Category: Suffering

“A Sweet and Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God” by John Piper

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Few books or stories in the Bible match the grandeur and evocative power of the Book of Ruth. It may be one of the best stories from a literary perspective, of all time. John Piper has skillfully unpacked the beauty of this literary masterpiece in a beautifully produced work of his own.

A Sweet and Bitter Providence traces the story of Naomi and Ruth through tragedy and despair and on to grace and joy. Before I can even talk about Piper’s writing I have to stop and point out how beautiful and attractive this book is. The sleeve is beautiful enough, with a first rate painting of Ruth from the Bridgman art gallery. Then the hardcover has the same beautiful image on the front with a detailed map of Israel on the back in soft whites and gray. The sleeve contrasts the white and gray with a bold maroon. Such a beautiful packaging will help draw the reader in to the glory of the Book of Ruth.

The book is divided into four chapters that match up with the four chapters in Ruth. Before each chapter the biblical text in the ESV is provided. This allows the book to serve as a devotional alongside the reading of the Biblical book of Ruth. Piper adds an introduction and “final appeals” on either side of the four main chapters.

As the subtitle indicates, several themes are addressed throughout Ruth which have contemporary significance. Piper highlights the sexual chastity and bold assessment of character displayed by Boaz and Ruth (with Naomi). He highlights the racial aspects of a despised and destitute Moabitess’ return to Israel with her Jewish mother-in-law. The predominant focus is on the sovereignty of God clearly seen by the characters in the story as well as the author of Ruth. God is sovereign over both the bitter providential suffering of Naomi, as well as the beautiful and gracious provision of a redeemer and an heir.

Piper doesn’t miss the author’s intentional way of setting the story in the larger framework of canonical history. The book ends by declaring Ruth to be the great-grandmother of David.

The final appeals Piper offers sound like the wise advice of a seasoned man of God. Perhaps listing them here will encourage you to pick up this little book and by it be awakened afresh to the wonder of God’s sovereignty and the glory found in the small book of Ruth.

Piper exhorts us to:
1)Study the Scriptures
2)Pursue Sexual Purity
3)Pursue Mature Manhood and Womanhood
4)Embrace Ethnic Diversity
5)Trust the Sovereignty of God
6)Take the Risks of Love
7)Live and Sing to the Glory of Christ

This little book will do much to infuse your soul with worship to our Lord and Savior. It will also call you to a greater trust and deeper obedience. I recommend it highly.

Pick up a copy of this book from Westminster Bookstore, Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, or direct from Crossway.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Crossway Books for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

As You Leave Your Church this Sunday Morning…

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Most of us here in America take for granted the religious freedom we have. We can choose to go to the church of our choice, drive or walk there, and come back after the service to our homes. We will not face ridicule or brave threats to do so. And many times we don’t attend church as faithfully as we should.

In many places around the world, this is not true. Even attending church is a huge step of faith. And for some, they pay the ultimate price for being identified as a Christian.

Artur Suleimanov, pastor of the several-hundred member Hosanna church in Makhachkala, Dagestan (a republic of Russia bordering Chechnya and Azerbaijan), was returning to his car to go home after a church function Thursday night, just three days ago. When he got into his car, a masked gunman shot him in the head and fled the scene. Just like that, having left the “House of Prayer” as their church building was named, he was ushered into the presence of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Artur had pastored this largest and first evangelical Christian church of mixed ethnicities (with many formerly-Muslim believers) since the late 1990s. Death threats and intimidation were the norm for him. He must have known he was a marked man, yet he faithfully shepherded his flock all the same.

By way of prayer requests, Barnabas Fund lists the following:

  • That God will comfort and uphold Pastor Suleimanov’s family, and their large church family, in their distress and grief.
  • That the murderer and all those behind this horrendous incident will be brought to justice, and that they will come to faith in the Lord Jesus.
  • For protection over those attending Pastor Suleimanov’s funeral as well as the wider Church in Dagestan.
  • That Christians will not be intimidated by this act of violence.

I would add that we pray for the few churches in Dagestan to be able to use this latest outbreak of persecution as a means for spreading the name of Christ throughout the region (cf. Acts 8:1-4). Pray also for their unity, protection for the remaining leadership, and wisdom.

Most of all, as you return home from your churches this morning, and other days throughout the next few weeks, please remember the persecuted church. Some are too afraid to even go to a church. Others risk their lives for doing so.

For more on the martyrdom of Artur Suleimanov see this article by Barnabus Fund.

We Believe (#14): Death, Resurrection, and the Coming of the Lord

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

Part 14 in a series of Sunday posts celebrating the glorious Truth we believe as Christians. The readings are quoted from the Elder Affirmation of Faith, of my church, Bethlehem Baptist (Pastor John Piper). I’m doing this because every few weeks our congregational reading is an excerpt from this document, and every time we all read aloud the truths we confess, my soul rejoices. I pray these posts will aid you in worshiping our Lord on His day.

Death, Resurrection, and the Coming of the Lord

We believe that when Christians die they are made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, and are taken consciously into the presence of Christ, which is more glorious and more satisfying than any experience on earth.

We believe in the blessed hope that at the end of the age Jesus Christ will return to this earth personally, visibly, physically, and suddenly in power and great glory; and that He will gather His elect, raise the dead, judge the nations, and establish His kingdom. We believe that the righteous will enter into the everlasting joy of their Master, and those who suppressed the truth in unrighteousness will be consigned to everlasting conscious misery.

We believe that the end of all things in this age will be the beginning of a never-ending, ever-increasing happiness in the hearts of the redeemed, as God displays more and more of His infinite and inexhaustible greatness and glory for the enjoyment of His people.

*Taken from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith, paragraphs 14.1-14.3. You are free to download the entire affirmation [pdf] complete with Scriptural proofs for the above statements.

Jesus, The Devil and Suffering

~ fundyreformed ~ 3 Comments

Christians, like everyone else suffer pain and sorrow in this world. Many blame such suffering on the devil, from a praiseworthy desire not to blame God. Other Christians do blame God and doubt his provision and love for them. How could God let this happen to me? She was such a good person, it just doesn’t seem fair!

Worldly-wise secularists take a more intelligent position, they think. God isn’t there; or if He is, He isn’t concerned enough or able to interact in such a way to help prevent us from suffering. They grin and bear suffering, and encourage those friends and family who are suffering. And really, most Christians do this as well. But they won’t say God can’t intervene, rather they will credit God for helping them through the suffering.

With the recent tragedy of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, my pastor John Piper gave an explanation of the Reformed view of suffering. God controls all things and has a purpose in everything that happens. He wasn’t surprised by the bridge collapse, and He is at work helping the grieving and suffering, as well as working out many other hidden designs in and through this single tragic event. Most Christians generally agree, although they might hesitate to affirm that God plans and causes such tragedies to happen.

On the opposite spectrum, Greg Boyd, also a Minneapolis area pastor, spoke out against Piper’s view. Boyd, representing the open theist position, claimed that God was surprised by the event as well, and in no way planned or caused it to happen. As I said above, in some respects Boyd’s position is noble. He doesn’t want anyone to blame God for the evil suffering caused by the bridge collapse. But as Denny Burk has shown, in his response to Boyd’s post, Boyd’s position doesn’t stack up with Scripture. Most of evangelicalism would also agree that God certainly knew of the event before it happened (the traditional view of God’s omniscience). [For several Reformed responses to open theism click here.]

But even for those of us who affirm God’s exhaustive foreknowledge and omniscience, we still struggle with how God can let evil happen to Christians. Isn’t the devil to blame too?

I bring up all of this as background to an excellent new article by John Piper which is available online. He discussed the roles of Jesus and the Devil in suffering with his daughter, and shared his conversation with us. The verse in question is Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

I encourage you to check out the article and ponder this issue now, before suffering comes your way. “When Satan Hurts Christ’s People: Reflections on Why Christians Suffer Losses” by John Piper.

And if you would like, you can subscribe to these weekly devotional articles [feed here] by John Piper or sign up for a free email subscription.

If God Merely Allows Suffering and Pain, How Is He Not Responsible?

~ fundyreformed ~ 36 Comments

People sometimes instinctively blame God for pain and suffering. Evangelical Christians for the most part grimace at this.

Open Theists counter that God didn’t cause it, and couldn’t prevent it–but He loves you anyway. Arminians respond that God merely allows evil, he is not responsible directly for your pain.

Calvinists, however, claim that God ordains and ultimately causes all things, even pain and suffering. He does so generally as a judgment of the wickedness of evil in this world. All are evil, and the world is cursed from sin. Any joy and blessing is a gift from a loving God, and pain reminds us we are fallen and we need salvation.

Without getting into the specific Biblical proofs claimed for each view, let me share a brilliant argument I found recently against the Arminian viewpoint. To use my title, if as Arminians assert, God is merely allowing suffering, how does he ultimately avoid responsibility?

Imagine the following situation: I’m out for an evening stroll when I smell something burning. I look around and notice flames in one of the second floor windows of a neighbor’s house. In the other window, I can see a little girl pounding on the glass and can hear her cries for help. I do nothing. I don’t even use my cell phone to call 911. I just stand there watching until the entire house is engulfed in flames and the little girls dies. Now, since I was perfectly capable of saving her, but chose not to, how could anyone with a conscience say that I was not responsible for her death?

From a basic human perspective, there wouldn’t be any doubt. By standing there and doing nothing as that little girl burned to death, I would be just as culpable as if I had started the fire in the first place. And that’s really what we humans care about, isn’t it, deciding who’s to blame in tragic situations?

So, here’s the question I have for you Arminians: If a sovereign, loving, all-powerful God neither ordains nor causes bad things to happen, but simply stands by and allows them to happen, then how does he escape responsibility for the pain and suffering of those involved? (Keep in mind that the “bad things” being talked about here can refer to everything from the stubbing of one’s toe to the eternal damnation of one’s soul.)

I submit that you cannot answer that question without betraying your own Arminian worldview. You cannot answer it without resorting to the same theological gymnastics you accuse Calvinists of performing. And you certainly cannot answer it if you have a problem conceiving of a truly sovereign God who works all things for his ultimate glory.

excerpted from “A Burning Question for Arminians” by The Contemporary Calvinist [HT: Worlds Apart]