suffering

  • Suffering

    Great -

    https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/nothing-i-suffer-surprises-god

  • God knows the whole story

    Ron Hamilton wrote this song 38 years ago (3 years after he lost one eye to cancer).

    God never moves without purpose or plan
    When trying His servant and molding a man.
    Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
    In darkness He giveth a song.

    O Rejoice in the LORD
    He makes no mistake,
    He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
    For when I am tried
    And purified,
    I shall come forth as gold.

    I could not see through the shadows ahead;
    So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
    I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
    Then peace came and tears fled away.

    Now I can see testing comes from above;
    God strengthens His children and purges in love.
    My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
    Through purging more fruit I will bear.

  • Forgiveness

    "God asked me that question one day, very difficult. On June 17, 2015, a young white supremacist named Dylann Roof killed my wife and eight people at Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina," Rev. Thompson recalled. "And God asked me, He said to me, 'Can you love Dylann? Can you love that man who killed your wife?'"
    "Forty-eight hours after that horrific tragedy, I was at Dylan Roof’s bond hearing, and I had to answer God’s question," the pastor said. "It haunted me, and as I approached the podium I thought about myself and I said, 'God I am a sinner, just like Dylann.' And I said to Dylann, 'Son I forgive you. My family forgives you. But we would like you to take this opportunity to repent. Repent, confess, and give your life to the one who matters the most, that’s Christ. So that he can change your ways, change your attitude, and no matter what happens to you, you’ll be okay.'"
    ...
    "I’ve got to tell you, God’s peace is real, because after I forgave Dylann, I experienced God’s love, I experienced God’s peace," the black pastor said. "For the first time, I knew and understood exactly what it meant, what it felt like to experience the peace of God which passes all understanding."
    Thompson continued, saying God "freed me, He freed my heart, He freed my soul and body of the burden of bitterness, rage, anger, and malice. He healed me from the inside out, and I’m here to tell you that He took away all my burdens and gave me peace, peace you can have tonight."
    https://pjmedia.com/faith/echoing-jesus-this-black-pastor-forgave-the-white-supremacist-who-murdered-his-wife/
  • Nordic model

    The Nordic model to reducing sex trafficking... thought-provoking short video.

    https://www.facebook.com/exoduscry/videos/386891978743658/

  • walking through suffering

    "Where is your God now?" .... "They choose to root their perspective in the unchanging characteristics of God and His promises."
    Thought-provoking:

    https://world.wng.org/2018/09/reporting_on_suffering

  • book reviews

    Here are some recent reviews.  For more, see this link: http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

    Spacecraft Earth, by Henry Richter and David Coppedge
    This book summarizes information from many different domains of science, related to how Earth is optimized for life and how living creatures display optimal design. It discusses cosmology, including the Big Bang theory, multiverses, etc. It discusses biology, including the complexity of life and the difficulties with the commonly-accepted theories of evolution and abiogenesis. It discusses the evidence both for and against evolution. At the end, Dr. Richter shares his own life story, including his career of developing Explorer I (USA's first satellite) and how he became a Christian in his 40s.
    The book has a perfect balance of concise information and readability, with a few stories and pictures thrown in too. It might be slightly too science-oriented for some, but it is perfect for anyone interested in science/engineering/tech/biology. It is great to read for learning more information, and great to give away to others.

    God's Crime Scene, by J. Warner Wallace
    Wallace, former detective, takes a "crime scene" approach to looking at the evidence for God's existence, such as the fine tuning of the universe and the existence of objective morality. The book is very easy to read, and has great clear lay explanations of the latest quantum physics arguments and how they relate to the debate (e.g. can things pop into existence spontaneously out of 'quantum vacuum'? Did Stephen Hawking's imaginary time remove the need for the universe to have a beginning?) He agrees with William Lane Craig's explanations. On the down side, he accepts a multi-billion-year-old universe and evolution, like Craig. Possibly useful (with caveats) for some people (e.g. atheists).

    Escape from North Korea, by Melanie Kirkpatrick
    This book tells about the underground railroad of people helping North Koreans escape their country. It is very well researched and documented, and very well written. It presents many facets of the issues and is very informative. It has many testimonials from North Korean refugees. It is a bit dated now, since it was published in 2012, but is still very worth reading.

    Hope Heals, by Katherine and Jay Wolf
    This is the true story of a couple who experienced a terrible medical tragedy, a brain stroke. They together (back and forth) write about their experience, and how God and their family/friends sustained them through it. It is powerful and beautiful - well worth reading.

    Mideast Beast, by Joel Richardson
    This book presents more of the Biblical side of the prophecies about the Antichrist and the end times. As presented in his old article "Will Islam be our future?" (http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/index.htm ), Richardson believes that the end-times government described in the Bible will be a Muslim government, a renewed Caliphate/Ottoman empire. This book answers objections that people have presented to his view (i.e. from people who believe in a renewed Roman empire as the end-times government) He presents many interesting and persuasive interpretations of the relevant Bible passages, including Daniel, Revelation, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Isaiah, etc. His conclusion is that we should love Muslims, by seeking to bring the gospel of Christ to them and show them the way out of the darkness of Islam.

    The Great Omission, by Steve Saint
    The main point of this book is that western missionaries should seek to help the people with whom they are ministering become self-sufficient in terms of financing, leadership (especially church leadership), missions-sending, and technological skills. Missionaries should 'work themselves out of a job' in a particular place, empowering the indigenous church and local community to become self-sufficient and sending out other missionaries. It presents excellent points, although it gets a little like a 'rant' occasionally. Worth reading.

(I use 'tags' and 'categories' almost interchangeably... see below)

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