When Your Worst Nightmare Comes True

How would you respond if you received the worst news you could imagine?

We spend our whole lives as Christians preparing to respond with faith in the good news of Jesus to carry us through any trial and tribulation. But until we get that knock on the door or desperate phone call, we can’t be completely sure what thoughts would come to mind or what words would come out of our mouth.

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Cameron Cole knows how he’d respond, because he got the worst news he could imagine on November 11, 2013. That’s when his wife called to tell him that their 3-year-old son, Cam, had died. Cole recounts his reaction and applies biblical wisdom and empathy for all of us in this fallen world with his new book, Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths that Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy, published by Crossway.

Cameron Cole serves as director of youth ministries at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, and as the chairman of Rooted, a ministry dedicated to fostering gospel-centered student ministry. He also co-edited Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: A Practical Guide, published by Crossway along with The Gospel Coalition. He’s been one of our best-read regular contributors at TGC during the last five years. And he’s a good friend of mine who has taught me more than he could know. He joined me on this episode of The Gospel Coalition Podcast to discuss these truths that comfort, sustain, and redeem in tragedy.

Related:

The Hard Truths that Prepare Kids for Suffering (Cameron Cole)
Nancy Guthrie on What It Means to Grieve with Hope
I’m Dying. You’re Dying. Jesus Lives. (Matt McCullough)

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Collin Hansen serves as vice president for content and editor in chief of The Gospel Coalition, as well as executive director of The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He hosts the Gospelbound podcast, writes the weekly Unseen Things newsletter, and has written and contributed to many books, including Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation and Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ Is Essential. He has published with the New York Times and the Washington Post and offered commentary for CNN, Fox News, NPR, BBC, ABC News, and PBS NewsHour. He edited the forthcoming The Gospel After Christendom and The New City Catechism Devotional, among other books. He is an adjunct professor at Beeson Divinity School, where he also co-chairs the advisory board.

Cameron Cole is the founding chairman of Rooted Ministry and the director of adult and Nextgen discipleship at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He’s the author of Heavenward: How Eternity Can Change Your Life on Earth and Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy. He enjoys writing about hope in suffering and ministry to children, youth, and families.