Songs in the Night: How God Transforms Our Pain to Praise (Milton)

Description

“Always preach to broken hearts and you will never lack for a congregation,” an old saying goes. And for that reason, this book is for everyone—because there are many, many things that break our hearts. Sicknesses, spiritual depression, disabilities, painful memories, strained relationships... all of these weigh on Christians’ hearts at one time or another. And even when our hearts feel light, there is a longing that runs through us—a crying of the soul for eternity, for a new heavens and a new earth.

Yet even in the midst of our heartache, we know there is a faith that comes from Jesus Christ that not only encourages us through our pain, but can even transform our pain... as long as we let it.  And here is a collection of warm, pastoral messages, filled with personal illustration, that does just that: helps the broken-hearted Christian to locate the God of all comfort in the center of all pain.

We are not left there, either; Mike Milton takes us a step further to see how the gospel actually transforms our private pain into personal praise. So read and discover how God uses the things that seek to destroy us to become the very things  that bring us salvation, bring us hope, bring us to prayer, bring us together, and ultimately bring us to heaven.

Table of Contents:

Part 1: Pain and Praise in a Fallen World

1. A Theology of Thorns (Psalm 90:1. 14-15; Matthew 6:13; 2 Corinthians 12:1, 7-10)

 2. The Lord of the Storm (Mark 6:45-52)

Part 2: Pain and Praise in Personal Crisis

3. Finding God in Spiritual Depression (Psalm 42; Hebrews 4:14-16)

4. A Doxology in the Darkness (Psalm 18:28; Isaiah 42:16; John 17:20-26)

Part 3: Pain and Praise in Physical Challenges

5. Hannah’s Faith (1 Samuel 1:1-20; 2:1-2)

6. The Kindness of God Toward Sinners (2 Samuel 9)

Part 4: Pain and Praise in Painful Memories

7. The Grace of Locust Shells, or How God Redeems the Pain of Our Past (Joel 2:24-27; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 15:1-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

8. A Christ for Crippled Lambs and Lame Priests (Leviticus 21:16-18; 22:21; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:21-22)

Part 5: Pain and Praise in Broken Relationships

9. What God Starts, God Completes: My Testimony to the Saving Work and Keeping Power of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6)

10. Wounded in the House of Friends: What to Do When Christians Hurt You (Genesis 50:15-21; Philippians 3:8-10)

11. Oh, My Son! (2 Samuel 18:33; 23:5; John 16:33)

Part 6: Pain and Praise in Future Hope

12. Overcoming the Obstacles of Life (Joshua 1:9; 5:13-15; 6:1-5, 20, 26-27)

13. God’s Message to Spiritual Amputees (Mark 9:42-50)

14. The Grand Narrative (Exodus 1:1-22; 2:1-10; John 5:31-47; Hebrews 1:1-4)

Conclusion: Meditations on Roses, Dante, and Psalm 40 

Endorsement 

"Mike’s book won me immediately. You can tell that Mike has been a pastor and someone who has suffered personally. Pastors and sufferers can never be content with a theoretical answer to suffering. You must wisely develop a practical theology of suffering. Songs in the Night is just that." — Tim Lane, President, The Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation.

About the Author 

Michael A. Milton and his family live in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the host of the national Bible teaching television program Faith for Living, a songwriter and recording artist, and the author of numerous books and articles. Previously he was the senior minister of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga, Tennessee and is currently Chancellor and CEO elect of Reformed Theological Seminary and the James M. Baird Jr. Professor of Pastoral Theology, there.