Last week, a friend asked an interesting question: What did I think about ISIS and the situation in Iraq? What did I think God was doing or allowing in Iraq? Had I blogged on this topic? I confessed: Other than being grieved by ISIS’s crimes, I hadn’t given the topic a lot of thought or blogged…
Tag: suffering
The Fruitlessness of the Cross
The following is excerpted from a booklet I am close to finishing–Despising the Lamb: Pictures of Contempt in First Samuel *** First Samuel opens with a story about Elkanah and his wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was unable to have children. Peninnah bore children for Elkanah and smugly needled Hannah about it: “Her…
Call Me Bitter
What follows is something the Lord started dealing with me about just the other night. It’s rather unrefined but I wanted to share it anyway. *** The book of Ruth opens with a story about a woman named Naomi. Naomi moves to Moab with her husband because there is a famine in Israel. Naomi and…
Fact & Fiction
The fiction: Trying circumstances, instability within or without, personal failure, weakness, a lack of spiritual discipline, temptation, and the devil can separate us from God. The fact: “Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put…
The Cross and the Departure of Glory
A deep sense of grief permeates Ezekiel’s account of the temple’s destruction. The loss felt by the Lord is poignantly expressed when He says, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain” (Ezek. 9:7). Defile the temple? Defile the place chosen out of all creation as a dwelling for God? Why should the…
Lord of the Dead and of the Living
Picture by Patrick Murphy Death and resurrection cannot be separated. This is so obvious it seems like a platitude. Often our words and thoughts divide these into separate categories. For the sake of clarity it’s sometimes helpful to consider them separately. But it’s disastrous in real life. Perhaps we are too used to treating death…
Give Me Your Worst
Sketch by Patrick Murphy “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). “Grace” is the Life which can suffer and die yet be raised again. Christ in us is grace. He can go through weaknesses, difficulties, persecutions, and the like (2 Cor. 12:10). Not only do these not…
Less Is More: The Gospel of Surgery
I recently had ankle surgery. Almost two weeks later I still can’t walk on that leg. I am in pain all day. Evenings and nights (OK, and mornings) are worst. My wife does everything to care for the house, our kids, and me. Sometimes, for long stretches, I can’t do anything but groan…
More than Pefect (Part 1)
Job was someone the Lord Himself described as “a man of perfect integrity” (Job 1:8). That’s high praise…sort of. Why do I say “sort of”? Because the book of Job is largely about the fact that God wanted something more than perfect integrity for His servant. For many of us, perfect integrity is the…
The Supremacy of Jesus
This post was written at the request of reader, Mitch Smith—https://thevoiceofone.org/2013/03/09/suggestion-box/#comments. Thanks, Mitch! *** Revelation is nothing if not a book about the supremacy of Christ. From start to finish, it is full of images that communicate both the fact and the spirit of His supremacy. What do…
The Voice of One 