Suffering

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Tag Archive for: suffering

ODJ: correcting blind spots

In The Call to Joy and Pain, Ajith Fernando, a Christian leader from Sri Lanka, wrote: “The church in each culture has its own special challenges—theological blind spots that hinder Christians from growing to full maturity in Christ. . . . I think one of the most serious theological blind spots in [today’s] western church is a defective understanding of suffering. . . . The ‘good life’

ODJ: suffering with God


Pain. We take pills to ease it, hold prayer meetings to heal it, develop strategies to avoid it and think up philosophies to explain it. We rarely, however, consider suffering as part of God’s plan for our lives.
Classic spiritual authors take a different approach to suffering. Take the 17th century monk Brother Lawrence, for example. Lame in one leg and acquainted with illness, in The Practi

ODJ: counting the cost


Jesus’ good friend Lazarus had died (John 11:14,17). And so He performed an amazing miracle by raising Lazarus from the dead (vv.43-44)—leading many who came to the funeral to believe in Him (v.45). But the Pharisees and priests responded differently. From that time on, they began to plot Jesus’ death (v.53). 
News of the spectacular miracle spread throughout the thousands of Jewish pilgri

ODJ: the God who suffered


People tell me that you can turn any smoothie or milkshake into a snack loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. The idea is to sneak vegetables (spinach, cauliflower, beetroot or other healthy veggies) into the beverages of unsuspecting drinkers. They think they’re only imbibing their mango and honey treat, but they’re also downing green veggies. The beverage may be in the form of a smoothie, b

ODJ: forgive and forget?


Sergei said to his pastor, “It’s been 2 years since Danica cheated on me, and I still can’t get past the hurt. Some days I think I’ve moved on, but the pain is always lurking beneath the surface, ready to explode in the most unexpected moments. We can be having dinner in a restaurant, and sorrow and anger washes over me and I feel that I despise her. How can I forgive if I can’t forget?

ODJ: faith and death


One of the most powerful scenes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the time when the fellowship must go through the mines of Moria, into the dark caverns underneath the mountain. They descend into this subterranean world where many had died from the evil powers lurking beneath the earth. Fearful, Frodo wondered if they must travel into this harrowing place. Gandalf told him and his companions th

ODJ: true value


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Johannes Gutenberg had an idea that would change the world, but he needed money to finance it. He contacted his neighbour, Johann Fust, who loaned him the cash to build his first printing press. Gutenberg initially made money for his loan payments by printing indulgences for the Catholic Church. The job paid well, but Gutenberg had higher hopes for his new machine. He wanted to print Bibles—ma

ODJ: victorious faith


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Tukutana, the nonprofit organisation I direct in East Africa, is funding the education of a young lady named Acayo Sarah. She survived one of Africa’s longest running wars in history, but not without wounds. When Sarah was just 13 years old the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) rebels attacked her village in northern Uganda. After killing her mother and father in front of her, the ruthless men abdu