It is by trial and error, by frustration and dryness, that I have learned that I cannot order up a praying heart. I have had to learn how to get myself in the frame of mind and condition to pray. This article by staff counselor Donna Hart, PhD, appeared first here at her personal blog and is used by permission. It … Read More
Never Recover
When you have faced a grievous wrong, it can feel like your enemies have pushed you face-down on the ground, pushing your face into the mud. This is a picture of things that are still having effects in the present: searing pain, unhealed wounds, feeling wronged by people in powerful places. How do we heal from sufferings that remain fresh over … Read More
Power of the Positive
Mental energy is derived from positive thinking. Negative thoughts can help to direct our attention to important needs that are not being met. It could be a need for food, rest, or an imminent threat of danger that is presenting itself to us. Amanda’s thinking needed serious help. Amanda had a very negative way of looking at the world. It robbed … Read More
Wearing a miniskirt to the wedding?
Our lives as Christians are essentially pre-marital counseling preparing us for a wonderful wedding. All of us are the bride who will finally and eternally be united to our groom, Jesus Christ. Indeed, our lives on earth are the means God uses for a deeper goal. God’s Glorious Plan We can tend to conclude God doesn’t love us, or has … Read More
Life-Giving Stories Matter
The stories we tell of our lives and those that are told to us can shape who we become. Each of us absorb our stories from many different sources. These include the families we grew up in, our culture, and our faith traditions to name a few. It is not the things that happened in our past that define us … Read More
Transforming Traditions
You can begin new traditions of blessed rest in 2019. Staff counselor Donna Hart, whose article appeared first here, invites you to the three traditions of keeping a Sabbath box, offering a blessing, and a taking a Sabbath walk. There are traditions or spiritual disciplines for our time with the Lord that can be restfully transformative. Before we begin our … Read More
When You’re Lost in Exhaustion
Are you lost in exhaustion too? This insighful article by staff counselor Donna Hart, PhD, considers the reasons we’re exhausted and provides practical solutions. It appeared first on her blog and is used with her permission. One of the most common reasons for being exhausted is always being plugged in, available, and scheduled. We are striving too hard, competing too … Read More
Are You a Half-Way Christian? Or “All In”?
There are plenty of us who are half-way Christians, says biblical counselor Donna Hart, PhD. Wonderfully, she describes 4 steps toward “all in.” Her article appeared first here and is used with her permission. We will give up possessions, power, position, and friends and still not be able to submit ourselves in total obedience to God. But it is difficult … Read More
Shepherd or Sheepdog? Leadership Matters!
We have been talking this week about how to deal with disappointment in church leadership, when and how to leave a church, and how to find a church where you can grow in your walk with God. The reality is that church culture is often determined by how the leaders views themselves. Do they mimic Christ in the way they … Read More
