Howdy! I hope you're enjoying the fall weather and that things are going well for you. It's easy to get busy and to shift our focus... this happens to all of us. Jenn and I have recently finished a two-week stretch of lots of work and lots of travel, and it's in times like this that it's easy to get out of the loop. That's one reason I'm appreciative of our ABF, as it's a designated time to meet with similar folks and focus on Jesus and what He would have us do.

The Problem of Evil was briefly discussed during our time together this past Sunday. Entire careers have been dedicated to this subject, so we knew we weren't going to close the matter in 15 minutes, but we got off to a good start. Consider what Christians believe: a) God is good, b) God is all-powerful & c) there is evil in the world. This is, no doubt, a big challenge. This week's Update contains a few extra passages than previous Updates, readings that Matt offered to help us process the notion of suffering and evil along with a loving, all-powerful God. They're included so that you'll have an easy place to refer to them here and there during the next couple of days. We'll return to this topic in the coming weeks.

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people -- free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Last Sunday's ABF Recap:

We don't welcome suffering, in fact, we tend to shun it at all cost. I don't like it when I have hardships and I often question why I even have any degree of difficulty when it arises. Instead, we try to have absolute or near-absolute control of our lives. I'm sure you can think of your own examples. This has been ingrained in us in our American culture, and it's not biblical. At no point in scripture have we been promised comfort, easiness or leisure in our Christian walk. In fact, Jesus promised suffering when he said, "Take up your cross and follow me." We all have a cross to bear, and a very real part of life is that some of our crosses are harder to bear than others'.

I was in Target a while back and a couple of guys in their late teens/early twenties were there doing some shopping. One of the guys was in a wheelchair without arms and legs... and he had a smile on his face. Needless to say, it was a humbling experience. Somewhat similar, it sounds, to David Goetz's interview with Joni Eareckson Tada. He recounts his convsersation with her when she revealed to him what it means to have a life that is not easy. Joni expressed that she no longer fights the suffering in her life, but accepts it. It is through this acceptance that we are then free to enjoy that which we've been given (the immortality symbols that we spoke of previously) because we recognize them not as something that we've earned and we must grasp tightly, but rather because we know that the LORD has blessed us.

Click here to order the book. If you picked up a copy in class, don't forget to pay Matt. On deck for this week is the fifth Toxin, "I need to make a difference with my life." (a prevalent concern among Americans, both Christian and non) How can we combat this? David Goetz' suggestion is: ~ Pursue action, not results. ~ "Valerius Geist, considered one of the world's leading [deer family] biologists...originated the 'shirker bull' concept... The shirker bull is a male elk that is able to grow very large antlers because it 'shirks his biological duty by choosing not to participate in the rut.' The rut is the annual fall ritual when deer and elk males square off against one another to determine sexual dominance and sire the next generation. The shirker bull, most likely a loner, avoids fighting other males and thus pours all his caloric energy into 'growing exceptionally large antlers.' "Geist's controversial thesis is that most of the world-record antler trophies came from shirkers. That is, the really large antlered deer and elk that end up as stuffed heads in a Montana lodge were likely loners, shirking their biological duty. "In the surbaban wild, Shirkers are religious folk who inadvertently disengage from the suffering of the world and who unwittingly collect to themselves every available religious experience. Whether the latest book or Bible study or spiritual director or new church with the really authentic and post-modern worship, Shirkers are always on the move for the next spiritual plane. Shirkers are wild for the ideas of God." pp.99-101 Want to dig even deeper into Death By Suburb?

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Prayer Requests:

• Friends of Staci & Mike Szugye, the Colbert family, have a young daughter who has been diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. They've recently received some good news, but are still in need of complete healing. Get complete information here.
  
  
• If you haven't already heard, George & Laurie Sun have a new daughter, Natalie Anyi!!! Info: born on Oct. 15 and she was 6 lbs, 15 oz. Pray for the new baby and the new parents!
  
  
• Expecting Parents:
  • Joanna & Sam Stager
  • Rachel & Will McGinley
  • Allyson & Eric Lengacher -- A court date has been set for December 3 to grant custody of their adopted son to them! The appointment with the Embassy to grant his Visa has yet to be set in stone. Pray for this date to be set soon.
  • Christine & Jesse Dolan (twins!)
  
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November 9th is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Matt offered this passage to illustrate how Jesus cares about our suffering. He predicted a number of times that He would raise Lazarus, and yet "he wept."

Aman was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord's feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick."

When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son."

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."

They said, "Rabbi, you can't do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you're going back?"

Jesus replied, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn't stumble because there's plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can't see where he's going."

He said these things, and then announced, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up."

The disciples said, "Master, if he's gone to sleep, he'll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine." Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap.

Then Jesus became explicit: "Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn't there. You're about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let's go to him."

That's when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, "Come along. We might as well die with him."

When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house.

Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you."

Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up."

Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time."

"You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world."

After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you."

The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?"

"Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept.

The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him."

Others among them said, "Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man."

Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone."

The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, "Master, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days!"

Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone."

They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."

Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.

Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose."

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I won't include the entire book in this mailing, but Matt pointed out that while Job is the classic example of suffering in the scriptures, he was never given an explanation as to the "why?" of his suffering. The LORD spoke to Job over the course of several chapters and never told Job the reason for his suffering. At no point during the story was Job ever aware of the cosmic debate between the LORD and Satan.

I'm paraphrasing here, but Eric Lengacher mentioned during our discussion that we don't have the benefit of seeing the big picture of life. We are aware of our own circumstances and some of the local effects that may come about, but we don't have the wisdom and the ability to know the full impact of our actions and the vast repercussions that can come as a result. God does, and his message to Job was less, "Here's why," and more, "Trust me."

Ultimately, it must be kept in mind that very often those who are suffering and wondering where God is are not looking for intellectual answers or philosophical conversations. They're most often looking for someone to be there, someone to listen. Also, while we don't have all the answers, and the problem of evil is a tough one, we as Christians are more equipt to deal with it than unbelievers. We believe in absolute right and wrong, in good and evil, and in a God that meets us in our suffering.

The Blessing of God's Spiritual Influence
by Bayless Conley

Perhaps today you are honestly doing all you know to do, but it seems like you are in this season of drought. God's blessing has seemingly dried up in your life.

Let me point you to 2 Samuel 21:1-3,

Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, "It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites." So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?"

There was a famine in the land because there had been no rain for three years. So David inquired of the Lord, and God spoke to him. If you read to the end of the story, you see the rain finally did fall, the drought was broken, and the famine was over.

But here is the point. It says, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him.

If there is a drought in your life, ask God why. God will talk to you. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice." If you in earnestness will seek God and ask Him why, God will speak to you.

Be willing to take responsibility for whatever He shows you. There just may be something in the past that needs to be corrected.

Just ask. Then act on what He reveals.

I warned you early on that this was a longer issue this week. It is my hope, though, that you were able to take a few minutes to reflect on some of the passages. I know in my own experience, deliberately setting time aside to study the scriptures and to pray with the LORD is tough. It is with this thought in mind that I hope that you've been able to use this attachment as a way to spend a few extra minutes with God this week. See you Sunday!

Enjoy your week. Send an encouraging e-mail to a friend.

RG