A Tearful Celebration : Finding God in the Midst of Loss

Trust the God Who Allows This?

The last thing you want to do when crushed with indescribable pain and suffering is turn to the very God who allows it all to happen. What right does He have, especially now, to ask for your loyalty, your obedience, your love? When cancer took his wife and left him despairing alone, James Means unwillingly had to ask God the same questions facing you. A Tearful Celebration is the candid, pull-no-punches account of his struggle to understand God’s ways and to stand firm in the face of incalculable loss. This new edition of a 1986 Gold Medallion finalist will lead you to the place you most truly long to be: right with God and secure in Him again.

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
—Psalm 34:18

To all who long for the steadfast, quiet confidence of godly men and women who rise triumphant out of the cruel calamities of life…

The experience of life is very good—and very bad. Beauty is side-by-side with ugliness.

I cannot now soar with wings like the eagle. It is a treacherous road,

painful to my feet, but He makes my heart burn within me.

We must rejoice not merely because it is commanded, but because faith necessitates it and grace promotes it.

The God of adversities provokes tearful celebration.

…take heart and find hope. These pages will guide you in your search for faith and meaning. You will not be disappointed.

“James Means’s honesty and his sensitivity to God is a combination that makes this book a source of comfort and strength to those caught in the grip of grief. The ability with which he shares his sorrow with us is extraordinary.”
—The Pentecostal Minister

“A great deal of refreshing honesty for a grieving heart.”
—Lyla Mattozza, New Beginnings Bereavement Support

“This testimony of God’s grace is most impressive.”
—The Baptist Standard

“A Tearful Celebration is an honest and thought-provoking account of what the author’s difficult journey has taught him about himself, his grieving, and God’s sufficiency.”
—Caregiver Quarterly

Story Behind the Book

Ugliness comes in a great variety of forms, but few are more confusing and horrific than the drawn-out death by cancer of a precious loved one. Such was the experience that caused James Means to come face-to-face with the harsh reality that God failed to respond as he had asked and expected Him to. Means grapples with the mysteries of God and finds meaning in catastrophe. This book contains no glib platitudes and no shallow apologetic for the bitter realism of suffering. There is, however, the powerful testimony to God’s sovereignty, grace, and ultimate goodness. There is also a revelation of the biblical brand of faith that stands rock-solid in the most distressing of human experience.

Dr. James Means has served on the faculty of Denver Seminary since 1978 as professor of pastoral ministries and homiletics. He has spoken at numerous Bible conferences and churches in the U.S. , and has visited the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China through Denver Seminary’s globalization program. He has also taught extensively in Ukraine, Australia, Europe, India, and three countries in Africa. His writings include Leadership in Christian Ministry, Effective Pastors for a New Century, and the 1986 Gold Medallion Book Award finalist A Tearful Celebration.