Undergraduate Chapel: Spring 2014 [Video]

Dr. Michael Horton, Professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, concludes with part 4 of "The 1 On: Suffering" series. Dr. Horton explains that in the present day where the world constantly promises better things, the Church is also expected to tell of a God who is there to make people happy. Dr. Horton speaks on John 11:17-37 and on how God's role in a Christian's life is not one of a supporting actor, but rather that suffering is a subplot in God's big story and not vice-versa. He explains that each person's micro-story is part of the macro-story of redemption, so that in all times of suffering and pain, people are not the point of the story, they are just the supporting characters who are drawn into Jesus' story of redemption. Dr. Horton challenges the Biola community to see their suffering in light of Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection.

Wayne Tesch, Co-Founder of the Royal Family Kids' Camp, continues with part 3 on "The 1 On" series. He speaks from Mark 2:1-12 and on how Christians are called to be stretcher-bearers and bring people to Jesus. Wayne Tesch urges Biolans to not become fixated on and chained to the past but rather to understand that God has a grand and glorious future ahead. He explains that everyone, at some point in their life, will also be lying on a stretcher and then they will also need God's people to come and lift them up and take them to Jesus who is the only one who renews the mind and restores the heart. Wayne Tesch challenges the Biola community be a stretcher-bearers in God's kingdom and to see the world that is suffering and realize that they can each be an answer to someone's prayer when they fulfill God's call their life.

Dr. John Hutchison, Chair of the Bible Exposition department at Biola University, continues with part 2 in "The 1 On: Suffering" series. Dr. Hutchison begins with the reassurance that believers are never alone, even when God seems to fall silent. He explains that in these moments God may be doing His greatest work in them and, if that is the case, then it is always too soon to give up in the midst of God's greatest work being accomplished. Dr. Hutchison speaks from Romans 5:3-5 and on how suffering produces perseverance which leads to character building. He exhorts the Biola community to learn to not to waste the experiences that God has brought their way in the form of suffering. He explains that the opportunity that comes through a trial is to respond in to it a way that will allow God to work within each person which will allow for growth to happen.

Francis Chan, Founding Pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, concludes the Torrey Conference 2009 with session #7 and a message on "The Joy of Suffering". He explains how Christians have stopped imitating Jesus in favor of just studying and reading the Word but not allowing it to impact their lives with action. Francis Chan speaks from Philippians 3:8-11 and on the importance of just sitting alone with God and hearing His voice to then do the Word of God in the world with passion.

Rev. Adrian De Visser, founder of the Kithu Sevana Church movement in Sri Lanka, continues with session #6 of the Torrey Conference 2009 with a message titled "Bringing Hope in the Midst of Suffering". Rev. De Visser preaches on Ephesians 2:8-10 and on how Christians can make a difference in the lives of others and how they can bring hope to those who are suffering. He explains that bringing hope to people begins with having a right theology: God cares.

Dr. Tremper Longman III, professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College, continues with session #5 of the Torrey Conference 2009 with his message "Life is Difficult and Then You Die: How to Live in a Fallen World". Dr. Longman speaks on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 and on how Christians should live in a fallen and suffering world. He warns about the disappointment that comes from trying to find ultimate meaning in anything other than God. Dr. Longman explains that when Jesus hung on the cross, He experienced the meaninglessness of the world that the writer of Ecclesiastes talked about, but to the ultimate degree, and that He did this for mankind so that they could live in this world of pain and suffering and yet know that this life is not the end of the story. Dr. Longman exhorts the Biola community to put God first in order to be able to suffer with joy.

Dr. Tremper Longman III, professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College, continues with session #4 of the Torrey Conference 2009 with his message "Remembrance: The Key to Hope in the Midst of Suffering". Dr. Longman states that the book of Psalms is a resource that God has given to believers as they struggle with suffering and teaches them how to pray in the midst of the pain. He reads from Psalm 77 and explains that just as the psalmist was struggling in the night, it is often in the middle of the night when Christians are troubled by their suffering. He explains that Psalm 77 gives insight into this transition that occurs from a place of complaint to one of joy, and how anguish must eventually reach praise.

In session #3 of the Torrey Conference 2009, Kay Warren, from Saddleback Church, gives a message on "Facing the Darkness Together". She explains how believers often feel inadequate in the face of the suffering of others and speaks on how the Church should respond to the brokenness in the world. Kay Warren preaches from Job 2:13 and Isaiah 63:9 and gives two principles on how Christians should respond to suffering with a heart that beats like the heart of God: by offering their presence and by choosing to suffer with. She explains that to really show their love for Jesus, Christians will show Him to the world by loving the least, the last and the lost and by making the invisible visible.

In session #2 of the Torrey Conference 2009, Kay Warren, from Saddleback Church, speaks on "The Treasures of Darkness" (Isaiah 45:3) and on how God uses intense suffering to reveal the great wealth that is hidden in secret places. Kay Warren states that times of suffering are inevitable but that believers can prepare themselves for them by putting their roots down deep in Jesus. She explains that to realize that they are fully known by God is the treasure that must be kept close in times of darkness. Kay Warren challenges the Biola community to change their perspective of suffering in light of 1 Corinthians 13:12. She encourages them to not get stuck in the darkness by dwelling only on the pain, sorrow, loss and disappointment, but to instead let their perspective focus on this verse and the truth that God has promised to give treasures that are hidden in the darkness.

Dr. Tremper Longman III, professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College, opens up the Torrey Conference 2009 with a message titled "Cry of the Soul: How the Psalms Help Us Speak Honestly to God". Dr. Longman preaches from Psalm 69 and on how to pray in times of suffering. He explains that the Psalms, in Calvin's words, are a mirror to the soul and a God-given resources for living life in a fallen world and in the midst of suffering. He exhorts the Biola community to take its suffering to the Lord first, using the Psalms as models of prayer in order to plead with the Lord through times of suffering. Dr. Longman explains that the Psalms should be read in the light of the New Testament which reminds us that God's ultimate answer to suffering is that He suffers alongside us as He sent His only Son to love in this world and to suffer death.

Dr. Steve Porter, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Biola University, begins with part 1 in the series "The 1 On: Suffering". Dr. Porter states that nothing right-sizes a person like pain does. He explains that as a person embraces suffering or pain they go through a deflating experience, that as a person embraces their weakness and becomes smaller there is a little more room inside for Another. Dr. Porter speaks from 2 Corinthians 12:5-12 and on how the Christian life is catastrophic because it requires trusting in a perfectly good God who promises ultimate well-being yet also promises suffering and pain. Dr. Porter concludes by explaining to the Biola community that pain and suffering highlight how small and needy Christians are. He exhorts them to embrace their dependency and teaches how to respond to weakness in suffering in order to become right-sized.

Dr. Clay Jones, of the Christian Apologetics faculty at Biola University, concludes with part 3 of "The 1 On: Defending the Faith" series. Dr. Jones opens with the question, "Why does God allow evil?" He speaks on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 and on how eternal life is part of the answer to why God allows evil. He explains that Eternity dwarfs earthly suffering to insignificance in light of what is to come and that this should be an encouragement when facing suffering in this life. Dr. Jones answers the questions many have of whether Heaven will be worth it and whether it will make up for all the suffering Christians endure on Earth. He warns the Biola community to beware of the devil's aim of making Heaven seem as an undesirable and boring place to be and explains that God's plan for believers in the Kingdom of God is for them to reign over His Kingdom with Jesus.

Dr. Craig Hazen, Director of the M.A. program in Christian Apologetics at Biola University, begins with part 1 of "The 1 On: Defending the Faith" series. In a day when Christians are constantly told by unbelievers (and sometimes within churches) that "faith" has nothing to do with real knowledge, the words and deeds of Jesus in Mark 2 and elsewhere overturn this idea. Jesus wanted people to "know" -- in the most tangible and vivid sense -- the truth about God. Dr. Hazen states that Christianity is a knowledge tradition. He explains that it is not necessary to leap blindly into faith because not only can we know it to be true internally through a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit, but that it is also possible to know them externally through a trail of evidence that God has left throughout history so that humans can know these things to be true.

Dr. Calvin Beisner, Founder of The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, speaks on the topic of Global Warming and what the response of Christians should be in light of the statistics and facts that he presents on this topic.

President Barry H. Corey leads the Biola community in the annual "Day of Prayer." Dr. Corey speaks on Paul's mandate in Ephesians 5 to "redeem the time" and explains that to impact the world for Christ, believers must develop a deep life of prayer and an intimate relationship with Jesus.