“We equate blessing with a new job, a new house, a banner year for our company, a big bonus at work, a new baby, a clean medical report, or an acceptance into the college of our choice. In our Western mindset—conditioned by the affluence surrounding us—God’s blessings are pleasant and enjoyable. When the opposite happens—suffering, hardship, loss of job, loss of health, financial strain—“blessing” isn’t usually the first word off our lips. As we cope with trials, we wonder if we’re being punished by God. We question if we’ve somehow merited God’s judgment. And we fervently pray that the burdens will be removed. In God’s economy, blessings are radically different than our American perception. This is the second counterintuitive principle we learn from Scripture: persecution means you’re blessed, not cursed.”
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Dr. David P. Jeremiah is a conservative evangelical Christian author, evangelist, and currently the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, an evangelical megachurch in El Cajon, California, a suburb of San Diego.
Jeremiah holds a Bachelor's degree from Cedarville University (1963), a Master's degree in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary (1967) He was also granted a Doctor of Divinity degree from Cedarville in 1981.
Jeremiah succeeded former senior pastor, Tim LaHaye, at Shadow Mountain in 1981. Jeremiah's leadership of the church has led to an affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Jeremiah broadcasts a daily evangelical radio program on stations worldwide through his Turning Point Ministries, which he founded in 1982. The broadcast can also be heard online. He is the author of numerous books on Christian theology topics such as the rapture.
In 1994 and again in 1998, Jeremiah was diagnosed with lymphoma. In 1999, a nodule was surgically removed from his neck and he underwent stem cell transplant therapy.
In 2003, he narrated the Christian slide-show Light of the World.