This week, Brook sits down with Andrew Damazio — pastor of Rose Church in Portland and author of My Heart Hurts: A Guide to the Theology of Pain and Suffering.

After walking through deep, personal suffering — often multiple losses at once — Andrew emerged with a burden to help others navigate pain with both truth and tenderness. When enduring pain, he was either approached with a highly theological response void of care or a purely pastoral response void of biblical truths. What he wanted — and what he needed — was both.

In My Heart Hurts, Andrew brings together sound theology and sincere pastoral care — offering not quick fixes, but a framework for walking through pain with both hope and honesty. Still in the midst of grief after the loss of his father and while walking with a close friend through their own suffering, Andrew speaks not from theory, but from lived experience.

In our conversation, Andrew shares his story of growing up as a third-generation pastor’s kid, coming to faith in adolescence, and eventually stepping into ministry. We talk about the difference between suffering in circumstance and suffering in perspective, the way ancient Christians expected suffering while modern believers often try to avoid it, and how we’re prone to unintentionally strip the humanity from Jesus in our search for tidy answers.

This is not a conversation that ties everything up neatly. Instead, it's an invitation to sit in the tension — to look honestly at pain, and to find Christ in the middle of it. Whether you're in a season of sorrow or simply preparing for the reality of life in a broken world, this episode offers wisdom, comfort, and the kind of truth that holds up under pressure.

Andrew Damazio: Rose Church, Rose Church Podcast, Instagram

Scripture Mentioned: Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:44, John 21:1-14, 1 Kings 17:1-6, 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, 1 Peter 1:5, James 5:16 + 1 John 1:9

Book Mentioned: My Heart Hurts: A Guide to the Theology of Pain and Suffering by Andrew Damazio

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