The End of the Christian Life

I too have an incurable blood disease. When friends (especially from my church family) ask how I’m doing, I struggle to explain. I would have imagined that fellow Christians would have understood a bit better than nonbelievers. However, most everyone has their idea of how I should be cured. They don’t understand why I’m not feeling better ‘yet’ and why I’m even feeling worse. They want to know how long the treatments will last and why can’t I get out amongst crowds with the flu. I could go on and on, but Todd’s and his guest’s words have encouraged my heart and soul. I look forward to reading the books mentioned by him and his guests on these podcasts.

I binged on this entire show today and was not disappointed. As a 30-something in my prime with homeschooling my children, working, running ministries at church, exercising, eating healthy, housekeeping and a million other things on my plate, contemplating my own death doesn’t factor in very often. It was very refreshing to be drawn out of myself for a bit and be challenged to consider what it means to die as a Christian believer. Rev. Billings does an wonderful job hosting this podcast, asking good questions, and maintaining an air of humility and also hope as he confronts uncomfortable issues surrounding death and suffering. If I could make one critique, I think it would be that the gospel is often assumed on this podcast but rarely stated or really fleshed out in relation to the topics being discussed. Similarly, I would like to see more of an emphasis on the person and work of Christ and how our union with Him is absolutely central to everything we believe about Christian suffering and death (the first episode was spot on in this regard, and it left me hungry for more in the other episodes).