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Mon, Mar 22, 2010
Anonymous
Persecuted Church
persecuted church, persecution, prayer for the persecuted church, suffering

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church

(This Biblical study on how to pray for the persecuted church was submitted by a friend of Eden Communications—a pastor who prefers to remain anonymous.) See also the Handbook of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, from Open Doors.

Please pray that they would:

1. Have physical protection and deliverance.

Matthew 26:39 — “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

Acts 12:5 — “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”

Philippians 1:19 ...

Readers’ Responses to If God Is Good

I am a pastor in Mississippi. Six years ago today our son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. I tell people often that if it was not for that sickness in my child I never would have discovered what it means to have an eternal perspective. If God is Good means the world to my wife and I. —C. A.

Why is there suffering in the world today? (video)

Q&A: Randy Alcorn and Pastor Greg Laurie at Harvest Christian Fellowship discuss the question,"Why is there suffering in the world today?"

Wed, Mar 24, 2010
Randy Alcorn
Heaven, Suffering and Evil
death, heaven, if god is good, life, suffering

Big Life Issues interview (video)

Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship interviews Randy Alcorn. March 2010, on the subject of evil and suffering, and Heaven.

Thu, Mar 25, 2010
Randy Alcorn
Christian Life, Doctrine and Theology, Suffering and Evil
discipleship, forgiveness, pain, suffering

I struggle with forgiving my parents for the painful home environment I grew up in. Do you know of any books that could help me?

I highly recommend David Augsburger’s The Freedom of Forgiveness. Also, Philip Yancy’s What’s So Amazing about Grace?, which shows us how God’s forgiveness of us should result in our forgiveness of others. Another good one is Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve, by Lewis Smedes. In checking around on Amazon I also found a book called I Should Forgive, but . . . Finding Release from Anger and Bitterness, by Chuck Lynch. It might be helpful. I also found some good reader reviews of Forgiving Our Parents, Forgiving Ourselves: Healing Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families ...

If God Is Good: Introduction and Chapter 2

To Those Who Are Hurting and Confused

I came to know my friend Jim Harrell after he read my book Heaven. We talked on the phone, exchanged e-mails, and quickly connected at a heart level. Jim, a successful businessman, strong and athletic for most of his life, told me he really looked forward to reading If God Is Good. He asked me for the first draft, which I happily sent him.

If God Is Good: Table of Contents

If God Is Good... Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Introduction: A Note to Readers, Especially to Those Hurting

and Confused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

If you were the author, how would you have written the story?

writer We value in story the conflict we avoid in life. What makes a good story? Interesting characters, significant conflict, the thwarting of desires, and a satisfying (if not triumphant) resolution. It must avoid predictability and its characters have to continuously develop—and the higher the stakes, the better the story.

Now, consider God as the great Storyteller. With grand artistry, he writes into the story the characters, both angels and people, with different names, personas, and circumstances. He tells us of Michael and Lucifer, brother archangels. Lucifer rebels and becomes Satan. He takes a third of the angels down with him. When Satan first appears in the garden, we know none of this; God doesn’t tell us this backstory until much later.

Fri, Mar 26, 2010
Kevin Whitelaw
Missions
evil, famine relief, missions, suffering

In Africa, A Scourge Beyond Imagining

Africa The fresh mounds of earth stretch as far as the eye can see. Each grave in Zambia’s Chunga cemetery is topped with a withered floral tribute and a makeshift cross. During the weekend, a new funeral procession arrives every 15 or 20 minutes. On one day, 52 people are buried; 43 of them were between the ages of 19 and 50. Most are Africa’s latest victims of AIDS.

The deadly epidemic is tearing through the continent, decimating Africans in their most productive years. In all, AIDS will kill some 2.4 million people in Africa this year, many ...