The Gift of Pain
Micah Odor writes, "Every meaningful period of growth in my life has been a time of tremendous pain" . . .
Care & Counseling
Care & Counseling gathers Christian Standard articles that offer biblical hope and practical guidance for seasons of pain, confusion, and personal struggle. Here you’ll find resources on grief and loss, anxiety and depression, trauma, addiction, relationships, forgiveness, and spiritual burnout—along with pastoral wisdom for walking with others who are hurting. These articles aim to encourage healing, strengthen resilience, and help individuals and churches provide compassionate, Christ-centered care.
March 8, 2024
About Suicide: I’m Still Learning from My Son’s
LeRoy Lawson writes that his book about his son's suicide "contains both sides of a conversation three decades long; [Lane] talks first in his final communication to us. Then I answer him. He writes with confidence, at peace with his decision and comfortable with his reasons for it. I am not so sure of myself, either as father or as minister . . ."
January 1, 2024
Weeds in My Garden
HOW A SERMON SERIES ON MENTAL HEALTH BROUGHT HEALING TO A CHURCH A perceived need among church leaders and church members led to a survey on mental health, which led to a dynamic and transformative sermon series. By Clayton Hentzel During the pandemic, I regularly participated in Zoom calls with pastors from across the country. One of those calls was with The Solomon Foundation. Early in the pandemic, Doug Crozier, the CEO of TSF, put counselor Dr. Wes Beavis on retainer. Dr. Beavis briefly shared some mental health tips on each weekly call. He provided everyone with a little help
January 1, 2024
Irreplaceable: How One Church Responded to the Crisis of Youth Suicide
A church, a school system, a community, and a production company joined forces to expose the lies that lead to teen suicide.
January 1, 2024
What Motivates You?
By David Faust Remember the song “Winter Wonderland”? It contains a line about a talking snowman that a cheery couple imagines to be an ordained minister. They nickname him Parson Brown. “Are you married?” he asks, and they respond, “No man, but you can do the job when you’re in town.” Parson comes from the Latin persona. In the past, some ministers were called “parsons” and their homes were known as “parsonages.” In his Commentaries on the Laws of England, the 18th-century legal expert Sir William Blackstone wrote that a parson’s job is to “carry out the business of the
January 1, 2024
A Recovery Ministry that Works
By Jim Dennis “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). What comes to mind when you hear the word recovery? Perhaps your first thought takes you to people with addiction issues. The alcoholic who can’t get his act together who rides a motorized bike around town because of his multiple DUI convictions. Or the emaciated drug addict with sunken eyes. These are just two of the stereotypes recovering people and recovery groups have dealt with for years. Perhaps you envision groups
January 1, 2024
‘I’m Fine!’
By Jim Estep Upon seeing a familiar person in the church lobby and asking them, “How are you doing?” we all know the answer that is expected: “Fine!” . . . even if it is not true. I have often wondered what would happen if someone were open and honest about their struggles. “How’s it going?” “Well, do you really want to know?” I remember a church member calling to share about a family member who had suffered a heart attack. They asked for prayer and whether someone from the church could visit with their loved one and the family.
January 1, 2024
Healthy Insights
By Kent E. Fillinger “Hurting people hurt people” is a familiar and true phrase. But on the flip side, “healthy people help people.” A minister’s spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health will directly affect his ability to lead, serve, and help others. The healthier the leader, the more fruitful he can and will be. A recent Gallup survey found that workers are more stressed this year than last year. This coincides with a 2022 survey by ValuePenguin (a research and analysis company) that reported 84 percent of Americans feel stressed at least once in a typical week. A U.S. Surgeon
January 1, 2024
A Path for Healing in the Midst of Despair
By Chris Philbeck Having served as a pastor for more than 43 years, I know how challenging ministry can be to a person’s mental and emotional health. I also know how difficult it is for pastors to be honest about this challenge. A tension often exists between despair we feel over certain realities of life and our commitment to faithfulness. Tension can also be found in the pages of the Bible. LEARNING FROM DAVID In studying David’s life, we see he experienced times of great despair even though he’s described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14;
January 1, 2024
Tin Man Ministries: Helping Leaders Live from the Heart
Part of the problem people suffer lies in the fact that we tend to compare “our insides” to everybody else’s “outsides.” Compiled by Justin Horey, Jim Nieman, and Shawn McMullen There’s nothing the unbelieving world loves more than to see church leaders succumb to temptation and experience a moral failing. But it’s not just the unbelieving world. The church has been known to eat its own. Christianity Today, for example, produced a popular multipart series of podcasts called “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” that focused on the spectacular collapse of a Seattle-based megachurch and its founder/leader Mark Driscoll.
January 1, 2024
The Chemistry of Mental Health
By Dr. Wes Beavis The church has shown a growing openness to conversations about mental health. I have been privileged to speak on the subject “Faith and Mental Health” at many Restoration Movement churches across the United States. Recently, Clayton Hentzel of The Crossing in Quincy, Illinois, developed a teaching series called “Weeds in My Garden” that has become a tremendous resource to Restoration Movement churches across the nation. It is encouraging to see churches tackle the subject of mental health. But I am aware of an underlying concern among believers that Christian theology and doctrine are being replaced by
December 5, 2023
Oh, for Five More Minutes with Grandma Pat
Six months after her great-grandmother's death, Elizabeth Merold remembers "Grandma Pat's" unique ways and loving notes. . . . "What I wouldn’t do for five more minutes with that woman." . . .
November 7, 2023
A Pastor Describes How He Finally Left the Land of Numb
"Twenty-five years ago, I finally left the Land of Numb—the land where I was raised," pastor Don Follis writes. "The ruts run deep to that land, and I still know the way back. From time to time, I return there. Most days, though, I can barely see it in my rearview mirror. . . ."
November 1, 2023
The Best Next Step in a Crisis
By Megan Rawlings When I was in my twenties, I experienced what I now refer to as my “quarter life crisis.” Looking back, I suspect that many of my friends who had recently graduated college or just started their lives as adults in the workforce were also going through this existential crisis. The pressure of knowing what I would do for the rest of my life was one of the heaviest pressures I have experienced to date. MY ‘CALLING’ I started college with the “calling” to be a medical missionary. I was under the impression that my purpose in God’s
October 9, 2023
Identity Loss
Satan has attempted to rob us of our standing as people created in the image of God, but Jesus . . .
October 6, 2023
Healing Strategies for Your Crushed Pastor
Alan Scott says he's aware of many ministers who are "struggling . . . tired . . . weary . . . perhaps even crushed." He offers several "healing strategies" to help and encourage your pastor.
September 10, 2023
How to Help a Friend Grieving a Suicide Loss
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 48,183 Americans ended their lives by suicide in 2021, a figure that has increased by about 35 percent since 2000. . . . Here are seven ways to help those grieving a suicide death. . . .
July 10, 2023
Football, Church Help Sustain Higgins Family after Tragedy
Trevor and Jeri Ann Higgins lost their son, Evan, in 2019. In the time since, Trevor's bond with his Pana (Ill.) High School football squad and his service as worship pastor with First Christian Church (Moweaqua, Ill.) have helped sustain the family. . . .
July 1, 2023
God’s Answer in My Distress
My Cancer Battle Has Made Me a Better Preacher and Leader
July 1, 2023
Learning About Alzheimer’s, Myself, and God
(And Determined to Remember the Forgetting) By Mark A. Taylor I sat with my friend Joan, a gentle, pretty 83-year-old, who is the picture of Southern grace and charm. She was her husband’s caregiver for the seven years he suffered with Alzheimer’s disease, until he died in April 2021. I was interviewing Joan for my website, Unchosen Journey: A Caregiver’s Walk with Alzheimer’s (www.unchosenjourney.com). “How did you cope with his death?” I asked her. “Our 59 years were good years,” she said. “But today I want to remember the hard times.” “Why?” I responded. I wasn’t expecting this—or her reaction
