A. J. Swoboda - A Glorious Dark: Finding Hope in the Tension Between Belief and Experience

2014 by A. J. Swoboda

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4412-2242-8

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Published in association with literary agent David Van Diest of D. C. Jacobson and Associates, www.dcjacobson.com, 3689 Carman Drive, Suite 300, Lake Oswego, OR 97035.

Life, like the moon, has a shadow side. Yet too often Western Christian churches focus only on the sunny side of life. Why? Because it takes far more courage to walk into the darkness. Lucky for us, A. J. Swoboda has the guts to pierce the darkness and search for God there. A Glorious Dark touches a nerve by bravely wrestling with all the things that go bump in the night. But more importantly, it leads us into the presence of the One who once told a shadow-soaked prophet, I form the light and the dark.

Jonathan Merritt , author of Jesus Is Better Than You Imagined ; senior columnist for Religion News Service

A. J. writes with the passion of a genuine seeker and with the reflective insight of a true mystic. Here he turns his attention to the meaning of Jesuss death and resurrection. We find ourselves drawn into the momentous events of cross and resurrection yet again.

Alan Hirsch , author, activist, dreamer; www . alanhirsch . org

Once upon a time, there was a man who saw the breadth of Gods strange redemption in just three days of Holy Week. That man is A. J. Swoboda and this is his book. It is funny, honest, literary, outward looking, inward looking, and upward looking. Stars are only seen when its dark, Swoboda writes. Indeed, and it is rare to find both stars and their darkness so beautifully charted in ink. A glorious read.

Paul Pastor , associate editor for Christianity Todays Leadership Journal and PARSE

A Glorious Dark is a brilliant display of the cross of Christ. My heart and mind were awakened by A. J. Swoboda creatively redeeming everything from personal experience to insightful apologetics, from Star Wars to Jean-Paul Sartre. He challenged me to confront long-held myths that dead-ended my faith. For any serious student of life, A Glorious Dark is a must read!

Wayne Cordeiro , author and pastor at New Hope Christian Fellowship, Honolulu, Hawaii

Attention is owed to any writer who can excavate the deep theological meaning of Scooby - Doo and apply it articulately to Christian faithand that writer is A. J. Swoboda! With spark, passion, and an engaging accessibility, Swoboda successfully makes the case for a holistic Christian life that holds in tension the poles of light and dark, triumph and loss. Highly recommended.

Tom Krattenmaker , USA Today contributing columnist; author of The Evangelicals You Don t Know

Just as the real story of Golgatha is of three crosses, not one, so theologian A. J. Swoboda shows in fiery wisdom and icy wit how the real story of Holy Week is of three days, not one. This is a book I will get out and reread every Holy Week for the rest of my lifeto keep the gospel good news that stays good and stays news.

Leonard Sweet , bestselling author; professor at Drew University and George Fox University; chief contributor to Sermons.com

Is our Christian faith painful, awkward, or hopeful? Thats like asking if water is a solid, liquid, or gas. The answer is emphatically Yes ! A. J. Swoboda reminds us that although we want to pick and choose, God knows we need the full spectrum of death, descent, and resurrection to abide with Christ. When A Glorious Dark arrived, I intended to only take a quick peek at the introduction, but I immediately got hooked and abandoned all other responsibilities for the day. Gloriously enlighteningthe kind of book you want to reread as soon as you finish and then share with a friend.

Nancy Sleeth , author of Almost Amish ; cofounder of Blessed Earth

A. J. Swoboda has written a beautiful book. It felt like reading the Psalms. He touches on the full bandwidth of the human experience with compassion, honesty, insight, and humor. And this book ruminates with love for God. Not the sentimental love of evangelical culture, but a deep clinging to Jesus through all the complexities of faith and discipleship. This book will resonate deeply and inspire faith to walk boldly into the glorious dark.

Jon Tyson , pastor at Trinity Grace Church, New York; author of Sacred Roots : Why the Church Still Matters

How can one person be so funny and so deep all at once? A. J. is like Seinfeld and Sren Kierkegaard rolled into one. If you want dry diatribes or funny fluff, look elsewhere. But if you want to dive deep into the raging river of Christs death, burial, and resurrectionand learn, while swimming, why God is like Chewbacca, faith is either a Polaroid or an Etch-a-Sketch, and Jesus is not like Hulk Hogan in a burger jointthen look no further. This book is hilarious and holy in all the right ways!

Joshua Ryan Butler , author of The Skeletons in God s Closet ; pastor at Imago Dei Community, Portland, Oregon

For Dad
I love getting lost with you.