[Faith-Talk] Fwd: Joni on cancer, quadriplegia, and identity

[Steve Heesen]

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Desiring God <email at feeds.desiringgod.org>
> Date: November 11, 2018 at 7:08:47 PM CST
> To: steveheesen at aol.com
> Subject: Joni on cancer, quadriplegia, and identity
> Reply-To: email at feeds.desiringgod.org
> 
> 
> 
> November 11, 2018 
> 
> Joni Eareckson Tada has endured quadriplegia and battled breast cancer, but she will not let suffering become her identity. In “My Suffering Has Not Defined Me,” she pulls apart the temptation to give our trials too much of our hearts. Joni writes, “My quadriplegia constantly clamors for my undivided attention. It’s my world. Then again, it is definitively not. My world, my breath and very being — my identity — is in Christ and Christ alone.”
> 
> We’re also resharing one of the most memorable Piper messages of all time, “Doing Missions When Dying Is Gain.” He says to students at his alma mater, Wheaton College, in 1996, “The price of God’s global mission is suffering, and the volatility in the world today against the church is not decreasing. It is increasing, especially among the groups that need the gospel. There is no such thing as a ‘closed country.’”
> 
> Marshall Segal
> Managing Editor
> 
> 
> A R T I C L E
> My Suffering Has Not Defined Me
> Christ lost his life so that you might find yours, so begin each day asking him to show you the “you” he meant for you to be.
> 
> A R T I C L E
> “Trust Me or I Will Hurt You”
> In the gospel, God does not say, “Trust me or you will get in trouble.” He says, “Trust me because you are in trouble, and I can get you out.”
> 
> A R T I C L E
> Ten Passages for Pastors to Memorize Cold
> These ten passages will prove especially useful for pastors and Christian leaders, but it’s a good list for all Christians as well.
> Coming This Week
> David Mathis: “Don’t Grow Weary in Doing Good”
> 
> Greg Morse: “Let the Dead Date the Dead”
> 
> Noël Piper: “She Sailed with Christ to China” (Esther Nelson)
> 
> Marshall Segal: “The Kind of Diligence God Despises”
> 
> Scott Hubbard: “God Is Bigger Than Your Problems”
> 
> Rachel Gilson: “Transgender Basics”
> 
> Ask Pastor John: “What Comes First: My Obedience or My Joy?”
> 
> Look at the Book: “Freedom from Misplaced Shame”
> 
> 
> S E R M O N
> Doing Missions When Dying Is Gain
> Doing missions when death is gain is the greatest life in the world. Listen to the full message.
> 
> A R T I C L E
> Imperfections Make Sundays More Beautiful
> God knows what we really need — not a slick service, free of distraction, led by seemingly perfect people. 
> 
> S O L I D    J O Y S
> Daily Devotionals from John Piper
> Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 
> –James 5:11
> Satan is real and may have a hand in our calamities, but not the final hand, and not the decisive hand. James makes clear that God had a good purpose in all Job’s afflictions. So even though Satan was involved, the ultimate purpose was God’s, and it was “compassionate and merciful.” . . .
> 
> Read — or listen to John Piper read — today’s Solid Joys devotional.
> 
> We sent you this email because you have asked to receive content from us.
> 
> Update preferences
> Desiring God  /  PO Box 2901, Minneapolis, MN 55402