Serving God is daunting. God’s call on a minister’s life honors him in such a way he tries hard, maybe harder than required to do all he can to please God and those God entrusts to his care. The breadth of God’s call and God’s commission to the Church and especially its leaders is all […]
Conflicted Clergy Marriage?
When a minister stands to speak as God does on the subject of marriage, most listeners assume he and his wife practice what he preaches in the privacy of their home. Because of the stressful nature of the pastorate, the generational breakdown of family relationships and the driven nature of professional leadership this is seldom […]
Preaching and Depressed?
The darkness of depression drains light and life from a soul and damages its close relationships. This is especially true for clergy who become depressed. Ministers share the good news of the Gospel implying this good news will alleviate unwanted sadness, bring joy and provide hope. But, like every other depressed human, these emotionally positive […]
Who Do I Tell When?
Who do you tell? What should you tell? When should you tell? As a secret life begins to unravel it is difficult to know what to say, when to say it and to whom you should tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Supersized Pastor?
A recent perusal of a major denomination’s regular publication, its written mouthpiece, contained lots of photos. Some were if its highest ranking leaders. It also contained pictures of recent seminary graduations, special denominational conferences and obituary pictures. If the text of the publication was ignored and the pictures searched for a unifying theme it would […]
Violence in the Parsonage?
Emotional pain was in her voice but her body hurt too. Her story poured out and she kept saying, “I am so afraid, I am so afraid.” The force of her husband’s angry aggression had sent her hurtling to the floor with her head bouncing off the end of the bed frame. She wondered aloud […]
Dependent on Chemicals?
After normal niceties our phone conversation transitioned to the soft but urgent noise of tears and moans. The caller from the east coast whispered, “I drink myself to sleep every night.” I could feel the seriousness of his tone and the strength of his agony. The only hope I could sense through the fiber optic […]
Can’t Keep It Together?
Are you running with all your might in opposite directions at the same time? Are your thoughts constantly competing with each other? Is priority paper work piling up while you minister to parishioners? Does it seem there is no day timer or planning system to which you can stick despite trying many? Are you aware […]
Burned to a Crisp?
The first sentence of Scott Peck’s best seller, The Road Less Traveled, is, “Life is difficult.” Any manual for ministers should begin, “Ministry is difficult squared.” In addition to being human beings with the normal struggles, trials and dysfunctions of life a pastor is asked by God to carry, “the weight of the churches” as […]
Hooked on Sex?
The link between our sexuality and our spirituality is a direct one. Sacred scripture admonishes us engaging in illicit sexual experiences pollute the temple of the body. You know this truth; no doubt often feel powerful shame about any past or present pollution and long for purity. Sexual brokenness and sexual struggles are so hard […]
