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Making Sense of Suffering?

April 17, 2013 — 1 Comment

On vacation, I was getting ready to add some resources to the sermon on the Tough Questions of ‘Suffering’ when the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy hit the news. The question sadly rages again as we groan and weep and pray.

Here are some important resources from the viewpoint of our Christian worldview:

Some books I often recommend:

Philip Yancey has written extensively on this issue. Where is God When It Hurts is still among the best.

Tim Keller’s book covers several tough questions: The Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.

A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss, by Jerry Sittser is a more personal testimony of God’s help and grace.

C. S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain is a classic and helpful as ever.

Christopher Wright has written The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith, that has a helpful study guide.

Finally, David Bentley Hart, editorial writer for First Things, wrote this article in 2008 at the time of the Asian Tsunami. It is not easy vocabulary but worth the work. One of his statements is rich with insight: “…(our faith) has set us free from optimism, and taught us hope instead.”

Tsunami and Theodicy

No one, no matter how great the scope of his imagination, should be able easily to absorb the immensity of the catastrophe that struck the Asian rim of the Indian Ocean and the coast of Somalia on the second day of Christmas this past year; nor would it be quite human to fail, in its wake, to feel some measure of spontaneous resentment towards God, fate, natura naturans, or whatever other force one imagines governs the intricate web of cosmic causality. But, once one’s indignation at the callousness of the universe begins to subside, it is worth recalling that nothing that occurred that day or in the days that followed told us anything about the nature of finite existence of which we were not already entirely aware. Continue Reading…

In Apologetics, faith and doubt, Suffering, Uncategorized
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A Prayer to pray for 40 days (and beyond)

February 14, 2013 — 2 Comments

Lent Image-40daysThe “Lenten Prayer of Ephrem the Syrian” has become part of my regular prayer life. As I have done several times in the past – I “commend” it to you for your prayer (and repentance). The wording of the prayer is my latest version from much reading on the history of the prayer.  The commentary that follows is adapted from a commentary in Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent. (See my previous post on Lent)

Two practices that I am doing – and invite you to do – this Lenten season:
* to pray this prayer each morning or evening.

* to read and meditate through the letter of 1 Peter (which we will be preaching through at Christ Church starting next week).  Each day, I’ll post the short passage for the day on Twitter.  Feel free to “Follow” me here - or click the Twitter button on the right.

Here is the prayer – followed by the very insightful commentary:

O Lord and Master of my life!
Take from me the spirit of
apathy, despondency, ambition, and empty talk.
+++
But give rather the spirit of
purity, humility, patience, and love to Your servant.
+++
Yes, O Lord and King!
Grant me to see my own errors
and not to judge my brother or sister;
For You are blessed forever, to ages of ages.  Amen!
+++

Continue Reading…

In Eastern Orthodoxy, Lent, Prayer, Uncategorized
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Jesus: Man of Sorrows; Man of Joy

December 18, 2012 — Leave a comment
painting byTracy Taylor Davis

painting byTracy Taylor Davis

It was the third Sunday in Advent
and the theme was ‘Joy’
and the worship songs were chosen
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
and Joy to the World;
a testimony of joy was ready
and this painting of joy returning.

Two days ago 26 innocent children and teachers died.
Can we sing and talk and preach of joy?
We alter our prayers and pray more
and sing with a solemn kind of joy.
But in light of the Man of Sorrows
who was also the Man of Joy.
how can we not read the scriptures
and be called again to “fix our eyes on Him,
who for the joy set before him, endured the cross…”
(Hebrews 12)

Listen to the Sunday’s personal story and sermon here.
In Uncategorized
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‘Love with skin on’ – Athanasius ‘On the Incarnation’

September 25, 2012 — Leave a comment

On the Incarnation of the Word was highly recommended by Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, who in his great introduction suggested that contemporary Christian audiences could benefit from reading more ancient classics. Though Athanasius of Alexandria wrote this text in the 4th century, his writing is easy to follow and powerfully persuasive. It has been called one of the most foundational of all Christian texts ever written!

I read from this work in a sermon called Love with Skin On.  The text can be found on line, but here are two recommended editions:

The edition pictured here includes Lewis’ introduction and also a letter on the importance and use of the Psalms by Athanasius.

This Kindle edition (you don’t need a kindle device, just a Kindle APP on any device) may be the best $0.99 purchase you’ve made in long time!

In Uncategorized
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Are you ‘Plugged in?’

September 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches…apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) We were created and redeemed to be connected to God, to God’s people, and to be fruitful in God’s mission in the world.

Jesus promised the gift of the Holy Spirit who would through his new community the Church, do “greater things!”

The beginning church in Jerusalem was not a set structure to be imitated, but it is a model of values and vision that continues to inspire the church of all times and places! It inspires us here and now.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers….And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.     (Acts 2:42,47, ESV)

In a recent teaching, linked at our website, I summarized the inspiring vision of the Church in this way.

We want to be a LEARNING Community
We want to be a SHARING (‘Koinonia’) Community
We want to be a WORSHIPING Community
We want to be an OUTREACHING Community

It means being taught the authoritative Word of God and being life-long learners;
It means knowing and being known, loving and being loved, serving and being served;
It means coming together for prayers and worship publicly and in our homes;
It means being a contagious people who live and speak the hope of Good News into our world.

It means being committed and connected – PLUGGED IN to Christ and his community.

Are you plugged in?
If not, what’s the one next step the Lord wants you to take?

In Church, Disciplines, Evangelism, Holy Spirit, Mission and Vision, Uncategorized
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A caring, Christ-centered response to same-sex attraction

March 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

I commend to your listening – a podcast by Orthodox writer, Frederica Mathewes-Green who podcasts on Ancient Faith Radio – an internet site I value.  This is part 2 of 2 on the subject of ‘Gay Rights.’  It is one of the most pastorally sensitive and Christ-centered presentations I’ve come across.  Increasingly it is the way I go in explaining that all Christian disciples are called to chastity.  It is not a matter of ‘suffer’ or ‘be promiscuous,’ when engaging a Christian who is honest about same-sex attraction.

Here is the link – I urge you to take the time to listen to it.

In Ancient-Future Faith, Christ and Culture, Current Issues, Fully Human, Marriage, Same-sex Attraction, Uncategorized
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Is God’s Word my delight?

January 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

B. Kowanz

I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Psalm 119:16

We are exploring how to create or develop a “Game Plan” for our lives as Christ-followers; a Rule of Life as it has been called for centuries.  We begin with a Game Plan for “Feeding on the Word.”

In the sermon (listen/download here), I quoted Bonhoeffer, who loved Psalm 119 and started a book of meditations on it. Some of his comments on v. 16:

God gave us the Scriptures to be read and pondered anew every day…
Why do I forget God’s word? Because I cannot yet say as the Psalm says:
“I delight in your statutes.”
I do not forget the things in which I delight!
(Works, Vol. 15, pp. 517-18)

10 times in the great Psalm of the Word – Psalm 119, the word DELIGHT is used to describe the Psalmist’s response to the revealed Teaching of God. E.g.

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. (v.14)
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. (v.92)

A suggested practice to do
As a way of increasing your delight in the Word, read and meditate on one 8-verse section of Psalm 119 each week-day for 4-5 weeks.

In Disciplines, Psalms, Rule of Life/'Game Plan', Uncategorized
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Who is Scot McKnight (and why is he coming to Providence?)

October 29, 2011 — Leave a comment

We’ve talked for several years about trying to have Scot McKnight in Rhode Island.  Scot is not your celebrity type Christian rock star.  But he is making a very rock-solid  contribution to the Christian world. McKnight is New Testament prof at North Park University (connected to our Evangelical Covenant denom.) He is a prolific author of both scholarly and ‘popular’ books on NT studies and the Christian life.  His blog, Jesus Creed, is one of the best in the world at engaging important issues of faith and culture. It has a following of thoughtful and respectful commenters who work through books and questions guided by McKnight.  Scot is also a sought after speaker all over the world on subjects of Jesus, biblical interpretation, and the state of the church.  I believe he has been gifted for these times to be a uniter instead of a divider while not being afraid to challenge the evangelical status quo.

(My son, Stephen, got to know McKnight while at North Park and invited him to Providence for November 4th when learning that he was speaking at Gordon College the same week. The Lord, through the generosity of an anonymous donor, is making it happen!)

Scot’s latest book is called The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited.  In it, he challenges the church’s understanding of the Gospel and her all-too common method of sharing the faith.  Our Gospel is often a shrunken version that leads to settling for “decisions” instead of making disciples. There is a lot more!

So here are the details:
** Nov. 4th, Friday evening is The One Event.  (click here for the Facebook page) - a large gathering from churches in Providence and around the state led by Andrew Mook and Scott Axtmann with a team from Sanctuary, Renaissance Church, Christ Church and others.

**The location is Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, with parking in the Providence Place Mall. (Go to the north end mall parking garage nearest the State House and the entrance is directly across from the church.

**Scot McKnight will preach at this unified worship service  which begins at 7 pm.

**Scot has graciously agreed to meet from 4-5:30 pm with pastors and church leaders.  We have designed this session under the title: “The Original Gospel Revisited, Sharing the Good News in Today’s World” – A Discussion with Scot McKnight.  Stephen, Todd Murphy (Sacred Journey Church) and I are coordinating this event with the great help of Cassandra Chavez, staff at Gloria Dei.

**We have room for about 200 at 4 pm and 600-700 at the 7 pm service.  So come on time and be praying for the Holy Spirit to do a wonderful work of unifying and equipping us for greater Kingdom impact in our state and region!

In Evangelical Covenant Church, Evangelism, Gospel, I am the Church, Make Disciples, Uncategorized
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Right Motivations for Ministry

October 7, 2011 — Leave a comment

If you serve Christ in any kind of ministry, let me urge you to print this text and post it where you will see it often. Or better yet – memorize it! (Listen here to the sermon on this text from 10-2-11)

For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed— God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentleamong you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

 9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children,12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

 13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you receivedthe word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.  (1 Thessalonians 2:3-13, ESV)

There are so many ways that we can dishonor God by insecure, false, or selfish motives.  We need to do Christ’s work in Christ-like ways.  It means starting with the authority of God’s Word, seeking only His glory, not serving ourselves or making up for deficits in our own lives.  It means having a ‘spiritual parent’ and being a spiritual parent for others in ways that honor God in everything.  It’s a high calling.  It’s the only way to truly ‘make disciples’ modeled for us in Scripture!

In Make Disciples, Mission and Vision, Uncategorized
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Staying Human with Technology

September 6, 2011 — 1 Comment

I recently listened to a balanced discussions on our  love-hate relationship with email and smart phones and social media. [I'll share some of my favorite apps another time that can actually help us.] Take some time to listen to Krista Tippett’s interview from On Being. Its called, Alive Enough?  The author interviewed is Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other.

The On Being site has transcripts if you’d rather read. Here’s an excerpt.

Krista Tippett, host: Sherry Turkle directs the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. Her book, Alone Together, created a catchword for anxiety about the alienating potential of technology. But that’s not really Sherry Turkle’s message. This hour, for the Civil Conversations Project, we take on the real challenge she poses — that we must lead examined lives with our digital objects — actively shaping technology to human purposes.

Ms. Sherry Turkle: I’m not like a romantic or — I don’t have like a crazy nostalgia for an unplugged life in cabins on the woods. Not at all. I’m just saying that we have to ask ourselves, what is served by having an always on, always on you, open to anyone who wants to reach us way of life?

Ms. Tippett: Sherry Turkle founded and directs the intriguingly titled MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. She made waves with her book Alone Together; it was widely reviewed as a call to “unplug” our digital gadgets. But as I’ve read her and listened to her speak, I hear Sherry Turkle saying something far more thought-provoking: that we can lead examined lives with our technology. And this is a civic, not merely a private matter. So we’ve made Sherry Turkle part of the Civil Conversations Project. For how we live with our technology is reshaping human relationship. And Sherry Turkle is full of usable ideas — from how to declare email bankruptcy to teaching our children the rewards of solitude — a core human experience more elusive for their generation. In technology as in life, it seems, discontent can be the beginning of wisdom.

In Current Issues, Frequented Blogs, Fully Human, Technology, Uncategorized
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