Comments on: Explanations Are A Substitute For Trust

By: Sunny

Sunny — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 12:55:58 +0000

I very much appreciate this article. I have struggled, not so much with my faith but with my religion and my relationship to other Christians. I have always disagreed with the notion of praying to God for safety or wealth. I hate it when somebody survives a tragedy and my fellow Christians assume “God must have protected her!” What does that mean for the ones who were not protected? What does that mean for the people who were killed? Did they not pray hard enough? Did they do something to lose favor with God? Were the ones who were spared really that much more righteous than the ones who died?

To me, God has never promised to keep us safe or minimize harm in our lives. He only promised to be there with us when it happened. That is what faith brings you – not the promise that bad things will never happen, but the promise that you will not walk through them alone.

By: Cynthia Lott Vogel

Cynthia Lott Vogel — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:13:10 +0000

Pastor Tullian,
I had some second thoughts about the post I wrote initially. I’ve re-written it because I feel that I made some insensitive remarks in it…If you had already visited the old link, maybe take another look if you would be so kind. Thanks. I need to learn to sit with a post for a while before hitting the “publish” button.
http://cynthialottvogel.blogspot.com/2012/08/an-i-dont-know-why-would-suffice.html
blessings to you –and thank you once more for sharing your thoughts of God with us…They never fail to affect me.

By: Cynthia Lott Vogel

Cynthia Lott Vogel — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 20:58:34 +0000

Thank you sir, for once more writing an outstanding treatise on suffering. I’m currently reading your new book and was moved by this post of yours to write one of my own in which I quoted you…This is the second time you’ve moved me to write in tandem with you on the topic of suffering. Today’s post is found at: http://cynthialottvogel.blogspot.com/2012/08/an-i-dont-know-why-would-suffice.html and the article I initially quoted you on is found here: http://cynthialottvogel.blogspot.com/2010/11/in-storms-with-abba.html

AS a person who suffers severely and constantly…I want to thank you for the encouragement you have been to me…and also to tell you that “Jesus+Nothing=Everything” is changing my life.

By: Jennifer@GDWJ

Jennifer@GDWJ — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:32:25 +0000

So grateful for your words, Pastor Tullian. I highlighted huge portions of Jesus + Nothing = Everything, and am excited about your upcoming book. Keep preachin’ it!

By: LNF

LNF — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:15:43 +0000

“. . . if we do not go to our graves in confusion we will not go to our graves trusting. Explanations are a substitute for trust.”

Pastor Tullian – Is a source attribution missing?

By: Tullian Tchividjian

Tullian Tchividjian — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:11:02 +0000

Dear Robbie,

I’m so sorry to hear this tragic news. My heart aches for you, my friend.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows]. Psalm 147: 3

Praying for you and your wife!
Tullian

By: Robbie Graham

Robbie Graham — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:40:51 +0000

Tullian, this is a timely word for my wife and I. This past Wednesday, my stepson committed suicide. Many people, many well-meaning Christians have expressed the sentiments that you bring out here. It is a truth that we should all take to heart. It has helped bring comfort to both of us to realize that God IS with us in the midst of this valley and not just waiting on the other side. Thank you.

By: Duckett

Duckett — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:49:08 +0000

A blessing to read this. I’ve been thinking much along the same lines. Though I would add that God’s purpose in allowing (and in so doing, causing) his children to suffer is chiefly for the drawing of them to himself. If God is truly what we need and desire, and if suffering brings us running to him, is it not then grace upon grace for every hardship encountered in our lives? Then, couldn’t we follow the exhortation of James to count it all joy when coming under trial and hardship? I find Hebrews 12 to be an excellent source of encouragement and comfort when pondering things like this. God is treating us as sons.

By: Tullian Tchividjian

Tullian Tchividjian — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:35:06 +0000

Hi Damian!

Thank-you for your kind words.

The way that I’ve sometimes put it is that our sin doesn’t block God’s love for us but our sin does block our love for God. And then I’ll quickly follow that with a reminder that the only thing powerful enough to rekindle our love for God is the reality that our sin doesn’t block God’s love for us.

I hope that helps!

Tullian

By: Damian Velarde

Damian Velarde — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:23:48 +0000

Hi Pastor Tullian,

I thank God for this blog and your ministry, God has used it as a tool of transformation in my life and how I think about Christian growth and many other things.

I have a question for you. It’s something I have been working through for some time now. I believe with all my heart that God’s acceptance of me, and blessings towards me are solely dependent upon the passive and active obedience of Christ as understood in the Gospel. These truths have changed my life dramatically on every level. But what effect does personal sin then have on my relationship with God. i was listening to a sermon by Sam Storms on Desiring God, titled, “The Practical Sin Killing Power of Christian Hedonism” in that he mentioned that personal sin has the spiritual affect of injecting Novocain into my spiritual receptors in communication with God, well something to that affect .

I know that it doesn’t affect my relationship or standing with God, but feel like personal sin has some affect on the depth of fellowship with Jesus. I’m just not sure how to articulate the affect it actually has. What are your thoughts on this matter, is there a healthy Christ centered way to articulate the affect personal sin has on our relationship with God?

Thanks for all you do in shining the spotlight on the True Light.

Grace,
Damian