Watching other people suffer is one of the most difficult realities of the human experience. We can feel helpless when it comes to others’ internal struggles, especially when they come with daunting labels like depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anorexia, bulimia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (just to name a few). Some assert that these types of “problems” […]
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He created man in his image, male and female, body and soul. We are remarkable creatures in this, the very pinnacle of God's creative work, as spiritual beings with blood coursing through our veins. We are capable of faith […]
Rev. Harold Senkbeil is a member of the board of directors and executive director of Doxology: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel, as well as the author of numerous books including Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness and Sanctification: Christ in Action. Tell us about the work you do at Doxology. After […]
A few years ago, a friend of Brooke's bought her a copy of the highly entertaining and educational Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese. It's a cookbook written by a laid-off suburbanite-turned-food-blogger about her three-year journey to save some money by making all the food she would normally buy (such as cheese, […]
Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Ps. 30:5). On the chilly nights of our pilgrimage, this promise’for which David praises the Lord’is an electric blanket for our faith. With it, the Lord assures us that his faithfulness endures forever and that his mercies are new every morning. Yet, when […]
According to a 2013 survey by LifeWay Research, one-third of Americans agree that "prayer and Bible study alone can overcome serious mental illness." Nearly half (48 percent) of evangelicals agree. (1) Why on earth would Modern Reformation imagine that it had something important to say, from a distinctly Reformation perspective, on mental illness? That was […]
The sign that something was wrong in Julie's life was all over the side of our toilet. Julie had been watching our kids that evening. I took her home and was met by my wife at the front door: "I think Julie has an eating disorder." She knew the signs, and Julie wasn't very careful […]
We all have days we will never forget. On top of my list is the day when my nineteen-year-old son revealed a new perception of reality. He had always been a top student’a little odd and forgetful at times, but also extremely bright and endued with a sharp sense of humor. Over the course of […]
How did you first discover you struggled with a mental illness?I was a student at a Bible college in the Midwest. I was 22, struggling with some serious questions about the faith, and I had been dealing with insomnia and daily panic attacks for about nine months. I eventually could not continue with my studies. […]
In this scholarly textbook, eighteen authors collaborate in an effort "to develop an integrated and interrelated approach that honors the work of the specialists in psychiatry, psychology, and theology" (5). Even though the overall tone leans toward the clinical (with no shortage of medical, scientific, and public health terminology), most of the authors are to […]
Martin Luther is widely known as the church reformer par excellence. In just over three years, the world will celebrate the five hundredth anniversary of the posting of the Ninety-Five Theses, marking the beginning of the Reformation. There is no doubt that such an occasion will stir up a renewed interest in the Reformer’s life, […]
With this publication, David Wells adds a fifth book to a collection of writings that began some years ago with a sabbatical research project exploring why evangelicals, broadly understood, don't do theology. While the former books focused on the interplay between Christ and culture, this book is the first to focus more on Christ’whom he […]
Sometimes God's grace is not a pretty sight. We love to romanticize the gospel, but at times, when God lays hold of people who are caught in the grip of the saddest vignettes of human experience, the end product is something we would hardly want to sing about, let alone live through ourselves. So it […]
