CATEGORY: Depression and Faith
THE SMILE OF GOD
When we think He's frowning at us, the opposite may be true. He had accepted Christ as a child, and lived out his faith through his high school years. His parents were strong Christians. But he didn't handle well the adjustment of leaving home for college. ...
PLEASE DO NOT LET ME STAY THE SAME
A Prayer for Change Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. That's the title of a Charles Swindoll paperback I read in the 1980s. That's a realistic depiction of spiritual formation. At best, it is a zigzagging line on a graph, showing highs and lows. Over time,...
Questions To Ask Yourself When Suicide Looks Appealing
Vibrant. Handsome. Warm. That describes the face of the 36-year-old who stared at me today from the obituary page, squeezing my heart to the point of pain. I didn't know him personally. A college honors graduate. A sensitive person who regularly volunteered...
REFLECTIONS: When I Was Younger….
When I was younger, I had the idea that God existed for my sake. Now I see from God's Word that I exist for His sake. When I was younger, I had a passion to speak for God. Now I am desperate for God to speak to me. When I was younger, I wanted to glorify God by...
A PLEA FOR HEALING OF THE HEART
To some extent, each of us is self-absorbed. More interested in our own needs being met than meeting the needs of others. More motivated by our own reputation instead of God's glory. Too sensitive to what others think of us (without realizing that they seldom do,...
COPING WITH DEPRESSION AFTER THE LOSS OF A SPOUSE
One Man's Personal Story Tom Rea and his family served as church planting missionaries in France with ReachGlobal (Evangelical Free Church). Afterward, he served for 15 years as a church-planting pastor in Hermann, Missouri. Now he's a bi-vocational pastor in...
WRETCHED EXTREMES: The “Always” and “Never” of Suicide
Guest Post by Christine Chappell Introductory Note from Terry: This guest post was originally written by Christine for the DesiringGod.org website, published June 13, 2018. In a clear, sobering fashion, Christine depicts what goes on inside a person...
THE OUTRAGEOUSLY FRUITFUL MINISTRY OF A DEPRESSION-PRONE SPIRITUAL GIANT
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 eloquence and depth of his preaching, contemporaries labeled him "the prince of expositors." While still...
Just Go! (The Gift of Presence)
Spring 1988 Pat, our Associate Pastor's wife, heard that I'd been experiencing debilitating fatigue, plus strange neurological symptoms (numbness in limbs and hand tremors). She also knew that during my study leave from Columbia Bible College (now Columbia...
A Gentler Despondency and Why It Didn’t Get Worse
June 16, 2018 A Day When Faith Made a Difference What invaded my spirit today wasn't the searing emotional pain that opens the floodgates to my tear ducts, until a pool forms on my shirt or the floor. Not a throbbing heartache that made me doubt whether I'd...
Mental Illness Stole My Father’s Days
Chronic Joy Ministry posted: "Fifteen years into fatherhood, mental illness burst into my son’s life and took up long-term residence. So did chaos, friction, tears, lying, arguments, anger, and disrespect. Then drugs. Then jail. Then death. As is often the case,...
WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR SIGNIFICANCE?
Introductory Note: In two recent posts I focused on an aspect of salvation doctrine to assuage depression and inject a more grateful spirit into our thinking: "Quick Decision Rendered In Superior Court Case" and "Phantom Pain." Different biblical terms such as...
