Paul's Second Journey (Part 2)

Dennis McCallum

Acts 16:9-40

Paul continues his pioneering efforts to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, illuminating more principles of ministry. His interaction with the woman Lydia in Thyatira shows the importance of finding a person of peace, someone who is responsive to God and eager to reach their friends. Paul also interacts with a slave girl who was being overcome with a demonic spirit and casts the spirit out, highlighting the fierce spiritual struggle that Christian ministry really is. Paul and Silas are severely beaten and flogged and thrown in prison and yet sing praises to God in prayer. When encountering suffering, the attitude we adopt matters because we're serving God and shows a lot about God. Lastly, the experience with the jailer Paul encounters emphasizes that Christian ministry is based around grace and that God is capable of using any circumstance for His purpose.

Truly Living While You're Dying

Beth Chilcoat

Bev DeLashmutt

John 17:17

David Chilcoat, a devout Christian and the founder of the Columbus Young Life branch, experienced intense suffering as his body decayed slowly due to ALS, a devastating disease. His wife Beth and Bev DeLashmutt use his journal entries at the time of his illness to explore how to remain faithful and experience peace and joy even amidst this kind of physical and emotion pain. Three key points that emerge are: 1) the need to ask God for what we need and desire, 2) to remember God's goodness and affirm our faith, and 3) to wait for Him to fulfill His promises to us. These help us to respond to suffering in a way that allows us to persevere through it instead of crumbling under it.

Lessons from the book of Job

Lee Campbell

James 1:19-20

Three of Job's friends heard of Job's suffering and went to him to offer love and support. They entered into Job's suffering and counted the cost to be there for him and bear his burdens. As they tried to sympathize with Job they had some successes and some failures. We can learn some practical lessons from their story on what to do when someone in our life suffers great loss.

How a Pastor Must Die

Ajith Fernando

Matthew 5:23-24

Leaders have been called to die to self. The way to accomplish this task is by being committed to the body of Christ. Within this commitment must come a fight for unity. It is the unity within the church that demonstrates the power of God. This type of commitment will bring upon suffering but God's love and His power are greater than any suffering that will come.

Building a Life Framework that is Ready to Suffer

Dennis McCallum

1 Peter 4:1

Dennis McCallum sheds light on the theological and practical sides of the unity between Christian believers, unpacking both the spiritual connection between Christians and the down-to-earth instructions for Christian community. Dennis makes the case that the highly committed, deeply connected community life prescribed in scripture is a far cry from the experience of church in modern America. Experiencing this connection with other believers is an essential factor in being prepared to suffer well.\r\n\r\n

Preventing End of Life Tragedies

Jeff Gordon

1 Peter 4:1

Dr. Jeff Gordon shares his experiences with the issue of end of life care in America. The hidden truth is that every year, Medicare spends billions of dollars in just the last few months of care for patients, which really can be argued is just a prolonging of death. Jeff discusses the probability of living after certain end of life illnesses and tragedies and the reality of what this "care" looks like. It often is more humane to let death take people naturally when the time has come instead of pouring countless dollars toward adding a few more days, weeks, or months in an uncomfortable hospital environment. As Christians, we can have hope after death and take legal actions now to prepare ourselves for the medical care we would like to or not like to receive at the end of our lives.

Leading with Limitations: How to Turn Brokenness into Blessing

Joni Eareckson Tada

1 Peter 4:1

God intends to use every sin and sabotage by Satan for the good of His ultimate plan of salvation for mankind. God allows things He does not approve of, for reasons that are specific, wise, and good, but maybe not apparent in this life. Everything that comes to people is screened by a God who controls all of it and who will never forsake them.

The Cross and the Problem of Pain

Ajith Fernando

1 Peter 4:1

Every worldview has a different explanation for the problem of pain. Many of these explanations leave people feeling hopeless, purposeless, or apathetic to life. The Cross, however, presents a much different answer that goes beyond karmic law being the source of suffering. We suffer in this world sometimes due to our own actions, but often because the world itself contains sin and evil. Under the Christian worldview, suffering does not have to be in vain, and we can actually use our sufferings to glorify Christ. We also receive comfort knowing that Jesus can truly empathize with our pain as he subjected himself to great pain for our sake.

Suffering and Spiritual Warfare

Dennis McCallum

1 Peter 4:1

For healthy Christians, a significant portion of voluntary pain comes from our battle with Satan. Currently, Satan rules this world, meaning that Christians are always in a spiritual battle. Contrast having this mindset with having a peace-time mentality, and see how dangerous it is to remain indifferent.