Hurting in Hope has rapidly developed a reputation for deeply affecting the hearts of it's readers. The narrower application I had envisioned, has overrun its banks and the nourishing flow has, by the grace of God, resulted in fruit in hearts. I have heard of varied blessings in the lives of young people who are not yet married, young married couples, older married couples, readers who have been widowed, and even from those who have been widowed and remarried. I have witnessed actual changes in the lives of people I know, who have been impacted by the importance of this book's message.
How can you use Hurting in Hope?
This book is suited to a small-group setting. Because of its emotional and vulnerable nature, it creates an environment where group members feel free to share more personally and genuinely. It may even be useful in drawing new visitors into the group very quickly, because they realise that the material covered in the group reaches them in real, hard-life difficulties. It then also creates a conversation piece for group-members who desire to invite friends to the small group.
In addition to the true story recounted in the book, I have included an entire chapter on my specific theological presuppositions. Discussing these ensures that a small-group is not fuelled by an emotional story alone. They also have the opportunity to see an application of that theology.
Another way in which Hurting in Hope and the study guide can be used, is as a catalyst for marriage. A couple struggling with their relationships with one-another, could agree to read Hurting in Hope together, or listen to the free audio version, and discuss the issues raised in this study guide (I am still writing the study guide). Many of the questions I have set up here go far beyond the realm of bereavement, and highlight critical interpersonal issues. This book is a very powerful and personal stimulant to weary romances.
Widows, singles groups, or even reading groups, would benefit immensely from a journey through Hurting in Hope.
It is also a very personal and valuable resource for Biblical Counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists who are faced with counselees who have been bereaved.
This book also contains, inherent in the narrative, very good illustrative material for Gospel preaching; the chapter Twenty Minutes, as an example.
As an evangelistic resource, this book is excellent to give to people who are not saved.
Churches who hold Church camps or seminars, where the theme is bereavement, or even marriage, dating, or pre-marital preparation, could use this work to add a valuable supplement to their own material.
The book or audio book would be a priceless addition to seminary curricula, presenting a very real and biblical perspective on grieving for students who will be called upon to counsel people who are dealing with grief.
The elderly, closed up in old-age, or nursing homes, will find this work a wonderfully stimulating trip through their own memories, coupled with the hope in Christ that this book provides.
People restricted to bed-rest, whether in hospital or at home could use the time well listening to this book.
If you are a person, (or know a person) who is battling with a terminal disease, and are thinking about death, or if you need to consider death more realistically, this book is for you.
People who commute can listen to this book in the car, on the train, in the plane, on the bus, or even on their donkey.
It may not be all that suitable to play during a workout, but certainly for a long walk or hike.
The audio can be played in Christian book shops at times, to draw customers' attention to the existence of this resource.
Christian radio stations could also make use of clips from the audio book both as an encouragement to listeners, and to direct them to the full work.
The sample audio clip, almost 8 minutes long, can even be played at conferences, seminars, or live music events with powerful effect.
Hurting in Hope, while covering a sombre subject, is nonetheless written for your encouragement and joy. This book is an effort to honour God as much as possible through this tragedy, rather than simply wasting it. Would you help me do that?
Death swaggers in and devastates. It snatches away that which is most precious to you, leaving a smouldering wasteland in its place. Not a facet of your life remains untouched by its charring hand. Death drains colour and joy from your...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
You may have discovered that people can make some cruel remarks to those in grief. A good example of this would be the two people, from different social circles, who listened, on separate occasions, to the news that my wife had died. These two men...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The husband-wife relationship is permanent while the parent-child relationship is temporary. This is the biblical principle upon which healthy marriages and homes are nurtured. Parents groom their children for useful, God-honouring adulthood, as...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The first man who had seated himself at the adjacent table in the elegant restaurant in which I sat, appeared to be a gentleman. Well dressed, friendly toward the waitress, otherwise quiet. Before long, he became more animated when another man...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
What does a man say to God when God comes to him to tell him that with one blow, he is about to take away his wife? What makes this even more thought provoking is that the man of whom we speak, was probably only in his mid thirties. He had also...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
A few days after my wife's death, one morning, I was making the bed, when my foot knocked against something on the floor. Lifting up the corner of the blanket, my eyes fell upon something painfully familiar; tucked under the bed, a pair of her...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
He is a weary man, enslaved to his work, troubled by cases that seem impossible to solve. At night, he comes home to his wife who has become indifferent to him and his fixation on his career. She hardly speaks a word to him, neither he to her, yet...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
To be honest, I wasn't surprised when some of the more conservative printing presses rejected my manuscript. Authors take it personally when their work is rejected because they write their hearts onto the page. To reject the manuscript is to...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Some of the most useful changes I have undergone in life have been those that bring a new appreciation for the people around me. It is as if I had felt permitted before to excuse my lack of practical love toward them under the title, “I...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
