Tag: suffering
The Most Important Book on Ministry I’ve Read
Christmas is for Weeping Mothers
Yesterday, I attended the funeral for our friends’ 16-year-old son. I noticed his mother in the front row, dabbing away her tears. I thought about the tears she would certainly shed on Christmas Eve this year (and in years to come). Then I remembered—Christmas is for weeping mothers.
Worshiping God After a Hurricane
In early September of 2005, I traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi to work with a disaster relief crew following Hurricane Katrina. We spent ten days preparing and delivering meals to survivors, those whose lives and possessions had been ravaged by the wind and water. As an Iowa native, I’ve seen what weather can do. We’re no…
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.”
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” That request, made by Jesus on the Mount of Olives the night before his crucifixion, was no serene or stoic prayer. Luke tells us Jesus prayed “in agony… and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.” In his plea, Jesus…