You will soon understand that Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four Balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that, and strive for it.”

Brian Dyson, former CEO Coca-Cola

I am currently listening to an audio version of the book, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, the current president of World Vision US.

Richard Stearns book is rather relevant to us in Africa, despite being written primarily for a US audience. One poignant fact that caught my attention was the newsworthiness of a plane crash killing ~200 people, whereas over 24000 children die daily from poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes.

The audio book is a free download this month from http://www.christianaudio.com

I must say that despite having an audio copy, I still intend to get myself a hard copy version of the book. It is certainly worth reading through (and acting upon the challenges!).  Another thing is that it is not a book (so far as I have read) that you’d want to read and not want to do anything.

More as I read through but so far there’s tons of things I need to change, and act on.

Why do ‘bad’ things happen to ‘good’ people?

Why do ‘bad’ things happen to God’s people?

My dad happened to preach a sermon on this last Sunday from Romans 8:18-27. Here is a summary of his message. (My notes italicized)

-

1) There are generally four responses to suffering

- Denial
- Getting Angry – Blaming God
- Blaming others; This originated in the Garden of Eden. Adam blaming Eve, and Eve blaming the Serpent.
- Accepting it and learning from it. Think of Job – the Lord gives and the Lord takes.

Romans 8:18- SUFFERING compared to GLORY. Sufferings of this world are not worth comparing to future glory.

Hebrews 12:3 - Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

(This is Easter. Thinking of the suffering that Christ underwent for my sins. The 39 lashes alone that he suffered leaves the back with no skin; a messy sight of blood and flesh. The nails were probably driven through the palm of his hands – rather painful. The rejection from his Father in heaven as he took on the sins of the world must have hurt the most. The Father could not look on sin)

2) Three truths regarding Suffering

- Suffering is temporary (19-22). For a Christian, death is not the end. We live in a decaying world.
- Suffering is for our learning (23-25). A lot of groaning even for Christians, over loved ones gone astray, and many more. But we have hope, but we must be patient. No one hopes for what he can see.
(1 John 3:1-3)
- Suffering is beneficial (26-27) the Spirit intercedes for us and helps us in our weaknesses.

3) Three thoughts to Consider:

- Suffering is a Necessary part of the Christian Life
- God uses Suffering to prepare us for glory
- Suffering can never separate us from God (Rom 8:35)

4) Don’t ask ‘why do bad things happen to good people’.

There are NO good people. (light bulb moment). The better question to ask is: ’Why do good things happen to bad people’.

This is a GOOD thing – Christ dying for us -> (Rom 5:8 – But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us)

That is why it is the Good News.

-

Here is a similar article on the same question.

You are my rock in times of trouble
you lift me up when I fall down
All through the storm
Your love is, the anchor
My hope is in You alone

90% of deaths occur in low or medium income countries yet

High income countries have 50% of registered vehicles.

http://www.nghealthcareeurope.com/media/media-news/infographics/091126-HealthEU-RoadAccidents.png

How many of Mr(s) Pea Brain have you met today, or perhaps we joined the peas for the day?

Sample this photo:

Matatu Man

Exactly where is he going?

And the law enforcers far too many times are the ones that break the rules:

One way street, but uta do what.

http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/06/1343222&mode=thread&tid=145

Scroll down to Q7.

Also check out the 4-bit faith of a Christian geek based on Larry Wall’s 2-qubit metaphor