The plight of man in a world marred by sin and death demands that one make sense of the suffering that grips every person in various forms and degrees. A person’s world-and-life-view – their underlying convictions concerning the origin, nature, meaning and destiny of man and the world – will inform one’s response to suffering. For the unregenerate, believing a lie that … [Read more...]
Sovereignty & Unjust Suffering: Studies in Daniel, Part 1/2
Divine Sovereignty & Christian Suffering In view of Christian experience and, indeed, that of Daniel, it must be asked as to how one responds to 'unjust suffering'. While 'unjust suffering' can manifest in many forms, the focus of this article is on persecution. Perhaps the best way to view ‘unjust suffering’ in the book of Daniel is through the words and teaching of … [Read more...]
The Problem of Evil: Finding God in our Pain
"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You” Job 42:5. The Problem of Evil. From ancient Greece (e.g. Epicurus, 342-270 BC), to the Enlightenment (e.g. David Hume, AD 1711-76), up to the present day, philosophers and theologians alike have been baffled by the "problem of evil". Many consider it as the Achilles heel of Christianity. The … [Read more...]
‘From Now On I Will Go To The Gentiles’
The Current Realignment of the Church But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.' Acts 18:6 Hearing the voice of God I was in the national capital attending a roundtable conference of leaders committed to transformational city-reaching. Sitting at … [Read more...]
The Hiddenness of God
Truly you are a God who hides himself ... Isaiah 45:15 The hiddenness of God is one of the greatest paradoxes of the spiritual life. On the one hand, he is the self-revealing God who delights to communicate with man, but on the other, he hides himself. God is a mystery. An anonymous fourteenth century divine refers to this as, the Cloud of Unknowing. The psalmist cries out … [Read more...]