CREATING A MOVEMENT When I was in the process of starting up the Living Room support ministry for people with mental health challenges, my psychiatrist at the time became quite enthused. He often told me how what I was doing was very much like how Alcoholics Anonymous had started. This doctor was so eager to […]
Read More...DON’T SET US APART In February 2018, I had the following article published by Church for Vancouver. I mentioned how Sanctuary Mental Health ministry was helping churches show God’s love to individuals with mental health challenges through Living Room. Unfortunately, later that year, Living Room was removed from its mandate and only two or three […]
Read More...FOLLOWING JESUS So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can […]
Read More...PEER SUPPORT – As most of you who read here know, I’m working on behalf of individuals who live with mental health challenges. I’m trying to help those who don’t understand what it’s like to live with stigma, to better understand how they could help heal the pain caused by stigma. It must be stated […]
Read More...MY STORY – From my journal, written in 2006, as the plans for Living Room were unfolding: My disorder had made a regular job impossible for me. I had never dreamed of doing anything like forming such a group. I had never heard of faith-based support groups addressing mental health problems. This was a brand-new […]
Read More...MY STORY – A network of faith-based support groups sprung up, starting in 2008, only a couple of years after I founded Living Room in 2006 at Brentwood Park Alliance Church in Burnaby. It had the potential to be a huge ministry, but I could not carry it forward. I was glad to have the […]
Read More...FOLLOWING A RADICAL JESUS – SPIRITUAL SUPPORT Dishonest tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus’ sermons; but this caused complaints from the Jewish religious leaders and the experts on Jewish law because he was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them! Luke 15:1-2 (TLB) Jesus was a radical in the […]
Read More...SPIRITUAL FOOD – Please share this with a friend who can’t forget their pain. They talk and talk about it till we get tired of hearing it. I pray that this writing will give them the comfort they long for. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. Psalm […]
Read More...SPIRITUAL FOOD – Please share this message with someone who feels lonely or doesn’t feel good about themselves. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. (Luke 19:5-6) The Bible […]
Read More...AN EXAMPLE OF SPIRITUAL FOOD – Try sharing the hope this psalm describes with a friend who’s suffering through a time of darkness – a darkness that seems it will never leave . Waiting patiently – trusting and hoping – can cause things to happen that would be hard to imagine while in the dark. […]
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