Tag: Book of Job

The Bible is More Reliable than the Law of Thermodynamics

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Consider[i] the story of astrophysicist, Hugh Ross. He was a child prodigy raised in a secular, non-religious home in a secular community. He read all the books on science in his local library and knew he wanted to be an astrophysicist at an absurdly early age.

At 9 years old, he brought home a book on creation myths from the library. It summarized 100 different creations stories from different cultures around the world, and wrote all of them off based on the science he already knew.

At the age of 17, he read through the first few chapters of Genesis for the first time. He was surprised to recognize elements of the scientific method and some congruity with the scientific record. Listening to him describe his observations and conclusions while reading the creation story in Genesis for the first time are truly remarkable. 

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My Redeemer Lives

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“I know that my redeemer [i]lives.”[ii]

Do you know who said this? You might be surprised if you don’t know. It wasn’t the person who wrote the song.

This statement is a triumphal statement of faith. We sing it as a joyful pronouncement of gratitude and proclamation of our confidence in God. These words convey hope. They are a reflection of overcoming faith, but there is much more to the story. Continue reading “My Redeemer Lives” →

Suffering & God’s Compassion

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“You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

James 5:11

People can relate to the story of Job. He suffered physical ailments, the loss of his family and all he owned. Many people have suffered similar losses, but what of the compassion of God?

Job is a long book. Most of it focuses on Job’s suffering and questioning – “Why me?!” We are told in the beginning that Job was pure and upright. Yet, he suffered terribly at the hands of Satan … while God looked on! Job is the poster child for the question: Why do bad tings happen to good people?

His religious friends are not very sympathetic. They talked a lot, but they didn’t say much other than to question: “If you’re so good, why is God treating you so badly?”

Job’s friends didn’t believe that Job was as good as he claimed. The truth is, he probably wasn’t, but that’s another story.

The truth is also that bad things do happen to seemingly good people. Life isn’t fair in the hard times it dishes out. “Good” people sometimes have the worst luck, and “bad” people sometimes seem to get all the good things.

That leads us to wonder: If God exists, we are things the way they are?! Maybe He doesn’t exist. Or worse, maybe He doesn’t care!

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