A Guide to Ministry Self-Care: Negotiating Today’s Challenges with Resilience and Grace (Book Review)
What do we believe about ministry? What do we believe about our own capacities to be one human being without being taken down by the multiple demands (and persons) vying for our time? Is self-care something that comes when we have time for it, or should it be at the forefront of our daily schedule without fail?
“Nice” is not a biblical word
Christian leaders can be too nice. We’ve internalized the message, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” However, sometimes leadership requires more than being nice. In fact, as far as I’m able to tell, the word “nice” does not appear in the Bible.
Faith at the border – caring for the stranger and refugee as children of God
Remember the moral and prophetic foundations of the biblical call to care for the stranger and refugee, as children of God, rather than being feared and vilified for their race and poverty, and treated as if they are enemy. Somewhere, in our family histories, we have all been strangers and immigrants, and may be yet again in the future.
What we don’t talk about
I want to see the church flourish and as such, we all need to have some tough and courageous conversations about what is not working. Courage requires us to face our fears so that we can collaboratively seek new solutions and save our churches.
Giving mental health awareness the right place in the church
How many sermons have you heard on mental health or suicide? Most likely none. And yet, the national suicide rate has increased 33 percent between 1999 and 2017. This is a public health crisis.