SPIRITUAL FOOD I’ve been preparing to explain what the best kind of spiritual food is for a person suffering from a mental health condition or emotional pain—a person often not accepted by the world, a person who may feel unloved and unlovable, a person who very much needs God. But the thought has come to […]
Read More...WORD ABOUT ME SPREAD – MY STORY Word about me as a person who could speak about mental health and faith issues started to spread. In 2005, shortly after joining the Brentwood Park congregation, the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division (CMHA, BC Div.) asked me to write about mental illness and the Church. This […]
Read More...GIVING SUPPORT – MY STORY From the moment the small ad about the new faith-based Living Room support group for mood disorders was posted in the Burnaby Now, calls started coming in from people wanting to know about it. “What do you mean by ‘faith-based’?” And I would tell them about the Christian faith the […]
Read More...A NEED FOR JESUS – MY STORY I have lived with bipolar disorder as a person who didn’t believe in God. And I’ve lived with bipolar illness as someone who learned to have faith in Jesus Christ. And, though my faith did not “heal” me, I have become a stronger person because of it. Trusting […]
Read More...SUFFERING FOR DOING GOOD Part 11 of my story In Thursday’s message of My Yoke is Easy, I wrote: “The road is not always smooth. In fact, it can be extremely rough at times. We might suffer.” That’s very true. And I must tell you here that I’ve suffered much as I’ve followed Jesus. But […]
Read More...BEYOND THE PAIN OF STIGMA I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:12-13 Years ago, The Land Between, a book by Jeff Manion made […]
Read More...EMOTIONAL DISTRESS CAN DRAW US CLOSER TO GOD – from Dr. Harold G. Koenig, M.D. “C.S. Lewis said. “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. It is his megaphone to a deaf world.” (The Problem of Pain) Indeed, it is emotional stress that gets our attention […]
Read More...SENSITIZED TO THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS – from Dr. Harold G. Koenig Until one has undergone pain, discouragement, isolation, confusion, and fear, it is difficult to really understand and appreciate these experiences that people with mental illness must deal with on a day-to-day basis. Having gone through such experiences, a person is more able to […]
Read More...WHEN DID THE CHURCH LOSE DIRECTION? In 2005 Harold G. Koenig, M.D. published Faith & Mental Health. It happened to be the year before the faith-based support group, Living Room, was founded in 2006. I look forward to re-printing some of the highlights of Dr. Koenig’s book here. Followers of Christ should find his thoughts […]
Read More...IN THE NAME OF JESUS When first getting to know us, love might be hard to show without first understanding . But do show kindness. Show you care, as you would for anyone who isn’t feeling good about life and about who they are. Yes, we who struggle need kindness most of all. If we […]
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