As this site begins and develops, we will cover a number of subjects that will be adjacent and applicable to life, faith, and church. Having served for more than 40 years in church leadership of one form or another, I have not only witnessed but have done the good, the bad, and the ugly of church life.
Therefore, you are invited to learn from my mistakes and share in my victories as we travel the road of faith together. Here in the beginning, we will be considering a summary of developing a theology of suffering. As I was preaching on the subject of “Preparing for Persecution” in 2021 I realized that an integral part of persecution involved suffering. My desire to approach suffering from a theological perspective sent me on a search for a resource written from this viewpoint. Failing to find such a resource led me to develop my own series, which I titled “Developing A Theology of Suffering,” presenting this as an aspect of the forthcoming persecution that is on the horizon for biblically faithful Christians.
Knowing how suffering is usually presented in a church environment led me to ensure that this would not be something that would leave my people discouraged, desponded and hopeless. With a desire to encourage, I searched scripture to see how it spoke into suffering. What I found left me with surer purpose in suffering, greater faith through suffering, more confidence amid suffering, and increased hope for God’s presence in suffering.
Having found increased hope and confidence despite suffering meant that if I presented this well my people would likewise find themselves not in depression but in hope that their suffering was not pointless and wasted. This is what happened.
I remember one who had herself suffered greatly telling me after the third message that she had considered not coming for this series because of the potential for it being a bummer, yet she found herself with more hope and faith than she had known for some time by hearing how scripture speaks into suffering.
This is my hope for you, the reader, as we look at an overview of how the Bible speaks to and addresses suffering. Should you desire a more in-depth study, stand by as I am developing the series into a book.
