Disease & Sickness
This past spring, we watched the coronavirus pandemic hit the world around. At the time of this writing, the globe has seen over 7 million people affected by this pandemic and over 400,000 have died. My own country, India, has crossed the 200,000 mark of cases and over 6,000 people have died. America has almost […]
Life is complex. In our fast-moving world, we gravitate toward simple answers, clear definitions, and well-defined categories. At first glance, sin seems to fall into this classification. It’s an offense against God, and through Christ it is confessed and forgiven. But when it comes to mental illness, we lose many of our bearings, whether we […]
We are drawn to extremes, because they help us categorize the world around us. We like things that are black and white, right or wrong, good or bad. Categorizing saves us the time and exhausting efforts of trying to understand what is beyond our comprehension. Mental illness, especially in its most serious forms, jolts us […]
Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia by John Dunlop Crossway, 2017 208 pages (paperback), $18.99 In August 2017, country music legend Glen Campbell died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Diagnosed in late 2010, Campbell subsequently commenced his “Goodbye Tour” with a film crew in tow. Their footage became the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be […]
Late last year, Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser signed into law the Death with Dignity Act of 2016. It permits D.C. residents who suffer from a terminal disease with a life expectancy of less than six months (and who do not have a psychiatric diagnosis of depression) to request and receive a prescription of lethal […]
Why don't you take a few Advil?" The glaring stare this suggestion produced told me immediately I had gotten something quite wrong. My instinct to help had so far been a good one. Now my presence in the room was a problem. Speaking again was unwise; anything but silent departure, imprudent. People who don't have […]
The Reviews section is usually reserved for critical engagement with important books of interest to our readers. We're changing gears slightly in this issue by featuring an excerpt of our friend J. Todd Billing's new book Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ (Brazos Press, 2015), which tackles the tough issues […]
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 […]
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. […]
"Ministry with Persons with Mental Illness and their Families" Edited by Robert H. Albers, William H. Meller, and Steven D. Thurber
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 […]
