Category Archives: The Sufferer

Why Suffering?

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Grose

Of all the experiences of suffering people in the last century endured, the death camp represents one of the worst. To be separated from family members, including children, after days-long train rides in cattle cars, to be beaten by fellow-countrymen … Continue reading →

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Satan’s Failure

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Grose

When we lose everything and everyone we value; when we find ourselves stripped to the bare minimum of existence, with that existence itself tenuous, how do we survive? After Nazi Germany sent Victor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist, to the extermination … Continue reading →

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Satan’s Wager

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Grose

“With all the persecution here,” I asked the President of the Baptist Union in Belarus, “how does the church in your country survive?” I waited as the Russian translator conveyed my question and received my reply:  “With all the materialism in … Continue reading →

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How God Speaks: Suffering

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Grose

I recently attended a very happy family wedding in Virginia. If we had our way, I thought, we’d attend all weddings and no funerals; we’d celebrate all births but face no deaths–especially our own; we’d model fitness, but not grow … Continue reading →

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Our Unanswered Questions

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Grose

‘Hitler and the Nazis mostly killed people they did not see as their own, but in North Korea our people are doing this to each other,’ says Shin Dong-hyuk. As a young boy Shin Dong-hyuk (“Yuke”) informed on his mother … Continue reading →

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Why am I a Friend of Job? II

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Grose

I’m a friend of Job because his story helps prepare us for the next tragedy just around the corner e.g., Texas tornadoes this week. But I’m also a Friend of Job because he voices our most bitter protest against life’s … Continue reading →

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Why am I a Friend of Job?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Grose

I am a friend of Job. I love the book about him because, from beginning to end,  it deals with life in terms we live with all the time–reality. For example, here are examples from yesterday’s major news stories. Yesterday … Continue reading →

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Job and the Boston Bombing

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Grose

News outlets continue to pour out details of the Boston Marathon bombing. With three dead, 264 injured, including 25 amputee victims, we strain for more information as to accomplices, plans, possible international connections, and especially motive. Why? Why? Why? we … Continue reading →

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True Friendship

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Grose

After many years of separation, one of my long-time friends in ministry and I took a walk at at convention after the end of our daily sessions. We talked about one particular subject when it became obvious that our views … Continue reading →

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Respecting the Sufferer

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Grose

Untrained and/or inexperienced counselors use several strategies to keep sufferers at a distance. They need to do this to remain “safe” from the pain engendered by what they hear. When they hear of tragedy, they rush to help, but as … Continue reading →

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