Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Christ & Calamity (a free or nearly free book of pastoral care)

Christ & Calamity (a free or nearly free book of pastoral care)

Last updated on: July 20, 2020 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Christ & Calamity (a free or nearly free book of pastoral care) 2020-07-18T15:45:42-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Christ and Calamity: Grace and Gratitude in the Darkest Valley ...

COVID shutdown. A partial re-opening followed by a COVID surge. The prospect of death at any time for our loved ones or ourselves. Civil unrest. Violence in the streets. National disillusionment. Vicious politics. Dysfunctional government. National disunity. Economic collapse. Unemployment. Masks. Travel restrictions. Social distancing from friends, family, colleagues, and church. The accumulation of one bad thing after another!

Columnist Damon Linker thinks he might be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He finds that he is unable to expect good things, such as the prospect of a vaccine, and he can’t shake the premonition that something far worse is about to happen.

How can we get through all of these calamities? Christians have the consolation that their faith brings them, but that too can be hard to access. Contemporary American Christianity tends to be more oriented to the power of positive thinking and the prosperity gospel. Hard times pose a problem for those kinds of theologies.

The Lutheran tradition–which is pretty much the opposite of the power of positive thinking and the prosperity gospel–has much to say about suffering, failure, trials, and tribulations, and how to endure them through faith in the Cross of Jesus Christ. This isn’t so much a matter of theology as it is pastoral care. That means that you don’t have to be Lutheran to benefit from Lutheran counseling on these matters, which can be a Lutheran gift to the rest of Christendom.

And now you can access genuine help from a little book by my good friend Harold Senkbeil entitled Christ and Calamity: Grace and Gratitude in the Darkest Valley. The publisher, Lexham Press, is offering the book for free on Logos Software (go to the site for how to download that). Or you can get it on Amazon for Kindle for only 99 cents. Or as a paperback for $9.99. (That’s my choice, since this is a book to underline, go back through, re-read, and give to someone who needs it.)

The publisher asked me to endorse the book, so here is what I wrote:

As we face sickness, death, economic disaster, uncertainty, fear, and every other kind of suffering, we need consolation. In this little book, in just a few pages, Pastor Senkbeil gives us the consolation of Christ.

This is not just good advice or positive thinking or abstract theology that tries to explain why God allows suffering. Rather, this is the cure of souls. Pastor Senkbeil takes us into the depths of spiritual reality. Here, in the midst of our actual tribulations, we encounter God, not as a being far above us looking down, but with us, in His cross.

This is a book to read and to read again whenever we need it, a book to give away to people who are hurting. This book will be a classic.

You might remember my post about Pastor Senkbeil and his book The Care of Souls.

That book, by the way, has gone on to win each of the three major awards in Christian publishing in the category of books on ministry: The Christianity Today Book Award, The Gospel Coalition Book of the Year on Ministry, and The ECPA [Evangelical Christian Publishers Association] Christian Book Award.

As I have been saying, if you are a pastor, buy that book. And if you are not a pastor, buy two, one for you to read and one to give to your pastor.

You will also want to throw in Christ and Calamity.

Christianity and suffering

COVID-19

Harold L. Senkbeil

Lutheran spirituality

pastoral care

Theology of the Cross

Previous Post

July 17, 2020

Progressives Canceling Each Other

Next Post

July 21, 2020 Dispatch from Indian Territory

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"While she worked for Trump she was a tool's tool!"

reg

Luther on Tools

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in ____.

Select your answer to see how you score.

Grief Pain Fear Spirit

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »