by Patrick Means Albert Einstein once said, "For every problem, there is a solution which is simple, logical, straight-forward, and wrong." Surely that axiom is nowhere truer than in the case of how we Christians deal with our dark side (or rather, how we don't deal with it). By "dark side" I mean that side of us that we would rather no one ever knows about, the side that seems determined … [Read more...] about Dealing with Your Dark Side: Part 1
Search Results for: shame
Four Kinds of Moral Inventory
by James Ryan Moral inventory shapes our understanding of ourselves, which in turn shapes our relationship with God. Some styles of inventory ask us to take a hard look at our character defects, and this can create a powerful sense of our need for God. Other styles of inventory encourage us to look not just at our shortcomings but at our strengths as well, and so the sense of need for God is … [Read more...] about Four Kinds of Moral Inventory
Grace for Dummies
by Jeff VanVonderen It makes me nervous to talk about grace. The good news is so good that I can hardly believe it most of the time, and so big that I can hardly talk about it. The truth is that I feel worse about grace than I do about my sin. Knowing who I am and what I’ve done, I can look at my sin easily, but grace is hard for me to look at. It’s hard to look at, so it’s hard to talk about, … [Read more...] about Grace for Dummies
Holy Hunger
An Interview with Margaret Bullitt-Jonas Margaret Bullitt-Jonas is the author of Holy Hunger: A Memoir of Desire (New York: Knopf, 1999). She is an Episcopal priest who serves as Associate Rector of All Saints Parish, Brookline, Mass., and as a Lecturer at Episcopal Divinity School. … [Read more...] about Holy Hunger
The Jesus Who Didn’t Please Others
by Peter Robbins and Kevin Downing Jesus Christ was a tremendous disappointment to almost everyone who knew and loved him at one time or another. He was a Savior who never freed God's people from the oppressive Roman rule. Jesus was a Chosen One who began to wipe out human hunger with five loaves of bread and two fish, but who quickly gave it up. Jesus was a Christ who could have … [Read more...] about The Jesus Who Didn’t Please Others
Spiritual Brokenness in Recovery
by Dale Ryan I did not expect my relationship with God to be difficult. Quite to the contrary, one of the first things I learned about the Christian faith as a young child was that "every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before." I learned a series of songs about this. I remember singing about being "hap, hap, happy all the live-long-day", "all the burdens of my heart rolled away," and … [Read more...] about Spiritual Brokenness in Recovery
The Recovery Church
an interview with Don Smith Another development in the last decade has been the emergence of Recovery Churches. These are not just churches that have added recovery groups to their other programming but are churches that seek somehow to make recovery a central feature of their identity. The specifics vary from congregation to congregation. We talked to Don Smith, pastor of Christian Recovery … [Read more...] about The Recovery Church
The F Word: Forgiveness and it’s Imitations
An interview with David Augsburger David is Professor of Pastoral Care at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. A well known author and speaker, he has written three books on the subject of forgiveness including his most recent entitled Helping People Forgive published by Westminster John Knox Press. It is written primarily for clergy and counselors. We interviewed him recently … [Read more...] about The F Word: Forgiveness and it’s Imitations
Turning on the Light
An interview with Aaron Shepard Aaron Shepard is the program coordinator at the Plymouth House, a Twelve Step-model addiction treatment center in Plymouth, New Hampshire, where he was a guest in March 2002. The Plymouth House uses a Big Book model of Step work and inventory. We interviewed Aaron about his experience of Big Book inventory and his experience in helping others through this … [Read more...] about Turning on the Light
Kid’s Bad Decisions Do Not Mean We Are Bad Parents
by Norma Bourland Our son started using drugs when he was 14 years old. We had just moved to another state for the second time in two years, after living overseas as missionaries for the first 12 years of our son's life. This was a lot for all of us in our family to handle, especially for an adolescent. Because my husband was the pastor of a small evangelical church, we lived on a limited … [Read more...] about Kid’s Bad Decisions Do Not Mean We Are Bad Parents
