Can we have hope in pain and suffering? – Advent 2022, Week 1, Part 1

Editor’s Note: This week I welcome guest blogger, Daymarr Jackson. In addition to his full-time day job, Daymarr is Faith Church’s youth leader, and a chaplain candidate in the PA Army National Guard. He is at Evangelical Seminary (Kairos) studying for his Master of Divinity. He and his wife, Danielys, have two kids. How canContinue reading “Can we have hope in pain and suffering? – Advent 2022, Week 1, Part 1”

Worship: Cry Out Together – Psalm 77, Part 5

This week I welcome guest blogger, Clint Watkins, as he shares with us how his personal experience of loss and pain led him to learn how to seize hope through lament. If you want to learn more about Clint, please visit his website. As we conclude our study of Psalm 77, did you notice thatContinue reading “Worship: Cry Out Together – Psalm 77, Part 5”

Wait: Linger in Redemption – Psalm 77, Part 4

This week I welcome guest blogger, Clint Watkins, as he shares with us how his personal experience of loss and pain led him to learn how to seize hope through lament. If you want to learn more about Clint, please visit his website. In Psalm 77, verses 1-15, Asaph has taught us that when weContinue reading “Wait: Linger in Redemption – Psalm 77, Part 4”

Wonder: Remember His Rescue – Psalm 77, Part 3

This week I welcome guest blogger, Clint Watkins, as he shares with us how his personal experience of loss and pain led him to learn how to seize hope through lament. If you want to learn more about Clint, please visit his website. As we continue studying Psalm 77, we have already learned how lamentContinue reading “Wonder: Remember His Rescue – Psalm 77, Part 3”

Wrestle: Voice Your Doubt – Psalm 77, Part 2

This week I welcome guest blogger, Clint Watkins, as he shares with us how his personal experience of loss and pain led him to learn how to seize hope through lament. If you want to learn more about Clint, please visit his website. In the previous post, we learned how lament starts with weeping, inContinue reading “Wrestle: Voice Your Doubt – Psalm 77, Part 2”

Weep: Describe Your Despair – Psalm 77, Part 1

This week I welcome guest blogger, Clint Watkins, as he shares with us how his personal experience of loss and pain led him to learn how to seize hope through lament. If you want to learn more about Clint, please visit his website. Three and a half years ago my wife and I lost ourContinue reading “Weep: Describe Your Despair – Psalm 77, Part 1”

How do we deal with loss and pain – Psalm 77, Preview

Last week I traveled with my brother and sister to a family funeral in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  There we joined my parents and some aunts, uncles and cousins to support my aunt and her family, as her husband, my uncle, had rather suddenly passed away the week before.  He was only 69.  While he had beenContinue reading “How do we deal with loss and pain – Psalm 77, Preview”

A helpful perspective on pain – 2 Thessalonians 1, Part 4

Is pain always bad? How do you handle pain? I’m not a fan of pain. I’ve been battling a heel spur for the past year. Initially it hurt sharply every step I took. But through treatment, especially stretching, it is at bay. I can still feel it, but it isn’t crippling. I even run 4-5Continue reading “A helpful perspective on pain – 2 Thessalonians 1, Part 4”

Sex and death: Is God’s way best? – Ezekiel 24, Part 5

This week in Ezekiel chapter 24, we’ve learned at least two important things about God’s heart.  First, his desire for holiness, and in particular, how that relates to human sexuality.  Second, his desire for us to trust him when it seems he has allowed something terribly unfair in our lives, in particular the death ofContinue reading “Sex and death: Is God’s way best? – Ezekiel 24, Part 5”

Why and how we need to sit in our pain? – Ezekiel 19, Part 4

This week we’re studying Ezekiel 19 and its two allegorical parables of lament. The first was a lament about lions. The second parable of lament is similar.  Read about it in verses 10-14.  Very similar to the lions, isn’t it?  A vine grows fruitful and abundant and strong.  But it gets uprooted, withered by anContinue reading “Why and how we need to sit in our pain? – Ezekiel 19, Part 4”