Dr Paul Allen

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co- heirs with Christ , if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (Romans 8:17). The theme of sharing in Christ ’s sufferings is an important one in Paul’s letters. As Christians we are baptized into the death of Christ, and we are called to participate, in a certain sense, in the sufferings of Christ and the tribulations of the kingdom of God. Our sufferings do not earn us merit, but rather their purpose is to solidify our identification with Jesus and to work out the redemptive purposes of God. Filling Up What Is Lacking Paul states in Colossians 1:24 that Christians fill up in their flesh “what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions.” Some theologians, especially in the Roman Catholic community, have deduced from this that the sufferings of believers are meritorious, adding to a kind of deficiency that exists in the value of t...

Job Mocked by his Wife (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “You asked, ‘who is this that obscures My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). Peter tells us to rejoice when we participate in the sufferings of Christ ( 1 Peter 4:13)—particularly when we suffer because of our faithful witness to the truth of Christianity. But in a mysterious way, every Christian’s suffering exists “in union with Christ ,” and thus participates in the sufferings of Christ. Our suffering is never in vain, even though we may never know why God called us to suffer, or how our suffering counts for the advancement of His kingdom. Job was called to suffer. Job had committed no specific sin that brought God’s displeasure upon him. Job was afflicted in many ways, as we see in chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Job , but though we as readers know why he was called to suffer, Job himself was never told. As far as we know, God never let...

Image via Wikipedia The reality of a human raised from the dead is hard enough for adults to understand, much less kids. But here are some approaches I've taken. Author:  Amy Julia Becker I don’t know how to explain Easter to my children — Penny , 5, and William, 2. I’ve tried two approaches so far. I’ve talked about it directly: “Some people killed Jesus and he died and God made him alive again.” When I said that, William asked, “What does  died  mean?” I tried to explain death as something that takes people away forever. Penny asked, “Where is Jesus now?” and when I said, “Jesus is in heaven and all around us,” she responded, “But where is Jesus now?” Then Penny went to Sunday school last week, where her teachers decided to reenact the Passion of Jesus . I was sitting in church when, halfway through the sermon, one of the teachers brought Penny to me.  She sat by my side, coloring, for the rest of the service. Her teacher later explained that w...