Joni Eareckson Tada has known suffering, from the depression she felt when she didn’t think her life was worth living to the physical pain she’s lived with for nearly 50 years as a quadriplegic. As someone who relies on her husband and other caregivers to bathe her, dress her, and tend to all her physical needs, Joni has learned to embrace her weakness. She believes God’s glory shines brightest when we are at our weakest—and that’s the theme of her new devotional book, A Spectacle of Glory: God’s Light Shining through Me Every Day (Zondervan, 2016).
I talked with Joni about how she fights for joy when her chronic pain feels overwhelming, why she believes God hasn’t healed her, and why we should oppose physician-assisted suicide. Joni is someone who has been through the fire, but she testifies that all her suffering has been worth it because it has drawn her closer to Jesus. As she puts it, “There’s nothing more intimate than finding Jesus in your garden of Gethsemane.”
Download your free Christmas playlist by TGC editor Brett McCracken!
It’s that time of year, when the world falls in love—with Christmas music! If you’re ready to immerse yourself in the sounds of the season, we’ve got a brand-new playlist for you. The Gospel Coalition’s free 2025 Christmas playlist is full of joyful, festive, and nostalgic songs to help you celebrate the sweetness of this sacred season.
The 75 songs on this playlist are all recordings from at least 20 years ago—most of them from further back in the 1950s and 1960s. Each song has been thoughtfully selected by TGC Arts & Culture Editor Brett McCracken to cultivate a fun but meaningful mix of vintage Christmas vibes.
To start listening to this free resource, simply click below to receive your link to the private playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.
