Foretaste Of Heaven Amidst Suffering

Foretaste of Heaven is a witness to the enabling grace of God in a time of grave illness. It shows how the Christian hope of the Resurrection of the Dead and of Life Everlasting lifts the mind and heart above the sadness of imminent death and fills the soul with joyful anticipation of heaven. The Psalms in particular are seen as a well from which can be drawn assurances of God as truly "a very present help in time of need."

A respected lecturer and author, the Rev. Dr. Peter Toon (1939-2009) was born in Yorkshire, England, and graduated from King's College, University of London. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1973, he taught theology in both England and America, and was a visiting professor and guest lecturer at a variety of seminaries and universities in Asia, Europe, and Australia. Through his engagement in debates about all matters Anglican, he became the foremost exponent of "the Anglican Way," a path both Reformed and Catholic. A self-identified evangelical, he brought an evangelical fervor to his love of the church and the gospel, and he has influenced a generation of priests around the world. This volume of essays, collected in his honor, furthers the work that Dr. Toon started, defending the continuing importance of the theology of the English Reformation and Anglican worship. Essays included discuss Thomas Cranmer, the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the legacy of Dom Gregory Dix. The authors include Roger Beckwith, Bryan Spinks, Rudolph Heinze, Joan Lockwood O'Donovan, Gillis Harp, Graham Eglington, and Ian Robinson.

St Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807-1867) is renowned as a writer on the spiritual life in general. What is less well known is that throughout most of his adult life, he struggled with chronic illness and disability. Thus his own life experience disposed him to reflect on the meaning of suffering for human existence and how through it we might find "a harbor for our hope." The saint frequently returns to these themes in many of his letters, newly translated into English and excerpted, adapted, and presented here in thematic subject groups. These writings provided a source of consolation and encouragement for the translator during her husband's lengthy illness and eventual death. They will equally benefit all who suffer physical or spiritual pain, however great or small, and reveal how the love of God may be experienced in its midst.

The astonishing, Job-like story of how an existence filled with loss, suffering, questioning, and anger became a life filled with shocking and incomprehensible peace and joy. Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for ten years and, after each stay, would return to a life filled with bullying. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate. But life unraveled. Again. She had four miscarriages. Her son died because of a doctor's mistake. And Vaneetha was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, meaning she would likely become a quadriplegic. And then her husband betrayed her and moved out, leaving her to raise two adolescent daughters alone. This was not the abundant life she thought God had promised her. But, as Vaneetha discovered, everything she experienced was designed to draw her closer to Christ as she discovered "that intimacy with God in suffering can be breathtakingly beautiful."