Four of my closest friends are widows. Jennifer, a pastor’s wife, lost her godly spouse after his long, grueling bout with brain cancer. My friend Eileen walked into her bedroom…
PSALM 23 David, the author of Psalm 23, illustrates the relational and covenantal nature of God from the vantage point of a shepherd taking care of his sheep. Just as…
Dear Roger, We hear a lot about God the father and Jesus the Son but we seldom hear anything about God the Holy Spirit. The subject of the Holy…
Some of the best advice I’ve heard about how to deal with people who are grieving is to walk softly around a broken heart. Brokenhearted people need hope, and hope…
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12 (NIV) Painting was the last thing I expected to be doing…
The last thing we want someone to say about us is that we are “super needy.” We want to be independent, self-sufficient, strong individuals. The idea of needing people and…
What are our sources of fear? From where do they originate? Past hurts can lead to present fear. Any traumatic event-a painful divorce, a car accident, a debilitating illness can…
It would soon be Mother’s Day again, and I was dreading it. I wasn’t dreading the day for myself, but for my children who had lost their mother Cindy and…
A mother asked, “Where have you been?” Her little girl replied, “On my way home I met a friend who was crying because she had broken her doll.” “Oh,”…
“Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkenah, her husband, said to her, ‘Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart…
Where have you been? the mother demanded. The little girl replied, “On my way home, I met a friend who was crying because she had broken her doll.” “Oh,” said…
Dear Roger, Recently, I hurt one of my best friends. We both said that everything was okay. But, it’s not. There is a wall between us that hasn’t gone away.…
After a loss, each member of a family has his or her own unique grief process. But just as important and unique is the grief experience of the entire family…
Our God stands unchanging through time as the source of our strength. The power of same is the culmination of our consistency with Him. If you resist the monotonous, you’ll…
Dear Roger, I am a 47 year old male, married for 18 years, with two teenage daughters. I have a 21 year old son with my ex. I married…
Life sometimes hurts. We heal hurt with comfort, anger with forgiveness, guilt with confession, fear with perfect love and condemnation with God’s unconditional love and acceptance.
Buddhism, as a system, requires its adherent to be devoted to exploring a set of principles that will earn him or her an enlightened state that they hope will lead…
Job’s comforters have much to learn. Their sermons, condemnation and philosophical rhetoric leave Job emotionally bereft. Real comforters care enough to come uninvited, to listen carefully, to speak sparingly and…