A Glimpse of the Kingdom by David W. Pendergrass, Ph.D.

First , so much suffering humans experience—really think about it—is answered in my first point in my previous post  (which you need to read!). That is, being victimized—suffering when we don’t deserve it—is almost always caused from another person’s evil choice. This even counts when family and friends are devastated by someone’s suicide. That person’s decision is causing the suffering. And it is completely unfair to those affected. They didn’t ask for that pain and suffering and trauma. God didn’t cause the pain; the person who died caused the pain. This counts for so many millions of children dying of starvation. Evil rulers and despots refuse to care for their people. They withhold food and water. It causes their people to die of starvation. This counts for a whole, wide range of suffering around the globe. Most suffering humans experience in the world is experienced because another person is causing it or caused it. And that’s the real, awful shame: we humans could

It seems the most common explanation for why a person either can’t believe in the Christian God, or abandons their Christian faith, is the existence of evil and suffering. The classic response goes like this: If God is all-good, he wouldn’t allow evil/suffering. If God were all-powerful, he wouldn’t allow evil/suffering. So, either God is either not all-good or not all-powerful, or perhaps, both. The major objection being: there is no way an omnibenevolent and omnipotent Being would allow evil/suffering . First , let’s get one type of suffering out of the way with celerity, viz., suffering caused by someone else’s evil choices. Every time someone is murdered, beat up, raped, lied to, betrayed, etc., it’s because a human has made an evil choice. So, to be clear, when a free-willed moral agent decides not to do the right/good thing, but instead chooses the bad/wrong/evil thing, it can involve causing another person to suffer. And of course, it sure is easy to focus on

Trust is like a savings account. Healthy people let their “trust account” fill up slowly. When a person demonstrates trustworthiness over a period of time, the trust account gets full. This allows real, deep, rewarding bonding. Betrayal  empties  the trust account. Whether it’s your friend, family member, or spouse who betrays you, betrayal depletes the trust account severely. This is especially true in marriage. For example, a spouse’s infidelity depletes a trust account in full…instantaneously. $0 left. I’ve known dozens and dozens of people who’ve been betrayed by family members, co-workers, friends, and spouses. I’ve been betrayed several times in my life from people I deeply trusted and loved. Being betrayed is one of the most wretched experiences a human can have. The other day I did a counseling session with a man who has had a sexual relationship with a woman for years, including during the first couple years of his new marriage. His new bride just disc

Boy! There have been so many essays, blogs, podcasts, and other responses to the book and movie, Fifty Shades of Grey . This book, at one point, was selling two copies every second. It’s sold over 100 million copies so far! The movie’s opening four-day weekend made over 90 million in revenue! What is extremely clear is that this book and movie appeals to a very, very large segment of the population. To be clear, I haven’t read the book or seen the movie. Partly because it wouldn’t help my mind/heart to see so much nudity. I’m a Christian and Christians care much about purity, or what we call, “holiness.” To help myself not lust, it’s easier if I just stay away from it altogether. Another reason I’ve avoided it is because I’ve heard and read repeatedly that it’s just an awful movie (i.e., in its script, acting, etc.). And I hate wasting my time (and money!) on awful movies. But, I have read many reviews of the movie and have seen several interviews from the actors and writer

Hey David. I'm asking different people I know (who I know have thought carefully about this) this question. What do you find to be the top two or three most compelling reasons to believe Jesus was raised from the dead? I'd appreciate any thoughts you have along these lines. Thanks. Hey brother! I hope you and your family are well! It feels like it was yesterday that I was walking down in that swamp-like, muggy-smelling corridor to the student lounge at Baylor. At the same time, it feels like a lifetime ago. It's difficult for me to decide what the top compelling reasons are, so I might have to list more than that. Here's my best attempt to triage: 1. Saul/Paul was an adamant opponent of Jewish Messianists and had the job of arresting them. He almost certainly never met Jesus, and was certainly no friend to His followers! Then he absolutely changed sides (on the issue of Jesus, of course, not on the issue of being an ethnic Jew) and went around, in the