suffering – Kingdom Harbor

Suffering into Hopeville

November 20, 2023

Hope isn’t a wish or happy thought, a longed for result or creedal confession. Hope is an atmosphere of grace. Hope is a spiritual address. We live in Hopeville on Hope Street. We breathe its pure air. We run across its soft grass. Hope’s water bubbles up from the spring of Living Water and runs out our faucet. We have planted our family’s fortunes in Hope’s rich soil. Like a person who lives their entire life in a small town, we live in Hope and someday we will die in Hope. … More Suffering into Hopeville

Facing Your Own Gethsemane

October 29, 2021

My friend John Phelps shared a powerful sermonette in Israel that brought many to tears. Standing in the Garden of Gethsemane he said, “This is my first time standing in this place, and yet I’ve been here many times.” He shared wisdom on how to face our own suffering, and now he’s battling brain cancer and practicing what he preached. … More Facing Your Own Gethsemane

Dark, Cramped, & Stinky (Good Friday Vigil)

April 2, 2021

Like Jonah’s experience in the belly, the past year can be summed up as “Dark, Cramped, & Stinky.” This Good Friday let us join Jonah in the belly of the fish, to imaginatively enter into his experience and ponder his prayer from the depths. And anticipate Resurrection! … More Dark, Cramped, & Stinky (Good Friday Vigil)

Ashes & Oil

March 2, 2021

This year Ash Wednesday felt even darker than other years. A service that ends with ashes smeared on your forehead with the words, “From the dust you came, and to dust you shall return,” is always a bit of a downer. But our mortality feels a bit more real, perhaps, after a year that claimed … More Ashes & Oil

Blessed are the Emotional Wrecks

November 21, 2020

The blessings of Bethlehem don’t fly up to the mighty on the mountaintops, but flow downward into the valleys flooded with the tears of the mourners—from Bethlehem to Sandy Hook. … More Blessed are the Emotional Wrecks

Tears in the Cracks

February 27, 2020

If you stare long enough at all the paper-prayers smooshed into the cracks of that enormous wall, one wonders if the cracks grow a bit wider each day in proportion to the cumulative suffering and loss experienced by our human race as the LORD tarries in His return. … More Tears in the Cracks

Faces Downcast to Eyes Opened

May 9, 2019

Sitting around that table the hidden face of God suddenly becomes visible. The stranger becomes a dear friend. The empty hole in our heart is suddenly filled. The darkness is vanquished by piercing light. Hope is resurrected to dance a jig on the corpse of Despair. At that table the lump in our throat is replaced by an irresistible burning in our heart. … More Faces Downcast to Eyes Opened

Cursing the Fall

May 6, 2019

A repost from 2008. I was doing the annual spring yard clean-up this past weekend. My wife had done most of the raking and left them in neat piles for me to come behind and bag up. I’m a manly man, so I didn’t think I needed to wear work gloves to pick up a … More Cursing the Fall

Sermon: Suffering & God’s Providence

May 5, 2019

Several years back I was raking leaves in the late autumn sun while Keri pruned a rose bush. When I reached down to grab a big pile of leaves to stuff in the bag, my fingers grasped a handful of thorny briers Keri had tossed under the leaves when I wasn’t looking. As the thorns … More Sermon: Suffering & God’s Providence

He Suffered For Us (by John Stott)

April 19, 2019

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the one Nietzsche ridiculed as “God on the Cross.” In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples and stood … More He Suffered For Us (by John Stott)

The Martyrdom of Perpetua (203 AD)

April 17, 2019

The Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions is one of the oldest and most notable early Christian texts. It survives in both Latin and Greek forms, and contains a first person prison diary of the young mother and martyr Perpetua. Scholars generally believe that it is authentic although in the form we … More The Martyrdom of Perpetua (203 AD)

CrossRoad 5: Lamb Power in a Lion’s World

April 16, 2019

The climax of every Asian food experience is breaking open that fortune cookie to gain new insight our own imminent futures. I keep waiting to open the one that says, “Your love for deep-fried Cream Cheese Puffs will shorten your life.” But my fortune this time was: YOU WILL BE A LION IN YOUR NEXT … More CrossRoad 5: Lamb Power in a Lion’s World

The Martyrdom of Ignatius (c.107AD)

April 15, 2019

This Holy Week, as an outflow of our CrossRoad sermon series, I am sharing some stories of early martyrs who took up their own cross and bore the ultimate witness to the cross-shaped Kingdom. One of the great treasures of church history is the collection of writings called The Apostolic Fathers. These are the earliest writings outside the … More The Martyrdom of Ignatius (c.107AD)

Can You Drink the Cup?

April 10, 2019

Jesus asked, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has … More Can You Drink the Cup?

Why, God, Why? Suffering & God’s Glory

October 8, 2018

When bad things happen in this world, and unjust suffering befalls the innocent, we often jump to the ‘Why’ question first. The disciples lived in a world where it was popular to believe that disease, birth defects, and other forms of suffering were punishment for sin — either the person suffering or his parents. We … More Why, God, Why? Suffering & God’s Glory

My God, My God (Psalm 22)

March 30, 2018

Let us draw near to the cross on this Good Friday, keep vigil, contemplate the Lord’s passion, consider his agony of spirit and physical torture. Let us not fall asleep as the three did in Gethsemane, nor abandon him as the rest did by the end. When we ponder his last moments, just before the … More My God, My God (Psalm 22)

Martin Luther: Comforting the Sick

February 14, 2018

I know the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation is over, but I just happened upon an old essay I wrote on Luther’s pastoral approach to the sick and dying I found interesting. Martin Luther’s book Comfort For the Sick and Dying provides a window into his faith and theology as it is worked out in the face … More Martin Luther: Comforting the Sick

The Most Powerful Force of All

September 21, 2017

“I always tell my kids that while most people in the world just want to kill and get rid of the bad guys, Jesus wants to change bad guys into good guys. While guns have the power to kill bad guys, only love moves us toward an enemy with the compassion and hope for transformation. A gun or nuclear warhead can destroy our enemy, but only love has the potential to transform an enemy into a friend.” … More The Most Powerful Force of All

ESSAY: A Theology of Suffering (2001)

February 8, 2017

This essay was my first attempt in college at grappling with the issues related to Theodicy, that is, the problem of reconciling the existence of an all-powerful, all-good God with the presence of evil and suffering in the world. Like many, my first exposure to this issue led me to the more traditional view influenced … More ESSAY: A Theology of Suffering (2001)

Faith Proved Genuine (1 Peter 1:3-9)

September 20, 2016

Peter shares the purpose of his letter in 5:12 to encourage believers to “stand firm in the true grace of God.” The letter aims to ground us in a rock-solid faith that can withstand the trials that come our way, and to let God’s grace shape the way we interact with others as we live out … More Faith Proved Genuine (1 Peter 1:3-9)