Reframing Ministries

We read in the Bible that God is good, loving, and faithful; yet we live in a world where horrible suffering exists, and God seems anything but good, loving, and faithful. It’s one of life’s greatest conflicts. Author and speaker Philip Yancey shares his time shedding incredible wisdom and insight on this conflict with us in today’s episode. If you have ever wondered, “Why has God allowed *insert personal suffering here* in my life?” now is a great time to learn why. You are in good company, my friend—Jesus Christ experienced the greatest mistreatment and painful suffering, and He offers us a way through life’s struggles. Let’s move from a place of simply reflecting on what’s happened to letting God redeem what has happened for our betterment in Him. We at Reframing Ministries are here for you! Reach out to us as the Lord moves your heart in this revisited interview between Colleen and Philip. PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR READING, BY PHILIP YANCEY Most Influential Books: Augustine: ConfessionsFrederick Buechner: Telling the Truth Superior Books in Style and Christian Content: Frederick Buechner: Telling the Truth; The Hungering Dark; The Magnificent Defeat; The Alphabet of Grace; Now and Then; The Sacred Journey; Peculiar Treasures; Wishful Thinking; The Book of Bebb; The Final Beast; Godric Christian Essayists with Style: G.K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy; St. Francis of Assisi; St. Thomas Aquinas; The Man Who Was Thursday; The Everlasting ManC.S. Lewis: A Grief Observed; The Weight of Glory; The Four LovesDorothy Sayers: The Mind of the Maker; Christian Letters to a Post-Christian WorldGeorge MacDonald: Life Essential SHOW NOTES: Connect with Philip, purchase his books, and see his upcoming events here! Purchase Philip’s books Where Is God When It Hurts? and The Question That Never Goes Away on Amazon! 

In any given year, 1 in 5 people will struggle with a mental health issue. If we said 1 in 5 people will have a compromise in physical health, we would start a prayer chain. But mention that the compromise is a mental health issue, and most people scatter, label, judge, and disappear. We tend to hide or deny what we cannot control or fix because most of the Western world clings to a dissected view of humanity; we partition our existence into labeled segments, which is often terribly confining and damaging. Dr. Stanford offers wisdom, knowledge, guidance, and practical tools the church desperately needs in caring for one another. Listen in to parts 1 and 2 of this revisited conversation between Colleen and Dr. Stanford. Show Notes: Check out the Hope and Healing Center Institute and/or Mental Health Grace Alliance to learn about their missions, supportive services, and available programs! You can also purchase his books Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness and The Biology of Sin: Grace, Hope, and Healing for Those Who Feel Trapped on Amazon! Listen to part 2 here.

In any given year, 1 in 5 people will struggle with a mental health issue. If we said 1 in 5 people will have a compromise in physical health, we would start a prayer chain. But mention that the compromise is a mental health issue, and most people scatter, label, judge, and disappear. We tend to hide or deny what we cannot control or fix because most of the Western world clings to a dissected view of humanity; we partition our existence into labeled segments, which is often terribly confining and damaging. Dr. Stanford offers wisdom, knowledge, guidance, and practical tools the church desperately needs in caring for one another. Listen in to parts 1 and 2 of this revisited conversation between Colleen and Dr. Stanford. Show Notes: Check out the Hope and Healing Center Institute and/or Mental Health Grace Alliance to learn about their missions, supportive services, and available programs! You can also purchase his books Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness and The Biology of Sin: Grace, Hope, and Healing for Those Who Feel Trapped on Amazon! Listen to part 2 here.

In the Civil War, it was called a “soldier’s heart.” During the Industrial Revolution, it was “compensation neurosis.” During World War I, it was labeled “shell shock.” In World War II, it was defined as “battle fatigue or combat exhaustion.” During the Korean and Vietnam Wars, experts called it “stress response syndrome.” Finally, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) got it right: POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD). PTSD can affect any person who has survived a traumatizing, overwhelming, terrifying event, such as rape, physical and mental abuse, school shootings, divorce, loss of a loved one, physical illness, prolonged exposure to anything that overwhelms our bodies and affects how the brain functions. Jolene Philo is an expert in the study and treatment of PTSD. Her son was born with life-threatening problems resulting in numerous surgeries—invasive procedures performed without pain medication . . . because it was believed that “children don’t remember pain.” Current research shouts against such ignorance; our minds and bodies do remember trauma. If PTSD is left unattended to, those affected exist in a compromised state. In this revisited interview, Jolene discusses the most current research on PTSD as well as healing treatments. No one understands our pain like Jesus Christ. He endured every form of mistreatment to the point of death; therefore, He understands our pain and sorrow. He also calls us to care for one another in love—to listen, help, and provide support for healing. Show Notes: You can find all of Jolene’s resources, books, blog posts, speaking engagements, and online communities here. You can purchase Jolene’s book Does My Child Have PTSD? on Amazon. Jolene also referenced Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, which can be purchased on Amazon. To visit the trauma therapy website Jolene mentioned, tap or click here. Tap or click here to learn more about Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing.

Like fuel is for our cars and vitamins are for our bodies, hope is for the soul. Without hope, life continues to swirl around us, but we grind to a sluggish stop. Despair, disillusionment, and discontentment can set in. Few understand hopelessness like Nancy Guthrie. After losing one child to a rare genetic disorder, Nancy and her husband were surprised to find she was pregnant again—only to have another child grow in her womb, be welcomed into loving arms, then pass into eternity within a few months. Where do you find hope after the loss of two children? How do you get unstuck? The answer resides in the lens we look through. If your fuel tank is low, Nancy’s words will help fill you with hope to move forward. We all endure times when it seems like nothing good will come from a situation or circumstance that is awful, painful, unexpected, and appears hopeless. We may know what Scripture says, but it doesn’t always fill the gaping wound with a wonderfully comforting balm. The truth is, the good comes after we have endured the bad for a while, after we’ve been comforted by the comfort of others, and after we’ve chosen to put our hope and trust in the One who endured the cross: Jesus Christ. Have you run out of fuel? Is your spiritual or emotional tank on empty? Choose hope . . . choose to believe, to hope in Christ, and watch what unfolds. SHOW NOTES: Discover Nancy Guthrie’s books, contact information, retreat information, and additional media today! You can also order Nancy’s books Even Better Than Eden, The One Year Book of Hope Devotional, Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow from Amazon!

You may be shocked by what you are about to read: After cancer and heart disease, suicide accounts for more years of life lost than any other cause of death. Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of over 48,000 people in 2018.Even more shocking is the church’s inaccurate beliefs about mental health issues, as identified in the most recent mental health study conducted by LifeWay Research. We cannot continue to neglect this enormous area of need. After personal tragedy and with professional insight, Kay Warren offers practical tools and hands-on direction for supporting individuals and families struggling with mental health challenges. Likely, you or someone you know suffers with a mental health issue. Can this person come to you for help? Does your church have a proven system for helping people with mental health needs? With love and grace, are you willing to reach into the lives of those who are marginalized? How quickly do most Christians respond to broken families, broken lives, and broken bodies, but run from those who may have broken or fractured minds? I challenge you to connect with someone who is hurting. As you do, let me know what happens. I bet you will be amazed! Listen in as we revisit this conversation between Colleen and Kay! ADDITIONAL SUGGESTED RESOURCES Hope for Mental HealthNational Suicide Prevention Hotline American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Mental Health Grace Alliance NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) NAMI FAITHNET National Catholic Partnership on Disability National Institute on Mental Health PTSD Perspectives SHOW NOTES: You can contact Kay, as well as see information on her books, articles, initiatives, devotionals, and more on her website. ------------------- Notes: ↑1 ”Suicide,” National Institue of Mental Health, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml, accessed January 19, 2021. ↑2 “Study of Acute Mental Illness and Christian Faith: Research Report,” LifeWay Research, http://lifewayresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Acute-Mental-Illness-and-Christian-Faith-Research-Report-1.pdf, accessed Sept. 11, 2015.

Thank you for joining us for this revisited conversation between Lawrence (Larry) and Colleen. Since the original recording date, Larry has passed away. We are deeply grateful for the impact he made and left during his years on earth with us. With this being said, we honor his life and hope you are able to learn and grow from the recording he and Colleen had the blessing to share. Disclaimer: Statistics provided are data from 2015. The statistics are shocking . . . -Every ten seconds, a child sexual assault is reported. -Four children die from abuse every day. -20 percent of students in grades 9–12 have reported being in a fight or bullied at school in the past 12 months. -95 percent of abused children are abused by someone they know: parent, relative, babysitter, friend, and caregiver. -50 percent of children who make an outcry to a parent about being abused are not believed. -1.3 million nonfatal crimes occurred against the disabled in 2012. -One in four girls and one in six boys are sexually assaulted before age 16. -Seven of ten sexual addicts were sexually assaulted before age 12. (visit https://reframingministries.com/podcast/interview-lawrence-daly-2021/ for sources) That being said, there is no standard in the world for reporting child abuse, and there is no standard for convicting child abuse criminals. Lawrence Daly was an international leader, speaker, and skilled professional striving to make this world a safer place for our kids. It’s time to become part of the solution. It’s time to listen to the voices of those crying out for help. It’s time to be a transforming agent of change. No adult is free from God’s command to “take care of one of the least of these” (Matthew 25:45); that role is inescapable. Are you playing a part in creating a safer place for our children? Are you aware that you have a legal responsibility to listen and act if you know a child is being abused or neglected in any way? There is not a lack of information; there is a lack of attentive action. I have to ask, what part are you going to play in the lives of those you love and care for? The following resources are here for your use. For further help, please reach out to Colleen and/or connect further with Reframing Ministries.

We’ve all said a time or two, “Adulting is hard!” Daily traffic, kids crying, constant negative news, bills to pay, laundry to fold, food to cook . . . we’re all driven to distraction. Sadly, such distractions also limit our focus on what’s vitally important. In fact, have you stopped recently to ask yourself what IS important? Where is my focus? Have I become too narrow—so focused on today that my perspective on life has lost its meaning? Where is my vision? Gordon Mote speaks into these questions because he has chosen to focus on life’s bigger picture. Gordon and his younger brother were both born blind, yet both clung to God’s direction for their lives. Their inspiring and energizing vision is embedded in their hearts. Gordon shares how God has used his blindness to see life through the eyes of his soul—eyes that remain focused on reaching the lost and restoring the discouraged. We hope you enjoy this revisited interview between Colleen and Gordon! Recorded on Jul. 30, 2014

The Olympic Games are infused with anticipation and excitement. Incredibly conditioned athletes from around the world come together to compete, captivating our attention and appealing to our longings for global friendship. But what makes an Olympic athlete? Is it agility? A developed skill? The competence of a competitive coach? Or is there more behind those monumental moments of success? As the games unfold, so do some of the most incredible stories of determined, tested, and tried individuals who made the choice to stay the course and to discipline their bodies and minds year after year. That is the making of an Olympic athlete. Like an athlete, Joni rises to each challenge, choosing to endure tests, trials, and painful setbacks. She remains focused on the prize, the crown of glory awaiting her in heaven. Joni and her husband Ken are spiritual athletes, determined to stay the course and finish well. Listen in on this conversation between Colleen and Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada.

Life’s challenges can rob us of our joy—especially when circumstances appear hopeless. If words such as fear, pain, illness, sorrow, loss, or doubt describe your life, you need to know you are not alone. Emily Colson, daughter of the late Chuck Colson, speaks with honest compassion about life as a single parent and the surprising gifts from God she has encountered while raising Max. You will laugh with her, and come to love her, as she shares about how to live abundantly—one day at a time. Listen in as we revisit this conversation between Colleen and Emily. You are invited to share your input on how this podcast relates to your story in the comments section below!