There and Back Again: India and Beyond

Photo by  Dawid Zawiła  on  Unsplash Suffering. From the news reports of people around the world who are going without food to the phone call that informs us that a loved one has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, we are constantly faced with the reality of pain and suffering. It can be almost overwhelming, and for some of us, we just cannot face it. When I think of suffering in my observations and experiences, those are moments I would rather not recall. Suffering, in my view, looks like my Grammy, slipping away in the ICU while the family gathers around to say their goodbyes. It looks like my family being torn apart at the seams in the midst of depression, anger, and feelings of failure in the wake of leaving our first place of pastoral ministry. It looks like the advanced stages of cancer, raging inside my aunt’s body, completing its destructive mission of death. These are the images that come to mind now, as I sit here writing, knowing that just thi...

Photo by  Jacob Meyer  on  Unsplash While in India, it came to my attention that just five years earlier, there had been a massacre of Christians in the state in which I was staying. It was sobering to realize that not too long before my appearance, many of my brothers and sisters had been murdered simply because they chose to follow Christ rather than practice the Hindu religion. Since that time, I have become increasingly aware of the atrocities being committed against my Christian brothers and sisters. And with all the news concerning the spreading of ISIS, the school shooting in Oregon which targeted Christians, as well as the emails I receive each morning recounting the struggles and sufferings of believers around the world, I have become more and more concerned lately about my brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for their faith. As a twenty-something citizen of the United States, I have rarely (read: never) experienced persecution for my belief...

Photo by  David Monje  on  Unsplash My dear friends and readers, after a several-month-long hiatus, I am back! Since finishing my series on Trusting God, I have struggled to know what to share with you all next, and up until now the result has been some unfinished writings that have yet to materialize into any published posts. However, it has been impressed on my heart to share my recent thoughts about the power of the Gospel, and I am planning a series which will be an attempt at putting those things into writing. Based on 2 Corinthians 4:1-18 and inspired by a sermon my father recently preached, this series will explore the power of God to bring life from death. I am so very excited to share what the Lord has been placing on my heart and at the forefront of my mind! I trust that He will use this series to encourage your hearts. Deception. We see it all around us, so much that it almost seems like a normal piece of life. Just turn on the television to watch...