Suffering

Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? A s we contemplate the way that God works in the world, He teaches us the right way to live. We learn to praise God for prosperity and trust God through adversity. We learn to live a God-fearing life that is free from...

I t is one thing to say that we believe in the sovereignty of God, but it's another thing to live that out in a world that often seems meaningless. No sooner has the Preacher told us to consider the works of God than he struggles with some of the implications of God's sovereignty. Remember, the...

T rusting in the sovereign goodness of God helps us know how to respond to all the joys and trials of life. Whether we are having a good day or a bad day, there is always a way for us to glorify God. So the Preacher says: "In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider:...

One of the first people that I hope to meet in heaven is the Scottish theologian Thomas Boston.[1] I admire the man for the depth of his theology; Jonathan Edwards said that Boston's work on the covenants distinguished him as a "truly great divine."[2] I also admire for the breadth of his writing:...

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast." So wrote the eighteenth century poet, Alexander Pope. Platitude? Yes, but true for all that. I have to confess the lines (from An Essay on Man ) come to mind frequently at dinner when my dog lies at my feet, his gaze fixed on every morsel entering my...

Editor's Note: This is the third post in a four-part series on the life and relevance of Samuel Rutherford ( 1600-1661) . Find previous entries here . A Ministry of Sacrifice and Suffering B eing called to the small, obscure parish of Anwoth did not give Rutherford an opportunity to take it easy...

Dropping into church on Good Friday you’d think we were celebrating the death of God. Of course, God cannot die. Of course God cannot die, but there is a sense in which you’d be on to something. Why is a cross central to Christianity? Why was it constantly on the mind of the Lord Jesus Himself...

The French Jesuit priest and philosopher, Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) said, ‘Joy is not the absence of pain’. Others have made the same observation repeatedly, either quoting de Chardin, or else expressing the same thought from their own perspective. It is a vital aspect of the joy we discover...

“G od won’t give you more than you can handle.” Is there a Christian out there who hasn’t heard this saying? Surely not. Despite its popularity, this saying is not universally loved. There are many people, of course, who believe it is true. Others are more cautious and hold it be true so long as it...