Quite a few worship songs these days announce spiritual power to break strongholds with a particular focus on addictions, mental health and depression. Now there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact as someone who has suffered from depression I have appreciated heart felt songs that have spoke about God’s presence at the very point when… Continue reading Where are the worship songs about gout?
Tag: Depression
Serving with a limp – checking in on your mental health
We’re coming up to the third anniversary of my significant brush with anxiety and depression. It was back in November 2019 that I found myself signed off from work followed by quite a challenging and tumultuous period of time (and all of that before we hit COVID). I’ve told some of my story here and… Continue reading Serving with a limp – checking in on your mental health
Look after your leaders’ mental health
I’ve written before about my own brush with anxiety and depression. You can read my story here, here and in the book, The Pastor with a thorn in his side (ed. Steve Kneale). I wanted to say a bit more about how churches can look after the mental health of their pastors and other leaders… Continue reading Look after your leaders’ mental health
Mental Health, spiritual warfare and demons
Traditionally one of the tensions and taboos around mental health has been the perception that this is primarily a spiritual issue with people believing that mental illness from depression through to schizophrenia is caused by sin or even by demonic oppression and possession. When I’ve written about mental health before, I’ve urged care in this… Continue reading Mental Health, spiritual warfare and demons
Nouthetic Counselling and Depression
Several of Jay Adam’s counselling case studies concern mental health and depression. Let’s have a look at a couple of them. First of all, we have Violet, a 54 year old lady who is suffering from depression and also has an undisclosed problem which she can tell only to God. Have a look at the… Continue reading Nouthetic Counselling and Depression
Is it burnout?
I’ve seen a few articles talking about burnout among those in church leadership over the past few weeks. These seem to be particularly in response to the experience of leaders through the COVID-19 pandemic which has in many ways amplified many of the challenges of Gospel ministry. One helpful contribution to the discussion was this… Continue reading Is it burnout?
Depression, sin and trust issues
I just wanted to pick up on something I’ve seen suggested a few times namely that depression is intrinsically sinful because it involves a lack or loss of trust in the Lord. I’ve seen this suggested in the context of medication -that you should be depending on God to heal you but I’ve also seen… Continue reading Depression, sin and trust issues
Should a Christian take anti-depressants?
One question I’ve seen raised so many times is about whether or not Christians should take anti-depressants. It’s fascinating because I rarely here the question asked about taking Ibuprofen, or going to the hospital to get your leg put in plaster if you break it. Yet, there seems to be some uncertainty about medication for… Continue reading Should a Christian take anti-depressants?
Why do we struggle to talk about pastors and depression?
A few years back I was asked to cover a couple of sessions for a ministry training course. One of the sessions was on “failure.” The request came with a couple of those expected awkward jokes along the lines of “we aren’t picking you for any specific reason.” Indeed, at the time, arguably I’d not… Continue reading Why do we struggle to talk about pastors and depression?
Your pastor has considered giving up
That’s perhaps not the headline you wanted to read is it? However, this is the challenging reality. At some point your pastor/vicar/elders have thought “I could just walk out the building after the service finishes, in fact, I could do it right now. I could shut the Bible, walk out and never come back here.”… Continue reading Your pastor has considered giving up
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