[Mins] Resources: Depression and Suicide

[mins at crca.org.au]

Hi everyone,

You have probably heard that Rick & Kay Warren's son took his own life last weekend: Christian social media has been abuzz with this news. Some responses have been helpful and compassionate, others less helpful and far from compassionate.

Christianity Today released a few article today that might be helpful for those pastors who are dealing with these issues. I am passing them on for your information. Also included are a few links to blog pieces from Frank Viola and Mark Driscoll. They contain wise words from men grappling with the insensitive and ungracious words of the Christian lunatic fringe.

Christianity Today: 
Dan Blazier, 'The Depression Epidemic' March 2009
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2009/march/15.22.html?utm_source=ctlibrary-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=2012469&utm_content=167783683&utm_campaign=2013

Excerpt:
Christian teaching about sin and its reverberating effects frees the church from surprise about the disordered state of human affairs. We can acknowledge the effects of sin both within and without. We can look at wrecked reality squarely in the eye and call it what it is.
And thanks be to God, who raised the One who entered fully into our condition, breaking the power of sin, death, and hell, that we not only can name wrecked reality, but also lean into it on the promise that Christ is making all things new.

Al Hsu. 'When Suicide Strikes in the Body of Christ', 2013
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2013/april-web-only/when-suicide-strikes-in-body-of-christ.html?utm_source=ctlibrary-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=2012469&utm_content=167783683&utm_campaign=2013

Excerpt:
The Bible tells us that God grieves with us in our loss. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, and he stands with us and weeps over our loved one's death. Throughout Scripture, God comforts the grieving and brokenhearted, and he understands the suffering of grief and loss. He experienced ultimate pain, suffering, and grief on the cross. Where is God when it hurts? He stands with us, grieving beside us

John E. Colwell, Befriending the Darkness, 2013
http://www.ctlibrary.com/le/2013/january-online-only/befriending-darkness.html?utm_source=ctlibrary-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=2012469&utm_content=167783683&utm_campaign=2013

Excerpt:
Of all the psalms of lament, Psalm 88 is the bleakest. It seems entirely devoid of hope. All that is left is despair and desolation. But even this psalm, for all its despair, is not entirely hopeless. It is, after all, a prayer. It is addressed to God even though it offers no assurance that God is listening. And what a strange and enigmatic way for the psalm to end: "The darkness is my closest friend." Can it really be that the darkness itself can become a friend?

Mark Driscoll: @PastorMark . @RickWarren, critics, and the hope of God’s Son:ow.ly/jWXWj

Frank Viola: @FrankViola : Rick Warren's Tragedy & the Sick Response of Some "Christians" http://frankviola.org/2013/04/08/rickwarrentragedy/ 

I hope these are helpful. And, if you are dealing with pastoral issues at this level, may God give you wisdom, discernment, and insight to pastor in the grace and mercy of our faithful Saviour.

Grace and peace,

Dave Groenenboom
Gateway Community Church
A: 63 Spencer Street, Cockburn Central, WA, 6164
P: 0418 383 055
E: dgroenenboom at crca.org.au 
W: www.gatewaycc.com.au



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