With all the Hugh Hefner news today, I was today years old when I learned I’m quoted in his Wikipedia article. The article quotes me reflecting on his destructive legacy—one that began with what many treated as an almost mainstream “girlie magazine,” whose pages featured celebrities and even an interview with a future president. But as I said then, and as is becoming increasingly clear, the reality was much darker: "It's hard to fathom that anyone would have known what this would have turned into. Parents growing up today are fighting to keep their children pure. Spouses are fighting to keep their marriages intact. And many enslaved and trapped in the adult entertainment industry have been figuratively and literally stripped not only of their clothes, but their very value as people made in the image of God. If this does not concern us, what will?"

The new and improved Talbotron 3000 has arrived in Phoenix and we are excited about gathering pastors and ministry leaders together for our Sacred Truths conference and several Equipped Together gatherings. Click here for more information: buff.ly/1Ejvmo8

Why did I not know that New England is so beautiful? New Yorker here. I should have know better.

Trusting and Waiting in Suffering I jumped ahead a little in my @Logos reading plan because I wanted to talk about Romans 8:28. The assigned passage is Romans 8:16–25, and it helps us understand the promise that follows. I’m writing this on a plane back from New York City. I had a wonderful day with pastors and church leaders who are excited about expanding Talbot Seminary’s partnership in New York City. Over the last few days, I’ve spoken at several events and met with ministry leaders. I’m trying to resume my pre-surgery life. In many ways, I’m managing okay. But a big part of that is simply deciding to keep doing what I do, even though the pain is persistent and, at times, debilitating. (My doctor tells me that activity won’t slow my recovery.) Seeing me travel has prompted some people to say, “You must be doing better.” And I am doing better than I was a couple of months ago. But the neurological pain persists—and it remains significant. People often ask, “What happened?” They understandably assume I fell or injured myself. I didn’t. I don’t have an explanation for why this happened to me. I spent the last six years working hard to get into better shape. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I found myself in constant pain and struggling to walk. Today’s passage reminds me that creation is broken. I don’t believe things are ultimately random, but the brokenness of the world affects us in ways that can feel random. We don’t always get an explanation for why a particular suffering comes into our lives. I’m trying not to waste my suffering. I’m also eager for it to end. Based on my conversation with my doctor last week, I may be dealing with this pain until at least late spring or summer next year. He also reminded me that it might not fully go away ever. We don't know. And, we wait. That uncertainty keeps bringing me back to this passage. I’m praying for relief, and I want to glorify God while I wait. Paul describes creation’s condition in Romans 8:20–21: “For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.” Paul places our suffering within the groaning of all creation. We groan too, even as God’s children, even with the Spirit dwelling in us. Faith does not exempt us from the ache of a broken world. But our groaning carries hope. We are waiting for the redemption of our bodies. The Christian promise includes the very bodies in which we hurt. That matters to me in this season of recovery. I pray for healing and welcome every sign of progress. My deepest hope rests in what Christ will ultimately make whole. So I’m going to keep hoping and waiting, as verse 25 says: “Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.” That brings me to Romans 8:28 and its promise that God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. What does that promise mean when the pain persists and we don’t know why? My Talbot colleague Jason McMartin has coauthored a new book with Kelly M. Kapic and Liz Hall, _When the Journey Hurts: Finding Meaning in Suffering for Heart, Mind, and Soul_. I asked Jason to help me see more clearly how Romans 8:28 fits into this. He shared the following, adapted from their book and their Christianity Today article, which I’ll link in the replies: “Christians regularly misuse Romans 8:28 in the context of suffering. It can become vague, triumphalistic, individualistic, and detached from what God is doing in Christ. More problematically, it can be employed to identify a very specific interpretation to the suffering of hurting people that does not align with what God is actually doing in their lives. This verse assures us that God will redeem our suffering, that ‘all things’—including, we assume, our suffering—can be turned for our good, for God’s purposes. But this verse doesn’t occur in isolation. “In the next verse, Paul explains what that ‘good’ is and what those purposes are: to be ‘conformed to the image of his Son’ (v. 29). And just a few verses before verse 28 we find the context in which God acts for our good: our adoption as beloved children of God (vv. 14–16). The ultimate destination is that we experience Jesus as our older brother and God as our Father (v. 29) so that ultimately nothing, absolutely nothing, will be able to separate us from God’s love (vv. 35–39). “Romans 8, from start to finish, shows God’s grand and ultimate purposes that he accomplishes through our suffering, many of which will be completed in new heavens and new earth. More specific purposes are left unexplained. Is he building courage in us? Perhaps. Is he helping us to become more compassionate? Maybe. Is he providing opportunities for us to point our friends and neighbors to his goodness? Could be. “If you’re suffering and searching for the lesson, give yourself permission not to know. God’s purposes may be larger than you can see, longer than your lifetime, or simply not yet revealed. Trust that not knowing the purpose doesn’t mean there isn’t one. What God has revealed is his desire to draw you closer to him—and his desire to be present in your suffering, loving you and working all things (even terrible things) toward the good of making you more like Jesus and in this way helping you experience how ‘wide and long and high and deep’ is his love in Christ (Eph. 3:18).” So, I don’t know. But I’m trusting Jesus. And I’m waiting. But I’m not wasting my suffering.

Wow.

So, you can still join us for an Equipped Together event in Thousand Oaks, Nashville, or two options in Phoenix. Let's go!!!

Caring for immigrants is a good thing— a Christian thing even. Let’s always remember that immigrants are made in the image of God, even the ones we don’t know, and we can speak of them as those worthy of dignity and respect.

Stopped by Calvary Baptist Church in New York City to see their new building. I served here as interim pastor for 18 months when we were meeting in rented space as the new building was being built. Now it has a beautiful facility in the heart of Manhattan, just down the street from Carnegie Hall. It was great to visit with the leaders from those churches while I was in Manhattan. (BTW, it has 8 floors, not 6 as I said in the video.)

Okay, I grew up on Long Island, but how come I didn't know that New England was so beautiful in the fall?

Folks praying at the front today at Crossroads Community Cathedral in East Hartford, CT. I'm thanking the Lord for how He worked today.

Second of three services at Crossroads Community Cathedral here in East Hartford, Connecticut.  Such a great Assemblies of God church, pastored by one of my former students Sean Wiles. Pray we make much of Jesus! 

Morning in Connecticut. You can’t beat New England on a beautiful fall day.

Watching online conflict entrepreneurs complain about online conflict entrepreneurs. “I can’t believe people build a platform doing this,” they tell the platform they built doing this.

Worshipping with pastors and leaders this morning. It’s great to be with the @ConvergeWW movement. Pray we make much of Jesus meeting here at Black Rock Church in Fairfield, CT. 

Met with our @TalbotTheology students at our NYC extension— in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn. It’s called the Feinberg Center for Jewish Messianic Studies, in partnership with Chosen People Ministries. Worth noting, about half of the folks at dinner could not be in the picture due to future plans. We sang songs in Hebrew, had a great meal, and prayed for one another.

Loved dropping in on a class at Talbot Seminary–Phoenix! It’s a privilege to invest in these women and men as they prepare for ministry and deepen their theological training. There’s room for you, too! Find out more at buff.ly/fEl5P44