Too often we avoid what Jesus clearly pursued. Pastor Dicks unlocks the mystery of holy hardships, arming readers with wisdom and revelation to embrace what they’ve been trying desperately to escape; the advantage of adversity.

Holy hardship is cross-shaped adversity you can’t avoid or ignore. The experience can change you for the better, but you must handle your hardship like Jesus handled his. Based on his own journey through a dark season of personal adversity, Pastor Dicks provides perspective on the passion of Christ, showing you how to handle your hardship and grow closer to Jesus. You can do more than survive your trouble. Holy Hardship will convince you that you can thrive because of it. Through this book you’ll learn how to:

• Get the most out of adversity without it getting the best of you.
• Initiate holy acts in hostile environments.
• Give up without quitting. 
• Identify the people you need on your side in high pressure situations.
• Handle six types of adversaries. 
• Pray during tough times.  
• Thrive after adversity.

Anthony A. Dicks, Jr. is the Senior Pastor and founder of Mount Zion Church in Greenville, SC. He has spent over two decades leading in ministry. His diverse ministry background as a charismatic pastor, who is Lutheran seminary trained, and a son of a Baptist pastor, gives him a unique perspective on life and leadership in the church. He is married to Miriam Perryman Dicks and together they have three wonderful young adult children.

“Pastor Dicks leads us through the process of dealing with adversity using the story of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem through his death and resurrection. His perspective offers the reader an opportunity to see adversity a new light. His focus on patience, trust and prayer gives anyone struggling with adversity some healthy Christian guidelines for living through pain and loss with the clear Christian hope at the end.”

—Pastor Mike Flanigan, Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Simpsonville, SC

“Trendsetter, trailblazer, and torchbearer! These are just some of the superlatives that describe the amazing traits and characteristics of Dr. A. A. Dicks Jr. As a proven leader, pastor, and entrepreneur, he has touched the lives of thousands. However, I was totally surprised in 2017 to learn about his extreme adversity in his thriving local church. In fact, I will never forget our heart-wrenching conversation during his trip to Atlanta that year. Little did I know then, but our conversation became the catalyst for this seminal work. In a very transparent way, Dr. Dicks shares the timeless truths that adversity has taught him and how these principles have transformed his life. His ability to explain the advantages of adversity is beyond outstanding and promises to be the difference maker in the lives of those who read this life-changing body of work.”

 —Rev. Dr. Emory Berry Jr., Senior Pastor, Greenforest Community Baptist Church, Decatur, GA

“My dear friend and brother Pastor A. A. Dicks Jr. has offered to the world and Kingdom of God a much-needed book: Holy Hardship: How Jesus Turns Your Adversity Into an Advantage. In a culture that highlights the accouterments of successes and clicks on the social media stories that portray the illusion of prosperity, we rarely talk about the reality of pain, loss, stress, and hardships. In a time of multiple pandemics, from Covid-19, economic uncertainty, political dissonance, racial reckonings and church division, Pastor Dicks presents the argument that we should not be surprised by these tough times, but better is achievable on the other side of these hardships that cannot be ignored or avoided. In this book, not only will Pastor Dicks provide you incredible insight to overcome and thrive amid adversity but will give you the tools to identify and classify the adversity you are facing. This is a needed work in the times we are living in. May the revelations shared by Pastor Dicks guide and guard you through your holy hardships!”

—Rev. Dr. Charles E. Goodman Jr., Senior Pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Augusta, GA

“Despite the obstacles that have been presented to Reverend A. A. Dicks Jr., he has managed to turn lemons into lemonade and teach us how to do the same without becoming bitter, but better.  Reverend Dicks, your testimony and nuggets of wisdom breathes life to the reader.  Page after page, the reader is drawn in until the wounds of their life experience healing.  Thank you for the crushing that you’ve experienced so that we can receive the oil from your life.”

—Bishop Carl D. Parrott, Senior Pastor of Rhema Word Restoration Ministries, Presiding Prelate, T.R.U.E. Fellowship

“This book is excellent. It will ‘scratch where most of us itch.’ It is easy reading. A few times I had to put the book down and reflect how I handled challenges in my ministry. Was Jesus my model or was it someone else that I was trying to be like?”

—t, Senior Pastor, Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA

“Holy Hardship is an incredibly phenomenal display of revelatory brilliance. This impressive superlative is a step-by-step coup d’oeil of life’s challenges as faced by a quintessential Savior. Dicks’s true-to-life depiction of the sufferings of Christ in correlation to the Believer yields an intuitive exhibition of artistic genius. Dicks masterfully leads an extraordinary excavation as he ingeniously unearths an age-old conundrum—Purpose! Truly, a remarkable read and one happily perused”

—Apostle Stacy Glover, Presiding Prelate, F.L.O.W. Ministries, Latta, SC 

ISBN 9781684264513

Pages 192

Dimensions 5.5 x 8.25

Weight .5