A Christian View Of Suffering

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A consistent theme of mine is how critically important it is for us to have a foundational understanding about what Christianity is about. Most of us who have been in the church for a while know a few things: God loves us. Jesus forgives our sins. Unless you believe in Jesus you're going to Hell. We can have a relationship with God. We have these scattered bits of theological facts, but what we don't often have is an understanding of how it all fits together.

I was wondering today what could be more important for the church than what I'm about to talk about? If I could have my way, if I could dream up a certain consequence for the church, if I could have one thing be true, what would that thing be? I would want for the church in this day and age to simply have a clear understanding of what Christianity is about.

A conversation that I had with a gentleman yesterday evening at the retreat was about a frustration that he was confronting with a young lady and a young man who was her boyfriend. The young lady was a Christian, the young man was not a Christian. You can imagine what the first frustration is, right? What's this committed Christian doing with a non-Christian in a relationship? That's forbidden by the Bible, and for very good reason. 2 Corinthians 5 or 6, "Do not be unequally yoked with non-believers.

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