The Grace and Truth Paradox: Excerpts

The following material was originally part of my book The Grace and Truth Paradox.

If God Is Good:Chapter Summary Excerpts

Chapter Summary Excerpts from  

If God Is Good…

SECTION ONE  

Understanding the Problem of Evil and Suffering

Chapter One: Why is the Problem of Evil and Suffering So Important?  

 More people point to the problem of evil and suffering as their reason for not believing in God than any other—it is not merely a problem, it is the problem. You will not get far in a conversation with someone who rejects the Christian faith before the problem of evil is raised. Pulled out like the ultimate trump card, it’s supposed to silence believers and prove that the all-good ...

Is This the Day?

Is this the day I die? He’d asked himself the question every day.

This was Sunday. It was on Sunday that Quan’s great-grandfather had been beheaded. And it was Sunday his father died in prison after a beating.

”It is time?” Ming whispered, her voice a feather falling upon silk. Candle flame dancing in her brown eyes, she looked just as she had ten years ago, at their wedding in Shanghai.

Quan kissed her delicate forehead. Already in this short night he’d dreamed again he held her wounded body—Ming running red through his fingers in a ...

It’s Not in the Book!

As a professional singer, it was not unusual to be asked to sing for a wedding, but it was a bit unusual to sing for the wedding of a millionaire. I knew the wedding would be picture-perfect and was pleased to be able to participate, but when the invitation to the reception arrived I knew it would be something exceptional.

Lord Foulgrin’s Letters: Excerpts

The less clearly they think about heaven, the better.

Man and Angel Discuss Incarnation and Redemption

Finney was intoxicated not by mere feelings of joy, but by joy itself, a billion burning quasars of pure joy. All joy he had known on earth was like drinking from the contaminated lower waters, far from the source of the stream. Now he was drinking from the Source itself, the fountain-head of Joy.

This world was so bright and overwhelming he felt it would have blinded and ripped his earthly body to shreds. The joy of heaven was like a volcanic explosion, spectacular and thrilling, but never subsiding. Not like a once-in-a-lifetime eclipse seen for a moment then gone ...

Ministry Finances and Fundraising, Special Ethical Concerns

Whoever believes that giving is an easy matter, makes a mistake; it is a matter of very great difficulty, provided that gifts are made with wisdom, and are not scattered haphazard and by caprice. - Seneca

God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. - Hudson Taylor

A distressed woman wrote to Horace Greeley, the famed journalist, saying her church was going bankrupt. She explained they’d tried fairs, festivals, suppers, mock weddings, and socials, but none had generated enough money to keep the church afloat. “Do you have any suggestions of what else we could do?” she asked. Greeley wrote back, “Why not try religion?”

Perhaps if churches would do what they’re supposed to do, God and his people would come through and meet the financial needs.

Response To Peter Singer’s Ethics

Peter Singer, the Princeton professor, wrote in his ethics textbook, “The life of a fetus is of no greater value than the life of a nonhuman animal at a similar level of rationality, self-consciousness, awareness, capacity to feel, etc.”