1 Doubting God's Goodness: Life in a Time of War Rich Nathan May 20
Doubting God’s Goodness: Life in a Time of War Rich Nathan May 20, 2012 Apologetics: Doubting God Series Ephesians 6:10-12 I recently heard Dr. Greg Boyd, a pastor from Minneapolis, give the following illustration. I’m expanding on it with a huge degree of pastoral liberty. But the basic idea came from Dr. Greg Boyd. Imagine its June 5, 1944. You are living in France and have rented a beach house and you are planning to vacation with your family on the beach at a place called Normandy. You’ve been working hard all year and are looking forward to kicking back, relaxing, drinking good French wine, swimming in the surf with your children, and enjoying the beach for the next month. Well, to your surprise, that night, June 5, 1944, the sounds of planes flying overhead disturb your sleep. Paratroopers start dropping into your yard. And in the morning, before dawn, flotillas of landing craft land on just the spot you’ve planted your beach umbrella. You, of course, are very upset especially after one of the beach invaders breaks your favorite beach chair when he rolls over it with his tank. And then you have to contend with all the shooting and shells that are landing in your yard. You are in the backyard trying to get a little peace as you lie in your hammock. You finally lose your patience and start screaming at everyone, “Stop it! Stop it! I’m on vacation!” Dr. Boyd’s point was that the problem most Christians have and, indeed, most people have with all of the suffering and pain that exists in our world is that we basically believe that life should be like a vacation instead of like a war.
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