November 14, 2022
Thanksgiving in All Circumstances
This time of year is always festive. Spirits seem a little brighter and thanksgiving flows freely in our hearts. Or does it?
Articles for tag: Pain And Suffering
April 12, 2015
How Should Christians Suffer?
By Mark W. Hamilton The Bible helps us answer the question. A good beginning point is in the psalms of lament. Pain and suffering. This word pair names one of the most difficult problems facing Christian faith and practice today. Some Christians seek to dodge the problem by imagining that suffering always marks the presence of sin and that God, because he is good, wishes us to escape pain in all instances. This despite the obvious facts that the pain of Jesus lies at the very heart of the gospel, and that he called us to imitate him as suffering
January 21, 2015
The Ultimate Question
By Jim Tune When life delivers pain or confusion, our first response is often to look at God and shout, “Why is this happening?” This is what we are really asking, “Why did you let this happen?” Sooner or later we will all end up sitting in a hospital waiting room, funeral home, or lawyer”s office, asking ourselves, “Is God still in all of this?” When shaken by tragedy, we do well to ask ourselves if we can still believe in a God who lets bad things happen. I”ve had a few personal bouts of what Philip Yancey calls “disappointment
June 25, 2013
Better Than a Vacation
By Mark A. Taylor “It”s hard to imagine no crying and no mourning.” The statement came from a group member when our weekly Bible study was nearing the end of Revelation. We had stopped to ponder the significance of Revelation 21:3, 4: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God”s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “˜He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or
August 4, 2011
Inexpensive Downloads to Help Your Ministry
By Mark A. Taylor Here”s a reminder about a whole host of inexpensive, downloadable resources available for your church now. As you anticipate the after-summer ramp-up of activities and ministries, which of the following would help your ministry most? For new members and nonmembers””Our most popular “What Kind of Church Is This?” gives you 8 full-color pages that explain the unique and beautiful nondenominational position of Christian churches and churches of Christ. “Simply Christians,” which originally appeared in The Lookout, is a 12-page overview to accomplish the same purpose. One user called “Simply Christians” “the best short-form overview of the
How Could a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell?
By Jeff Vines Editor”s note: Five years ago we published a series of articles by Jeff Vines that dealt with three difficult questions that are often stumbling blocks for Christians as well as nonbelievers. The articles described a long conversation Jeff had with a circle of skeptics he met in an Australian restaurant. With the current discussion about the reality of Hell, we felt it helpful to reprint the third article in this series. To get all three articles (the first are “How Can We Believe in God with So Much Evil in the World?” and “How Can You Say
August 27, 2006
How Could a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell?
Jeff Vines answers a skeptic’s hardest question: How could a loving God send anyone to Hell? He explains Jesus’ use of gehenna and argues the deepest horror of Hell is separation from God.
August 20, 2006
Why Do I Live in a World Filled With Pain?
By Tim Harlow I fulfilled a long-standing promise to my wife and took her to Hawaii for our 20th anniversary. We had never been to Hawaii together, and I have to tell you it is everything we expected. It is the Garden of Eden, as best I could imagine. It was like some kind of dream””perfect weather, tropical fruit, and hula people. But we had to come back to Chicago in February. There was something about the 100-degree shift in temperature (it was 15 below zero wind chill when we landed) that caused me to ask myself, How did this
August 20, 2006
How Can You Claim That God Is Good and Loving . . . ? (Part 2)
Conversations With Skeptics features Jeff Vines responding to three major questions about evil, suffering, and Hell. Includes download details and a short sample excerpt from the first article.
August 13, 2006
How Can We Believe in God with So Much Evil in the World? (Part 1)
Jeff Vines recounts a tense dinner in Brisbane where skeptics challenge his faith with hard questions about evil, suffering, and hell—an excerpt from the resource “A Conversation With Skeptics.”
