Tried With Fire

There's a lot to ponder from the current sermon series on Job. I've read the book several times but this time around, his friends' heartless counsel stands out like a sore thumb. Their advice seems to go from bad to worse. By the end of the second cycle of advice, they are absolutely sure Job has done a whole list of terrible things since there could be no other explanation for his suffering. In our small group, a brother commented that Job's friends could not fathom a righteous man suffering. It didn't compute. Their only category for suffering was "You live right; you'll be blessed. You do evil; you will be afflicted." Consequently, they force fit his situation into their nice and tidy rigid box, hurting him in the process with their accusations. They couldn't conceive that there was any other explanation for his situation. This makes we wonder about the categories that we have constructed for the Christian life. The prosperity gospel teaches...

Here is a brief summary of the main points from Pastor Ryan's sermon on Job 4-14.  So far, this series has been excellent and given me a lot to ponder. This sermon (which should be available today) and the previous ones can be found  here . I highly commend them. 1. Suffering is not always the result of personal sin. Job's friends made an assumption that was not absolute. Yes, people do suffer as a direct consequence for their sins, but God never charged Job with sin though his friends did. The sun and rain fall on the just and the unjust. Sin, either his own or his parents, was not the cause of the man's blindness in John 9. Rather it was for the glory of God. 2. We must know God, His Word, and His people if we are to counsel well. If we don't know God, His attributes, character, and Word, we will give misguided counsel.  Our understanding of the Word must be systematic because one doctrine interweaves with another. If we hold up God's justice above His...

In his second sermon on Job, Pastor Ryan asked this question: "Would we rather God be the one in control of every single moment of pain, or do we think it is better if God doesn't have any part of it?" This is a tough question and the very question that drove me to the doctrines of grace during the hardest time of my life to date. There were well-meaning friends who tried their best to comfort me. A common thread was, "God doesn't want this to happen. It's not His will for your marriage to end." This offered temporary relief but if you take this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, it led to some very uncomfortable questions. If God doesn't want this to happen, why doesn't He stop it? If He can't stop it, then there's something preventing Him from acting. If He can't overcome this opposition, then those things are more powerful than God. Then what  kind of God do I believe in? A God who wants the best for me but wh...

Yesterday, Pastor Ryan began the sermon series on "Counsel in Job".  After giving an overview of the book, he walked us through the first chapter. The closing verses describe how Job shaved his head, tore his clothes, and fell on the ground - external symbols of grief. All his earthly possessions were gone. His ten children were killed in one fell swoop. Job's sorrow was to be expected. It was normal, and yet he worshipped. These aren't things we would typically associate together, but here is Job prostrate in the dust  and worshipping after burying his ten children. This may seem strange to our minds because "worship" has been reduced to pleasant feelings about God. It may also seem strange because we think being a Christian means always wearing a happy face.   But Job didn't blame God. even though he recognized His absolute sovereignty to do as He pleased.  Job didn't attempt to get God off the hook by attributing his calamity to any other...