Suffering and the Sovereignty of God
I'm usually not a fan of outlines.. you know, those outlines that you receive at seminars and lectures that you're supposed to follow through and take notes. I have this tendency to take the outline home, file it, and... um, file it. :) I might refer to it once in a while but more often than not, it is left in the files, waiting to be rediscovered the next time I'm forced to do some spring cleaning.
So when my small group leader sent me a download link for a Sovereign Grace Ministries outline entitled "Suffering and Sovereignty", I let it sit in my inbox for days. Well, I finally got around to download it, expecting it to be one of "those" outlines again. Boy, was I wrong. The outline is on the very important topic of human suffering in light of the sovereignty of God. Despite being just nine pages, it is packed with biblical wisdom, insightful quotes, and application material.
Never mind about outlines, but why did I get excited over an outline on the topic of suffering, of all things? Well here's an excerpt from the outline that explains why...
"One of the major causes of devastating grief and confusion among Christians is that our expectations are false. We do not give the subject of evil and suffering the thought it deserves until we ourselves are confronted with tragedy. If by that point our beliefs - not well thought out but deeply ingrained - are largely out of step with the God who has disclosed himself in the Bible and supremely in Jesus, then the pain from the personal tragedy may be multiplied many times over as we begin to question the very foundations of our faith." Carson
You can download the outline here.
Coincidentally, John Piper and Justin Taylor just released their new book "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God" a few days ago. Would love to get my hands on it.. and maybe do a review. Then again, no promises about a review... this is coming from a guy who blogs less than ten posts a year. :)
So when my small group leader sent me a download link for a Sovereign Grace Ministries outline entitled "Suffering and Sovereignty", I let it sit in my inbox for days. Well, I finally got around to download it, expecting it to be one of "those" outlines again. Boy, was I wrong. The outline is on the very important topic of human suffering in light of the sovereignty of God. Despite being just nine pages, it is packed with biblical wisdom, insightful quotes, and application material.
Never mind about outlines, but why did I get excited over an outline on the topic of suffering, of all things? Well here's an excerpt from the outline that explains why...
"One of the major causes of devastating grief and confusion among Christians is that our expectations are false. We do not give the subject of evil and suffering the thought it deserves until we ourselves are confronted with tragedy. If by that point our beliefs - not well thought out but deeply ingrained - are largely out of step with the God who has disclosed himself in the Bible and supremely in Jesus, then the pain from the personal tragedy may be multiplied many times over as we begin to question the very foundations of our faith." Carson
You can download the outline here.
Coincidentally, John Piper and Justin Taylor just released their new book "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God" a few days ago. Would love to get my hands on it.. and maybe do a review. Then again, no promises about a review... this is coming from a guy who blogs less than ten posts a year. :)
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