Recently, I (Matt) have been getting together with 3-4 sophomore guys (2-3 of which are not following Christ) over dinner to discuss the often challenging, painful, and confusing topic of "suffering".
Our first discussion was primarily from a philosophic perspective. "Does the existence of suffering disprove God's existence?" "Does the existence of suffering prove God's existence" (As Keller mentions it could) "How do we interpret suffering if God doesn't exist? What is our anchor or hope? Strength?" "If God does exist and what the Bible says about Him is true, how do we then interpret suffering?"
That helped us to transition into our most recent discussion this last Tuesday night over beef stroganoff, orzo, and Dr. Pepper®. We used one of the free online PDF Bible studies that coincide with some of the chapter titles from Dr. Timothy Keller's The Reason for God. We looked at 1 Peter 1:3-12together. This passage gave us a great launch pad for several avenues of discussion.
As we talked, it was great to hear one of the students who doesn't know or follow Christ articulate the good news of Christ. In response to my question, "What is the hope or strength for those who believe in Jesus in the midst of suffering?", he said, "Well, I guess, if you believe in Jesus Christ as it says here, then your sins are forgiven. I mean, that would feel pretty good, I think."
I was greatly encouraged to hear him restate what he was hearing and learning from our discussion. My hope & prayer is that these guys continue to further grasp and understand, by God's Spirit, the hope & life that is God's gift to them by faith in Jesus Christ.
All of this seems to have a weightier significance in light of the recent apparent suicides (read about it on our blog) here on campus, both to the students and to us as campus ministers.
Your partnership in ministry is so vital to Christ's Kingdom advancing here at Cornell and beyond! Thank you for laboring in the harvest fields with us.Philippians 1:3-5
Laboring with you,
Matt & Lindsay Kinnick
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