Gospel Vs. Social Justice Smackdown?

Which should be the primary concern of Christians? Should our primary concern be to "proclaim the gospel" or to "promote social justice?" 

I think the answer is, "yes!" Actually, I'm not really sure why there has to be a tension between the two, like somehow we are expected to

Thank God For Suffering?

In my last post, I shared a little bit about Mary Beth Chapman, wife of Steven Curtis Chapman, and the death of their five-year-old daughter, Maria.The Chapmans' suffering was (and I presume still is) deep.
Her website has this tagline right under her name: 

"Love of God is pure when joy and suffering inspire an equal degree of gratitude."

I had to read that a few times to

Suffering Well

Have you ever had to go through something hard, something really tough? Are you going through it right now? Click here to read Psalm 42. This great Psalm was written by a man who was going through something hard. His transparency and honesty and his desire to go to God in the middle of it all is a lesson for us all.

I like how John Piper prayed about Psalm 42:

“Oh Father, I want us to be swallowed up in this Psalm. Not that it’s a happy place to be. But to learn how to be in an unhappy place is what we need. And this Psalmist does it so well. He is miserable so well. I want You to teach Your people how to be struck down, well. How to be in turmoil, well. How to be downcast, well. How to have waves break over them, well. And the Psalms, and this one in particular, is so well suited to help us. So grant that we would know how to feel and how to think with You in the Psalms. Through Christ I pray. Amen."

And if you haven't seen Piper's profound take on

Choosing To Trust God

Jerry Bridges, in his excellent book, Trusting God, says this about choosing to trust:

"The same David who said in Psalm 56:4, 'In God I trust; I will not be afraid' said in Psalm 34:4, 'I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.' There is no conflict between saying, 'I will not be afraid' and asking God to deliver us from our fears. David recognized it was his responsibility to choose to trust God but also that he was dependent upon the Lord for the ability to do it."

He goes on: