RSS FeedWHY PARTISANSHIP IS INEVITABLE IN POLITICS
During this primary presidential election season and the rhetoric it encourages for and against the political parties and their leaders there is the tendency to bemoan the current state of our divisions and to lay claim that it has gotten worse. Alexander Hamilton in...
THE TRUTH ABOUT EVIL
What is the source of radical evil that seeks to corrupt and pervert the human race? What causes violence, cruelty, genocide, self-centeredness, abuse, neglect and war? Jeffrey Burton Russell writes: “We are again aware of the ineradicable nature of perversity in our...
THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING
Peter Vardy and Julie Arliss in The Thinker’s Guide to Evil, maintain that “evil is one of the deepest and most central problems of human existence.” They analyze various sources of evil. First, the freedom of human beings to choose to be selfish, self-centered and to...
COMPLETING CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS
On the first page of Paul’s letter to the Colossians we find a surprising statement: ‘I rejoice in sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church’ (Col.1:24). What can these...
SUFFERING AS THE REFINER’S FIRE
Another way God uses suffering is to refine and purify his people. The messenger who came to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 3:1-4) was sent ‘to purify the Levites’ until they should present ‘offerings in righteousness…..acceptable to the Lord.’ God still refines...
PRAYING IN JESUS’ NAME
What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name? In Old Testament times, prayer was offered only in the context of sacrifice. God’s people brought an offering when they came into his presence: it cost them something to draw near to God. As they called on his name, they...
SUFFERING AS A TRIAL OF FAITH
From earliest times, God has tested his children with suffering of one kind or another in order to try their faith and equip them to carry greater responsibilities in his work of bringing his eternal purposes to pass. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and David were among...
MADE PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERING
In the first chapter of the book of Hebrews, the Spirit of God paints a vivid and majestic picture of the pre-incarnate Christ. He portrays him in all the glories of his eternal and coequal existence with the Father., ‘God of God, Light of Light, very God of very...
THE PAIN OF THE UNIVERSE
If we are to know any comfort in our suffering and find strength to bear it in a truly Christian manner, we must first set ourselves to understand it as well as is humanly possible. We must have a thorough grasp of what the Scriptures teach about evil, for evil is the...
A LIFETIME OF PAIN
Margaret Clarkson (1915-2008), prolific hymn writer, teacher and author was born with chronic headaches and juvenile arthritis which caused her much pain. A second arthritic attack when she was twelve settled in one arm, leaving her wrist and hand swollen and partly...
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