that He has predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, out of His love, according to His will, to the praise of His glorious grace! The apostle Paul puts these two items at the top of his list when praising God: (Eph. 1:3-11)
1. Election
2. Predestination
Did either of these doctrines make your list? As most of you know these two terms have been highly debated and controversial throughout church history. Many times I have heard Christians utter a very dangerous phrase, they say things like "doctrine divides." Brothers and sisters in Christ that is not true, and I can prove that by you going to any of Paul's 13 epistles. He wrote in a style in which normally he always begins with doctrine, and then moves to application. Therefore Paul knew, because he was writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, that doctrine was the very thing that brought the church together to be unified in Christ. Again I am speaking to a larger point in our living the Christ centered life and which is grounded in our understand the Bible.