By Cecil Murphey – www.cecilmurphey.com I don’t hear the term, “A mother in Israel” used often these days. It appears only a couple of times in the Old Testament. When I was fairly young in the faith, I used to hear the term regularly. They referred to a woman, who might be a birth mother, but she was a person …
By Tracy Ruckman I just read a blog post by a writer friend, and it brought me to tears. Carol Moncado’s post “Writing from Personal Experience” made me hurt for her, and all that she’s been through lately, but it also made me realize something about myself that I’m reluctant to admit. I can’t write the painful stuff. Every day …
By Susan J. Zonnebelt-Smeenge, R.N., Ed.D. and Robert C. DeVries, D.Min., Ph.D. You’re standing on the courthouse steps, the sound of the gavel still ringing in your ears. You knew this day was coming – perhaps even looking forward to it, but now the divorce is a reality. The heavy gray clouds hanging overhead mirror your sense of uncertainty for …
Our world is in constant turmoil today. Everyone seems to be defending a cause or fighting a battle of some sort. Whether it’s the war on terrorism, defending the cause of morality, sexual equality, the right to life, or the right to choose, our fight is always indicative of our passion and tells the story of what we hold dear. …
By Dr. Curt Thompson If you read much these days about what science is telling us about the mind, you will soon be introduced to the importance and function of attention. Attention appears to be the mind’s ignition key, the activity that starts and directs nearly everything; and if so, what does that have to do with “the kingdom of …
Dealing with Rejection the Jesus Way Posted by Domenic Marbaniang ⋅ November 22, 2011 ⋅ Leave a Comment Filed Under Dealing With Series, rejection To be rejected and to feel rejected are two different things. The former is an event; the latter, an experience, a choice. Every choice involves a selection and a rejection. Because somebody has made a choice not …
Keri came into my office because she had noticed some changes in her mood. When I asked her what was going on she told me she’d been crying a lot lately, couldn’t sleep well, wasn’t eating much, and she couldn’t concentrate. I asked her if she could identify any recent triggers to what she had been experiencing. She said that …
By Amanda Beth I heard a heartbreaking story on the radio recently. A woman called into the station because she was hurting deeply. She had been raped. She’d given her kids up and was living on the street. She felt hopeless. She didn’t know how to get out of her situation. I was in tears when she cried out, “I’m …
Easter. A powerful moment in time. One man. A cross. Agony. Torture. Blood spilled. The ultimate suffering. The ultimate redemption. Easter demonstrates above all Christian holidays the goodness of God toward his creation. Yet we still doubt. We still don’t trust. We still don’t believe God is good. Why? Because we use the lens of our human experience to judge …
My story is fairly common amongst those that have been afflicted, but to the outsider it’s completely bizarre. I was 23 years old and on top of the world. I was a recent college graduate, living in a big city with too many friends, just as I had planned. But as we all come to learn at some point in …