When Hurting People Don't Need Words: Button Two Last Friday I talked about how caring for a suffering person makes the discerning person aware of how their pain results in pain in us. Even as we want to lovingly minister to others, we are affected by their suffering and often don't realize the urge to quickly talk is partly motivated by the urge to dispel the growing pai...

When Hurting People Don't Need Words: Part One Editors note: Sheree is married to our Senior Pastor, Benny, and has been involved in caring for hurting people for over 40 years. She also has 7 kids who have needed care through many personal and family struggles. 4 years ago she decided to get some counseling training from CCEF (Christian Counseling and Education Foundatio...

When People Who are Hurting Need Questions: Button Three Editor's Note: This is part three of a series on how to care for suffering people. If you haven't yet read the first two parts I encourage you to do so before reading this post. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Grace, a woman who I had just met the day before, was describing through tears the horror of stand...

Sheree Phillips takes a look at when holidays that are happy for so many bring pain and heartache to others....

Cory ran onto the court beaming from ear to ear. It was his moment. He knew he was the least valuable player but his team was up by a lot and it didn't seem he minded only going in when his mistakes wouldn't result in a a loss. He was more interested in winning than in playing, because even though he hadn't scored a single point all season the guys still welcomed him into ...

When we consider how to approach those who are struggling, I believe most of us would agree that our disposition is of utmost importance. How many of us can look back with regret on a conversation we've had with someone grieving a lost loved one, bemoaning a challenging circumstance at work or home, or even struggling with a besetting sin and see where we were short, quick...

If you’re like me sometimes it’s hard to know what the gospel really looks like in relationships. I actually used to think the gospel was something you spoke only to the lost who needed to hear how the sinless life, atoning death and glorious resurrection of Christ made a way for them to have a relationship with God, brings meaning to suffering and provides hope for th...

This past Monday started out pretty gloomy. I had trouble sleeping the night before, partly because aging brings sleeping issues and, yeah, I’m in “that season” of life when sleeping is typically challenging. But my restlessness was also related to some weighty concerns I’ve been having about people I love…a lot....

Often the moments I hear heart-wrenching comments like this are while sitting on the couch in my living room sharing a glass of sweet tea with women from my church. Like me, they’re dealing with the often-weighty consequences of sins by or against them: pain that runs deep like a knife being slowly twisted through the heart. It’s not always there. But when it’s trigg...

So far this series, we’ve discussed how the gospel is more than a reference point for ministry, and we have seen how that shapes our approach to preaching. This week, we discuss how that affects our approach to counseling....