suffering – Escape to Reality

Is God Sovereign?

January 4, 2013 by Paul Ellis 232 Comments

A friend of mine lost several million dollars in a bad investment. He is well into his seventies and this was his retirement money, so this is a big blow. How did he lose it? Well, here’s my theory: He took some bad financial advice from a dodgy analyst and put his money where he shouldn’t have. But my friend doesn’t see it like that. He told me, “God is in control. I guess he didn’t want me to have all that money.” In other words, God is to blame for his loss. When I heard this I was too stunned to speak, but my friend was just getting warmed up. “I guess I’m a lot like Job who suffered at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: sovereignty of God, suffering, walking after the spirit Tagged With: Bible, Christianity, God, Jesus

Where was God in the Connecticut School Shooting?

December 18, 2012 by Paul Ellis 29 Comments

Yet another school shooting has resulted in the loss of innocent lives in America and now questions are being asked: Where was God? Why didn’t God stop this? Why didn’t God protect the lives of those 20 children? For a grieving parent, these are normal questions. When you have suffered the greatest loss any human can suffer it is perfectly understandable to scream, Why??? Death is awful. It is an enemy. I hate it and God hates it. I hesitate to write this because many are using this latest tragedy as an opportunity to grandstand and advance their particular causes. We need fewer guns. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: judgment, karma, sovereignty of God, suffering Tagged With: Bible, Connecticut, God, Jesus, shooting

“Understanding the Book of Job” by Tom Tompkins

March 19, 2012 by Paul Ellis 48 Comments

“If you’re suffering, you must have done something bad. God must be punishing you.” That must be one of the oldest lies in history. Here’s another. “God is using these hard times to teach you humility.” These lies can be traced back to one of the oldest and most misunderstood stories in the Bible – the story of Job. As I'm sure you know, Job was a man who lost everything. The Book of Job is not mainly about his loss, but how he tried to process his loss with the help of three religious friends. When I wrote my Job post a year and a half ago I had no idea that so many Christians would get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: book reviews, Job, sovereignty of God, suffering, Tom Tompkins Tagged With: Bible, Christianity, God, Jesus

The Christchurch Earthquake: 4 Questions Christians Can Answer

February 22, 2011 by Paul Ellis 66 Comments

An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck my hometown at 12:51pm this afternoon. I don’t live in Christchurch anymore, but I heard about it within 10 minutes. We were on our way to Auckland airport at the time. Christchurch had a major quake last September and about a thousand aftershocks since then, so I didn’t realize today’s one was a serious disaster until I saw a photo on an Internet terminal at the airport. It was a picture of the Christchurch Cathedral in ruins. This is the city’s most famous landmark and it had survived last year’s bigger quake. Now it looks like a bomb hit it. At the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: goodness of God, gospel of grace, sovereignty of God, suffering, the cross Tagged With: Christchurch, earthquake, New Zealand, suffering

James 2:24

September 20, 2010 by Paul Ellis 26 Comments

In this study on James chapter 2, we have been comparing works done under law with works done under grace. Understanding this distinction is essential if we are to reconcile Paul, the preacher of grace, with James, who said this… “You see then that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (Jas 2:24) In Part 1 of this study we saw how a preacher of works could misuse this verse to drive people back under law. In Part 2 we learned that James and Paul (in Romans 4) were probably both writing in response to something that Jesus had said about the “works of Abraham.” What were these … [Read more...]

Filed Under: healing, James, resting, suffering, works of faith Tagged With: Bible, Christianity, God, gospel, healing, Jesus

Exodus 4:11

August 13, 2010 by Paul Ellis 38 Comments

A little while ago we looked at a sincere lady in the Bible who mistakenly believed that God gives us things like death and poverty. As I explained in that post, God does not give us bad gifts. Not ever. But what about Exodus 4:11? This time it’s not a misguided person speaking, but the Lord himself: “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?” (Ex 4:11, NIV) This time we can’t use the excuse, “the speaker didn’t know Jesus,” or “this is what God looks like from a distance,” because it is God himself who is doing the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: disability, goodness of God, healing, Moses, suffering Tagged With: Bible, disabled, God, Jesus

Does God Give and Take Away?

August 2, 2010 by Paul Ellis 441 Comments

The entire Bible is good for you, but you won’t get much out of it unless you know Jesus Christ. To understand the written word, you need to know the Living Word. If you try to read the Bible without an appreciation of Jesus – who He is and what He has done – you may end up taking someone else’s medicine. Some verses will appear to contradict others and you will get confused. In the first part of this study on God’s gifts, we looked at a sincere lady in the Bible who mistakenly believed that God gives us bad gifts like death and poverty. Today I want to look at a man who had a slightly … [Read more...]

Filed Under: David, goodness of God, Job, karma, questions, sovereignty of God, suffering Tagged With: Bible, Christianity, God, Jesus

A Message for Pastors from a Man in Pain

February 3, 2010 by Paul Ellis 3 Comments

I've just watched a painful, heart-breaking message from a man with a brain tumor. He speaks to pastors about the lack of compassion in their churches.The message is not heart-breaking because the man is hurting - his hurt barely shows. Rather, the pain comes from watching the antics of pastors trying to be hip, funny, relevant, and trendy. The punchline? In trying to become entertaining we have lost the way and become useless to those in pain. Every pastor needs to watch this... The one thing that will change us pastors is first-hand experience of pain. Having had a small taste … [Read more...]

Filed Under: suffering