From John Piper’s just released book, Coronavirus and Christ  available free of charge from Desiring God Ministries, at: http://www.dgm.org ————————————–    The coronavirus pandemic is where I live. It is where we all live. And if it weren’t the coronavirus, it would be the cancer just waiting to recur. Or the unprovoked pulmonary embolism from 2014 just […]
2300) Coronavirus and Christ Read More »
    (…continued) I’m not saying God causes every trouble. It’s not that simple.  But when trouble comes, from whatever source, we do think about God.  Our thoughts do then return to God.    Jesus says, “Blessed are you who hunger now.”  He doesn’t say, “Throw away all your food.”  Food is one of God’s
2299) Blessings and Woes (part two of two) Read More »
Luke 6:20-26 — (Jesus said), “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your
2298) Blessings and Woes (part one of two) Read More »
——————- By Eric Burgdorf, pastor at Hope Free Lutheran Church, Wyoming, Minnesota ——————————- I have confidence in confidence alone! Besides, which you see, I have confidence in me! –Richard Rogers, in The Sound of Music —————————— Â Â Â As I assume is true for many my age, movies were a rare privilege as a child.Â
2291) A COVID-19 Holy Week Read More »
“Prayers for COVID-19” by Jen Pollock Michel, March 16, 2020, at: http://www.Jenpollockmichel.com . Michel is the author of Teach Us to Want, Keeping Place, and Surprised by Paradox.  She lives with her husband and their five children in Toronto. ——————-    In recent days, COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic and countries have taken urgent measures to
2277) Prayers for These Pandemic Days Read More »
By Vaneetha Rendall Risner, February 14, 2020 at:Â http://www.desiringgod.org Prosperity and health are mercies, but they are only temporary. Suffering and trouble enable us to lay hold of the greater, eternal gifts of God. —————————– Â Â Â Can sickness and suffering be better than health and prosperity? Â Â Â In a world that lives to
2242) Is Sickness and Suffering Better than Health and Prosperity? Read More »
Pictured above:Â A recently discovered mass grave of soldiers from the Battle of Lutzen in the Thirty Years War ————————— Â Â Many people have asked me if I think we are living in the end times. Â After all, they say, the Bible talks about famine and war and earthquakes, and we certainly have all of
2089) The Greatest Hymn of Thanksgiving Ever Written Read More »
“Suffering That Strengthens Faith,” from the Daily Devotional by John Piper, at: http://www.desiringGod.org ———————— James 1:2-3 — Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.    Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being
2042) Producing Steadfastness Read More »
From Daddy, Where is God During the Hurricane?, by Bruce Riley Ashford at http://www.foxnews.com, September 15, 2018.  Bruce Ashford is the Provost of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His latest book is “Letters to an American Christian.” —————————    “Daddy, where is God during the hurricane?”    This is the question my five-year-old son asked me
1984) God and Bad Weather Read More »
From C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain:    The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in.  The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has
1971) Not Our Home Read More »
