Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4, NLT) One…
Category: Suffering
Give and Take
Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name…
One Day:: 2
One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped…
One Day
One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my…
Once Upon a Time:: 2
“There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants….
Once Upon a Time
What did you read growing up? As a child learning to read, one of the genres of literature that I cut my teeth on was fairy tales. Those fairy tales had a certain rhythm. They began with recognizable phrases such as “once upon a time,” or “long, long ago in a far away land.” There…
Unfair!
On Sunday I’m going to begin a nine week study on the life of Job. Check my blog each week for my latest thoughts and interactions from the book that speaks the universal language of suffering.
Bitter Ingredients Make Beautiful Things
Last week I Googled a recipe for a chocolate cake, made from scratch. The recipe was surprisingly simple: 3/4 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla After these ingredients are blended together, the recipe calls for an additional…
Your Foundation Will Determine Your Height
The building with the deepest foundation in the world can be found in Malaysia. The Petronis Towers, standing some 1,483 feet above ground rests upon a foundation that reaches 394 feet beneath the earth’s surface. For a point of reference, the tallest building in Iowa is 801 Grand, which headlines the Des Moines skyline at…
The Hole in the Gospel
Last Christmas my daughter Lauren gave me The Hole in the Gospel as a gift, but I think it would be more appropriate to call it a blessing. Written by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, U.S., this book serves the reader in two special ways. The first section of the book is autobiographical. Stearns…
