God is not Immune to Your Pain
"The cross [of Christ] does not solve the problem of suffering, but it supplies the essential perspective from which to look at it. Since God has demonstrated his holy love and justice in a historical event (the cross), no other historical event (whether personal or global) can override or disprove it.
I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as "God on the cross." In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?...That is the God for me! He laid aside hi immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering."
John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 321, 326-27.
Marriage & the Trinity
From the good folks at Resurgence:
Recall Gen. 1:26-27: "Let us make man in our image . . . in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." There is both equality and distinction among the three persons in the Godhead. Each divine person is equally and fully God, but each also has his own distinctive roles and relationships among the others. Equality and distinction, sameness and difference, mark the Trinitarian persons in relationship; and similarly, equality and distinction, sameness and difference, mark the relationships of the original man and woman that God created.
The implications of this connection between the Trinity and male-female relationships in marriage are both huge and glorious. May God grant us eyes to see more of who he is, and more of how he has made us to reflect something wondrous of his own triune relationships in our marriages and through our homes.
Suffering Well
Matt Chandler, lead pastor at The Village Church, was diagnosed with brain cancer in late 2009. His focus on Christ and comfort in the sovereignty of God during this time of immense suffering serves as an encouragement to us:
“Lauren asked the doctor, ‘What’s best-case scenario and what’s worst-case scenario?’ He said: ‘Best-case scenario is that God heals you. . . . Worst-case scenario, honestly, is that you get killed in a car wreck on your way home today.’
“He was the first one to say to me out loud, ‘Nothing’s really changed for you—you just get to be aware that you’re mortal. Everyone is, but they’re just not aware of it. The gift that God’s given you is that you get to be aware of your mortality.’
“So if this goes bad for me, if my MRI scan shows that . . . I have a short amount of time, I can talk to my wife, talk to my children, shoot videos. . . . Most guys who die in their 30’s kiss their wife goodbye in the morning and never come home. . . . At least once a year, for the rest of my life, I get the anxiety of ‘Am I going to hear today that I only have a couple years to live?’ . . . It is a gift.”
HT: Justin Taylor
Suffering: Additional Resources
Perhaps the greatest question for some to wrestle with is the idea of suffering. Instead of a being a theoretical or philosophical idea that we talk about, suffering is deeply personal to all of us. Instead of merely discussing it, we experience it. Therefore deeper questions arise. Praise be to God that we serve a God who did not stand aloof from our suffering but entered into it that we might have great hope in the midst of our trials.
For those who would like to read additional material on this topic, here are some edifying resources:
- D.A. Carson, How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil.
- Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts
- John Piper and Justin Taylor, eds., Suffering and the Sovereignty of God
For those who like to listen, John Piper’s sermon series, “Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer” (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) provides excellent material in regards to suffering.. Additionally, here is John Piper's response to NPR when they asked him about the 2005 tsunami that ravaged 11 different countries.
Taste Of...
One of the great things about living in DC is the numerous events for the community to enjoy. Here are a couple that you might want to check out...
|
|
|
|
Taste of Friendship Heights on Saturday, September 25 from 12 - 5pm.
Taste of Bethesda on Saturday, October 2 from 11am - 4pm
Taste of Georgetown on Saturday, October 9 from 11am - 4pm.
The Doctrine of the Trinity
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by Bruce Ware, is a great resource for learning more about the biblical understanding of and practical implications for the Trinity. In under 160 pages, Ware provides a very readable, yet incredible thoughtful look at this orthodox Christian position. Here is a snippet to wet your taste buds:
"The doctrine of the Trinity affirms God's whole and undivided essence belongs equally, eternally, simultaneously and fully to each of the three distinct Persons of the Godhead.
Equally so as to avoid Arianism.
Eternally so as to avoid thinking of God's nature as created.
Simultaneously so as to avoid modalism.
Fully so as to avoid any tri-partite understanding of the Trinity."
(From page 41)
Theology{in the}Park
This past Saturday we descended upon the National Mall for another installment of Theology{in the}Park. We had a blast as we chatted it up with friends and learned about the Doctrine of the Trinity.
Jason Hall, a PhD student in Trinitarian Theology at SEBTS, helped us think through the biblical evidence for and practical applications of the Trinity. You can listen to his talk and download a copy of the handout.
Doubt: Additional Resources
F
or those of you looking to read more extensively on doubt, here are some resources:
- Dealing with Doubt & The Thomas Factor are free online books by Gary Habermas
- The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel: the last chapter addresses the question, "If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it possible to be a Christian?"
- What Should I Do with My Doubts is a talk given at Redeemer Church
Three Kinds of Tolerance
From John Stott:
"How then are we to think of other religions? The word that immediately springs to most people's minds is 'tolerance', but they do not always stop to define what they mean by it. It may help if we distinguish between three kinds.
The first may be called legal tolerance, which ensures that every minority's religious and political rights (usually summarized as the freedom to 'profess, practise and propagate') are adequately protected in law. This is obviously right.
Another kind is social tolerance, which encourages respect for all persons, whatever views they may hold, and seeks to understand and appreciate their position. This too is a virtue which Christians wish to cultivate; it arises naturally from our recognition that all human beings are God's creation and bear his image, and that we are meant to live together in amity.
But what about intellectual tolerance, which is the third kind? To cultivate a mind so broad that it can tolerate every opinion, without ever detecting anything in it to reject, is not a virtue; it is the vice of the feeble-minded. It can degenerate into an unprincipled confusion of truth with error and goodness with evil. Christians, who believe that truth and goodness have been revealed in Christ, cannot possibly come to terms with it."
John Stott, The Authentic Jesus (London: Marshalls, 1985), p. 69.
Exclusivity: Another Resource
Another resource that has served many well in the quest to find answers to many of the common questions regarding Christianity, including the notion of exclusivity, is Lee Strobel's Case for Christ.
Strobel himself was an atheist who set out to disprove the primary beliefs of Christians. Well, in the process he saw the overwhelming evidence for the person and work of Jesus and became a follower of Christ.
Several other apologetic resources can be found at his website.