By Mike Peek

As a Critical Care Registered Nurse I see a great deal of human suffering. Theodicy is the theological field of study that contemplates the existence of evil and suffering in a world created by a good God who is both omniscient and omnipotent. The Bibles answer to the problem of evil is the same throughout the entire Cannon of scripture; trust the Lord your God.  The books of Job and Ecclesiastes deal with this question on a personal level, but neither gives the full answer as to why there is human suffering. These two books acknowledge that evil and human suffering both exist. These two books also acknowledge God’s sovereignty, omniscience, kindness, righteousness and justice.   In the face of human suffering people have a tendency to doubt God. Human logic makes a God in our own image all the while forgetting that God is incomprehensible. The book of Job gives an answer for Job's suffering, but Job himself is not given an answer. We the readers get to look in on a scene in h...

Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ Prophetic passages like this one usually have more than one meaning. The passage itself is part of a song, a taunt against the king of Babylon. Biblical prophecy is a lot like skipping rocks on water. The prophet cast the stone and it touches the water (the first meaning of the prophecy); the rock then lifts up off the water and touches the surface of the water again (the second meaning of the prophecy); eventually the rock reaches its culmination and plunges into the deep (the final meaning of the prophetic word). In Isaiah chapter 13 the...

Today is my last day off before beginning the fall semester, on-line, at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Tomorrow I will be working in the CVICU, then classes begin on Monday. I'm beginning my eighth class; Introduction to Hermeneutics, which will be the halfway point in obtaining a Master of Theological Studies. I thought I would take the time today to discuss a problem that I have with Facebook. I have had a problem with Facebook for several years, because of this, I have been off of it several times. What do I enjoy about Facebook? Seeing pictures of my friends and family, also reading what they are up to. What I do not enjoy about Facebook is the tendency by some to purposely through skunks on the table. Skunks stink really bad! I've noticed that some do this for the purpose of creating a discussion and others do it for martydom. Neither of these reasons are for love.  "I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have receive...

Christian, what do you have? In a word Christ. Today I am studying the book of Hebrews so I picked up my favorite commentary. The Believer's Bible Commentary by William MacDonald. In it Dr. MacDonald says that the Epistle to the Hebrews is really an answer to the question, "What do you have?" (Macdonald, 2157) Per Dr. McDonald in Christ we have: "One who is greater than the prophets." "One who is greater than the angels." "One who is greater than Moses." "One who is greater than Joshua." "One whose priesthood is greater than Aaron." "One who serves in a better sanctuary." "One who has introduced a better covenant." "One who is the antitype of the typical furniture and veil." "One whose once-for-all offering of Himself for sin is superior to the repeated sacrifices of bulls and goats." Christian, what do you have? God’s Word in His Son. "God, after He spoke long ag...

Since 1997 I have been a Critical•Care•Cardiovascular•Registered•Nurse. Since April 2003 I have been following the Lord Jesus Christ. I am currently in graduate school at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary working towards a Master of Theological Studies. Therefore, this blog is about practical theology; living out the great commandment and great commission through faith in Jesus Christ. I have changed the name of my blog to The Nurse Theologian, because the name matches two of my great passions in life; taking care of the sick and studying scripture. Sin is a sickness and we all are dying because of it; therefore, we are all in need. This blog will be about practical theology. "Practical theology is the application of theological truth to all of life, particularly the life and work of the church. While the other theological disciplines are oriented toward understanding God, his work in history, and his revelation in Christ, practical theology concerns our participation w...

Manuscript for Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God      There are so many great leaders down through the ages of church history. I picked ten leaders that I would recommend reading. These leaderships had an impact on the life of the church during their day and the communities that they lived in to the extent that their positive impact is still felt today. Each of these ten great leaders modeled, though imperfectly, the nine qualities that define great leaders as depicted in Jeff Iorg’s book “The Character of Leadership.” 1      Irenaeus of Lyons was the consummate Pastor-Theologian of the early church. He was wholly dedicated as under-shepherd of the flock given to him and wholly dedicated to the theology of scripture refuting heresy. 2      Athanasius of Alexandria modeled the quality of security. He was both pastor and theologian who trusted the Lord when the Roman world was against him. A...