Playing Back God’s Call: A Key to Resiliency
In the late 1700s, the British economy relied heavily on the slave trade from Africa. Most captives toiled on large plantations owned by Britishers in the West Indies. The annual export of slaves from Africa’s western coast exceeded 100,000.A year after...
Frailty Doesn’t Disqualify Us
An incident in Jack Murray’s life showed that weakness is not a hindrance to usefulness in God’s kingdom. His son, George, told this story in chapel while he served as President of Columbia International University. Jack, a traveling evangelist decades ago, was...
FOUR THNGS I’D DO THE SAME
Turnabout is fair play, especially when I’m involved. My previous post cited “Four Things I’d Do Differently” as I looked back over the decades of my life. Here are four things I’ve done right in life or ministry. 1. I’ve worked at being creative with gifts I’ve...
4 THINGS I’D DO DIFFERENTLY
I’m not trying to browbeat myself through this post. The good Lord knows I’ve done too much of that in my lifetime. As a vocational Christian leader, husband, and father, I’ve done some things well and right. But now that I’m 66,...
SURPRISED AT SUNRISE
Last in a series on depression and faith In this series of posts, I’ve zeroed in on emotional pain, and reconciling struggles with faith in a loving God. But not even a melancholy person like me feels gloomy all the time. No, sometimes God provides a serendipitous...
A SPIRIT OF SURRENDER
Eighth in a series on depression and faith For years I begged the Lord to heal me of chronic depression. The initial benefit of anti-depressants had waned. Counseling hadn’t alleviated my burden. And God’s response to my pleading was silence. I...
RAINY DAY REFLECTIONS
Seventh in a series on depression and faith The depression in my spirit mimicked the weather that day: dark clouds and falling rain. A heavy sadness spawned a flow of tears almost as constant as the rain. The pain was relentless: an emotional ache analogous to a...
A BENEFIT OF A DESPONDENT SPIRIT
Sixth in a series on depression and faith Even when emotional pain is not the direct result of sin, it pays dividends in the war against sin. When I’m extremely depressed and prone to fits of weeping, my heart is obviously softer than usual. And it’s during such...
Incarnation
Fifth is a series on depression and faith One essential and Biblical strategy for battling depression is the love and support of friends in the body of Christ. Years ago, during a particularly rough week plagued by despondency, my wife thought I might be suicidal. ...
HOW GOD GETS GLORY – PART 2
Series on Depression and Faith My last post, “How God Gets Glory,” conveyed the ironic truth that our weakness, neediness, or inadequacy provides a grand opportunity for God to receive more honor and praise. Allow me to dissect the concept of God’s glory. The...
How god gets glory
HOW GOD GETS GLORY More than a century before satellites beamed Christian TV programs across the globe, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a renowned British pastor. Due to the depth and eloquence of his preaching, contemporaries dubbed him the “Prince of...
Misconception about Depression
MISCONCEPTION ABOUT DEPRESSIONFirst in a series on faith and depression During a prayer time in an adult Sunday school class, which I taught, I asked for intercession on my behalf. I had been despondent for weeks: sad, less motivated, emotionally fragile. I wanted...
