Nourishment for the Soul

Joni Eareckson Tada announced this week that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. (Read her blog post, written in her typically Christ-centered way.) 

Over the years Joni has become a dear friend to Nanci and me, and we also deeply appreciate her husband Ken. I interviewed Joni and quote from her often in If God is Good, and she is one of the people I dedicated the book to. (She is the founder and CEO of Joni and Friends, a wonderful ministry to the disabled. Check them out at www.joniandfriends.org. JAF is a ministry worthy of support, an investment in eternity.)

The Best and the Worst

Fold a paper in half. Then write on the top half the worst things that have happened to you and on the bottom half the best. Invariably, if you’ve lived long enough, if enough time has passed since some of those “worst things” happened to you, then you’ll almost certainly find an overlap.

Affliction was Necessary to Me

I want to share the following, written by my friend Denny Hartford, the director of a terrific organization I highly recommend, Vital Signs Ministries (FYI, that's not Denny in the picture, it's Martin Luther). Denny works in the ministry with his wonderful wife Claire.

Video of Elizabeth Wall: Way Bigger than her Cystic Fibrosis

Since many have told me how much they appreciated the video with Christian the Lion, I'm going to do something a little different over the next 12 days or so. I'll post four videos that I think will be well worth your time. I'll put them in four separate blogs. 

Trusting in the Sovereignty and Love of God

I spoke this last weekend about Romans 8:28-29 at my home church, Good Shepherd Community Church here in Oregon. (Listen to the message.) I used as an example our precious friend Joni Eareckson Tada.

Why Doesn’t God Do More to Restrain Evil and Suffering? Part 2

Our birthright does not include pain-free living. Only those who understand that this world languishes under a curse will marvel at its beauties despite that curse. C. S. Lewis’s final article, published after his death, carried the title “We Have No Right to Happiness.” Believing that we do have such a right sets us up for bitterness.

In Everything, Give Thanks

Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving, and I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating all that God has done for you. Perhaps it’s been a challenging last year for you and your family, but all the more opportunity for God to demonstrate His faithfulness and His grace.

Your Hands

Listen to the words of this song, so beautifully sung by JJ Heller.

Aggie Hurst: A Story of Eternal Perspective

While we were unable to find any real pictures of Aggie or her family, I hope this story of God's faithfulness through the sacrifice of missionary couple David and Svea Flood will inspire you.

I've been thinking of it in context of a big book I'm writing on the problem of evil and suffering. How many times has God had a purpose in events that seemed senseless at the time they happened? How many things that seem pointless now will later be seen to have a divine point?

Consider Joseph and his brothers who horribly betrayed him ...

Jim Harrell, Perspectives in Suffering, part 1

In the past year I've gotten to know Jim Harrell, a friend I've exchanged emails with and talked with once on the phone. I interviewed Jim on the subject of suffering for the book I'm currently writing. Jim has read some of my books, including Heaven, and wrote me telling his story. Turns out we have a mutual friend, Chris Mitchell.

One Saturday morning in 2003, Jim received a call delivering the kind of news no one wants to hear. His doctor told Jim he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's ...