My friend, A.W., sent me a link to a great interview with Ed Welch on the topic of depression. I hope you’ll check it out! To tempt you, here is a tiny excerpt from the long interview: “One common response of depressed individuals is that they can’t imagine anything good ever happening again. Normally our emotions can go up and down; at this moment I can imagine really difficult things and really good things. The person who is depressed cannot imagine anything with a good outcome. Even when someone close tells them genuinely and meaningfully, “I love you,” it doesn’t cut through the pain. With the depressed person, there’s always…

If you only read one thing today, please read this: A Blessed Assurance (Tim Challies) “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Psalm 116:15   This life truly is not our Home.  

In the last few weeks, I know of five (brilliant! godly! wise! Spirit-filled! Biblical-thinking! loving!) women who have been utterly mistreated by their church leaders. (I would use a different term for mistreated there, but it’s crass and I’m sure not very appropriate for any setting, more or less this blog.) There is much that I could say about each situation, but I won’t. (Not only do I not have their permission to share their stories–but honestly? As is usually the case with most relational conflicts, their stories are so incredibly complex that it would take hundreds and hundreds of words to even TRY to BEGIN to “summarize” them. These…

With thanks to Carol Ruvolo for bringing this to my attention, I urge you to take a few moments to read Pastor John Piper’s thoughts on the recent Minneapolis bridge collapse. In it, he retells the evening he spent with his family, and in particular his eleven year-old daughter, as they processed the terribly sad events of the day. My sister actually just called me from Minneapolis. She drove there yesterday for business and, as you might imagine, has had quite a different day than their companies has originally planned. Praying for the families affected! And trusting in the everlasting goodness of God–   Yours, Tara B.  

HT to Mark Moore (found him via Pastor JollyBlogger) for posting this video of John Piper on the evil of the “prosperity gospel.” I hope you’ll take two minutes and watch it! Oh, that Christ would be lifted up and we would all be drawn to HIM this very day and every day. Much love to all and blessed Sabbath to you!   Yours, Tara B.

(From 2005) Grace Cannot Coexist with Bitterness Our family loves, prays for, and supports a Youth for Christ missionary by the name of Ajith Fernando. To us, Ajith and his family members are heroes of the faith. Their sacrifice and service would be impossible to measure outside of eternity. I love his writings and it is a joy to serve him even in some small way. Today, his letter to his supporters included an essay on pain, anger, and grace. In it, he wrote:   ‘Grace must soften our hearts so that more grace can enter in, making us gracious and taking away that destructive attitude of anger that looks…

(From 2005) Different Responses to Suffering When I have the privilege of teaching on biblical peacemaking, I always have the concurrent privilege of visiting and praying with people who are suffering. Conflict & suffering go hand in hand – and I spend my breaks, meal times, and late nights seeking the Lord with hurting Believers. Last night I was struck again by how varied our responses to conflict and suffering can be. I was spending time with some friends and we were discussing our pastor’s sermon from last Sunday. (He is currently preaching on Habakkuk – so as you might imagine, we are deep into the topic of suffering.) As…

(From December 2005) So what do you do when … Let’s pretend that it’s the week before Christmas and you are gingerly stepping out of your comfort zone to try to be hospitable and relational by having people over to your home. You do your best. You strive to bless. But it’s a little shaky – you try to be relaxed and happy, but you really have no confidence that you CAN love well. The morning of the ‘weekend of three parties,’ you are falsely and unjustly accused. And you know that the accusation has been broadcasted to others. And no matter how sorry the person may be, your reputation…

(From December 2005) So what do you do when … Let’s pretend that it’s the week before Christmas and you are gingerly stepping out of your comfort zone to try to be hospitable and relational by having people over to your home. You do your best. You strive to bless. But it’s a little shaky – you try to be relaxed and happy, but you really have no confidence that you CAN love well. The morning of the ‘weekend of three parties,’ you are falsely and unjustly accused. And you know that the accusation has been broadcasted to others. And no matter how sorry the person may be, your reputation…

Don’t miss this wonderful read over at Carolyn McCulley’s Solo Femininity. What a precious reminder of the goodness of God. Thanks, Carolyn! And be blessed, all–   Yours, Tara B.