Out of the Darkest Place

Peter Gladwin

Description

Many of us have fallen into a dark place. Perhaps you are at a low point right now. Peter Gladwin understands. He meets many who have reached the point of despair and who want to hide: from others, from God, from themselves. Because of his own harsh experiences and struggles Peter finds it easy to empathize, and has discovered that the message of hope he offers strikes a powerful chord. Peter's ministry, particularly in prisons, has taken him into dark places. His own traumatic early experiences, and his subsequent and more recent struggles to walk the Christian path, have helped him to appreciate, and to explain, how God's grace can change your life. This book is full of vivid stories of transformation.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lion Hudson
• Date de parution: 21 août 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780857215659
• Langue: English

Extrait

Also by Peter Gladwin: Out of the Ashes (Monarch, 2011)
 
Also by Anna Thayer: “The Knight of Eldaran” trilogy – The Traitor’s Heir (Lion Fiction, 2014), The King’s Hand (Lion Fiction, 2014) and The Broken Blade (Lion Fiction, 2015)
 
Ministering in churches, prisons, and schools throughout the nations…
Out of Ashes Ministries was founded after the successful release of Peter Gladwin’s book Out of the Ashes . Since then, this ministry has been instrumental in bringing the message of transformation to thousands of people throughout the UK and around the world.
If you would like to know more or to book Peter to speak at your service/event so that you can be inspired by his remarkable story of God’s amazing grace and transformational power, visit www.outofashes.co.uk

 
 
Text copyright © 2015 Peter Gladwin and Anna Thayer This edition copyright © 2015 Lion Hudson
The right of Peter Gladwin and Anna Thayer to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Monarch Books an imprint of Lion Hudson plc Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England Email: [e-mail] www.lionhudson.com/monarch
ISBN 978 0 85721 564 2 e-ISBN 978 0 85721 565 9
First edition 2015
Acknowledgments Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society All rights reserved Anglicised edition first published in Great Britain 1979 by Hodder & Stoughton, an Hachette UK company. This revised and updated edition published 2011. Scripture quotations marked “NKJV” are taken from the New King James Version ® . Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® , Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission (www.Lockman.org)
Extracts p. 118 taken from the song “Blessed be Your Name” by Redman/Redman. Copyright © 2002 Thankyou Music. Adm. By Capitol CMG Publishing excl. UK & Europe, adm. By Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@ integritymusic.com. Used with permission.
Extract pp. 146–47 taken from the song “God Will Make a Way” by Don Moen. Copyright © 1990 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music. Adm. By Capitol CMG Publishing excl. UK, adm. By Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@ integritymusic.com Used with permission.
Extract p. 148 taken from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis © copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1950. Used with permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover image: Hristo Shindov/Getty
 
 
 
This book is dedicated to the staff and students at School Complex Nr 4, Kutno, Azory, Poland: “May His glorious light shine in the darkness.”
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter
1 Lo Debar
2 God’s Promises in Lo Debar
3 Crippled in Lo Debar
4 On the Run in Lo Debar
5 Living in Lo Debar
6 Witnessing in Lo Debar
7 Praising in Lo Debar
8 Provision in Lo Debar
9 Escape from Lo Debar
10 Feasting at the King’s Table
Preface
Peter Gladwin is a truly anointed evangelist and preacher with a heart full of compassion for those who are broken and lost. It is both a true privilege and an exciting challenge to be Peter’s pastor. Challenging because his uncompromising love for God and burning desire to reach those who are unaware of Christ’s love for them, is at the heart of all he does. He deeply desires that such love and determination should be the mark of any church family – and rightly so. His ministry has impacted our church, this nation and other nations of the world, not to mention many of Her Majesty’s prisons, and the men, women and young people within them; as well as schools, churches and homeless people and many more.
I am honoured to be writing this preface to Peter’s second book having found Out of the Ashes (his first) completely un-put-down-able! My family and I shed tears as we read our way through our own copies. The gripping story of personal brokenness and amazing redemption is approached in a new, but equally exciting, way in this volume. The crippled, frightened and abandoned Mephibosheth is at the heart of this book, but the deeper message is of how God’s amazing grace and love transforms, heals and delivers broken people out of incredible darkness and pain. Peter is somewhere between the Mephibosheth of the Old Testament (as he was lonely and isolated, and so badly burned and crippled in both feet himself) and the rock, his namesake, Peter of the New Testament. Thus, he writes with both profound personal understanding of such pain and brokenness along with the gripping insights of a preacher and evangelist who has experienced personal life transformation. Peter is now seeing many hundreds of other lives transformed as he communicates the unchanging gospel message of healing grace, experienced through faith in Jesus Christ, to whom Peter always gives all the glory.
This book deserves to be read and enjoyed by thousands – and it will be! But I trust that people will have to put down the un-put-down-able text, in order to take time to reflect upon the life-changing biblical insights which are clearly offered here. That will make this little book an investment which is priceless, like the message it contains. Thank you again, Peter, dear brother, for showing us the way from deep darkness into the place of magnificent love, dazzlingly liberating light and abundant and purposeful life in Jesus.
 
Dr Clive G. Burnard , Senior Pastor Team Leader, Andover Baptist Church
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Anna Thayer, who through her literary skills and guidance has helped make this book what it is today. And also her husband, Justin, who spent hours proofreading the manuscript before it went to print.
Also Simon Cox, who encouraged me to write my second book.
Finally, my wife, Sarah, who personifies the unconditional love of God in our marriage and does so always with a smile on her face.
Introduction
An Unexpected Calling
Sometimes I have to pinch myself as I reflect on the journey that I’ve been on since the release of my first book. It’s been simply incredible: I’ve been into countless churches and prisons, in the UK and abroad, to talk about the way that God has lifted me out of the ashes of my life. I’ve seen hundreds of people come to Christ, I’ve sold thousands of copies of Out of the Ashes , and I’ve answered God’s call and set up a ministry that reaches broken people around the world. After everything that I had been through in my life, I could never have imagined God using me in this way. I feel that my life is a real testament to the scripture in Romans 8:28: “… in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”
Despite my success with Out of the Ashes , I was adamant that there was absolutely nothing anywhere in my heart stirring me to write a second book. In fact, when people nudged me about it, I felt rather like Elijah’s assistant in 1 Kings 18:43.
You see, God had told Elijah to climb a mountain to watch, as He was about to bring an end to the serious drought blighting the lives of the people in that region. So Elijah told his assistant to go to the other side of the mountain to see if there was any sign of rain. On returning, the assistant reported what he had seen: “No, Elijah. There’s not a cloud in the sky.”
Elijah was undeterred by this news. Seven times he sent his assistant round the mountain and, on the seventh occasion, the young man finally returned to tell of a cloud on the horizon. It was about the size of a man’s fist, and heading their way.
Elijah’s assistant must have felt pretty annoyed at making that journey time and again around the mountain when there was clearly no sign of rain. Perhaps, though, he kept going because he had a feeling that Elijah might just be right. Similarly, I felt that there was no way that I could write a second book; there were absolutely no clouds in my sky. But there was something niggling at me – something that simply wouldn’t go away.
At the same time, I found myself pondering Isaiah 45:3: “I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” OK, I thought; but treasure isn’t easy to find – it’s going to take some digging.
Later that day, while I was still considering the idea of hidden treasure and wondering whether maybe – just maybe – God was hinting at a second book for me, I heard a Christian writer on the radio sharing the details of his latest work. Perhaps hearing him speak would ignite inspiration in me?
It didn’t. Forgive me, but the book’s title was uninspiring and its synopsis rather wobbly, and I found myself thinking: “Oh no, not another book about what God can do for us!” I dug my heels in even further. There was definitely no second book of mine on its way. What if I too wrote something uninspiring and unfounded?
But God doesn’t give up when He promises rain. The following week, I found myself challenged by my friend Simon Cox. During a telephone conversation he said: “Peter, you need to write another book. The timing is perfect.” Well, you can be sure that I was honest with him when I shared my thoughts! I really didn’t feel that I had anything to write about.
“I understand,” Simon replied. “But, before giving up on this idea, you should pray about it.”
Have you ever ha