Want to be skeptical?

So a few weeks ago I suggested that the foundation of everything anyone believes is based on circular reasoning.

I stand by that post.

I found it interesting, therefore, when I saw this article the other day about God’s purposes in suffering – if you find yourself believing that suffering is bad, do you believe that simply because you already believe that? Here’s a little quote to whet your appetite:

…seeing the blind man on the temple steps triggered their curiosity: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

God the Son…gave an answer that would turn their theology on its head and affect the futures of millions…God made this man blind in order to demonstrate his power in him.

…

After his world-shaking statement, Jesus made the man see! In that moment everything changed. See the power of the Word! Light shown into dark eyes. A brain that had never processed optical stimuli was given immediate ability to interpret a visual world.

But even more revolutionary in its repercussions, the man went from being perceived as the object of God’s wrath to being the object of God’s kindness!…

So was it worth it — all the suffering? It all depends on what God gave him in return.

God so loved him that he gave his only Son so that by believing in him, this man would not perish but have eternal life. What this man received beyond his miraculous physical healing was the far more miraculous forgiveness of all his sins and eternal life in God’s presence where full joy and pleasures never end.Such a gift would be worth a thousand blind lifetimes.

The article itself isn’t much longer than what I’ve quoted here; have a read.

Live Like You Mean It: the 10 crucial questions that will help you clarify your purpose, live intentionally, make the most of the rest of your life by T. J. Addington

Never has a book title so well summed up its contents! This is a typical ten-point book designed to help you re-engineer your life. It’s written in a compelling manner and is very logical as you read through it. The guidance is practical, biblical, and very easy to understand – I find it hard to imagine someone struggling to read through this.

This book is aimed almost exclusively at those desiring the American Dream. I’m not that big a fan of the American Dream, so I wasn’t that big a fan of this book until about halfway through, where Addington pulls off the perfect bait ‘n’ switch and starts chucking real Bible truth at you.

That’s my biggest compliment, yet my biggest concern about this book. If I had read only the first half I’d have a different opinion of it, and if a reader only reads the first half I think there’s a danger they could walk away thinking that the American Dream is a good one to have. That being said, I love so much that Addington pulls you in only to then say, ‘think you’re getting the hang of how to plan your life? Good. Now realise it’s not actually yours, it belongs to Jesus.’

I’d thoroughly recommend this book to someone who liked to dabble a bit in the prosperity gospel, cessationists, and more liberal Christianity. If you’re more evangelically-minded, the more practical application here may be useful but I doubt the content will be massively different to a Sunday sermon.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

My Father, Maker of the Trees by Eric Irivuzumugabe and Tracey D. Lawrence (audio)

The subtitle for this book is ‘How I Survived The Rwandan Genocide’, and that’s a good summary. Eric Irivuzumugabe survived the horrors of the genocide that saw 1 million killed in 100 days by hiding in a cypress tree. He presents in this book his experiences during the genocide, and the experiences of his family members, before moving onto his life since – how this awful, horrific suffering was used by God to adopt him into His family.

Perhaps the only (very small, and unavoidable) weakness would be that everyone talked about in detail in the book survived, which seems to play down the enormous impact of the genocide, but Irivuzumugabe is good at highlighting who was lost, and the effects.

Be prepared to be shaken up by this book, as our pride is ripped apart by Eric’s humility, as our hardships are dwarfed by Eric’s enormous losses, and as our ministries are shown up in part to be self-seeking, rather than filled with mercy. Overall, this is most definitely a good book!

The narration is excellent – every accent is well-represented, and every person’s voice is different. There is a song played about three quarters of the way through which is a bit odd and not something I’d have chosen to listen to, but does stick something different in there!

I got this audiobook for free as part of christianaudio.com’s book reviewers’ programme. I’m not required to give a positive review.

Questioning God over Haiti

I thought this article was very useful:

Questioning God over Haiti | TheResurgence.

If God is a God of love…

A very thoughtful post here about the nature of death.