Speaking well to depression
Depression can be felt as a dark, dominating and incapacitating mood. There are challenges in speaking well to someone experiencing this struggle. When a sufferer is numb or overwhelmed their ability to respond to help is diminished. Your well-intended words can hit a glass pane and slide ineffective to the ground. Or it can feel like you are saying too much, overwhelming the one needing help. Or that you are asking or expecting too much of them – believe this, try that – and you risk paralysing the sufferer. How do we, as helpers, speak well […]
He suffered for us
Why do I suffer as a Christian? It’s a short but profound question. One that begs big answers. One that is often spoken from a place of deep pain. There are many facets believers can explore, but one of the clearest and most repeated responses in the New Testament is that I suffer as a Christian because Christ suffered. Suffering is a fundamental sign of our new relationship with Christ, one that Paul points to frequently and in different ways. For example, he tells us it’s a sign that you’re a child […]
Hope for imposters
What am I doing here…among these people..? Everyone’s better/smarter/more gifted [fill in your blank] than I am… I shouldn’t be here…they think I’m at their level…wait until I mess up…I’ll be found out…seen for what I really am… Any of these thoughts ever crossed your mind? I imagine they plague many of us from time […]
Eden’s x-ray questions
As we seek to help others, the question of what is a good question is, well, a very good question to ask! Good questions lead us to a better understanding of another person and their struggle, and to know a person well is the foundation of all good ministry with them. In his book, To […]
Power and gentleness in helping conversations
‘Careful!’ The look of horror on our host’s face remains emblazoned on my memory. I was in my late teens and had been invited for supper by a couple in church. The wife, a keen sugar artist, was showing me some exquisitely dainty floral decorations. They looked so real! She invited me to lift one […]
When God seems silent
During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was […]
Hope Imagined: faith in the face of loss
Loss: the hope of Christ in sorrowResidential Conference, March 2024 Session 3Ruth 2 Slides ↗ Download audio ↗ or listen below:
Introducing the Certificate Programme
Andrew Collins gives an overview of the Certificate Programme, in particular the three courses that make up the Foundation Certificate.
Deeper than calm – faith’s goal in anxiety
When Jesus spoke of worry in His sermons on mount and plain (Matthew 6 and Luke 12), he addressed it in terms of what we are ‘seeking’ (e.g. Matt 6:25-34). Anxiety was defined less in terms of how we feel but more in terms of what we seek (v33). What am I going after, what am I wanting, what is my goal?
Distraction
“You seem distracted…” Argh…caught again. We were talking through a difficult issue and my thoughts had drifted to visions of countering accusations and brilliantly winning the argument (I have NEVER lost an argument, by the way – in my head). But as I was absorbed in that private courtroom, the all too familiar disconnection was […]
