John Knight and his wife Dianne tell the story of their firstborn son Paul who was born with multiple disabilities.

John’s heart expressed here and in his frequent posts at The Works of God, is to emphasize that Jesus isn’t great only because he can doesn’t give disabilities to some or that He can help individuals and families survive disability—he certainly can do both. Jesus is great because of His wise, good, and loving purposes in giving disability. “When we are weak HE is strong.”

HT

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In yesterday’s Connections class, I mentioned a couple of sermons by D.A. Carson titled “On Being Prepared for Suffering and Evil.” I cannot recommend this teaching strongly enough; this isn’t the first time I’ve commended these messages, and it won’t be the last.

Here are the free download links:

On Being Prepared for Suffering and Evil: Part 1

On Being Prepared for Suffering and Evil: Part 2

In addition, Dr. Carson has published an extensive treatment on the subject in his book How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil. I’m only a few chapters in, but it is off to a fantastic start—I highly recommend it

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How do you live like a Christian when nothing seems to be going your way? This question aptly describes the situation James’ friends must have been facing. They were under persecution for their faith; they were encountering the distress of societal prejudice; they were being torn apart by the abusiveness of the tongue; they were plagued by a carnal, worldly spirit; and they were being mistreated by the wealthy in their communities. Whether they looked out or in, there were major threats at every turn. I dare say that we are not in quite the predicament these believers faced. Yet there are certainly millions of believers across the globe that could identify with each distress encountered by these first …

 

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In II Corinthians 12:9 it is made clear that the strength of God is seen more clearly when the object of His love becomes weaker. At first this seem to be quite paradoxical. Why would a God of love choose this method (the growing weakness of the object of His love) to communicate a clearer display of the strength of His favor (grace)? Isn’t it because the person who is weak is, by necessity, more conscience of his or her own need and the people who interact with this person are naturally driven to search for what inspires this person on. In other words, what keeps this person from cracking under the experience of hardship? …

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If God had a Christmas list what do you think would be on it? In other words, what does God want for Christmas? I must admit I am using this idea to help us focus on a unique perspective and in no way want you to think that God is in NEED of anything. However, could we say that God WANTS something from us? Could it be something uniquitely related to Christmas? MP3 download.

 

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God is a big topic and people have tons of questions so we asked people what were some “God Questions” they would like to see discussed.  Today, we talk about

If God loves the world so much then why is there so much pain in this world?

 

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Do you “count it all joy” when you go through trials?  Or do you struggle at times not really understanding why you are going through it?  What is real joy?  How does it last?  How can I find it?  These are just a few of the questions we will be discussing today as we focus our attention on James 1:2-4.

 

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In this series we are examining the mid-life calling to rescue the Children of Israel who are being held as slaves in Egypt.  In the process of communicating to Moses, we see his “what if” world develop.  What do I mean by Moses’ “What If” world?  Have you ever been in a situation in which you know how you should act, but find yourself negotiating your options?  For example, “I know I should tell this person that they are wrong in how they are acting, but What if they get upset with me?  Or, “I know I shouldn’t let my friend talk badly about others, but what if I don’t listen . . . who else will they be able …

 

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The Doctrine of God: Week 14
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, by Wayne Grudem.
Chapter 1, The Character of God: “Communicable” Attributes (Part 2)

This week we start to examine the “communicable” attributes of God (those which He has shared in part with us) which are clasified as ‘attributes of purpose’.  We begin by discussing an often controversial topic – God’s Will.

 

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