{"id":2949,"date":"2013-02-28T14:28:56","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T21:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/?p=2949"},"modified":"2013-02-28T14:34:45","modified_gmt":"2013-02-28T21:34:45","slug":"finding-god-in-the-dark-a-qa-with-ted-kluck-and-ronnie-martin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2013\/02\/finding-god-in-the-dark-a-qa-with-ted-kluck-and-ronnie-martin\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding God in the Dark: A Q&A with Ted Kluck and Ronnie Martin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Writer Ted Kluck\u2019s world was turned upside down after experiencing a failed adoption, where he found himself propelled into a year of doubt and disillusionment. Recording artist Ronnie Martin struggled with identity and idolatry issues before the unexpected death of his father. In a new book out this month called\u00a0Finding God in the Dark: Faith, Disappointment, and the Struggle to Believe<\/em><\/a>, these two young Christian artists share their stories and insights about finding God\u2019s presence in the midst of heartache.<\/p>\n

Ted and Ronnie took some time to answer a few questions about the new book, and their own personal journeys through doubt and despair.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ted Kluck:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why is your book called Finding God in the Dark<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was originally called When Believers Don\u2019t Believe<\/em>, but I think both titles capture the essence of the book. Ronnie and I both make our living working as artists in fields that are very up-and-down. We\u2019re both prone to bouts of depression and self-doubt, and we\u2019ve both gone through some hard things in our family lives. And I think we both have failed at times to trust God and see His goodness in those times. So I guess this book isn\u2019t so much about our finding God in the dark as much as it\u2019s about God finding and pursuing us.<\/p>\n

Is there something specific to making your living in the arts that\u2019s difficult?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s any more or less difficult than any other career, it\u2019s just that as artists we\u2019re a little more comfortable being openly glum.<\/p>\n

Who is this book for, specifically?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s for people in our churches who are hurting, and I think there are more of us than people realize. We\u2019ve become very adept, as evangelicals, at faking our way through nearly everything (sadly), including going to church and writing our books. This book is an attempt to openly acknowledge that pain and sin exist, and to lead people to the cross of Christ, where we find relief and hope.<\/p>\n

In Finding God in the Dark, <\/em>you talk a lot about the difference between true humility and failure. Please explain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For me, there were lots of times in life when I was failing\u2014financially\u2014in my family and in my career, and I assumed that it was making me more humble, when in fact it was just making me bitter, cynical, and wary. I was unable to be happy for others who were having success, and I was bitter about what I thought God had taken from me rather than being joyful and thankful for my salvation, forgiveness, grace, and the abundance of earthly gifts He has <\/em>given me.<\/p>\n

You have a chapter in the book about \u201cKilling Big T.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s that all about?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Big T is my nickname, in certain circles, and it\u2019s come to represent the worst part of my character.\u00a0 People love Big T because he\u2019s the life of the party . . . the guy who says what people want to hear, and makes everybody laugh with his cynical stories. Big T used to check his blog comments obsessively, update his (now defunct) Facebook status constantly, and then check back for comments. I was basically a self-centered egomaniac. In order to truly love, honor, and worship Christ, I needed to be about the process of killing Big T.\u00a0 It was, and still is, painful, but God has given me a lot of joy in it as well.<\/p>\n

So are you saying people should shut down their blogs, Twitters, and Facebook pages?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, not exactly. I\u2019m just saying that I couldn\u2019t use those media without sinning, so I needed to get rid of them.\u00a0 And getting rid of them has been one of the best things I\u2019ve ever done.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of the book, you talk about the process of repentance and its role in experiencing the joy and peace of Christ.\u00a0 Tell us more.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ronnie and I both grew up in the \u201980s, which was the decade of health, wealth, and victorious Christian living, in which God was portrayed as a sort of cosmic wish-granter. So if you were a \u201cgood, clean-living kid,\u201d it was God\u2019s job to bless you by making all of your dreams come true. Of course, living an actual life where this didn\u2019t happen was very disillusioning to me, and I\u2019m guessing disillusioning to a lot of people in my generation. That disillusionment led me into a lot of bitterness, cynicism, and sin.\u00a0 By the time I hit my mid-thirties, I had a lot to confess.<\/p>\n

Ted, how did the repentance happen for you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It came as a result of hearing the Word of God preached. I was convicted of my sin, and had an almost physical reaction to it.\u00a0 Confession was painful and truly humbling, but the Lord was with me through His Word, through the church (elders and friends), and through my family. He gave me a peace that truly surpassed understanding, and now I have a greater love for Him. And now I\u2019m able to give grace because I\u2019ve so clearly received grace.<\/p>\n

______________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ronnie Martin:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You say that God takes drastic measures for us to have hearts that are transformed by His severe mercy and sovereign grace. Can you give us an example from the Bible? From your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the apostle Paul is a great example of someone who was severely transformed by drastic measures of mercy and grace. God took him from an elite position of societal prominence and allowed him to be beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, tortured, and ridiculed for the sake of the gospel. Only the kind of transforming mercy and grace given by the hand of an all sovereign, all-loving God could enable Paul to say, \u201cSo we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.<\/em> For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison\u201d <\/em>(2 Corinthians 4:16\u201317 ESV). <\/em><\/p>\n

In my own life, the sudden death of my father was what the Lord used to drastically reveal His grace and mercy to me. It seems that God uses tragic events to show himself more clearly to us so that we cling to Him more dearly. The Lord used this low point in my life to expose the idols of my heart and reveal the shallowness of my faith. It\u2019s humbling to look back and see the amount of growth I\u2019ve experienced since that time. Although God can choose to grow and mature us through any circumstance, I can\u2019t fathom how else He might have chosen to open my eyes. Although I\u2019d love to have my dad with me today, I rejoice that he\u2019s with Christ, and I\u2019m grateful that God chose that event to broaden and deepen me.<\/p>\n

When your dad died, you say your faith reached a critical mass. Can you say more about that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because my faith was somewhat thin and stagnant, I think it had reached the breaking point of what it could bear. So when my dad passed, I didn\u2019t have the depth or maturity to withstand the weight that was being placed on it. It reached a place where God had to create a new depth, a new space in me. The old, antiquated vacuum was barely running with a bag that had never been replaced and was literally bursting at the seams. It was time to realize, repent, and find renewal in Christ.<\/p>\n

Please expand on what you mean by the \u201cpartial sovereignty of God\u201d and how does this play out in our lives?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the word sovereignty<\/em> is a very intellectual term for many Christians. Most of us would say, \u201cOf course I believe that God is in control of everything,\u201d but when you put a microscope on the details of our lives, a very different picture emerges, which is functional unbelief. We make decisions and create realities for ourselves based on doubt and distrust more than on a firm belief in an all-loving God who controls all the intricacies of our daily lives. And this is what ultimately conforms us more to a worldly ideology than to being transformed by a gospel-centered reality. The good news is that Jesus is eager to change our thinking and our hearts.<\/p>\n

For more on <\/strong><\/em>Finding God in the Dark<\/strong>, and these authors, visit the Patheos Book Club here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writer Ted Kluck\u2019s world was turned upside down after experiencing a failed adoption, where he found himself propelled into a year of doubt and disillusionment. Recording artist Ronnie Martin struggled with identity and idolatry issues before the unexpected death of his father. In a new book out this month called\u00a0Finding God in the Dark: Faith, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFinding God in the Dark: A Q&A with Ted Kluck and Ronnie Martin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Writer Ted Kluck's world was turned upside down after experiencing a failed adoption, where he found himself propelled into a year of doubt and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2013\/02\/finding-god-in-the-dark-a-qa-with-ted-kluck-and-ronnie-martin\/\" \/>\n<meta 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