Shameless promotion for a class at Biblical. You can come for Friday night or both Friday and Saturday. Check it out and get a free book with your registration!
Summer Counseling Seminar at Biblical Seminary
Who should attend:
Counselors
Lay Counselors
Church leaders
Popular author and speaker, Leslie Vernick, is offering a weekend seminar on her new book
Abusive and Destructive Relationships
Seeing [...]
Entries from July 2008
July 31, 2008
Don’t Miss: Destructive Relationships Seminar
July 29, 2008
What’s growing in my yard
Dahlias are pretty but even better is something you can eat. They’re like candy! Can’t wait for my big ones to ripen. Next week should be the first.
July 28, 2008
What makes you feel like a ______ (man/woman)?
In a weak moment last week when I couldn’t take NPR or news radio I surfed the local radio stations in my car. Here are two phrases I heard in the span of 5 minutes. I have no idea who the artists are nor am I all that interested…
“Man, I feel like a woman.”
“I’m yo [...]
July 25, 2008
When your brain lies to you
Ever were sure of some “objective truth” only to find out that you are wrong?
My dentist told me this week that my brain isn’t telling the truth. After installing a crown on a lower tooth, he asked me how it felt. I stated that the crown was too high and was touching first in my bite. He [...]
July 23, 2008
Divorce & Remarriage 12: How did the early church misunderstand Jesus?
We’ve covered 11 chapters thus far in our review of David Instone-Brewer’s Divorce & Remarriage in the Church. His main point is that the Scriptures in Exodus 21 require marriages to be built on the covenant promise to provide food, clothing, and sexual love. When these were not provided then the woman was allowed to [...]
July 22, 2008
When you can’t solve a problem…
you find someone to complain to. Right?
I just lost two hours of my life that I can’t get back, and the problem still isn’t solved. How do you handle frustrations like this:
Buy HP deskjet black ink cartridge for my printer at home. Bring it home. Install. Print 10 pages just fine. Go to sleep. Try [...]
July 18, 2008
Bonny and buxom? The answer to yesterday’s trivia
Yesterday I asked what the possible meaning of the marital contract promise, “to be bonny and buxom in bed and at board.” This was a phrase found in a 1085 marriage contract overseen by the bishop of Salisbury, per the report of David Instone-Brewer in Divorce & Remarriage in the Church.
As I said yesterday, I [...]
July 17, 2008
Divorce & Remarriage 11: Where do our vows come from?
In Chapter 11 of Divorce and Remarriage in the Church, David Instone-Brewer explores the origin of the promises made in wedding vows. You know, to honor, cherish, love, obey, etc., depending on cultural contexts. I-B suggests that from good scientific evidence (findings in Cairo of ancient Jewish marriage contracts) we can be confident that vows [...]
July 16, 2008
Is burn-out an American phenomenon?
Part of my sabbatical is designed to understand how better to help pastors and their families avoid the crash and burn. There are many pressures (finances, conflict, loneliness, the fishbowl, etc.) on ministry families and while any one of them may not be overwhelming, together they can bring a minister to his/her knees. Worse yet, [...]
July 11, 2008
How do you listen to people’s problems all day long?
This is a question we counselors get from time to time, especially when someone is embarrassed that they need a counselor or think they shouldn’t be having problems (or that they are weak for having them).
Today in staff meeting we watched a video on vicarious trauma. This term has been mis-identified with burnout and secondary [...]
