The Call to Joy & Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry

by Ajith Fernando

2008 Christianity Today Book Award Winner

Joy and pain are both aspects of the call of God for the Christian. The Bible even presents pain as a trigger for joy. The Call to Joy and Pain explores how this is so, showing the connection between rejoicing and suffering, how suffering draws us nearer to God, and how suffering makes us more effective in service.

Ministerial veteran Ajith Fernando combines biblical exposition,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581348886
• ISBN13: 9781581348880
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Crossway
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Transcending Joy

Ajith Fernando knows about suffering. He has seen horrendous suffering during his ministry as national director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka. Since the 1980s that island nation has been torn and ravished by civil war and political corruption. Over 60,000 Sri Lankans have died in sectarian violence, and another 20,000, mostly rebel Tamils, "disappeared" after their arrest. Just when a tentative peace between warring factions was taking shape, the Indian Ocean Tsunami stuck, leaving more than 31,100 dead, 4,100 missing, and 519,000 homeless. Despite the suffering all around him, Ajith Fernando has found a transcending joy, a joy that transforms pain and suffering into a closer walk with Jesus Christ. This book is greatly needed, especially in America, where much of Christianity has become shallow, self-centered, and materialistic. Fernando contends that Christians are not only not exempt from suffering and pain, but they are called to suffer for the Lord's sake and for the good of others. Yet through that sanctified suffering--even because of it--the Christian finds true, lasting joy. Though specifically written for those in the ministry, the book's truth, which draws heavily upon Scripture, applies to every Christian. The book's thirty short but rich chapters take us to a higher plateau in our Christian life, and to greater service for the Master.

The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry

Did you ever ask a question wondering why a loving God allows so many seemingly bad things to happen to us? The title of this book made me curious about how we could embrace suffering. All of us at one time or another, usually during a troubled time in our lives, have asked that question. This book proves that there is a wise God in control of all things, who knows the end from the begining. This book gives valuable insight into many of the questions we all have. It is a life changing insight. The Scripture tells us that Jesus willingly suffered on the cross for the joy that was set before Him. I recommend this book to help you understand what and why that joy was in the midst of the suffering of the Savior. The book is an easy read and very well done. Do yourself a lot of good and order the book now.

An outstanding book

The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry This is perhaps the best book that Fernando has done yet. I would reccommend it to every Christian who is serious about his or her faith. It deals with the most important aspects of our lives, yet it is an area often overlooked by the church today.

A Joy to Read!

Ajith Fernando provides us with a solid theology of suffering and pain. But this is no stuffy theology tome. It is written in an easy to read format and backed by a life full of suffering and ministering to the suffering. Thus Fernando is uniquely qualified to speak into our lives at the point of our greatest pain. I am grateful for this book and its timeliness in my life. I think you will be as well.