All Christians

This is chapter ten of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

One of the biggest barriers to motivation is the stuff outside of our control. Whether it is our past or future, we do not have control over these points in our lives. The only time we can change is right now. Unfortunately, when we are stuck and do not have the motivation to continue, the present is typically the one point in time we are not focused on.

Our past can haunt us. Remember how many times you failed? Remember the worry you struggled with of being able to balance work and home life? It was so overwhelming. And you want to do that again? Our future can paralyze us. Will this be a success? Can I actually do this for a living? What if I’m not good enough? Will I ever be good enough?

Be More Present

We can certainly learn from our past and plan for the future, but it’s a fine line between planning and predicting it. Honestly, the only power you have to make any change is right here, right now. That’s exactly how God would want it.

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:22-34 (NIV)

It is in this passage we see where we must focus on what is present. Imagine being so stuck in your ministry that you miss the joyful text from your spouse, the milestone of a coworker, or the story of how your ministry deeply and everlastingly touched the life of someone. The angels in heaven are singing, yet you are here worrying about replying to all of your emails before the end of the day.

What one small moment can you hold on to today? Why is it important to remember?

May is Mental Health Awareness month where we want to make sure we help educate people on the risks of mental health. The National Alliance on Mental Illness partnered with television stars from HBO, TBS, TNT and TruTV to help build awareness for people to normalize and talk more about mental illness. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

For those that want a more spiritual awareness tool, check out our Church Mental Health Awareness cards here.

[Read more…] about It’s Ok to Not Feel Ok [Video]

This is chapter nine of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

As a counselor, one of the biggest difficulties clients present with at some point in their counseling is they hit resistance within themselves. Initially, they decided they wanted to stop feeling anxious and depressed or using drugs. After some hard work, maybe some failures, not finding immediate peace and relief, and the need for even more hard work, they become ambivalent about making more changes.

[Read more…] about Rolling with Resistance

We continue to get more and more resources for churches and Christian counselors during this pandemic. This current webinar is a collaboration between Steve Grcevich of KeyMinistry.org and Kay Warren in partnership with the United States Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Partnership Center with future trainings to come this month.

[Read more…] about Mental Health in a Time of COVID-19 [Video]

Within the world of mental health, you need to always be learning, always growing, and always adapting or your and your agency will become obsolete. This world of coronavirus is a very clear view of this as many, if not most, counselors have not done telehealth, yet we really have very little option. Pastors who have resisted livestream now have to figure out how to do this on the fly or shut their doors.

But change is hard, yet necessary. The video below is by Donald Berwick, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow at Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), speaking at the 2001 IHI National Forum as the keynote that touches on this.

[Read more…] about Old Mental Health Models Change To New [Video]

This is chapter eight of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

This is different than Day 5 when we had talked about positive thought placement. What if we did not need to change the thoughts we were having from negative to positive, but instead our natural inclination was to be positive?

Here’s an example of what I mean.

[Read more…] about Have An Orientation of Positivity

With the devastating impact of the coronavirus that has led to disruption of life for billions, life has changed for a very long time. This has led to conversation after conversation that uses the word “normal.”

• What will it take to get back to normal?
• Boeing won’t be returning to ‘normal’ anytime soon
• Antibody Tests: key to returning to normal?
• Trump coronavirus guidelines will get us back to normal and safeguard public health victories
• American resident of Wuhan says life getting back to normal: ‘The situation is greatly improving’

But as a counselor, I have a very strong opinion on this word ‘normal.’

[Read more…] about What Is Normal?

Finding good resources to help with counseling practices to improve mental health has grown easier over the last couple of years with phone applications like Headspace. Until recently, there were no Christian options for this. But let me introduce to you the Abide App.

The mission of Abide is states as “For the world to experience the peace of Christ through Biblical meditation.” Christian meditation is a practice from the Bible that has been refined for thousand of years. It connects and empowers our minds and hearts in Jesus. It helps us live with the peace and purpose of Christ.

[Read more…] about Abide App [Review]

At the beginning of the month, we shared 10 signs your emotionally exhausted or traumatized, noting that the coronavirus was already making people feel overwhelmed and frustrated. In two days, it became our most viewed article of the year. That was 2 weeks ago and I do not doubt people are still stressed and overwhelmed with self-isolation, negative effects of the coronavirus, and self-care.

Three weeks ago, we actually already talked about how to reduce your stress about the coronavirus, but since then, more things have changed in life and more people have taken time to share resources. Check these out:

[Read more…] about 12 Ways Christians Can Self-Care For Coronavirus

This is chapter seven of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

It’s Saturday night and as the teaching pastor, you do not have anything. Not to forget your commitment this last all team meeting to the church tech team was you would have something to them well in advance so they could have everything ready to go. What happened? Now you have hours left to finish. Shouldn’t have scheduled all of those coffee shop meetings and extra speaking engagements. Oh, and that blog you tried to start? Now look what’s happened.

[Read more…] about Don’t Work From Desperation