Cries from the Heart: Stories of Struggle and Hope

Cries from the Heart answers a specific hunger millions share - a longing for a personal connection to the divine. In times of crisis, all of us reach for someone,or something, greater than ourselves. Some call it prayer. Others just do it. For many, it's often like talking to a wall. People are looking for assurance that someone hears them when they cry out in their despair, loneliness, or frustration. The last thing they need is another book telling them how to pray or what to say, holding out religion like a good-luck charm. So instead of theorizing or preaching, Johann Christoph Arnold tells stories about real men and real women dealing with adversity. Their difficulties - which range from extreme to quite ordinary and universal - resonate with readers, offering a challenge, but also comfort and encouragement. People will see themselves in these glimpses of anguish, triumph, and peace.

Table of Contents:
to the reader foreword by Robert Coles 1. searching – God finds an atheist 2. finding – is someone really there? 3. believing – even when children die? 4. universality – call it what you will 5. god’s messengers – angels at work 6. emotional suffering – when you can’t pray 7. illness – where the doctor leaves off 8. despair – talking to a wall 9. attitude – thank God I’m not like that! 10. reverence – meet your maker 11. letting go – my will be done 12. remorse – when you’ve messed up 13. protection – alive to tell it 14. selflessness – someone needs you 15. service – words are not enough 16. contemplation – be quiet and listen 17. worship – giving thanks in a death camp 18. unity – divided we fall 19. marriage – unlocking horns 20. unanswered prayer – isn’t “no” an answer? 21. miracles – what do you expect? 22. prayer in daily life – keeping the faith 23. faithfulness – one thing never changes

About the Author :
Johann Christoph Arnold is the author of best-selling titles on sexuality, parenting, death and dying, forgiveness, and peace. His books draw chiefly on his experiences as a pastor, and on wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of counseling couples and singles, teens and young adults, prison inmates, the aged, and the terminally ill.

Review :
Jonathan Kozol, author Arnold speaks with great simplicity of style... His writing is unpretentious and transcendent. Diane Komp, M.D., author, Breakfast for the Heart I love a riveting story that won't go away. That's exactly the type of word picture that Johann Christoph Arnold paints, from dark to light, from despair to courage, from pain to joy, from doubt to faith.