Debates, Discouragement, Defense, and Delay

Send us Fan Mail Episode 8 features Author, Pastor, Professor Dr. Bradley Booth Ed.D. as he discusses catastrophic personal loss from a pastoral perspective, specifically: [Debates] The element of friends and family imposing themselves or (unsolicited) advice upon the already heartbroken.  How should one navigate the sometimes vigorous contentions over next-steps issues with family and friends? [Discouragement] The often repeated  Christian mantra that "real Christians" just need to buck it up, and not mourn their loss(es) as a sign of their faith, is certainly not consistent with the story of Job.  We make the point in the book that God provided us with the capacity to experience faith and hope alongside real-time pain and suffering.  These are not incompatible – taken together they ARE  grief. [Defense] In the aftermath of great tragedy, we survey the brokenness around us, and sometimes we find ourselves contending not only with the loss itself, but also having to defend ourselves from the judgmental observations and opinions of friends and family (just as Job did).  How do you, as a pastor, counsel people to deal with and approach this? [Delay] Job's heart was broken, and his life was shattered with great losses.  He expected God to "show up" immediately, if not sooner, to address Job's ruination.  Job found himself dealing with a considerable delay, not unlike many of us... experiencing a delay in God's response.   How should we approach catastrophic personal loss and God's delay in our circumstances? Guest contact: Dr. Bradley Booth, Ed.D. - Pastor, Professor, Author: Email: [email protected], Website: thestorytellers.one Support the show Purchase When Tears Run Dry  https://remnantpublications.com/when-tears-run-dry-r-mark-janacek.html https://whentearsrundry.org/