Here’s my take on it, and it will probably be something that is way different than what you are used to, and based on different principles, but here goes.

Trials and troubles happen to everyone. Period. We are here to be tested to see if we will do would God asks us to do, no matter what circumstances we are in. God is not on trial; we are. Our tests are tailor-made.

So what good is having the Gospel of Christ, if everyone has problems? The Gospel gives us the best way to deal with our problems. Living the Gospel even when we are having problems tests our patience, but because God is merciful, He won’t push us past our limit. We can trust that what He gives us will be for our good and purify us. Tribulation worketh patience, and patience leads to experience, and experience leads to hope. Christ said that those who do what He said would build their foundation on a rock and the winds and floods would not hurt it.

Sometimes our problems are of our own making. Sometimes our problems arise out of others’ bad choices. Other problems just happen.

No one is free from trouble. Nobody. We have to wait for the afterlife for our rest from trouble.

There is no need to be ashamed of your troubles. Hang on by your fingernails and pray like crazy!

Ok, you got me reading Mr. Blue, “a gent who is so happy he’s almost crazy”. I’d love to hear any additional insights you might have about that: what is the difference between that happiness and the happiness of prosperity dogma?

I believe happiness has a place in Christian life. I believe it is far more than an emotion. I believe that happiness is not dependent upon ones circumstances, that Chesterton is right in calling Job an optimist (and his “friends” the pessimists).

It’s this whole “best life now/life you always wanted/life you only dreamed of” stuff that concerns me. If happiness is beyond my grasp until I obtain that “best life”, does that mean God is also inaccessible or unapproving until I do? Doesn’t this sound vaguely familiar to anyone else, that I can’t find Christ until I first reform my life? Isn’t that what Walter Marshall called heresy? When is my life “reformed” or “best” enough? So, I really appreciate your last paragraph.

The more I think about the “prosperity gospel”, the more I find a spirit of entitlement lurking in its teaching. It says, “I deserve to have things go well simply because I happen to be alive right now. What’s more, I want what I want when I want it (NOW) and no one can stand in my way. I don’t even care what anyone else wants, since it’s all about ME”.

I’ll be writing about this myself; I think there’s something to be said for how anti-entitlement-complex the Gospel of Christ really is. We need to wake up and smell the narcissism at root of the prosperity and health-and-wealth gospels.

It’s incredibly sad that the pastor whom you mentioned is being treated that way by his congregation. Although still under grace, they will be held accountable by God for their mistreatment of (and lack of gratitude for!) him. I do believe that congregationalism is Biblical, but it definitely doesn’t always work out pleasantly for those who preach and teach (or who want to hear) challenging, substantive sermons.

It also has no cut-outs for wannabe science-fiction writers who play D&D, attend AnthroCon, and weren’t wrapped all that tight to begin with. Which is why I’m on this bank of the Tiber; after all, the original meaning of “Catholic” was “Universal”.

I have never understood this version of the “shiny happy Christian life that always ‘works’”… — Christopher Lake

Imagine being the pastor of a small rural church (organized on congregationalist lines) where the congregation DEMANDS the pastor preach that (or “be Led into” greeting jobs at Wal-Mart). I know someone who’s burning out in that situation; he wants to preach and teach, but his congregation (who have hire-and-fire authority over him) just want to be Kept Shiny Happy Comfortable until Christ Comes Back and Takes Them Home. Not only refusing the meat, but even the milk. “WE WANT CANDY! WE WANT CANDY!”

I have always been a believer but for almost thirty years I was in the grips of a horrible hopeless addiction. Through only the grace of God I am in the process of recovery and have been for some time.
I am active in my church and I have truly found a new lease on life. Less than two years ago I had lost everything and all I had was the clothes on my back (literally). But the Lord has restored evrything that was lost. I have a home, a fiance, and things that two years ago I thought never were possible.

However, things are not all rosy. I am still dealing with life on lifes terms. Things happen every day that affect my peace of mind. Employment issues, bills, family turmoil and the such.

These are all gifts from God. I am living life as a child of God. On his planet with other souls with their own agendas. This brews a recipe for a day in this world that might be filled with disappointment,dismay, or event doubt.

My peace comes from the fact that when I read the word I realize that times change but people and circumstances have not changed much at all. And today I am reborn with the love of Christ (John 3:16). I realize that I was a sinner and Christ died for his love for me and all his children. and love is the greatest gift of all. If it were possible to count all the promises of the Bible then we would all realize that their is none richer than a Child of Christ.

Jesus has said that in this world, we will endure tribulation. He also told us to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. Being of good cheer, in my understanding, means taking heart and not giving in to despair. It doesn’t mean that followers of Christ must smile all the time and pretend that they never hurt or have real perplexities about the Christian life. Did Paul pretend in this way? Why should we try to be “holier” than him?

God does not promise that if we “follow the rules,” life will always work out in some easily understandable way. He does promise that He will never leave His children or forsake them. That is our sure foundation in this world– not some life where the answers always come easily and we are shielded from terrible pain, emotionally or physically.

I write all of this as a Reformed Christian who firmly believes in the absolute sovereignty of God over, and in, all things. Holding to that truth doesn’t mean being a Christian Stoic or zombie. Any Christian who thinks that he/she must always put across a shiny, happy image in order to be a good “witness” needs to read about David Brainerd or Charles Spurgeon. They both struggled terribly with depression but clung fiercely to God (as He held onto them)! These men were *real* with God. They were real about their lives and struggles. I wonder how easily accepted Brainerd or Spurgeon would be in many evangelical churches today?

Thank you for writing this.

I just bought a ceiling fan the other night and it came in about forty pieces for me to assemble. The parts were packed in one of those Styrofoam boxes that had about forty cut-outs in the precise shape of each piece.

I found the evangelical church to be such a container. It has plenty of cut-outs for a variety of success stories. It has cut-outs for self-inflicted suffering, reaping the consequences of our personal sin. However, there is no place for someone who follows all the rules . . . and then all of life goes to hell in a hand basket.

In my previous, Evangelical, life I believed in the mantra that if you do what God ask then life will be a blessing. The flip side of that is, of course, if anyone is suffering then they must have deserved it because they didn’t follow the rules.