A marriage that’s damaged through infidelity. A public figure who betrays the trust of those they lead. A pastor caught in sexual or financial indiscretions. Is restoration possible? What does restoration look like? What does it take to be restored?
Some suffering is unnecessary. Suffering that we bring on ourselves through our sin and brokenness means that if our actions change, our suffering can change. But not all suffering is “unnecessary.” How do you handle the suffering you cannot avoid?
Things should be better than this. How long are you supposed to wait for the “Fully Alive” life Jesus promised? Is getting past your hang-ups supposed to be this hard? For you, how do you spell RELIEF?
** My new book The Christian’s Journey Through Grief is to be released next week, May 7, 2019, and it’s available for preorder now. Today I’m sharing the Introduction to my new book. I hope you enjoy!
“Death, you may think you have won. Yes, the wounds you have inflicted are deep. And we will mourn as we nurse those wounds. But in truth you have lost again! While to human eyes you may seem to have won this battle, in reality you have already lost the war. And every life you take—temporarily—is but another nail in your own coffin. Death, you will be destroyed! And Al Tanksley, along with me and all the rest of us who trust in Jesus, will live forever.
Then where, O death, will be your sting? Where, O grave, will be your victory?”
It is tragic but too often true; if you want to start a fight among Christians, just start talking about church. One says, “I’m following Jesus, but I don’t do church.” Another says, “My church is right, and yours is wrong.” Yet another says, “I pick and choose – church when I feel like it, not when I don’t.” What are we supposed to do about church anyway?
