Blindsided: A Journey of Grief

Mark Roser has ministered around the world––Nepal, Pakistan, China, Egypt, Mexico, Ireland, UK, and in the USA. He and his family lived and served in Zimbabwe, Africa for 22 years. Mark has led many to faith in Christ who are active in fulltime ministry. In Zimbabwe, he pioneered Lighthouse Church, which grew to 1,000 members, and developed a Bible college from 53 students to 243 and from a two-year curriculum to a four-year bachelor’s degree program. Mark’s gift is teaching, and he provides developmental relief to children in poor nations. His theological training is diverse: Xavier University, Centerville Bible College, Cincinnati Christian Seminary, University of Biblical Studies, Louisiana Baptist Seminary, and a doctorate in from Logos Christian Graduate School in Jacksonville. He has written five books and has been married to Pat for 40 years. In addition to Ethan, who died, they have four other adult children, all active in Christian ministry.
 

“Mark Roser’s well-crafted book is beyond inspiring. It brought not only flowing tears, but a delight in seeing how God answered his deepest questions. Having lost our precious Kayla in an accident, I am also able to rejoice that God chooses young radiant souls like Ethan and my daughter to reach their generation for Christ. As Jesus said, ‘Truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds’ (John 12:24). Blindsided will help you seize every opportunity--even the difficult ones--to spread Christ’s glorious gospel and reach ‘a thousand Ethans.’ ” --Julia Kay Duerler, author of She Had No Regrets

“A searing and honest look at the pain and grief Mark Roser and his family experienced. Before the accident, Mark was known as a minister who wrote and taught on God’s sovereignty. One of the toughest theological questions we will ever face is the question of why there is evil and suffering. There is no sugar coating a father’s grief as he asks, ‘Why did God allow my son to die?’ and as he says, ‘Preaching it is a whole lot easier than living it!’ Roser is a modern Job.” --Dr. Gary Sweeten, Founder, LifeWay Counseling Centers

“Roser’s beautiful, poignant book made me laugh and cry and feel deeply, not only for them in their loss, but coming to terms with that most haunting of questions about suffering, Why, God? It also helped me process my own experience of loss, forgiveness, and making sense of tragedy in life.” --Suzanne E. Shaw, PsyD, MFT, Marriage and Family Therapist

“Having lost a beloved seventeen-year-old daughter in a tragic accident, we connected with Mark’s amazing book that describes the place where we ourselves lived, as he put into words the questions and feelings of every parent who loses a child. We have known Mark and Pat for more than twenty-five years, as Mark was our church’s inaugural mission guest speaker, and we have watched the Rosers live out their love for God when life hurts.” --Pastor Gary and Mary Trenum, Founders of Victory Christian Church, Kettering, Ohio

"Evangelical theologian Mark C. Roser thought he had all the answers about God. He’d founded churches and developed a Bible college in Zimbabwe; he’d published books about the devil, scripture, and theodicy. Then his 19-year-old son Ethan died in a freak sports accident at Wheaton College. This book is a tender and wise memoir about how Roser worked through his grief and became attuned to new ways of finding God in suffering. Roser is both utterly confident in his theology and honest about the difficulty of making it mesh with every twist and turn in the grieving process. Thus, even readers who disagree with his theology will find in this book a model of faithful engagement with difficult questions." —Christian Century

"Mark Roser’s well-crafted book is beyond inspiring. It brought not only flowing tears, but a delight in seeing how God answered his deepest questions. Having lost our precious Kayla in an accident, I am also able to rejoice that God chooses young radiant souls like Ethan and my daughter to reach their generation for Christ. As Jesus said, ’Truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds’ (John 12:24). Blindsided will help you seize every opportunity—even the difficult ones—to spread Christ’s glorious gospel and reach ’a thousand Ethans.’" —Julia Kay Duerler, author of She Had No Regrets
 
"A searing and honest look at the pain and grief Mark Roser and his family experienced. Before the accident, Mark was known as a minister who wrote and taught on God’s sovereignty. One of the toughest theological questions we will ever face is the question of why there is evil and suffering. There is no sugar-coating a father’s grief as he asks, ’Why did God allow my son to die?’ and as he says, ’Preaching it is a whole lot easier than living it!’ Roser is a modern Job." —Dr. Gary Sweeten, Founder, Lifeway Counseling Centers
 
"Roser’s beautiful, poignant book made me laugh and cry and feel deeply, not only for the Rosers in their loss, but in their coming to terms with that most haunting of questions about suffering, Why, God? It also helped me process my own experience of loss, forgiveness, and making sense of tragedy in life." —Suzanne E. Shaw, PsyD, MFT, Marriage and Family Therapist
 
"Having lost a beloved seventeen-year old daughter in a tragic accident, I found that Mark’s amazing book described the place where we lived as he put into words the questions and feelings of every parent who loses a child. We have known Mark and Pat for more than twenty-five years as Mark was our church’s inaugural mission guest speaker, and we have watched the Rosers live out their love for God when life hurts." —Pastor Gary and Mary Trenum, Founders of Victory Christian Church, Kettering, Ohio