This weekend is Pentecost Sunday. To help you with your questions about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit our study is now available as a free PDF download. Explore the promise of the Baptism, its arrival on Pentecost and its continual outpouring, tongues as the initial evidence and the roles of tongues as revealed in Paul’s writings, and more.

You can use the reader below, or you can view and download the document on Scribd.com.

And God … Well, we think God should know, and yet we wonder why He feels so absent. As tragedy unfolds in our lives He seems disinterested, living and operating far from where we hurt and struggle. Sometimes we push Him so far out of our lives that when we start to look for God He is not easily found.

Finding God in the Dark is written from these two standpoints. God seems or is distant, absent, unaware of or unmoving in our lives. How do we trust in Him during the difficult times? How do we point our lives back to Him when we have put ourselves in the way?

Authors Ted Kluck and Ronnie Martin open the reader to their very personal stories in a wide-open manner that draws you in. We have been trained to wait for victory at the end of stories like these, but it is not always there, at least not as we would expect.

As interesting as both of their stories are, the book feels a little disconnected as it jumps from author to author. In most books where there are multiple authors there is still continuity in voice and tone. This book lacks that continuity.

It almost feels like the two authors worked on two different projects that were spliced together to create the one book. While each author seeks God in the dark, the process is different because of the differences in each personal situation. And yet this is also an asset because while you and I each face variations of the same problems, finding God is our answer. To this end we are given some very concrete information about finding God.

We are also given hope. The point of this book is that God is there while we struggle and question. He never leaves us, though we have a tendency to misplace Him. Rather than give up and walk away from God in those dark days and nights, we must press in harder and cry out louder. We can trust in His great love for us and the purposes He has for our lives, for He will never leave us to defeat.

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Finding God in the Dark has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a divisin of Baker Publishing Group.

Like a brush fire in the dry prairie, it spreads and affects others over time. As life has a chance to slow down and as the input continues to be received, it triggers later responses. That is what this part of what this post is for me.

At the same time I want to share with you a collection of thoughts recently posted over the Internet by some Christian names that you might be familiar with, collected by Ed Stetzer of Lifeway Research.

My Story

A lot of people do not know it, but I was depressed and suicidal. It was over twenty years ago, rebut that does not make it any less real. Many of those who have shared recently About depression in their lives speak as adults who have or continue to struggle. I was in my early teen years.

I think my parents just thought that I liked being alone. In a way, I do. But the hours I spent in my room each day were based on more than just looking for some peace and quiet. For a stretch of several months I thought of running away. When it dawned on me that I would be in even worse shape if I went that route, I turned to thoughts of suicide.

I had it all planned out, two or three different ways. They were simple and painless. I had my note all planned out. But I never did it. And I cannot tell you why. I am grateful that I didn’t.

Other Stories

Author and researcher Ed Stetzer shared a collection of articles posted this week. They expose this Church’s failures and myths about depression as they are clear, open confessions from people who know and love God. Some have conquered, others have not.

Here are a few lines from the collection. You can read the full article here.

You don’t try to kill yourself because death’s appealing — but because life’s agonizing. We don’t want to die. But we can’t stand to be devoured.

“I can see why people commit suicide. I honestly can. Not because I am near that, but this last bout of depression was the first bout where the fear of the what was coming was greater than the fear of anything else.”

The burden of having a mental illness is at times very hard to bear. Christians must learn to ease that weight for others. Too often churches will instead add to sufferers a sense of guilt that they “ought not” to be feeling that way.

For those afflicted, depression enters when we’ve lost hope for the future. When we no longer imagine a life that is free. Whether it’s triggered by a chemical imbalance or a change in circumstances, facing it in isolation is the most treacherous. At precisely the time we need others, our inclination is to turn inward.

If you struggle with depression, or if you know someone who does, I pray that the words of these men and women of God will bring you encouragement.

If you are battling depression or a mental illness, get help and surround yourself with the Body of Christ. You should not expect to flip a switch and be “better.” But alone your chances of being swept away are far greater than if you have a lifeline to hold on to. Though some may not understand, there are those who do. For they have been there, too.