Trauma gathers Christian Standard articles that address the lasting impact of painful experiences and offer a Christ-centered path toward healing. Here you’ll find biblical encouragement for those carrying deep wounds, practical guidance for rebuilding trust and safety, and wisdom for churches seeking to care well for survivors with patience and compassion. These articles aim to validate suffering, promote healthy support, and point readers to the hope of restoration found in Jesus.
March 13, 2026
Bill Mesaeh explores the pain of betrayal and the anger that follows, affirming that anger has a place while calling for responsibility over blame. He clarifies what forgiveness is—and isn’t—and urges readers not to give up on friendship.
June 3, 2025
New book chronicles the many phases of the war in the Ukraine: the outbreak of war, daily hardships, evacuation, ongoing ministry, recovery, and renewed hope.
January 1, 2024
A church, a school system, a community, and a production company joined forces to expose the lies that lead to teen suicide.
November 7, 2023
"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. . . ."
July 1, 2023
Amid Infidelity and Imprisonment, I’ve Found Healing and Peace
May 26, 2022
As SBC Leaders release the results of an investigation of sexual abuse and cover-up, what can Independent Christian Church leaders learn?
March 1, 2022
By Tyler McKenzie A pressing need exists for the church to focus discipleship efforts on emotional health, which is something the church rarely touches. It’s been over two years since COVID-19 first shut down the United States. Since then, leading a church has felt similar to being a frontline worker. I won’t pretend that our challenges have rivaled those of an emergency room doctor or a COVID-unit nurse. Still, pastoring a church has felt like a heavyweight boxing match that never ends. There has been heavy pressure, many needs, and relentless controversies. We have felt constantly embattled in fights we
January 2, 2020
By Halee Wood Hatred . . . Love. Despair . . . Hope. Rejection . . . Acceptance. Contradictory emotions filled me as I stood face-to-face with a child molester. Despite having been abused by a much older boyresulting in pregnancy and abortion by age 14God had provided me with a story of redemption that sparks emotion and hope, especially among those who share a similar history and for those living with a spouse who shares my experiences. When I share my testimony publicly, it is not uncommon for someone to discreetly wait around until the room is all but
August 9, 2018
By Andy Hansen The shockwave of the mass shooting that killed 14 and injured 17 in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, rippled through every high school in the United States. Not even small-town Linton, Indiana, was spared from the emotional and psychological trauma. Students felt the effects of the attack and rumors of a walkout circulated. However, a small group of young people who attend a Bible study group during the lunch period at Linton-Stockton High School prayed over and discussed this devastating situation . . . and came up with a unique and very
June 19, 2018
By Gene Shelburne In a very special way, Jesus is present in our pain. When Jerry Yamamoto was growing up as a Japanese boy in a mostly white neighborhood in California in the 1950s, he absorbed unimaginable abuse. He tried to explain to his playmates that he was innocent of Pearl Harbor, but none of them believed him. At times, he said, when the abuse got really rough, he went home and tried to wash his skin white. In early adulthood, Jerry faced a serious faith decision. Buddhism beckoned him to withdraw from the strife and struggle of this world
January 27, 2016
By Jim Tune On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist, experienced a massive stroke. She sustained rapid debilitation of her brain as she lost the ability to walk, talk, write, or recall any part of her life. It would take her eight years to fully recover. Taylor documents her journey in her book My Stroke of Insight. In a chapter called “What I Needed Most,” she says recovery was a decision she had to make a million times a day. In a sense, we are all in recovery””recovery from dysfunctional families, recovery from abuse, recovery
August 5, 2014
By Mark A. Taylor Nobody forced Atlanta”s Emory University Hospital last week to accept two patients stricken with the deadly Ebola virus. Instead, Dr. Bruce Ribner, head of the Emory unit treating the sick Americans, welcomed the chance to admit them. Emory, according to Ribner, is one of only four U.S. facilities uniquely equipped to treat such a contagious disease. He told CNN, “We are not going to miss this opportunity.” Hospital staff members congratulated him for accepting the patients, he said. When he explained his decision to his wife, she responded, “Great, that”s what you”ve been dreaming of for
April 24, 2014
By Paul Boatman Shortly after 11 a.m. on Sunday, November 17, 2013, an EF-4 tornado, with winds nearing 200 mph, cut a devastating quarter-mile wide swath through Washington, Illinois. Jeff Browning, lead pastor, and Jon Pittman, worship/youth minister, were leading services at Washington Christian Church as the storm roared through the city, narrowly missing the church building. This interview took place two weeks later. Tell about your experience. Jeff Browning: When we heard tornado sirens after Sunday school, we got people into tornado shelter areas, but when an ominous dark cloud blew past and the sky appeared to be
April 6, 2013
By Jennifer Johnson No one returns from war unchanged, but some return so devastated that they kill themselves or linger in states of isolation, depression, addiction, or despair for years. Brite Divinity School (Fort Worth, Texas) launched its new Soul Repair Center in November 2012 out of concern for veterans of combat. Statistically, these veterans take their own lives at three times the civilian rate””6,000 a year, or more than one every 90 minutes. The center will offer public education and congregational training about the relatively new Veterans Affairs term “moral injury.” Moral injury, which often occurs with post-traumatic stress
November 1, 2012
By Mark A. Taylor In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, we”re seeing heroic rescue efforts and exhausting work to feed and repair and clear and rebuild. Churches are holding special times of prayer, and many are reaching out to help the suffering in Jesus” name. I would encourage one more activity, and that may look like no activity at all. Let us simply pause in God”s presence and admit that he is in control and we never will be. Amid pictures of cars submerged in flooded parking garages, yachts tossed aside like discarded toys, and whole subdivisions blown or burned
February 13, 2012
By Brad Neal I remember feeling the anguish surface again. The pain of dealing with a fractured ministry, and the resulting fallout, all came rushing back when it came time for public restoration. Was this the right course? Would members trust us? The easy path would have been just to leave it in the past. Take sin seriously. The restoration process takes time. In our case, two years. It takes time for the seed of repentance to bear the fruit of a changed life. It also takes time for those who are hurt to be ready to trust again
February 12, 2012
By Don Green About two years ago one of the ministers of the church I attend was asked to resign following a confessed sin and an acknowledged act of deception. Within days of his confession and resignation, he initiated conversations with some of his ministry friends that ultimately led to the creation of a restoration team. The minister was Todd Parmenter who served with Lincoln (Illinois) Christian Church. I was privileged to serve on this restoration team. We served together for 20 months in one of the most rewarding experiences in my more than 40 years of ministry. Resources
September 12, 2011
By Brad Dupray Jim Phegley was sitting in the barber”s chair when he heard that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in New York City. With half-shorn hair, he saw another airliner strike the second tower and went right to work doing what he does best, ministering to people in his church. Jim has been senior minister of Glen Cove (New York) Christian Church for 27 years. The church on Long Island became a place of solace on the evening of September 11, 2001, and continued as a place of ministry outreach after that. Jim”s heart
September 10, 2011
By Darrel Rowland David Beamer and his family will get through today just like they have every day for the past 10 years. “The Beamer clan, the faith and the assurance and frankly the conviction that we had on September 11, has not waned,” he said. “We know that God is sovereign, his word is true. We know that for those who accept the saving blood of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, their future is secure. Having that assurance has enabled us to deal with the attack. Happily, that is not different 10 years later.” Beamer”s son, Todd, is
September 9, 2011
By Mark A. Taylor Time and again we see and feel God”s presence most clearly in the midst of human tragedy. It”s as if we need to strip away all our pretense of self-sufficiency before we can fully submit to God, who was the only one in control all along. Consider the ongoing reports of Christians at work in the aftermath of the terrible Joplin tornado. What besides such a crisis would have stimulated the outpouring of service and generosity that Joplin residents have received at the hands of Christians from across the continent? What else could have brought the
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok
March 27, 2026
David Empson
March 27, 2026
David Faust