Finding God in the Muck and the Mire

In a life filled with suffering, is a good life truly possible? In this episode of White Horse Inn, Eric Landry, Justin Holcomb, and Bob Hiller ask the hard questions about sin, suffering, and real life. Just because this life can be hard doesn’t mean that we should embrace a dualism that places the body and soul in opposition to each other. Instead, we need to acknowledge a certain realism about how the world functions on this side of the fall, being honest about what is evil—and even just disappointing. We can do so by clinging to God’s sovereignty in the midst of our suffering, his creativity to use it for our good, and his kindness to give us tangible good gifts even now, while we look with hope towards the future glory that awaits.

Quote:

“Too many of us operate with this karmic understanding: ‘If I’m doing well, I’m going to get rewarded.’ And then we Christianize that by saying, ‘God is happy with me when I have material blessings—when my health is good; when my kids are obedient. But too often when we do that we actually miss the point of the good news. We miss the crucifixion; we miss the God hidden in suffering and death.”

Eric Landry

On This Episode:

• Eric Landry is the Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas and Chief Content Officer for Sola Media.
• Justin Holcomb is a Senior Fellow with Sola Media’s Theo Global. He also serves as a professor and Episcopal priest. He is the author or editor of more than 20 books.
• Bob Hiller is the Senior Pastor of Community Lutheran Church in Escondido, California. He is also the author of Finding Christ in the Straw.

Mentioned on the Show:

Ordinary

By Michael Horton

Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin

By Cornelius Plantinga Jr.

You Are Not Your Own

By Alan Noble

Rid of My Disgrace

By Justin and Lindsey Holcomb

“Growing My Faith in the Face of Death”

By Tim Keller at The Atlantic

God So Loved, He Gave: Entering the Movement of Divine Generosity

By Kelly Kapic

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