Jim Pace - Should We Fire God?: Finding Hope in God When We Dont Understand

Copyright 2010 by Jim Pace

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Scripture quotations noted NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted MSG are from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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First eBook Edition: April 2010

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ISBN: 978-0-446-56915-6

As one who has at times doubted God, I found the honesty and thoroughness of this book refreshing. Jim Pace tackles the ever-troubling problem of pain with insight, wisdom, and humility, and without conveniently avoiding tough questions. This book will no doubt ease the minds of both believers plagued by doubts and the unconvinced whose doubts have rendered faith impossible.

Matt Rogers, author of When Answers Arent Enough: Experiencing God as Good When Life Isnt

Questions and storiesthese are some of the honest ways we humans grapple with God and faith. By this count, Jim Pace is a very honest writer, a storyteller with the courage to help us face our deepest questions.

Winn Collier, author of Restless Faith, Let God, and Holy Curiosity

In such a time as ours we face a great dilemma. On the one hand it seems we and the world need God all the more, and on the other, that the God we need might not be up to the task. Jim Pace provides a thoughtful and honest look at the tension so many people I know (including myself) often face. Steeped in Jims own story of doubt, disbelief, and tragedy, this book is a refreshing look at this apparent impasse.

Chris Backert, director and organizational architect of The Ecclesia Network

Using painful firsthand experiences, Jim tells gripping stories and asks courageous questions while checking common clichs at the door. Asking good questions of God is better than learning good information about Him. But Jim presents the reader with both. This book made me want to pull up a chair and have a conversation with the authorand with God Himself.

J. R. Briggs, author of When God Says Jump and coauthor of The Message / / REMIX: Solo

This book affected me deeply. Its one of the greatest treatises Ive ever read on lifes deepest questions about God and the whys in life. I think the Lord has produced a classic through Jim Pace. It should be read and studied by skeptics and seminarians, peasants and presidents. Very few have written so well what so many have wondered about when it comes to God and suffering.

Jimmie Davidson, pastor of Highlands Fellowship, Abingdon, Virginia

This book oozes honesty about the doubts and anger we often feel when injustice occurs. The book not only made me laugh and brought me to tears, more important, it caused me to think. SHOULD WE FIRE GOD? will appeal to people wherever they are on their spiritual journeys.

Amy L. Swoope, cohost of Freedom Today

In 1957, Paul Tillichs Dynamics of Faith made the case to a postWorld War II generation that doubt was a critical component of every authentic expression of faith. Fifty years later, Jim Pace makes the same kind of case in the context of the shootings at Virginia Tech. Like Jim, this book is unflinchingly courageous in asking hard questions, compassionately pastoral in tone, and achingly honest in revealing his skin in the game. What a marvelous book!

John P. Chandler, author of Courageous Church Leadership: Conversations with Effective Practitioners

Like an accomplished novelist, Jim Pace holds your attention; like a thoughtful pastor, he deals with reality compassionately; and like a wise guide, he helps us live more honestly. If you have ever wrestled with the problem of evil, this is a must-read!

JR Woodward, cofounder of Kairos Los Angeles

I cannot thank my family enough. Tracy, Noah, Seth, and Emma: you let me write late into the night when I needed to and dealt with my crabbiness the next day. I could never, nor would I ever, dream of a better family than you.

Matt, Mike, and Chris, you are more than just copastors, you are also great friends. Your support and your wise counsel have been critical for me. I am truly fortunate to work with men like you who are so willing and able to watch over my life.

T HIS WHOLE THING GOT STARTED by this wonderful woman named Michelle Rapkin, who was intrigued enough by some things she heard me say on CNN to send me an e-mail. Michelle, thank you.

I have also been wonderfully and wisely guided through this process by Chris Park. You have been an agent, an editor, and, at a couple of key points, a great voice of truth.

Holly Halverson took something that had some good bones and hints of more and deftly helped that possibility become reality.

Sarah HollowayI still am not sure where a semicolon should be used and where not, but I am glad you do. You were an enormous help to me in cleaning the book up and helping to shape its flow. You made it better. Thank you.

W E LIVE IN A BROKEN WORLD. Because of that, weve all been brought to our knees by tragedies. What do you do when youre struggling with overwhelming circumstances and emotions? How should you respond when your faith is tested and God seems absent or in no hurry to act?

In this book, Jim Pace offers helpful insights on the age-old question of Gods role in human pain. Jim shares from his own personal battle in understanding Gods faithfulness in the midst of pain, as well as dealing with the issues raised after the tragic shooting at his alma mater, Virginia Tech. Many of his congregation attended there during the shooting.

Jim shows how the Bible answers these kinds of situations. The answers are clear, he says, but they are often not what we expect or desire.

The fact is, no one is immune to pain or insulated from suffering. But God is there to provide real comfort and hope no matter what we face in this life. He uses even tragedy for our growth and His glory, when we give Him all the pieces. While God may seem absent, He is never really gone. While He sometimes seems silent, He is always speaking His love for us. While He sometimes fails to do what we think He should, He is always actively engaged in our problems, wanting to draw us closer to Him. In pain, we learn things about God that we will not learn any other way.

Rick Warren

Saddleback Church

The Purpose Driven Life

M AYBE OUR WORLD IS VIOLENTLY spinning out of control and those of us with faith in God are just the last ones to get the memo. Maybe there really is no one in charge. Maybe we are like kids in the back of a car careening down the highway with no one at the wheel, frustrated at all the swerving but confidently telling ourselves that someone