This blog is dedicated to considering issues around suffering and Christian theology in general. While I will write from an evangelical Christian (even 'Reformed') perspective, I will not write exclusively for Christians. In other words, I will engage with issues that are global, and thus pertain to all of humanity. My desire in all things will be to magnify Jesus Christ and his suffering, and resurrected life for all of us.
I sense a need for this blog. I have been touched deeply by human suffering, and the human condition as it inhabits a 'fallen' world, and its attendant realities. I recently (2009-10) lived through what normally is a terminal and rare cancer known as Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor-sarcoma (DSRCT); this diagnosis brought untold suffering into my life, and into my young family's life (I have been married for 14 years, and have two kids ages 13 and 10 as I write this). Prior to this diagnosis I endured serious tribulation as I lived with deep depression, and anxiety. Beyond this, I have family members who have been deeply touched by suffering of untold kinds as well. And I realize that we are not the only ones; I am not the only one. Human suffering is the plight of all who take a breath in this world as a human being. And this is not lost on God, the Christian God who is triune love.
In God's wisdom he became man, and entered into our lowly estate, as it were; he humbled himself as God, and exalted us as humans in his own exaltation as human in Christ, in the resurrection and ascension. And so I want to speak from this reality, the wisdom of God, by highlighting suffering in general and in particular as it occurs in the world around us, and in our daily lives as Christians and non-Christians alike. And so this blog will exclusively write and focus upon suffering, and think suffering from the suffering of Christ for us. My hope is to proclaim hope through the writings of this blog, and in the process try to think Christianly from the point that we are all at; in the spot of our various and daily sufferings. This endeavor could become somewhat depressing, but that would only be if there was no resurrection; Jesus has risen again, and so his resurrection, ascension, and second coming will regulate and order the way that this blog engages with the theme of suffering in general.
Lastly, this blog will be written in a pastoral way. In other words, while I might get deep, I will intentionally seek to write in accessible ways. If you want to read my academic/theological blogging, then you can always find me at: The Evangelical Calvinist.
Blessings,
Bobby Grow
Bobby, I appreciate reading your thoughts on this as on many other topics, but why in the name of all that's sane the need for a separate blog rather than integrate this material in with your other reflections. They are not unrelated. Indeed, in Christ, they are all part of the one rich and glorious tapestry.
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, Thanks. Because maybe I am kind of tired of writing as The Evangelical Calvinist. As you yourself have noted in the past, both of these terms "Evangelical" and "Calvinist" are politically loaded, and I agree with that assessment no matter how hard I try to overcome that. And to be honest, I don't think the material will fully relate. But maybe you're right, Jason. It just gets kind of old, for me, being The Evangelical Calvinist. Indeed, theologically, it has come to represent things that I believe, and would like to promote; but I think it also, like it or not, limits my audience in a way that I was hoping this blog might not do. I was hoping to hit on one particular issue with this blog, and to do so in a more pastoral way. My EC blog has not operated that way, and its readers, in the main, I don't think expect much of that or what I want to do here. Anyway, you don't have to read this blog, Jason, but you can if you like. I know these kinds of things bother you. I am sorry about that brother.
DeleteJason,
DeleteYou are right, I'll keep it central at The Evangelical Calvinist.
Actually, Jason, I've changed my mind. I am going to pursue this blog as my personal blog. I have turned my EC blog into an EC forum, and type of website and resource for all things EC.
Delete