Pastor Matt's Blog

Son of Hamas Update

fot those following the Son of Hamas story, Joseph (mosab) is doing well and is working on a feature film about his life.  please pray it reaches millions with the Gospel of our Lord.  we are really proud of you Joseph keep it up brother.  on a discouraging note it seems that another muslim continues to slander him with false accusations.  for those who know what i am speaking about feel free to get the real scoop here: 

http://sonofhamas.wordpress.com/

Pray for a harvest of evangelism.  Pray for disciples to be made.  Pray for the Glory of God.

Sola de Gloria

Matt Smith

Mosab Hassan Yousef--> Barabbas Road Church

Joseph has much to teach the Christian community in regards to Islam and faith but for today i think there is much to see in the very fact of his fame.  He is in interview after interview speaking about the radical change in his life and its impact in the world.  

Culture is affected by and through Disciples- yet the church attempts to make change through social programs and such.  When is the Church going to wake up and realize that Ephesus was turned upside down, not because people painted schools but because people made real disciples of Jesus Christ.  Real disciples cannot help but change the world around them.  If the Church truly wants to impact the world let us remember the great commission and begin to really make disciples.  Let us stop being distracted with social programs as a goal or mission of the church and begin to see them as results and by products of real disciple-making in action.  If we really want to effect La Jolla and Pacific Beach we need to affect the people.  But to do that we need to first begin with ourselves- we need to truly be disciples and not just Christian converts.  

 Let us remember that the great culture changer and the key in the so-called culture war is not legislation, policy or even fighting terror but in making disciples of Christ- God let us remember the Great Commission.

BREEDS

so here is a method i have tried in order to discipline myself for Godliness.  This in no way makes God love me more nor does it make me more spiritual but i do believe daily discipline breeds Godliness.  

According to Paul discipline is important- not just any discipline either but the kind used by those training to be the best in the world at what they do.

1Cor. 9:24   Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Paul, the expounder of sola fide and the great author of Romans, the main theme of which is justification by faith alone, also tells us that discipline is an important component to godliness.

all that said, this is what i came up with: "daily discipline BREEDS Godliness"

B-daily Bible reading -get a good plan. this is where God speaks to you. nuff said :) 

R- daily read something or some other resource that will strengthen you faith.  I have found this to be a needed discipline to keep me fresh in my faith.  It also helps me to engage different ideas floating around out there.  Worldview synthesis is practiced in this discipline. start with CS Lewis Mere Christianity- if you need some book recommendations lmk. Pastormatt@whoisbarabbas.com

E- daily exercise- our body is a temple and we do not honor God as bad stewards of our bodies.  Daily exercise really parallels other disciplines- i have found that if my body is getting stimulus and is fit than so is my mind and spirit- and no, i am not a new ager- for them it is a case of a stopped clock is right twice a day and they are wrong about almost all else.  

E- daily evangelism-  This is a scary one for most and i recognize that but it is a mainstay of the Great Commission.  Can you imagine if all Christians focused on this DAILY?  In any case, at the very least pray for a divine appointment and pray for those needing salvation that you know but further keep your eyes open for any opportunity to share your faith.  Go to a new neighbor each day perhaps and just tell them about your faith and how to have a similar faith- a good book is Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman (this would fit nicely with you R). 

D- daily disciple-making- daily i try to be conscious of the main mission my Lord gave to me and the main mission of our church which is "to make disciple-making disciples through the personal investment of our lives." that said, i try to be conscious of investing my life into at least one specific person daily- included in this is a day devoted to my family.  They need to be invested in too and through the week we sometimes find ourselves running every-which way, knowing we have a day to focus on each-other allows us to recharge and stay true to our first ministry.

S-daily secret prayer.  This is important for obvious reasons but it is also important because it will keep you from working in the flesh.  The items above can all be done in the flesh but the S keeps it in the Spirit.  Daily find time to pray alone with God.  I have found that i prefer to pray for people through the week as the need arrises so that in my alone time i can focus on speaking with God and not just recite a laundry list of wants.  I trust He knows my wants and so i try to come to Him in whatever state i am in.  i prefer to pray through the psalms that correspond to the day- for example today is psalm 41- it is feb. 11 which is the second month 30+11 ( i count each month as 30 days in order to keep it simple).  Next month i will be on psalm 60+...

finally keep a journal and write down your progress, having something to write helped me when i was training for the olympics and it definitely helps now.

oh and one more thing-plan on failing a lot.  Just get back on the wagon and keep going. it takes anywhere from 13 to 31 days to establish a habit (I forgot the stat but it is one of those)

hope this helps please lmk 

Is John's Gospel Anti-Semitic?

I just preached and made many references to the Gospel of John and the theme of rejection running throughout.  Jesus was the painter who entered His painting and was rejected by all – and even at the end God Himself.  This brought up the issue I have heard discussed, usually coming from the politically correct police who only want to distort the Word of God but here is a brief look at the issue as I see it.  Humor me.  Is John’s Gospel anti-Semitic?

Having studied the issue of an anti-Semitic flavor in John’s Gospel for about an hour at best it became immediately apparent that this is a rather silly debate.  The word ‘Jew’ is used in different ways depending on the context but never in a negative context when referencing the people in general.  This is important because John uses negative slurs about the Gentiles in general so it could more be said that John was anti-gentile but definitely not anti-Jew.  Sometimes using the word Jew would refer to the leadership and in this case the tone could be quite negative.  For example in John 7:13 and 9:22 it is obvious that the term ‘Jews’ is used specifically of the leadership as distinct from the people:

 

 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. (John 7:13)

 

(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) (John 9:22)

 

In other cases ‘Jew’ is used of the people in general and is at worst used in a neutral way.  In John 4:22 we see the positive connotation about the ‘Jews’ unlikely to be the leadership in this case.  In 12:9-11 we see the term ‘Jews’ is used quite distinct from the chief priests and refers to the people in general:

 

²² You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. (John 4:22)

 

⁹ When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (John 12:9-11)

 

All this said, it still must be mentioned that what constitutes Judaism today is at best a form of rabbinicism that took off in the tradition of the Pharisees.  Therefore despite the specificity of John in calling out the leaders, for the most part the tenor of Jewish rejection still remains a fact of history that simply is.  Further, though John puts blame in general on the leaders, the people ended up putting their loyalty with the temple rather than Jesus (John 7:13; 9:22).  This constitutes a rejection and so we end up back where we started.  John is anti-Semitic and anti-everybody for he declares the need for all people to be born again to be saved and so it is really a moot point argued it seems for distraction more than anything else.  As silly as this debate is, reformers like Martin Luther added fuel to the fire with his misguided work “On the Jews and Their Lies[1],” printed to rail against the ‘Satanic Jews’.  He like so many others miss the main point which is that all people rejected Jesus not just the Jews.  A better work entitled the Satanic everybody would have been more fitting for Luther.  We follow a rejected crucified Savior who suffered and sacrificed himself for a people who did not even want Him.  He did this for me before I was even born and I thank God for Jewish rejection because I am saved by His blood which they in their rejection caused.  Paul seems to agree and points out that it was all to cause all people to be under mercy and grace alone so no one would ever merit salvation.     

 

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers:a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them

            when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:25-36)

 

 

---

[1] Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies, 154, 167, 229, cited in Michael, Robert. Holy Hatred: Christianity, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, p. 111.

courage to suffer

And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.  And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3:4-6)

Imagine receiving this message over the evening news.  Perhaps in our lifetime this will indeed happen.  How would you feel?  Would you be scared?  I believe it would be silly to say otherwise and yet I have no doubt that almost all the Christians I know would indeed be willing to go to the fire for their faith.  Why would I say this?  Does it not seem reasonable that many would be cowards, denying their God for the sake of life?  Though by the world’s standards it would statistically make sense by biblical standards I believe that every man woman and child would in the strength of the Holy Spirit go into the flames of the fire.  Some would sing and some would cry but I believe that such is the true Christian faith that every true believer would not even hesitate to announce their faith. 
    In the Old Testament we see this very thing happen and we see true believers respond with true faith. 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”  (Daniel 3:16-18)

Christians have always faced persecution.  When the state realizes that these peculiar people do not give first allegiance to their earthly home but rather to their heavenly one they are a perceived threat.  I believe that the language being used in our government should be indicative of what the future holds for believers.  Recently, President Obama referred to the war in Afghanistan as a war on extremism.  When we hear news reports on Muslim terrorists it is always extremists and fundamentalists that are the threat.  It should come as no surprise that this same language will include Christian extremists as well.  If the problem is extremism than the solution is global moderation.  This is the seed, I believe, for the one world government’ religion, the great harlot  of New Babylon.  The very problem with terrorism is not extremism but with the Koran being simply wrong.  The amount of adherence to this faith is not the problem but that in the marketplace of ideas it does not hold water.  If the premise is wrong than the whole thing is wrong.  For example, socialism is the most glorious image of heaven on earth that man can come up with.  It really is the greatest picture of how society ought to be and yet it has consistently led to more death and misery than almost any idea.  Why?  Simply put, it relies on the false premise that man is inherently good.  Capitalism on the other hand works because it relies on the true premise the man is not inherently good but selfish…and so it works.    All of this to say that one day in the future we Christians should expect to be singled out for our extremist and narrow view of God and man.  We will one day be enemies of the state and may face similar persecution to Daniel’s friends. 
    Courage is a commodity that we will have to have; nay we do have IN Christ.  We today are indwelt with the Holy Spirit.  As you read Daniels account you may wonder, “where was God?”  It seems that God should have kept them from this trial and yet we see them get thrown into the fire.  Watching this happen would have been much like watching God in the flesh strung up on a cross.  It does not fit with our version of power, that is until we get to Sunday. 
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (Daniel 3:19-25)

God did not keep them out of the fire but rather He walked with them through the fire.  Biblical courage is simply faith taking its natural place in a hostile world.  Lord, give us the faith to face the trials that are coming upon us.  Come quickly Lord Amen.

the real purpose driven life

THE REAL PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE

    The key to understanding Ecclesiastes is in the phrase “under the sun.”  This little phrase can be the difference of great understanding or great error.  First off it must be stated that Ecclesiastes is a book containing many false proclamations.  These false statements make a whole lot more sense however when one understands that they are made under the auspices of a man not living for God or really even with the idea of God.  This brings us back to the term “under the sun.”  In this book it must be understood that this is speaking of life without God.  Every time this phrase is used if one were to substitute “without God” one would find that the book is very clear and addresses the absolute misery that confronts every atheist that actually desires meaning and purpose under the sun without God. 
    Francis Schaeffer makes the case in many of his books that every unbeliever lives a life inconsistent with their own beliefs.  This is based on the premise that the bible is indeed true and the further assumption that any idea that contradicts the Biblical one would be in fact fiction.  This means that every belief held by the unbelieving world that is not Biblical is impossible to live by, at least with any satisfaction.  Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes deals with this directly.  Without God, knowledge and wisdom bring only misery and success at any thing leaves one with nothing in the end because everyone will die naked and alone, unable to bring anything with them.  This is depressing and it truly is the plight of modern man under the sun.  Ask “why,” questions of worldly people and it is no time at all before the idea of meaninglessness is encountered. 
    To understand Ecclesiastes as a believer it is important to remember that this was very likely written at the end of Solomon’s life.  This is significant because we know that at the beginning of his life he started off being the wisest of all men and living in the fear of the Lord.  We find out later that he falls because of the influence of his many pagan wives who turned his heart away from the Lord.  After all he did Solomon was not made much of by God in any significant way, unlike his father David.  David was the measuring rod for all future kings, which is ironic being that he was an adulterer and a murderer.  David did have something that Solomon did not have however and it is the reason that he was remembered even though Solomon was a “greater” king…devotion.  David was a man after God’s own heart, even as an adulterer and murderer, while Solomon was a man after his own heart even as a great king with peace on all sides.  Solomon should remind every Christian that if the wisest man in history, aside from Jesus, could fall this way due to women what makes us think we will not?    As a Christian we must guard our heart because we too may live our life “under the sun” even though we believe in God.  This could be termed practical atheism and it would encompass the desires of many Christians.  Desiring bigger and better is great until bigger and better is achieved.  It is really at the top when true misery is realized because it is there that one is left to wonder, “is this it?’ 
    At the very end of the book Solomon gives us the deepest analysis of where meaning in life comes from.  He says it comes from the judgment of God, or rather life lived in reference to this judgment.  Why is this profound?  Let us illustrate this with the analogy of a soccer game.  If there were no rules or lines or goals or teams or referees than there would be no real meaning to the game.  It is the fixed standards or rules that are imposed that give each team its purpose and gives the game meaning.  It is these very rules that allow people to know how they are doing and how they can improve.  God and His judgments are the same thing for man.  He provides a fixed point of reference for man to live out of.  Man can know what the rules are, how to improve and how he is doing in an absolute sense.  In real life the game, or race using Paul’s analogy, is really defined on our ability to properly image God.  Man made in God’s image cannot do this.  Every action taken by fallen man is a false statement of God and His person.  Because you are made in God’s image everything you do says something about God.  Unfortunately everything you advertise about God says that HE is a liar, a thief, a gossip, a murderer, and a selfish, lazy…human.  Would you keep an advertisement running that constantly insulted you?  Why should God?   The good news is that God sent a correct advertisement of Himself in Jesus Christ.  Jesus perfectly advertised God to all of Creation and paid the price of our false advertisement (sin).   Besides John 1:18 where we read that Jesus is the perfect explanation of God, look at this exchange with Philip:
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. (john 14:8-11)

If this is the case what is the judgment that we will face?  How about this?  If your friend were to ask you the question show me Jesus and I will believe, could you respond with the words: “have I been with you so long that you do not see Christ?  If you see me you see Him I am in Him and He is in me.”  These words are humbling to me and I am sure to you as well.  This is the race that has been set before us and this is what we are to be about and ultimately this is what brings meaning to our life.  Solomon’s words at the end of Ecclesiastes make a lot more sense in light of this.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

    As Christians living under the Son we must remember that our meaning comes from our relationship to our Creator and Redeemer.  God is ultimately the only fixed point of reference by which one might find meaning.  If God is real than meaning and purpose exist not under the sun but under the SON. 

Babies are good

PSALM 127

Psa. 127:0 ¶     A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF SOLOMON.
Psa. 127:1 ¶     Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
Psa. 127:2     It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Psa. 127:3 ¶     Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Psa. 127:4     Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Psa. 127:5     Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

This is a Psalm that is very dear to my heart.  As I think on it I can only look at my daughter.  When I was newly married I came across this psalm and wondered at the general attitude in our culture about children, an attitude it seems I inherited from my culture.  Today children are not considered a heritage of the Lord but rather a burden to bear, a burden that hinders the enjoyment of a selfish “me-centered” existence. 
    The first two verses seem to shadow Solomon’s Ecclesiastes where he depressingly sums up life outside of a relationship with God:
        I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
        I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
        I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
        I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great        
        possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
        I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both         men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.
        So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained
        with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure,         for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all         that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a             striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11)

This is the life sold to all of us since youth, at least here in America.  It is a life of self-exaltation and building up an empire to self.  Kids are really only something you do when you are done doing for yourself.  But it is really all without meaning outside of God.  This begs the question, if meaning comes from God would it not be the case that He knows the best gifts that will bring the greatest significance in life?  If He declares that Kids are a great reward would this mean that many are thumbing their nose at God’s idea of a good gift?
Women used to be held in high regard in their ability to image our Creator through childbirth but now due to feminism women are forced to compete on an “equal footing” with men in the work place.  These men are able now to impregnate any woman they like and bear no responsibility.  In the Old Testament we see that this is not the case at all.  God ordained the care of women who were mistreated and provided for children to have a home.  In Deuteronomy we see this provision:
If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days. (Deut. 22:28-29)

How different it is today when children are a problem to be disposed of so women can continue to fulfill themselves in the work place.  For the record, I am not arguing against women working however, simply that women have been devalued in their rise to equality in the workplace.  What does this mean for children?  They are even less valued. 
But verse three of Psalm 127 grabbed my attention.  BEHOLD, children are a heritage and a reward.  Could this verse be universal?  Is this really only for rural Hebrew farm people?  I think not.  It was this Psalm that convicted my wife and I to let God be in charge of our fertility, at least for a moment of faith.  Well, God rewarded us almost instantly with a beautiful little girl we named Kaylee, and again with another beautiful girl we named Sophia.  They are three and two now.  Kaylee just asked me how God made her.  It was this question that brought this verse to mind and in this time of reflection I could answer: “God’s Word did.”    
Matt Smith
Pastor, Barabbas Road Church
pastormatt@whoisbarabbas.com
www.whoisbarabbas.com
619.459.3873

The next phase of Gay protest...

If you have seen the Gay protests for proposition 8 on youtube you have seen what a gay mob looks like...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrRxFoBSPng

they are angry at a group of Christians who were praying for people in the neighborhood and who wanted to see people free from the bondage of homosexuality...well the tolerance crowd (the gay community of that city) formed a mob and gnashed their teeth and screamed obscenities at the group who needed a riot police escort just to get out of the neighborhood in one piece...this crowd seems to be tolerant of only their own view...here is where this all leads I believe...

Genesis 19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men–both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom–surrounded the house.
Genesis 19:5 They shouted to Lot,“Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”
Genesis 19:6 ¶ Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him.
Genesis 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly!
Genesis 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Genesis 19:9 ¶ “Out of our way!” they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us! We’ll do more harm to you than to them!” They kept pressing in on Lot until they were close enough to break down the door.

let us be bold in loving and speaking the truth to all people even when it is difficult...we have nothing to fear and our love for people is best shown when we are bold in telling the truth lovingly so that some might be saved...

suffering

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.    Matthew 5:10-12
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.                                  2 Timothy 3:12

    There is a high cost associated with being a disciple and an even higher one for those desiring to be a teacher of God’s people.  This is why James exhorts us to “let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment (James 3:1).”  The fact that the Bible is saturated with instructions and warnings for leaders and teachers of men, reminds us of the importance of this role.  Yet we are told by Jesus Himself to count the cost of following Him.  Leaders of God’s people are called to suffer but so is everyone else in the Christian faith.  This seems hard and very much at odds with much of what is being passed for Biblical Christianity today.  This blog is on my theology of suffering and as such, I will keep it personal.  I hate suffering.  That is my theology of suffering.  It is not easy to accept that the God who loves me uses my pain to teach me about Him and myself but His Word is clear on this matter.  In fact the very idea about a theology (study of God) of suffering brings out the very question that needs to be asked.  Where is God in suffering?  How does He relate to it and how do we avoid it?  The thesis of this short essay is that God uses our trials and pain to bring us into a proper relationship to Him.  This encompasses the role of grace in salvation and…living so that He might be made all in all. 
    Many consider the book of Job a great place to start in any study on suffering but the theme of the book does not suggest this is a good choice.  The book is not primarily about Job or his suffering but it is about God and His bet with Satan.  Satan was essentially charging that God was not worthy of love without buying it.  God uses Job to make His point to Satan.  This is all well and good but Job sees none of this and is left to wonder “why me.”  In the end God speaks to Job out of the whirlwind and reminds Job of His place and all is well and God restores Him and life goes on.  However GOD NEVER GIVES JOB ANY REASON WHY HE SUFFERED.
God never really gives us an answer but one; Jesus Christ.  God, rather than explain Himself to us demonstrated to us the necessity of suffering by suffering for us and now with us.  To put it bluntly, God suffered more than any person ever will. 
    Let’s illustrate this for a moment.  In Genesis 22 we read about God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son.  What a cruel thing for God to ask.  Remember that God promised this son Isaac to Abraham and had him wait thirteen years or more for him.  Abraham had him in extreme old age and watched every day the proof of God’s promises lived out in his son, the very son God asked him to kill on an altar.  God does not relieve the tension of that story for us and Abraham, like Job, never gets a reason for the test.  He is spared from actually having to go through with it at the last minute and every one is happy but the reader.  Why would God do this?  I believe we see the answer when God says of Jesus at His baptism “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased (Mark 1:11).”  This becomes uncomfortable for us when we realize in our offense at God for asking Abraham to kill his only son, we see God do the very thing He did not ask Abraham to do; kill His only Son.  We can at this moment experience at least in a small way the torment God, the Creator of the universe experienced at the cross.  God does not answer our suffering rather He empathizes with it.  He in His perfect plan has ordained a plan that will, out of the myriad of plans available to Him before creating, bring the most glory to Himself and it includes the temporary existence of evil and suffering.  Without evil and suffering, God’s justice would not be shown nor His grace nor His mercy.  At the end of the day our comfort comes in the cross. 
Peter says that we are not to be surprised by the fiery trials that come upon us; that we are to instead be glad (1 Peter 4:12).  And in James we read a similar idea that to modern ears might sound shocking:
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:2-5)
    In these verses we see the answer to not avoid trouble but to embrace it.  He essentially says that trouble has a purpose and it is to make you like Christ, perfect in your reliance on God.  He says to consider it pure joy IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING.  This is audacious.  If my wife were to get into a car accident I would feel angry if my friend told me to have joy in the middle of my torment.  But this is exactly what James is saying.  James gives us the clue in verse five.  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God,” he says.  The point here is the antidote or answer, not to avoid trials but to have joy in the midst of them.  Here is how I illustrated this in a sermon.  I asked the congregation: “who believes God is good?” Every hand was raised.  “Who believes that God is working out all things to your good and His glory?”  Every hand but a few were raised.  “Why don’t you have pure joy in your suffering?”  IN Ephesians 1 we learn that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ and in Romans we learn that God will never leave us.  We do not need more strength to endure, we do not need more grace, and we do not need more love.  We have all these things.  We need to ask God for the ability to apply the things we know to be true about God to our situations.  In short we need wisdom, the wisdom to apply what we know to be true to our present situation.  The result of God giving us this wisdom is pure joy.  This is something you can hang your hat on.
    Let me sum this up with a final example. 
And on that day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” And leaving the multitude, they took Him along with them, just as He was, in the boat; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. And He Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And being aroused, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith?” And they became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  (Mark 4:35-41)
    I find comfort in Mark 4:35-41 for many reasons.  The first is the fact that man would never invent a God more terrifying than nature.  But perhaps more appropriate to this blog, I also take comfort in the fact that it was Jesus’ idea to go into the storm.  He knew it was coming; He is God after all.  He knew and brought the disciples into that storm so that He could bring them to depend on Him, as they should anyway and so that they could see who He really was.  Job learned this in his suffering and so did Abraham.  Perhaps the answer to suffering was there all along. 

Lets get crazy I need to rant

ok so i am so sick of the stupid debate about the veracity of evolution as a science and the intelligent design movement as unscientific.  Let it be said that there is no way to debate this subject properly until all parties realize that this is not a scientific debate at all but a philosophical one.  Let me say it this way...we consider the practice of doing an autopsy as doing science- the person doing the autopsy is trying to determine using the scientific method what the cause of death was for the deceased.  there are two things to choose from NATURAL OR UNNATURAL CAUSES.  a slash across a mans throat suggests an unnatural cause, some object outside of the deceased making contact with the flesh of the neck and causing a rupture etc-- this might carry more weight when bits of metal etc are encountered in the neck...ok so you get the point...today the epistomology or scientific method uses and presupposes THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURALISM BEFORE DOING SCIENCE.  It holds as an apriori fact that there can only be natural causes for all things and that belief in any unnatural or outside cause for things is unscientific.  This is a new belief - all the first sientists that we read about and use ISAAC NEWTON etc.  were christians with a christian word view...they were able to do science in AN OPEN SYSTEM.  the problem today is not a factual one- even though the facts demonstrate the reality of the biblical creation account but rather it is philosophical.  The scientist of today beginning with the premise that there are only natural causes for all things MUST BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION BECAUSE THERE CAN BE NO OTHER OPTION much like the person performng an autopsy would have to come up with an outlandish theory of the cause of death if they SAID BEFORE THEY STARTED THAT THERE CAN ONLY BE NATURAL CAUSES- the deceased from above must have then died because the cells in the flesh in his neck randomly combusted to form a slash that looked like a knife wound because sometimes the specks on the inline for the rotarry girder are off....this is the sad situation of today --

 look at Romans 1
Romans 1:18 ¶ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
Romans 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
Romans 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Romans 1:24 ¶ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
Romans 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 1:26 ¶ For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
Romans 1:27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Romans 1:28 ¶ And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
Romans 1:29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
Romans 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Romans 1:31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
Romans 1:32 and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.