God acts first to strengthen sufferers internally. If you “suffer in a Godward direction,” He gives you hope. It is in the context of suffering that God strengthens hearts in many ways: 1. The love of God pours out directly into the hearts of afflicted persons who rely on Him in hope (Rom. 5:3-5). 2. God becomes directly known – “seen” – in ways previously unimaginable (Job 42:5). 3. Our foolishness is revealed, so that we might receive growing wisdom directly from God (James 1:2-5). 4. We are remade into the image of Jesus, and established in the love of God (Rom. 8:29, in the context of 8:18-39). 5. We learn to trust and obey Jesus, who walked the path of unjust suffering ahead of us and now walks it with us (Heb. 4:14-5:9; 12:1-11). 6. Our self-centered cravings are revealed and our faith is purified and simplified (1 Peter 1:3-15).

David Powlison

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Vegetables, Dairy, Eggs		Side dish, Appetizers, Vegetables	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2	lb	Mushrooms; fresh
3/4	c	Onion; chopped
3/4	c	Celery; chopped
1/2	c	Mayo
8		Sl Bread
1 1/2	c	Milk
2		Egg; beaten
1	c	Mushroom soup
		Cheese ; cheddar grated

INSTRUCTIONS

This came off the board over a year ago, and sorry I don't know who to give
the credit to, but it sure IS worth trying. It's a wonderful side dish made
especially for mushroom lovers!  >>> Saute mushrooms, onions and clery in
butter until just tender.  Remove from heat and add cooked, crumpled bacon
and mayonnaise. In a 9 x 13 glass dish, put 3 slices of buttered bread,
cubed.  Top with the mushroom mixture and 3 more slices of bread cubes.
Pour milk and eggs over all and refrigerate a few hours. Just before
baking, add the mushroom soup over the casserole, and top with the last 2
slices of buttered, cubed bread. Bake uncovered at 350~ for 1 hour. Add
cheese over the top and bake 15 minutes longer. FROM: CAROLE ROCK (TSTW72B)
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“Jesus: right way, only truth, best life.”

So when we call pain a problem, we claim we do not deserve it. We are even prepared to scuttle God to maintain our own innocence. We will say that God is not able to do what He would like, or He would never permit persons such as ourselves to suffer. That puffs up our egos and soothes our griefs at the same time. “How could God do this to me?” is at once an admission of pain and a soporific for it. It reduces our personal grief by eradicating the deity. Drastic medicine, indeed, that only a human ego, run wild, could possibly imagine.

John Gerstner

In America, we have a long history of valuing the concept of the separation of church and state. This idea historically referred to a division of labors between the church and the civil magistrate. However, initially both the church and the state were seen as entities ordained by God and subject to His governance. In that sense, the state was considered to be an entity that was “under God.” What has happened in the past few decades is the obfuscation of this original distinction between church and state, so that today the language we hear of separation of church and state, when carefully exegeted, communicates the idea of the separation of the state from God. In this sense, it’s not merely that the state declares independence from the church, it also declares independence from God and presumes itself to rule with autonomy.

R.C. Sproul