Continuing previous thoughts about pastors and depression. I’d like to introduce another important and related dimension; Sabbath. What do u guys think? Is Sabbath related to keeping depression @ bay? My talk last Sunday on the subject resonated w/folks but I find myself still wrestling: Is Sabbath really about a 24-hr period per se? What day should it be then? And is not Sabbath (in a sense) re-defined, maybe even re-voked in the NT??? At any rate, Read more…
Darrell Johnson gave a stirring talk on depression among the clergy today – and personally I think he should blog. So I transcribed some notes and reflections – from my own experience mingled with some of the theologies he presents concerning this “shame-based killer”. I’ve come to see depression among the clergy as a form of self-martyrdom – an unholy dying (in some cases, not all) – because it is often at our own hands, and before the idols of our own hero-worship (ourselves). More thoughts here. Read more…
Google Latitude’s gotten its share of criticism lately about the potential invasion of privacy it elicits; I don’t see what the problem is, you have the option to “hide your location” (see below). But I’ve found Google latitude uber-cool and uber useful – here’s 3 ways: Read more…
As per my talk last Sunday about rest, I’ve been finding the theme of rest popping up here and there; last Tuesday @ Chapel at Regent, and then different people talking about the need for refueling ourselves as ministers. I’ve heard much of the same that we need rest in order to give others rest, we need to replenish so that we have a resource to tap into to help others in need. Prescribed were all manner of things such as exercise, laughter, company, good food, plenty of water… so how do you stay healthy? How do you find that elusive “rest”?
Love him or hate him – he’s important. He’s the new voice of evangelicalism, and while he may not have received the warmest reception from the chilly crowd in DC, he is going to be the next Billy Graham advising presidents and world leaders. He’s in a caliber of his own. So here I’ve transcribed the text of his invocation – it’s choppy – so feel free to correct – but what did u think of his invocation? Read more…
Will be preaching this Sunday @RCC about vocation and the theology of work. It’s also a great topic to gripe – err.. blog about. Sure people have a love / hate relationship with their work – where do u stand? I’d love to hear from you as I put my sermon together based on Ecclesiastes 2:11 – 24; perhaps your story will even find its way into the message. But tell me – do you love / hate what you do, and why?
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Apparently he’s in the news again, with rumors of making some kind of comeback via documentaries. While the past few years have been rough on him – some say the homosexual-bashing conservative evangelical deserved it – I don’t see what he’s trying to accomplish with a public statement – perhaps some vindication. You gotta feel bad for the guy – his life, vocation, future, promise, career, possibly family life – all destroyed. As a pastor myself I am sad for him, but at the same time I don’t know why he’s trying to get in the spotlight again – no one ever really recovers from these things. But the real question is – how did this ever even happen in the first place? Did he have any accountability or any confessor at all? Was he alone in his struggles? And how much imbalance did he have in his life to get to the point where he was using crystal meth and seeking out prostitutes? I know first-hand the hardships of pastoral ministry – but someone tell me -
how does somebody get like that?
“stumbling block= lady putting belt & boots back on after security check”
That was a recent twitter from someone in the ministry who travels alot. It really jumped out at me for some reason; maybe its honesty and vividness. Those must’ve been some boots. So it got me to thinking about the occupational hazards of ministry, whether it’s travelling alone frequently, or the “car porn” which Eugene Cho alludes to, or the addiction to success and power which I’ve witnessed deteriorate ministries and personalities. So how do we protect ourselves from on-the-job stumbling blocks that are simply unavoidable? And on the flip-side, how do we keep ourselves fresh, whole, healed, strong, and dare I sound like a prude – holy?
Who suffers more: the entrepreneur or the spouse (in this case, wife) of the entrepreneur?
Great great article from a wife’s perspective of a guy who ran a business into the ground, revived it, suffered, and finally made it big after a decade. And she was nucking futs enough to stay with the dude. As a chronic addict of the future possibilities, it was a great read to see what goes on in the mind of a wife of said chronic. She likens it to being a passenger in a truck on a windy road. It’s rare the driver gets sick, but the passenger who feels nausea most acutely. So I’m recommending this article to anyone who rides shotgun with a crazy person who constantly has their head in the future, risks everything on faith, and has to always do things “outside the box”.
Inc magazine: Hitched To Someone Else’s Dream
Today I participated in the systemic oppression of the balloon people.
It was thru a little exercise w/my cohort @ Leadership Whatcom – and it was quite an experience to be the most-privileged, richest, elitist class of society in the room – albeit through roleplay. It awakened me to my own privilege, in terms of class, economically, socially. And while I’ve taken the victims’ stance many times a past, and complained of the oppressiveness under the privileged, it was surreal to have the tables turned – and I realized that I was complicit as well. America is complicit today when it comes to privilege in a global sense. Not to say we ought to be ashamed, but to face the reality that when our market crashes, so does the rest of the world. How can anyone say anymore that we don’t hold economic power over others? At any rate,
what are your thoughts on privilege, beit economic, gender, sexual orientation, race?
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