Christian Living

Why Do We Suffer?

This question has been asked since the beginning of time. I guess that isn’t quite true. This question has been asked since the fall of man. That may not be true either. It was very clear that suffering would be the outcome of disobeying God (Genesis3:16-19 (NIV)). This is going to be a short blog if I keep answering the question with one sentence answers.

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Searching For The Real McCoy.

“He’s dead Jim!” I, like many others of my generation can hear and even picture these words spoken by Dr. McCoy. This along with, “D*mn it Jim, I’m a doctor not a…” (insert profession other than doctor here) are iconic phrases from the short lived (3yrs) TV series Star Trek that has become a franchise that is still adding movies and shows to its Sci-fi lineup. You may be wondering why a Christian blogger is talking about Star Trek. While I am borrowing a line and a character to make a point, I promise you I will not spend much of this post on my guilty pleasure, space Sci-fi shows.

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Poking Holes in Our Holiness

Do I need to aspire to be more holy? Isn’t what Jesus did enough? Am I not saved by grace instead of my works? Can’t I just embrace Jesus and His teachings; isn’t that enough? Isn’t my Holiness assigned to me because Jesus paid the price I could never pay? I’m not perfect, I am not expected to be perfect, do I need to strive to be perfect if perfection is not attainable or required? Do I really need to struggle with my sinful nature if Jesus already paid for my sins?

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Pause for a Moment

My wife and I took a pause from work and everyday duties in August. All though I would not call this a holiday as there were a few things that were scheduled, I will call it a great time to spend time away from work. The only problem is, I didn’t spend time away from work. Before you have time to assume that I am overworked or that I have poor time management skills, let me clarify what I mean.

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Ring the bell.

I had to go to the hospital for bloodwork. I don’t mind bloodwork; I am not positive but I am pretty sure by now I could take my own blood and start my own IV, I’ve seen it done on me so many times! This time was a little different. They put the needle in the same way and used the same tubes. The amount taken was relatively small compared to the last time (5 vials vs 16). Then the always fun aim test. Last week I talked about Paul using, “falling short” which is based on a military idea of missing the mark in archery. As I did the last test I thought to myself, ‘self; if you were Paul writing to the modern day version of the Romans, you would probably have used this sample cup metaphor instead of the bow and arrow.’ If you don’t know what test I am talking about I will not try to explain it other than to say if you miss the mark they make you drink water and do it again!

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Shepherd?

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want.… The Lord is our shepherd… the joy available to all who place the weight of life on our heavenly father is beyond what we can hope for or imagine. That being said, most of us have had seasons that seem to lead us to believe otherwise.

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