Bringing Clarity to Uncertainty in Our Church

Tag: Fear

Why Doesn’t God Always Stop Suffering?

If God is all powerful and all good why doesn’t he intervene to stop suffering? This is a question on the mind of many in the developed West.

“Better than I deserve!”

On a daily basis I come across several people in my job. When I greet them I typically ask, “How are you doing?” or “How is your day so far?” The typical response I get is, “Busy!” followed by a string of negative things. Even things that seem to be positive and self imposed such as taking children to recreational activities, seem to be infused with negativity and suffering.

I contrast this with my experience in working in developing countries and with the homeless. The first favela I entered on a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I encountered a young woman who was paralyzed from the neck down. She had no wheel chair or any effective means of transportation. I remember walking into a room where she laid on a sleeping cot placed on the ground. She smiled, laughed, told jokes and was so thankful to be alive with her family. She may never know this, but she was the first to force me to question what it means to be fully alive.

Courtesy of Flickr.com by mclolumnasana

Courtesy of Flickr.com by mclolumnasana

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Conquering Suffering: 3 Things I Learned From Witnessing Pain

When loved ones, close friends, or someone we admire dies we experience great sadness. For me, when someone close to me dies, initially a heavy burden of sadness weighs on my heart. But it is not long before the sadness is overwhelmed by peace.

This might seem inappropriate or even deranged, but allow me to share three reasons that suffering has taught me about authentic peace.

Courtesy of Amit Kujur from Flickr.com

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[First Periscope Post] From Unbelief to Belief

This is my first Periscope post as part of my weekly blog posts at greg.garda.com. Just click on the link  of the picture below to view the video.

[First Periscope Post] From Unbelief to Belief

Courtesy of Terry Hancock from Flickr.com

Courtesy of Terry Hancock from Flickr.com

In this post I briefly give my testimony on why I went from unbelief in God to belief in Him. I touch on one major intellectual struggle I had: Why is there so many accomplished intelligent people in different disciplines from science to philosophy to social sciences who believe in God with great confidence. In fact, their disciplines often lead them to conclude that it is more reasonable to hold that God does indeed exist.

Are Christians Afraid of Death?

Until Next Time!

She laid in her husband’s arm reminiscing the past 59 years of their marriage with an innocent and calming smile. With one mighty final effort she looked in her husband’s eyes with a familiar grin and passed away.

Doreen was Jennine’s (my wife) grandmother and my adopted grandmother. She was a devout Catholic Christian. For grandma going to church was not a chore but a privilege. She grew up in poverty, went to work at a young age to supplement her parents’ income, and helped raise 11 of her 12 siblings.

Despite the challenges of her early life she never failed to bring joy to the people who found themselves in her company. I find myself hard pressed to recall moments when she wasn’t filled with contagious joy. Even as cancer slowly tugged away at her life she laid in bed and marvelled at past family memories turning a gloomy atmosphere into one of laughter.

Grandma lived life to the full.

Photo by Rory Bjorkman from Flickr.com

Photo by Rory Bjorkman from Flickr.com

Scared TO Death?

As I read the works of the late writer and cultural critic, Christopher Hitchens (may he rest joyfully in God’s presence) I am reminded of an earlier Greg Garda.

One of the accusations Mr. Hitchens continuously makes towards people of religious belief is that they are scared of death. Mr. Hitchens, along with my former self, believed that religious faith is a crutch that provides a simple explanation for a state after death. It is a placebo to medicate a fear, or “illness” as Mr. Hitchens implies.

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