An interview with Jerome Gay Jr. and James Roberson Racism is the oppression of a group of people for the preservation of another group of people. Whether systemic or subtle, racism robs its victims of security, dignity, worth. Either a pastor’s response will help those affected to wade through the resulting feelings of anger and frustration in a God-honoring way, or … [Read more...]
Why pastors should care about racism
Due to the politicizing of race in our media, the Christian community can tend to disregard the existence of racism. Tim Keller describes the indifference that some experience by stating some conservatives give “lip service to racism being a sin but they associate any sustained denunciation of racism with the liberal or secular systems of thought.”1 Some conservative … [Read more...]
The big question of grief: Who am I now?
Where should we put grief? To what category of struggles does it belong? To what emotional or relational struggles is grief most akin? For a long time I put it in the basket of emotional struggles. I grouped it together with things like depression, anxiety, anger, and apathy. Then, as I was reading Christian Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide by Gary Collins, I noticed that … [Read more...]
Caring for those with long-term illnesses
What is truly helpful to a person facing a long-term illness? How can you provide more meaningful care and better meet the person’s needs? As a three-time cancer survivor and through my experiences as a psychologist and Christian life coach, I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned over the years. In 1988 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and was given a 2 percent … [Read more...]
4 ways to prevent hurting people from giving up on God
God is like an elevator; He lets people down—at least that’s what many people I’ve met would say. In my work for Church Initiative, building curricula to help suffering people, I’ve interviewed a number of people who’ve lost loved ones, have been betrayed by lovers, misunderstood, misrepresented, and mistreated in dozens of ways. And I’ve noticed that quite a few of them have … [Read more...]