Social Media and the Running of the Salmon

The Running of the Salmon When I was in high school my family and I went on an Alaskan cruise, and along the way we stopped at one of the islands to get a tour of where the salmon swim upstream during the spawning season. I don’t remember a lot of details about...

Some Practical Tips for Dealing with Depression

If you haven’t noticed yet, I have been covering the topic of depression quite a bit the last couple of weeks. This is going to be the last post on this topic for a while, but I wanted to leave you with an article that I thought had some great practical tips,...

Leading on Empty

Recently I have been very intrigued by the topic of burnout and depression in ministry, and I have been writing on the topic mainly because it seems to not only be so prevalent, but it’s rarely talked about.  In fact, I would say that the symptoms (burnout...

Of Course Christians Can Be Depressed

A couple of different times this week people brought (thanks @justinwise and @witheringfig) this article to my attention, Can ‘Real’ Christians Be Depressed? And of course, I say EMPHATICALLY YES! (Plus, I’m not really sure what they mean by...

Depression: Discernment in Pastoral Caregiving

Discernment As we talk and think about the issue of depression in ministry one of the most important factors that we have in helping us determine what exactly we are dealing with is discernment. the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure...

Depression: Christians and Medication

“you may have questions about whether Christians should take this or that. You get in that state, I assure you, you will take rat dung.” Pastor Tommy Nelson on his depression Why the Stigma? Let me start this post by saying this. When it comes to the issue...

Depression: Hope Through Hospitality

The fourth and final video I shot for LifeChurch.tv on depression aired today and is titled Finding Hope. Monday’s video was An Anchor in the Journey-Exodus 17:1. Tuesday’s video was Depression-At the Movies continued. Wednesday’s video was Walking...

Are You Experiencing Depression?

As I mentioned yesterday, I had the opportunity to share some thoughts around depression with LifeChurch.tv. The first video, An Anchor in the Journey-Exodus 17:1 appeared yesterday, and I posted a little more details on my blog, Depression: Getting Honest With Our...

Premarital Counseling: Before You Say I Do

[image by vicnknes] One of the things that I wish more couples did was seek out premarital counseling. It’s quite shocking to me that very few people go through any type of premarital counseling, therapy, classes, etc. leading into their marriage. We require...

Improve Your Marriage During Tough Economic Times

[image by Stewart] I came across this post the other day, 15 Ideas To Improve Love And Marriage During Tough Economic Times. The post is actually great advice for anytime, not just hard economic times. Tess Marshall says: 80% of the people who have lost jobs are men....

Book Recommendation: The Mystery of Marriage

The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle is a book that I read probably back in 1999, or 2000, after I was required to do a book report for one of my family counseling classes in seminary. This book was one of a handful of books recommended by my professor,...

Two Questions I Have For You About Being Married

There are two questions that I often think about in terms of marriage, and it’s these two same questions that I often like to ask couples…so I am going to pose them to you. Here they are: What is the most rewarding thing about being married? What is the...