Quote from Forum Archives on March 29, 2000, 4:55 am

Posted by: ebedyah <ebedyah@...>

Mark,

What a moving post. It is great that there were other Christians to
encourage you and help you through this difficult time. I would like to
comment on something your said.

You wrote, "Mark spent a lot of time talking
about the love of God, and how if we wanted to be truly effective in our
walk with Christ, we truly needed to be healed of a lot of things. How true
that is. I think one of the places that is in the greatest need of healing
and that's not laways addressed is the healing of broken hearts."

This is so accurate. There are many hurting Christians out there that the
church has ignored, or worse, has made them feel that they are having
problems because they are not "spiritual" enough. Insensitive ministers and
congregations have caused many Christians to be hesitant about opening up
with their pain. And many are simply afraid of what others will think.
Ever since my wife went through a severe battle with depression, God has
shown us that there are so many Christians who are suffering in silence in
our churches. As we have become more open about our weaknesses, it is
amazing how willing others are to share (many for the first time) the dark
battles that they have been going through.

I think it's time that the churches wake up to this pressing need. I have
made this the focus of my ministry and we have been able to help many
hurting people. Since so many of my sermons and Bible studies have been on
the topic of God's help for hurting Christians, one of our church elders has
set up a web site with these studies and email links. A day does not pass
that someone doesn't write us from the web site sharing their secret pain
that they have been too afraid to share with the people of their local
congregation. And we have been able to minister to hundreds of Christians
from around the world. The church can no longer look at hurting people as
somehow "weak" in the faith. The old sermon of "snap out of it" is not very
helpful when you feel like your whole world is crashing down into an abyss
of darkness and confusion.

Thanks for sharing your struggle with us, Mark. Perhaps it will cause other
ministers to reevaluate how they respond to these kinds of needs!

Pastor Dave Humpal ebedyah@elite.net
First Christian Church, Merced, California
Help for the Hurting Christian
www.elite.net/~ebedyah/PastorsHomePage.htm
First Christian Church Site
www.elite.net/~ebedyah/FirstChristianHomePage.htm