Mental Health Meets Faith
Over the past few days, I have been reflecting on how often in life we play hide and seek with God. A perfect example of this can be found in Genesis chapter 3. Most of you are familiar with the story. Adam and Eve are in the garden of Eden. They are given permission to eat any fruit they find in the garden except for the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and […]
In Hebrews 11:1, it is written, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is a tricky subject. It is so integral to our journey with Jesus and yet can often seem so difficult to grasp or to hold onto. Having faith can be difficult for a plethora of reasons. Maybe past experiences would tell us that things never change. Nothing ever goes right. Everything falls through. […]
A couple of days ago, I was sitting in my car thinking about my life. I feel as though I am on the brink of a major turning point and that God is opening up the door for new and exciting adventures with Him. Certain dreams that I have had pertaining to my life and my calling suddenly all feel within my grasp and I am anticipating good things to come of this year. However, […]
This week a friend of mine helped me to shed light on the popular love passage found in 1 Corinthians 13. The familiar words of this passage are often recited at weddings: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the […]
I have been reflecting lately on how much of our attitude and our outlook on life relies on perspective. Last week, when I was in Florida, I was beyond thrilled to be experiencing temperatures in the 70s. Back home, I knew my friends were experiencing below 0 temperatures and I knew that I had escaped (even if only for a few days). I ordered iced coffees, left my winter jacket at the place we were […]
This week I was given the task of preaching a message on what it means for God to give you a new heart. As I prepared my message, I was drawn to the following passage found in Ezekiel 36: “Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought […]
Last weekend, I was in Palm Beach, Florida. It all started because a close friend of mine and I had met up at Starbucks on a frigid New England evening and l had pondered out loud, “Wouldn’t it be great if we can just escape the cold and go to Florida for the weekend?” Well, as my luck would have it, my friend’s grandparents live in Florida. My friend was sure that they wouldn’t mind […]
Last week I finished reading the book The Lost Boy: A Foster Child’s Search for the Love of a Family. The book is one of several written by David Pelzer, chronicling his own story of abuse, along with his search for acceptance and belonging. The book focuses on the period of his life that David spent bouncing from foster home to foster home after being rescued from his destructive home life. Throughout the book, we […]
Recently, I read the book Jesus Manifesto written by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. Check it out here! The back cover describes the book as a “prophetic call to restore the supremacy and sovereignty of Christ in a world- and a church- that has lost sight of Him.” The book talks about the problem of knowing alot about Christ, without really knowing Christ. It talks about the problem of striving in our own strength to […]
For the past 9 months or so, I have been working as a case manager in the city of New Haven. My official title is “Employment Specialist,” my job is to work with individuals on welfare to help them to find work and to gain independence and self-suffiency. My job is often demanding and at times rewarding. I love to hear people’s stories. More than anything I want to give people a sense of hope […]