An unflinching, illuminating look at three U.S. artists and their performances of suffering

This clear and accessible treatment of key biblical themes related to human suffering and evil is written by one of the most respected evangelical biblical scholars alive today. Carson brings together a close, careful exposition of key biblical passages with helpful pastoral applications. The second edition has been updated throughout.

She's seen slave dungeons in Ghana. Genocide in Rwanda. Systemic sexual abuse in Brazil. Child abuse and domestic violence in the US. After forty years of counseling abuse survivors around the world, Dr. Diane Langberg, a world renowned trauma expert, remains certain that what trauma destroys, Christ can and does restore. This book will convince you, too, of the healing heart of God. But it's not a fast process, instead much patience is required from family, friends, and counselors as they wisely and respectfully help victims unpack their traumatic suffering through talking, tears, and time. And it's not a process that can be separated from the work of God in both a counselor and counselee. Dr. Langberg calls all of those who wish to help sufferers to model Jesus's sacrificial love and care in how they listen, love, and guide. The heart of God is revealed to sufferers as they grow to understand the cross of Christ and how their God came to this earth and experienced such severe suffering that he too is "well-acquainted with grief." The cross of Christ is the lens that transforms and redeems traumatic suffering and its aftermath, not only for the sufferer, but it also transforms those who walk with the suffering. This book will be a great help to anyone who loves, listens to, and seeks to help someone impacted by trauma and abuse. There is no quick fix, but there is the hope for healing through the love of God in Christ.

This story begins with an elderly woman, Elizabeth, looking at photographs from her early years . Each photo only reveals the surface of the true stories that they represent. She begins to remember when she was a young teenage girl in Kent, England. Then, the stressful circumstances of her marriage. There were trials and tribulations with marriage and raising children.She had been born into a life of luxury and freedom.Hidden deep inside Elizabeth was a yearning for only one thing, the desire to be held tightly and loved by the one man who would never return her feelings. The man she loved was her own husband. Find out if Elizabeth ever received the genuine romantic emotions that she craved from the love of her life, or if she learned to accept that some relationships are based on a mutual understanding only. Your heart will feel the joys and possible regrets from the choices made in the past.

Sports fans are a devoted bunch, win or lose. Millions sit in the wind and the cold, watching their team slip ever further from the playoffs--only to come back for more next year. What is it that keeps them going? This book, published just before the Cubs ended the longest active drought in pro sports, features more than 100 loyal followers of 23 teams who explain their reasons for never giving up. They tell stories of devotion and determination: the Toronto Maple Leafs fans who got married, on the ice, before a game; the Sacramento Kings supporters who fought to keep their team from leaving town; and the fans of Mississippi State football with their never-say-die cowbells. For these fans, optimism outweighs disappointment.

Dr. R. C. Sproul is one of the most renowned theologians of our time. For over 40 years Dr. Sproul has encouraged, educated, and enlightened millions through his books, teaching, and ministry. God doesn’t just love us. He is love. God’s Love explores the unrelenting love of God, which found its ultimate expression through His Son. This release also explains difficult themes such as the different aspects of God’s nature, how His love coexists with His holiness, and what the Bible means when it mentions God’s hatred. This is a compelling read for all who long to love as God loves.

Why would a loving and powerful God allow so much pain and suffering? In Why Suffering? Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale carefully walk you through a variety of responses that considered together provide a clear, comprehensive, and convincing answer. Responses like: Where there is the possibility of love, there has to be the reality of freedom, and therefore the possibility of pain. Wishing God had made a different world is to wish yourself out of existence. The cross is the key to a compelling and rational explanation for trusting in God in the face of suffering. In comparison with other world religions, the Christian response is highly distinctive. The reality of evil only makes sense in light of the reality of divine goodness. Relational knowledge about God takes the argument beyond reason to the presence of God amidst suffering. God's decision to allow temporal suffering is understandable when viewed from an eternal perspective. Divine goodness shows how to conquer not in spite of, but even through suffering. Here is a book written with great respect for the complexity of the issue, recognizing that some who read it will be in the trenches of deep suffering themselves and others questioning the very existence of a loving God. Why Suffering? provides an answer to the problem of pain and suffering with emotional sensitivity and intellectual integrity.

`Give me a word, Father', visitors to early desert monks asked. The responses of these pioneer ascetics were remembered and in the fourth century written down in Coptic, Syriac, Greek, and later Latin. Their Sayings were collected, in this case in the alphabetical order of the monks and nuns who uttered them, and read by generations of Christians as life-giving words that would help readers along the path to salvation.