In the Conclusion to Glorious Ruin, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian states that the Whys of suffering keep us in an abyss of abstraction where we reduce God to a finite ethical agent whose purposes are on a par with our own. Sadly, this response to suffering is quite confining. How do we find a pathway through […]
Tullian Tchividjian discusses what the Puritans used to call “God’s dreadful withdrawal” in Chapter 8 (“Weighty Mercies”) of Glorious Ruin. He notes that some Biblical commentators become exasperated with the book of Job because it seems to go on and on and on. Yes, Pastor Tchividjian states, Job does go on and on and on, […]
In Chapter 7 (“The Gospel of Suffering”) of Glorious Ruin, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian quotes his friend Scotty Smith, who once said the “God will use the pain in our lives to make us cry uncle, so that we might cry Father.” The author adds that as Christians we serve an unrelenting God who desires that […]
Pastor Tullian Tchividjian explains 4 barriers to honestly dealing with suffering in Chapter 2 of Glorious Ruin: 1. We create a hierarchy of suffering which we then project onto God Himself. While it might be admirable to keep our suffering in perspective, we cannot dictate to God what He should or should not care about. […]
Tullian Tchividjian makes an important distinction between Law (capital L) and law (lower-case l) in Chapter 2 of Glorious Ruin. “Law” comes from God and is found in the 10 Commandments as well as Jesus’ certification of the law expert’s response in Luke 10:27. But “law” also plays out in many ways in our daily […]
Tullian Tchividjian begins Chapter 2 (“Suffering is Serious”) of Glorious Ruin by relating a personal story of his attempt to win over a colleague at a former job. Pastor Tchividjian took special care to learn that person’s interests and hobbies. He spent extra time buying that colleague a Christmas gift. Through these and other efforts, […]
In Chapter 1 (“Suffering is Inevitable”) of Glorious Ruin, Tullian Tchividjian tells of a harrowing time in the life of Nicholas Wolterstorff, a Christian who taught philosophical theology for many years at Yale University. As a professor, he devoted his life to the intellectual understanding, meaning and reality of life’s mysteries. But his attempts at […]
In the Introduction to Glorious Ruin, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian discusses 2 ways we tend to respond to suffering, even when we know the source of our suffering. He states that moralists “interpret misfortune as the karmic result of misbehavior”. In other words, you failed to obey God and He is punishing you. This doesn’t mean, […]
For years, long after I’d grown too old to play with it, my toy box contained a yellow, plastic fighter-plane with a red star on each wing tip. The airplane was given to me by Grandma Dahlke (my maternal grandmother) when I was 4 or 5 years old. Not too long after receiving the airplane, […]
The author of Glorious Ruin, Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) currently is the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, succeeding the late D. James Kennedy, and the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham. Glorious Ruin is loosely based on a series of sermons Pastor Tchividjian preached on the book of Job. In the Introduction, the author […]
The Life You’ve Always Wanted-Expanded Edition (Zondervan, 2002) John Ortberg’s stated goal of The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People is to help us grow spiritually. Yet it is important to realize that “spiritual life” is not just one more compartmentalized aspect of our existence. “Spiritual life” refers to every moment and […]
In his extended discussion of Abraham and Isaac on their journey to Mt. Moriah, author John Ortberg (The Life You’ve Always Wanted) notes that although Abraham and Isaac walked together to build a sacrificial altar, Abraham was very much alone. Abraham and Isaac were separated by an unspeakable barrier, because Abraham was burdened by what […]