When we were preparing our last series of weekend services under the title Broken, Brent and I quickly concluded that the best way to conclude the series would be to have Carole Plemmons come and share her testimony. In nearly 26 years of vocational ministry, I have not me anyone who has endured more adversity…
Category: Broken
Helping Others When They Hurt (part 2)
“He comforts us in all our troubles…” (2 Corinthians 1:4a, NLT) God is the source of all comfort and he comforts us in our troubles. The word Paul used to describe our troubles is thilipsis, which means pressure. It’s a word picture for a wine press that crushes the juice out of the grapes. So…
Helping Others When They Hurt (part 1)
Scars tell stories. For example, I have a scar on the palm of my hand. I got it when I was around 10 or 11 years old from a bicycle accident. My friends and I loved to ride our bikes and every time we found a patch of loose gravel we would ride as fast…
When God Inflicts the Hurt (part 4)
“But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen…
When God Inflicts the Hurt (part 3)
“Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how.” –Hebrews 12:9-10a (NLT) Since God’s discipline is an act of love that is…
When God Inflicts the Hurt (part 2)
“For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by his father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all…
When God Inflicts the Hurt
Is what I’m facing God’s way of telling me to change something? Is God trying to get my attention? Or is it part of what comes with living in a fallen world? Can I know the difference? How can I know the difference? Those are the kinds of important questions I sometimes hear from those…
When God Doesn’t Heal our Hurts: part 3
“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer…
When God Doesn’t Heal our Hurts: part 2
“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.” – 2 Corinthians 12:8 (NLT) When suffering strikes our lives our first response is usually to try to eliminate it. It’s quite natural. After all, who among us hasn’t dropped everything when we have obtained a splinter to find the tweezers and pull it…
When God Doesn’t Heal Our Hurts: part 1
One of the clearest biblical passages that deals with the purposes that suffering works out in our lives is Paul’s autobiographical discussion of his “thorn in the flesh.” 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 states, “This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I…