Stan Jantz

Trend Forecasts for 2012

Stan Jantz — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:06:15 -0800

I’ve never been big on making predictions for any particular New Year. I suppose it has something to do with not wanting to be wrong, but 2012 seems different (and it’s not just because the Mayan calendar has the world ending on December 21). Because there are so many significant global trends that seem to be converging in a way that could produce more change and opportunity than any of us have seen in quite some time, I’m very interested in the future.

So, for what they’re worth, here are seven “trend forecasts” for 2012, and why I think they matter:

1. The 2012 U.S. elections will be contentious and bitterly fought (like it takes a genius to predict this one). We’ve all been disheartened at the way the political process has been working in the last few years, and the elections in 2012 may hit a new low point.

Why this matters: As Christians called to be responsible citizens, we can’t give up on the governing process God has put into place, no matter who wins and no matter how much we disagree with some of our leaders, laws, and public policies. No matter who’s in power, we need to submit to and pray for those in authority over us (Romans 13:1-7).

2. The European financial crisis will have an impact on our own economy. Several countries—Greece and Spain in particular—are teetering on the brink of a full financial meltdown.

Why this matters: Besides the effect such collapses could have on our own financial markets, a full-blown disaster in Europe could dissuade many on this side of the Pond from steering our own country towards a European socialistic model of governance.

3. Persecution of Christians will continue in many parts of the world. The killing of dozens of Nigerian Christians by Islamists on Christmas Day is a stark reminder of the kind of violent opposition that awaits countless Christians in the coming months and years.

Why this matters: Our hearts should break anytime Christians are killed simply because they follow Christ. At the same time, we need to remember that Jesus warned His disciples that if the world hates Him, it will also hate those who follow Him (John 15:18).

4. The assault on marriage will continue. It isn’t just the gay issue and the relentless push to redefine marriage as a covenant between two people rather than between a man and a woman. Marriage itself is falling out of favor as more and more people seem reluctant to make covenant relationships of any kind.

Why this matters: According to the way God set things up in His created world, marriage between a man and a woman isn’t a right. It’s a divine model established by God for human flourishing and as a picture of our own relationship to His Son.

5. The Charismatic church will continue to outpace all other faith traditions. At the present time, one in four Christians in the world is Pentecostal/Charismatic, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.

Why this matters: People are longing for a deeper experience with God and a touch of the miraculous. The Western Church in particular has promoted a pragmatic kind of faith that excludes the supernatural work of God in the world. We need to live as if the supernatural is real and the miraculous is possible, and that begins by embracing the promise and the power of the Holy Spirit.

6. People are reaching a level of social media exhaustion. Facebook will grow to 1 billion users in 2012, but users and usage have leveled off in this country. Twitter is still growing, but many users don’t tweet all that much if at all. The bottom line is that many are growing weary of the social media rat race.

Why this matters: Is it possible that people are getting tired of relating to other humans digitally rather than directly? Technology has brought us so many opportunities, but it’s no substitute for face-to-face connections. As those who are called to love our Creator and our neighbor, we have an opportunity to wisely use both social media and personal social interaction to bring the light and life of Jesus to a world hungry for authentic relationships.

7. Books and publishing will continue to be transformed. 2011 was the year of the ebook reader—most notably Amazon’s Kindle and Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. More than half of all fiction sales are digital, and in all categories the ebook is growing as a percentage of total book sales.

Why this matters: I believe we’ve reached a “tipping point” in terms of people being comfortable reading books on a screen. Print is not going away, but ebooks will continue to grow in influence. This trend poses enormous challenges and opportunities for publishers and writers alike.

There you have it. Seven trend forecasts for 2012. I admit they aren’t bold or surprising, but I hope they prompt some reflection as you ponder your own life in the New Year.

The Wonders of His Love

Stan Jantz — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:47:24 -0800

There is a reason we call this the most wonderful day of the year: Christmas is truly filled with wonder. Or at least it should be. Somehow over the course of 2,000 years our wonder has become somewhat diluted, if not downright negative.

We consider the miracle of the incarnation--God taking on human form--and we pose a question we might ask of an illusionist: "I wonder how he did that?" Or worse, our wonder is more like doubt, mainly because we buy into the notion--on a practical level, at least--that Jesus was a wise teacher and a social justice advocate, but hardly the supernatural being Scripture makes Him out to be.

Neither of these senses of wonder--speculation or doubt--is anywhere near the wonder that Jesus should incite in us. We should be ashamed when we settle for a pedestrian kind of wonder. Our wonder at Jesus and the day He was born should rise far above our normal human emotions to the place where we are literally frightened at the very idea that the most holy God has identified with us in such a personal, self-sacrificial way.

Whenever the word wonder, or wonders, or wonderful is used in Scripture, it refers to the supernatural. "And His name shall be called wonderful" is no sweet prophecy. Isaiah was foretelling a miracle far beyond human comprehension. When David wrote, "Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done," he was pointing to things too high for the human mind to conceive.

When youi look at wonder in this way, it changes the meaning of the phrases we so flippantly use, especialy today, on Christmas. When we sing of "the wonders of His love," we should think, not of ordinary love, but of a love so incomprehensible so inconceivable, so earth-shattering and humanity-invading, that our knees should buckle at the thought.

I'm afraid in our desire to fit God into our busy lives, to work Him into our story rather than joining the miraculous adventure of His story, we have forgotten the wonder of our God and Savior, who loved us so much that He gave us His only Son, so that our relationship with Him could be restored...forever.

Now that's a wonderful thought!

Sports and Christianity

Stan Jantz — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:44:38 -0800

Sports and Christianity have been linked since New Testament times. The apostle Paul encouraged first century believers to "run in such a way as to get the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:24). In the twenty centuries since then, countless numbers of athletes from various sports have taken Paul's advice quite literally, both on and off the field of play, and many have openly acknowledged their belief in Christ.

In fact, there are an astonishing number of professional atheletes who are publicly professing their faith in one way or another. And two of them--Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Denver Broncos, and Los Angeles Doger pitching ace Clayton Kershaw--are getting a lot of attention from the media, albeit for different reasons. These two 23-year-olds are also demonstrating that there's no "one size fits all" approach to telling the watching world that you're a Christian.

If you don't know about Tim Tebow, you must either be sports-averse or you hate football, because he is by all accounts the most popular athlete in the world right now--if you measure popularity by the number of words being written by sports commentators and social pundits. It's not enough that the Broncos' starting quarterback plays an unorthodox style of professional football, or that he has this knack for willing his team to win with last-minute drives. He is also quite deliberate and demonstrative when it comes to giving credit to God for his successes on the field. "Tebowing" is a new word in the English lexicon intended to describe (somewhat sarcastically) the kind of prayerful position Tim Tebow assumes after every touchdown.

By contrast, Clayton Kershaw, who was just given the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League--doesn't engage in Tebowing. I don't think he even extends his index finger to the sky after winning a game. But that doesn't mean Kershaw is ashamed of the gospel or that he's trying to appease his teammates by keeping his light under the proverbial bushel. To the contrary, Clayton and his wife, Ellen, are intentional about showing and sharing God's love by supporting orphans in Zambia through a ministry called Arise Africa. For the Kershaws, building a relationship with God means building solid relationships with others and becoming givers from the start. "I want every pitch and every batter I face to be about something more than a game," he says.

Whether or not you follow sports, I would encourage you to embrace the stories and the testimonies of these two outstanding young men. In particular if you have youngsters at home, share the stories of Tim Tebow and Clayton Kershaw. God is using these talented athletes in different ways to bring glory to Himself and relief to His world. We can all learn a lot from each of them, even if their sports and their styles are vastly different.

You can start by getting their books. Through My Eyes (HarperOne 2011) is Tim Tebow's story, and it's a well-written national bestseller (as you would expect). Arise (Regal 2012) is Clayton and Ellen's book, due out in January. Both books will inspire and remind you that it's our mandate as followers of Christ to "press on toward the goal to win the prize" for which God has called us heavenward (Philippians 3:14).

Inspired by Tozer

Stan Jantz — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:54:45 -0700

I've been a fan of A.W. Tozer for some time. His classic book, Knowledge of the Holy, had a profound influence on my early spiritual formation. And now that I'm the Publishing Director at Regal Books, I am thrilled that I am part of a team that is bringing previously unpublished content by Tozer to a new generaton of readers.

Recently I was asked to contribute to a new Regal book called Inspired by Tozer that features more than 50 artists, writers, and Christian leaders giving their own insights into Tozer's classic writings. It was an assignment I was eager to take on, especially because I share a singular connection with this man who has touched millions with his profound insights into the nature and character of God.

Here is my contribution. If you like it, I hope you will get a copy of the book. I think you will truly be inspired, especially since there are so many outstanding contributors, including Chuck Swindoll, Joni Eareckson Tada, Randy Alcorn, Britt Merrick, and Lauren Barlow of Barlow Girl, who served as the general editor.

EXPERIENCING HIS PRESENCE

"Start the day seeking God's presence and search for Him all through the day and revel in the gracious encounters of God throughout the day."

I met A.W. Tozer for the first and last time when I was four years old. I don’t remember much about that day, except that my father was dying and Dr. Tozer was his only hope.

My father grew up in a Christian Missionary Alliance Church in a small town in Minnesota. He married his high school sweetheart, attended a Bible college in St. Paul, and then moved with his wife and son to a Chicago suburb so he could continue his studies at Wheaton College. During this time, before my father’s twenty-fifth birthday, he was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. Today this form of cancer is highly treatable if detected early. In the mid-1950s there was little hope for survival. Still, my father held out hope. He served a mighty God and believed God could and would heal him. But he needed someone to pray for his healing. That’s when Dr. Tozer came into our lives.

For more than thirty years, A.W. Tozer served as the pastor of Southside Alliance Church in Chicago. Though he had no formal theological training, Tozer was known as a man whose deep heart for God was wedded to a keen mind. Our family attended Southside, so Dr. Tozer was our pastor, a fact clearly lost on me, but of great significance to my father. When it was clear that there was no medical answer for his grave condition, my father asked Dr. Tozer to come to our home and pray for his healing.

Within a few months my father passed from this life into the presence of God, an event that profoundly affected my mother and me. Yes, there was pain—deep pain and sorrow—yet there was also healing, something I have come to understand in the years since.

Physically, my father wasn’t healed, but that doesn’t mean Dr. Tozer’s prayer was ineffective, or that God somehow dropped the ball. Our primary desire in these kinds of life and death situations is always for physical healing, and sometimes this happens. But God’s overwhelming desire is for our spiritual healing, and in this sense Dr. Tozer’s prayer was highly effective.

Although he died physically, my father was healed spiritually on the day Tozer came into our home. Within a short time he was enjoying what Tozer often referred to as “the manifest presence of God.” Of course, experiencing God in this way is something every Christian can anticipate, but we don’t have to wait for heaven to come into the presence of the One who loves us more deeply and knows us more intimately than we could ever imagine.

Tozer believed that “the heart of man truly hungers for God’s presence.” Although my father’s hunger was long ago satisfied once and for all, I have the opportunity each day to enter into God’s presence—and so do you—thanks to the person and work of Christ.

I am grateful for the connection I have to two men who knew what it was like to experience God’s presence in a profound way on earth, and who are now basking in His glory in heaven. Even more, I am thankful that whether I live or die, I belong to the Lord and can truly revel in those gracious encounters of God each and every day.

GodQuest

Stan Jantz — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:18:30 -0700

Going on a quest is one of the most adventurous, important, and significant things any of us could ever do--if not the most important. Some of the greatest and most enduring stories told in books and film are about epic quests: The Odyssey, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, even the Wizard of Oz--all are stories of a hero in search of the one true thing that brings meaning to life.

Even ordinary people go on quests. They may not call it that, but they are on a search for meaning and something that offers true hope in a world that seems to be running out. Some people look for meaning in material things, while others search in various philosophies and religions. Still others seek after meaning by giving themselves to a cause or a political system they hope will make the world a better place. The problem is that at the end of these searches, no matter good or how worthwhile, is a host of unmet expectations.

Maybe you've seen these patterns in some of your friends and family members. I certainly have. It's a natural part of growing up and maturing, so it never bothers me when someone I care about is spending time exploring different philosophies and belief systems. In fact, I encourage it, as long as somewhere along the way they give God a shot.

Over the past year, I have been privileged to research and write a book with Sean McDowell about the greatest quest of all--the quest for God. At the end of the day, this is the only quest that really matters, because it's the only quest that offers meaning hope for this life as well as the next. Of course, just because i believe that doesn't mean someone else has to.That's not what this book, called GodQuest: Discover the God Your Heart Is Searching For, is about.

I'm excited to tell you that GodQuest is a book about discovery, not dogma. It's about a relationship with the one true God, not rhetoric about Him. As the user embarks on this GodQuest, he or she wil be encouraged to navigate their spiritual journey by following six "signposts" that provide direction and invite the traveler to make choices along the way:

Signpost 1: THE QUEST: What you believe determines where you go in life.
Signpost 2: THE BEGINNING: What you believe about creation determins how you view your life.
Signpost 3: THE WORD: What you believe about the Bible determins how you live your life.
Signpost 4: THE QUESTION: What you believe about God's goodness defines your relationship with Him.
Signpost 5: THE KING: What you believe about Jesus' identity determines your path in life.
Signpost 6: THE PATH: The path you follow in your spiritual journey determines your destination.

Check out the book, published by Outreach, for use by your church (there's a complete DVD curriculum) or someone you care about who is searching for meaning in their life. Even for those who have already decided that God is the object of their search, GodQuest will give a stronger foundation for faith and help draw them closer to the one who loves them more deeply and knows them more fully than they could ever imagine.

A Time for Humility

Stan Jantz — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 07:54:13 -0700

"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."

If there’s one thing above all others at the root of the ills of the human race, especially in these changing times, it’s pride. Wise King Solomon penned what is undoubtedly the most well known verse on pride in the Bible, and it speaks volumes about the damage pride can do: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Look at that last word: fall. When we read this verse, we usually think of a setback or someone getting knocked off a pedestal because of pride. But the word has a much more cosmic meaning when you think about the fact that pride was at the root of Satan’s rebellion against God and his banishment from heaven. “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High,” Satan declared (Isaiah 14:14).

Satan’s pride led to his downfall. Before God kicked him out of heaven, he was Lucifer, the chief angelic being. Evidently Satan didn’t learn his lesson, because he used the same tactic on Adam and Eve, telling them they would “be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Once again, pride led to a fall that had cosmic implications. Adam and Eve’s fall was our fall; their pride is our pride. As James Montgomery Boice observes, “Nothing lies so much at the heart of the problems of the human race as this prideful desire to take over God’s place or, which amounts to the same thing, to pretend that we can do without him.”

This desire to do without God, to rely on earthly rather than heavenly wisdom, is at the root of our proud attitudes in this dazzling digital age. The world is literally at our fingertips. The acceleration of knowledge and the expansion of human achievement continue to reinforce our belief that we can know it all and do it all.

Even some churches and religious organizations have embraced a prideful attitude as they have built impressive buildings, elaborate campuses and sophisticated media empires. It may be for the sake of spreading the gospel, but ministers and their ministries are just as susceptible to pride as anyone else. And to what end? To tell people about Jesus? Maybe. But as pride creeps in, neither a minister nor a church is exempt from the fall that follows pride.

In these changing times, we’ve seen the cracks in these man-made structures and systems built by proud people. We’ve seen enormous financial institutions crumble to the ground. We’ve watched in horror as real estate prices have fallen as a result of greedy speculation. And we’ve witnessed once-thriving ministries struggle as their donations have dwindled. It’s easy to blame the economic downturn for all of these ills, but it’s possible there’s another force at work. James makes it clear that God opposes the proud. Could it be that God is behind these falls and failures? Well, He kicked Satan out of heaven and Adam and Eve out of Eden because of their pride. Why would he treat us any different?

The bad news for proud people is that God opposes them because they stand in opposition to Him. Proud, self-sufficient people have little interest in anything or anyone but themselves. When it comes to money, status and power, proud people live according to the wisdom of the world rather than God’s wisdom. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Just as surely as God opposes the proud, He gives grace to the humble. Humility gets God’s attention, primarily because His Son, Jesus, came to earth as a humble servant rather than a conquering king in order to show us how to live. Not only does God delight in our humility before Him, but He also asks us to live in harmony and humility with one another, never too proud to associate with “people of low position” (Romans 12:16).

In fact, God offers to forgive us and heal us, both individually and corporately, if we simply humble ourselves before Him. And it starts with us, the people of God:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Excerpt from the forthcoming book, God Is In the Small Stuff for Changing Times (Barbour Publishing).

What if today really is the day?

Stan Jantz — Sat, 21 May 2011 08:27:43 -0700

Even kooks can serve a purpose. Take Harold Camping, just the latest in a long line of Christian kooks who have populated the landscape for the past 2000 years. Camping’s prediction that the rapture would take place on May 21, 2011 stirred up all kinds of interest from secular and religious sources alike.

Overwhelmingly there were two reactions. Either people laughed hysterically at yet another weirdo proclaiming doomsday (these were the secular pundits), or they apologized profusely for someone who clearly never read the verse where Jesus says nobody knows the hour or the day when he will return (these would be the Christian apologists).

I’ve got a slightly different take on the whole Harold Camping affair: What it he had been right? What if Jesus really had returned on May 21? Now, please hear me. I’m not suggesting that the old kook was correct, but there was a chance that his lamebrain prediction and the actual parousia could have happened on the same day.

(Actually, for the record, if I were in God’s shoes, even if Camping had lucked out and picked the right day for the return of Jesus, I would have changed it just because of his prediction. At the same time, I would have snatched just Harold Camping and left the rest of us alone. After all, he is 89, and now he's reset judgment day for October 21, 2011, so why not immediately fulfill his desire to see the Lord?)

The thing is, we who believe in the certain return of Christ have become a little too complacent and comfortable with this world, to the point where we have more or less forgotten this basic fact about the Second Coming: it could happen anytime. It really could happen today.

Jesus was clear about this when he told his followers: “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come” (Mark 13:33). I don’t know about you, but I’m not on guard all that much, and my alert level is about a 2 on a scale of 10.

So who’s closer to the truth? Kooky Harold Camping, who at least acts as if the Second Coming is coming soon, or complacent me, who has become so comfortable with my earthly home that I’ve lost my longing for my permanent one. I’ve forgotten that my true citizenship is in heaven, and as a result I don't spend a whole lot of time eagerly waiting “for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).

Just this morning as I was reflecting on all of this, I found this passage from the Psalms. It encouraged me and challenged me to spend a little more time each day waiting for Jesus, and to daily reflect, if only for a moment, that today really could be the day.

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning (Psalm 130:5-6).

So thanks, Harold Camping. You may be a kook, but at least you made me think about the Second Coming a lot more, and that's not such a kooky thing.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Stan Jantz — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:44:07 -0700

Miracles in the Bible—especially the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead—are a problem for many people. To those who operate within a worldview of naturalism , a miracle is a violation of natural law (naturalism by definition excludes the supernatural). They don’t believe in miracles of any kind, most of all the resurrection.

The historical records of people seeing Jesus after the resurrection are meaningless to naturalists, because the events happened so long ago during a time when people were more prone to believe myths and fables. Of course, naturalists don’t have a problem believing in the existence of Julius Caesar, probably because he never performed any miracles.

Deists don’t go much for miracles either. Thomas Jefferson famously removed all the miracles from the New Testament and published what is known as The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. His goal was to present Jesus as a great moral teacher, without the miracles or the resurrection.

But as C.S. Lewis points out, Jesus doesn’t leave us the option of considering him a “great moral teacher” and then leaving it at that, precisely because His claims regarding his deity were so extravagant. Lewis writes, “He would either be a lunatic—on the level of the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” 1

Even some theists would rather not bother with any “proofs” for miracles because they don’t consider them convincing. They would rather accept the miracles and the resurrection of Jesus by faith without any corroborating evidence.

So what do we do with the miracles in the Bible, particularly the miracles Jesus did? Can you prove they really happened? And can we appeal to miracles to argue for the existence of God and Jesus? We can, but we have to be smart about doing it. According to the philosopher Doug Geivett, when offering a defense for miracles and the life of Christ, it’s not a good idea to put a lot of weight on just one kind of evidence (in this case, miracles) for the simple reason that it’s hard to overcome “worldview commitments” people have that exclude supernaturalism.

That’s why Geivett offers an approach that may stimulate your own thoughts about miracles and the supernatural. Start with the probability that God (who is supernatural) exists, and then look for anomalies (another word for miracles) that cannot be explained naturalistically (such as the resurrection of Christ). If you start with the premise that God exists, you can then proceed to the idea that miracles are not only possible, but exactly what you would expect from a supernatural being.

And think about this question: If a supernatural being wanted to reveal Himself to His created beings, would He not do so in the form of miracles, which are by definition supernatural events? When you look at miracles in this way, Geivett writes, they act like a kind of “divine signature, confirming God’s actual sponsorship of a particular revelation claim.” 2

Does this mean we should expect miracles in our own lives? Lewis doesn’t think so. In his book, Miracles, Lewis writes, “God does not shake miracles into Nature at random as if from a pepper-caster. They come on great occasions: they are found in the great ganglions of history—not of political or social history, but of that spiritual history which cannot be fully known by men. If your life does not happen to be near one of those great ganglions, how should you expect to see one?” 3

Lewis has a point. Certainly I’ve seen things that can’t be explained naturalistically—the healing of a friend from cancer, the timing of an event that could never have been manipulated—but are these really miracles, or are they simply demonstrations of God working through natural means to accomplish His purposes?

Perhaps we are too quick to call something a “miracle” when it is in fact a normal outpouring of God’s sovereign work in the world. On the other hand, I’ve heard eyewitness accounts of miracles more on the order of what happened in the Bible. In fact, these are consistent with what Lewis says about miracles being found around “heroic missionaries, apostles, or martyrs.” If we were any of those, writes Lewis, “it would be a different matter.”

I suppose it would be exciting to witness a miracle of biblical proportions, but I’m okay if I never do, for two reasons. The first reason is that the most significant miracle in history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead—is as real as to me as anything I could see with my own eyes because both the external evidence and my internal experience are real.

The second reason I’m okay if I never witness an actual miracle is because, as Lewis points out, martyrdoms tend to follow miracles. Maybe that’s why God is pretty selective when it comes to miracles. He knows only a few people can handle them. I for one don't know if I could.

1 C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996), 56.

2 R. Douglas Geivett, “The Evidential Value of Miracles,” in In Defense of Miracles, ed. By R. Douglas Geivett and Gary Habermas (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 179.

3 C. S. Lewis, Miracles (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1969), 174.

God and natural disasters

Stan Jantz — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:53:56 -0800

Of all the types of suffering we see in the world, sometimes the most difficult to comprehend is the tragedy of natural disasters. With the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we are once again reminded that nature has the power to unleash unimaginable destruction, causing loss of life and suffering on a scale that’s difficult to comprehend.

You can’t help but feel a sense of helplessness when such disasters occur. Because their origin comes from this planet we call home, we all feel the sting when the earth convulses. And we wonder: Can we trust this life-giving sphere that is usually so good to us? It all seems rather capricious, especially when those who are least able to handle the terrestrial smack of earthquakes, typhoons, and floods are often hit the hardest.

How do we deal with this kind of suffering? What are our options? We can believe that nature has run amok and out of God’s control. Or we can believe that nature is all there is, with no God to care or wield any authoritative restraint. Those are the options of people who have given up on God. They aren’t very comforting, are they? If nature is the beginning and the end of all things, and we are merely pawns in a mindless game of chance and natural selection (it’s survival of the fittest, you know), then there is no need to wonder why we suffer, because there is no explanation.

People who still hold out for a belief in some kind of God—and most of the world operates this way—look beyond nature for answers. In this realm of belief, there are two views. The first is that God is using nature to inflict punishment on His wayward created beings. He did it once—remember the Great Flood?—and he can do it again. Ah, but there’s the rainbow, God’s promise to humankind that he will never inflict such worldwide harm again:

“I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people’s thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood. As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night” (Genesis 8:21,22).

We must look elsewhere for some kind of explanation, though none can be found to satisfy everyone. Perhaps a partial answer is found in the New Testament. In his letter to the Roman church in the first century, the apostle Paul writes:

All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (Romans 8:21,22).

Even creation is under the weight of sin and suffering, brought into this world by rebellious acts of God’s human creation. It isn’t that God has lost control; he is merely allowing His creation to operate in the physical world he made for us, functioning superbly and incredibly 99.9 percent of the time, but occasionally groaning under the contractions that will someday result in a new heaven and a new earth.

Meanwhile, we must also groan with compassion for those affected by earth’s sometimes unexplained behavior. If we are to find meaning in any of this, we must find it in the meaning and the help we can give to those who suffer.

Adapted from God Is in the Small Stuff for Tough Times by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz

A Time for Mourning

Stan Jantz — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:19:17 -0800

Sorrow is underrated in our culture. We don’t like to be sorrowful and try to avoid it like the plague. When sorrow hits us and we truly feel regret for something we did, or we are grieving because of something that happened to us, our goal is to get past it and move forward as soon as possible. Nobody likes to live with sorrow. We would much rather have joy in our lives.

I've been doing some study in the book of James, and I ran across this startling verse: "Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom" (James 4:9). Talk about a buzzkill. What are we supposed to do with that. Our natural response is probably to ask “Why?”

Why would anybody want to deliberately stop laughing and start mourning? Isn’t laughter the best medicine and the perfect way to deal with our present troubles? Didn’t James himself say in the opening to his letter that we are to “count it all joy” when we encounter trials? Yes he did, but apparently James believes the path to that joy comes not through laughter, but through sorrow. It's taken me a while for this to sink in, but I think I know what he means.

Sorrow is not to be taken lightly and it should not be ignored. Sometimes you can’t control when your sorrow comes. You may be grieving right now because of a loss of some kind. Don’t discount the feelings you are experiencing. Rather than resenting your current emotional state, embrace it. Instead of doing your best to move on, appreciate where you are and become aware of the benefits of sorrow and suffering.

Perhaps the greatest upside to sorrow and suffering is that they help us identify with Jesus Christ, who experienced both in great measure (1 Peter 4:13). If we have any aspirations to be like Jesus—and that should be our constant goal—we must realize that suffering is essential to our spiritual lives. Even Jesus benefited from His suffering. The Bible says Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:8-9).

The truth is that God used suffering in the life of His Son, and He uses suffering in the lives of His children. And for those of us who are aren’t willing to follow Him fully, God often uses suffering to get our attention. C.S. Lewis famously writes,

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

If you are suffering, whether from a physical difficulty, a financial crisis or relational loss, let your sorrow lead you to hope, knowing that God is using it for your good (Romans 8:28). When you have the hope in your trials that God is using your sorrow for your own good and to make you more like Jesus, you are on the path to joy. This isn’t some kind of temporary happiness. It’s not even the kind of joy that makes you laugh. It’s a feeling of gratitude that comes from a deep part of your soul, knowing that God cares for you greatly and has never for a moment let you out of His love and care.

Now, there’s still this matter of turning our laughter into mourning. Is James saying we need to be sorrowful even when we don’t feel like it? In a manner of speaking, yes. The first century Christians James was writing to were in a situation similar to ours. They had followed false paths to what they thought would lead them to happiness. They were convinced material things would cause them to laugh. They thought they could experience joy without helping those who were on the margins of society. What they didn’t realize is that their pursuit of happiness along these false pathways not only grieved God, but also put their own community at risk. So James is telling them to become aware of their sin, realize their guilt and take responsibility to change. It’s hardly a time to laugh. Just the opposite, it’s a time to weep.

In these changing and serious times, there are many who are suffering, but there also many who need to turn their laughter into mourning. There needs to be a godly sorrow that leads to repentance and regret for those things that grieve the heart of God (2 Corinthians 7:10). We need to stop relying on the wisdom of this world and humble ourselves before God. Only then will God restore our joy.