Was St. Paul a healthy-minded missionary, or an obsessed madman. Let's consider a few quotes from the 19th century and early 20th century to bring some consideration to this thought. This is not an idle consideration. Many see Paul as the ideal missionary. We should consider whether our ideals are, in fact, ideal. One of …
Category: member care
Divine Intervention: The Flight of Elijah in Dialogue with Crisis Care
Been some time since I shared this article. Thought I would do so again...
Life Stories
This is a presentation that we use for Clinical Pastoral Education class. However, I it is quite relevant to missionaries. as well. It draws a bit from Narrative Counseling. "Bible Heroes," as well as missionaries throughout history have complicated and painful lives. Part of their success was in embracing God's perspective rather than their own. …
The Problem of Forgiveness
Why should we forgive? In our counseling center, I have had so many tell me, we should forgive because God tells us we MUST. You might think that is enough. But it really isn't, because when we are given a rule that we don't like we look to how close we can get to the …
A Minister’s Five Best Friends
Liz Ryan is one of my favorite columnists-- a regular contributor to Forbe's Magazine. She writes regarding business employment-- hiring, firing, and managing people. Although I have been out of the corporate world for over a decade, I find much of what she says very applicable in ministry as well. Much of her guidance centers …
Advice from Asian Missionaries
My "Missionary Member Care" Class at Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary questioned missionaries here in Asia about some of their challenges in missions. I have 11 students, and they each asked 3 missionaries 12 questions and recorded their answers. All of my students are from South Asia, East Asia, or Southeast Asia. From the 396 answers, …
John Ryland Quote on Missionary Member Care
Quote from John Ryland in his book, "The Work of Faith: the Labour of Love, and the Patience of Hope, Illustrated in the Life and Death of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, Late Pastor of the Baptist Church of Kettering, and the Secretary to the Baptist Missionary Society from its Commencement, in 1792". The book was …
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Missionary Life: Screaming Hornets and Letters from Home
We just got a box of goods from our home church. It had a couple of books, some vitamins, Old Bay Seasoning, clarinet reeds, a table cloth, some letters from children and friends at our home church, and a couple of bottles of Screaming Hornets Hot Sauce. The box reminded me of a few things …
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