Midday Connection

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Archive for the tag “church”

16 May 2013
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Guest blog: Mental Illness – We Can Help

My mother has seen multiple psychiatrists, counselors, and other mental-health professionals. She has seen the inside of more than one mental-health hospital, one jail, and one prison. Her history with serious mental illness goes back more than 20 years. But if she were to go to a hospital today, in urgent need of psychiatric intervention, she would most likely start from scratch with a team of professionals who have no idea what medications she takes, what she suffers from, or what she needs.

She might be medicated, stabilized, and after a few days, discharged into the care of a family barely able to care for her, even after decades of practice.

Every time her insurance company has made a change, a doctor moved, or the person she last saw wasn’t available, she has had to meet with someone new and start over.

She needs to take medications every day, but until recently, no professional had explained–in a way she understood–that she has a chronic illness and must take meds for the rest of her life, for the sake of herself and others.

Under intensive treatment, she usually has been paranoid and unwilling or unable to consent for caregivers to consult with family. So we have written letters explaining her history and behavior and mailed them to these professionals, hoping she would get better care–even though the recipients could never acknowledge receiving any communication from us.

When she went missing and lived in homeless shelters, we couldn’t find her. No one would answer our inquiries.

When she went to prison, I couldn’t visit because she was required to initiate a multi-step process of obtaining approval for each visitor–and it was much too difficult for her.

Although we suspected for a long time that she suffered from schizophrenia, it took 20 years for us to receive professional confirmation of her diagnosis, from a medical field that is reluctant to “label” people.

This is the reality of life for so many families like ours, trying to navigate a mental health care system that is badly broken. And there are so many ways the church can help.

My family has always been in the church. Dad was a pastor for 10 years. When schizophrenia came knocking, we were steeped in church life, yet the church was mostly silent on the reality of mental illness–and we got the message that we should be silent as well. This silence was isolating and cruel.

Yet our greatest moments of hope have come through encounters with individuals in the church who have made eye contact, visited Mom in prison, answered late-night phone calls to help her sort through her thoughts, showed up for small group when Dad cried every week. These are simple acts of love that reflect the heart of our creator, who knows far more than we do about how wretched we all are.

Like it or not, the church is the first place many turn in crisis. And fair or not, the church’s silence or rejection feels like rejection from God. We cannot keep turning away from the most vulnerable among us. It’s time to be part of the solution.

Amy SimpsonAmy Simpson is editor of Christianity Today’s Gifted for Leadership, a freelance writer, and author of Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission (InterVarsity Press). You can find her at www.AmySimpsonOnline.com  and on Twitter @aresimpson.

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13 May 2013
5 Comments

Midday blog: Receiving

I’ve never been very good at receiving.  Complements, gifts, and thanks are nice, but it’s hard for me to just receive them. I enjoy being the giver so much more – knowing I’ve helped someone, made the load a little lighter for them…and yes, it makes me feel good about myself.

Recently, we found ourselves with a large, unexpected bill with no way to pay it. Since my husband lost his job, we’ve struggled financially and this bill felt like another boulder on our shoulders. Close friends of ours suggested that we talk to our church.  I tentatively sent an email to our benevolence fund team. I struggled with feeling shame, failure, defeat, and fear.  Would they tell us what we know we deserve: “You made your bed and now you have to lie in it.”  I dreaded getting a response to my email – at times hoping they say no and other times praying they say yes.  Amazingly, after a grace-filled conversation with the benevolence fund team, we were given some money to pay our bill.  I’m now vacillating between waves of shame, relief, embarrassment, gratitude, tears, and laughter.

After this humbling and amazing generosity, I’ve been pondering receiving.  What does it look like to swim freely in the joy of receiving a gift of generosity?  I don’t deserve any of it.  But, what a beautiful, tangible, in-my-face demonstration of God’s grace and mercy toward me!  In this season, I feel like God is teaching me to just let go and bask in the love, care, generosity, and support of His people. And I’m beginning to wonder if it isn’t a kind of offense to the giver to not enjoy the gift?

What about you? Do you struggle with receiving?

Lori NeffLori Neff is the senior producer of Midday Connection and editor/contributor for Daily Seeds: From Women Who Walk in Faith and Tending the Soul (Moody Publishers). She grew up in a small town in Ohio, spending more time outside in nature than inside. Lori is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute. Her interests include art, humanitarian aid efforts, cooking, gardening, coffee, thinking, learning and spending time with her husband, John (and their three fiesty cats). For more information and her blog please visit Lori’s website.

Posted in Lori Neff and tagged , , ,
28 Jan 2013

Midday blog: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Recently I was reading through the book of Luke. If you haven’t read Luke recently, I highly recommend it. It is full of statements that will catch your attention and challenge your commitment to Christ.

As I was reading I came to the parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. It’s a familiar parable, one that I’ve heard referenced many times. Yet this time I saw it in a new light. Often we focus on what is said by the two characters, but this time as I read, I heard one of them say something different. The tax collector repeated the words of the Pharisee, just inverted. The tax collector thanked God that he was not like the Pharisee.

Now I know that’s not actually in the text, but it seems to be something that I hear more often these days. We thank God that we are not like a certain religious group, or the people who attend that church. Yet it is that action that is being condemned by Jesus in his telling of the parable. It’s cause for examination of our own hearts as to what it is we are saying. And if we find ourselves echoing the prayer of the Pharisee then instead let us go back to the original call of the tax collector, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Josh Klos is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Radio Communications, he has served as the engineer for Midday Connection since 2010. He is also a part of the volunteer College & 20’s group staff at his church and enjoys spending time outside, as well as at libraries, bookstores and various coffee shops. He’s busy these days with graduate school, where he studying communication and culture.

To learn more about Josh and read his blog, please visit his website.

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22 Oct 2012
5 Comments

Midday blog: Modern Day Pharisees

Someone once asked me what I thought was the biggest difference with the church in America and the church in Africa. It took me a moment but then it hit me, the church in America knows Gods word, and the church in Africa experiences/lives Gods word. It’s a year later and that statement rings truer than when I first made it.  I can remember sitting in class enviously listening to my classmates spew facts about God. I remember feeling so dumb for not knowing what Calvinist or Arminianist is. My amazement however very quickly waned. You see, my reality involves receiving emails about loved ones being strangled to death, friends being convicted of four counts of murder and  cousins orphaned by HIV and AIDS.

So forgive me for not wanting to sit for long hours debating about Calvinism when, in just 5 months in 2012, over two-hundred kids under the age of twenty in Chicago died not knowing Jesus. When just across the street from us, kids live without fathers, love and hope. The brokenness and hopelessness of this world is so real to me, I guess it’s because this was my reality and story six-years ago. Even though I’m from a different continent, a different city, I can relate.

I’m blown away by how God, in His sovereignty, used a person who had no idea about different theological terms (that we spend hours deliberating over) to invite me to church. He used a song that, some argue the theological correctness of to lead me to a place of absolute repentance; in a church that many of my fellow students would frown upon. Yes the African church does not know Gods word intellectually. We cannot recite facts about Him, but we know what it means to worship Him when we have absolutely no food in the house. We have tangibly experienced Gods love, provision, peace, joy, restoration and healing and literally take Him at His word.

Joel Houston from ‘Hillsong United’ once tweeted, “Don’t ever trade your pursuit of Christ for the pursuit of knowledge about Christ…too many people seem to know everything about Him at the expense of really getting to KNOW Him…”As I reflect back on conversations I’ve had with my fellow students, I can’t help but wonder if we are not becoming more and more like the Pharisees? I am not saying that we should not be passionate about theology. In fact, I believe that having good theology is vital. However, like Clive Craigen, Moody Bible Institute Assistant Professor of World Missions and Evangelism said, “Thinking good theology is not good enough, we need to live good theology.”

Lebo PooeLebo Pooe is a student at Moody Bible Institute and currently serves as an intern for Midday Connection. Lebo was raised in a single parent home in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been a Producer/Presenter for TWR-Africa (Trans World Radio) in Johannesburg. As a result of Moody Radio’s partnership with TWR, she was selected to receive a four-year scholarship to study Communications at Moody Bible Institute. For her, it’s an answer to prayer and a dream fulfilled.  @lebop

Posted in Lebo Pooe and tagged , , , , ,
13 Aug 2012

Midday blog: Don’t know much about history

I’ve been taking a course in American church history recently and I was struck by how little I know about history in general and the history of churches specifically. I was also struck by the understanding I’ve gained as I’ve learned why different denominations have developed the way that they have. Why a specific denomination does and that tradition’s understanding of scripture is often shaped by surrounding historical events.

Methodism in the United States has been greatly affected by the second great awakening and specifically events that happened in Kentucky during the second great awakening. During the era of the colonies Catholics were often persecuted and Catholicism was not welcome, it is only in the past century that Catholicism really started to grow and find a foothold in the United States (as opposed to Canada where it played a large cultural role until recently). Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Quakers, Shakers, 7th Day Adventists all have their own individual stories to tell.

So why should we care about the history of a denomination? Well, I would encourage you to explore your own denomination, see what truths you have accepted were shaped by a response to historical events. Gain a better understanding of what may be cultural. Learn about other denominations and start to understand where they are coming from. Traditions, doctrine and the ways we live our lives have all been shaped by where we come from. Learn from the mistakes in our past, appreciate the good intentions behind some of the tragedies in our history (in my opinion, after learning the full story of what happened with the Salem witch trials, it is actually quite understandable why they happened). It’s been said that “those who can’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana). Let’s learn our past so we can remember it, pass it on, and learn from it.

(Bonus assignment: Study your family history, ask your parents or grandparents about what type of family they come from…what life was like growing up…it is a great exercise to understand what makes them who they are.)

Josh Klos is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Radio Communications, he has served as the engineer for Midday Connection since 2010. He is also a part of the volunteer College & 20’s group staff at his church and enjoys spending time outside, as well as at libraries, bookstores and various coffee shops. He’s busy these days with graduate school, where he studying communication and culture.

To learn more about Josh and read his blog, please visit his website.

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24 Jul 2012
1 Comment

Midday blog: Less about Me, more about We

I’ve been watching the Tour de France for the last 3 weeks. It is the longest race of the cycling season.  Most of the riders have virtually no possibility of winning the Tour. And while only one person can win the race, the Tour de France is largely a team event with moments for individual glory built in.

Each team has nine riders. One is the christened leader. The rest are called domestiques, each world class riders in their own right, but with specific skill sets. Some are great climbers, some sprinters, some incredible pace setters. Their role is to do whatever it takes to help the leader win the Tour de France. They are to spend themselves physically in order for the leader to draft behind them. The leader of the team stays on their wheel when the going gets tough. The domestiques help pull their man up the mountain and back down. They sacrifice themselves to support the leader. Everyone knows what the role demands. Do a good job as a domestique and perhaps you’ll get a chance to lead your own team someday. That’s what happened to Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong. But for most riders they toil in obscurity year in and year out on bike racing’s biggest stages. Without them the star attraction wouldn’t shine as brightly or would be less effective. There is no way LeMond or Armstrong could have won the Tour de France on his own.

This year as I watched Bradley Wiggins win the Tour de France, I also watched his younger teammate, Chris Froome, who likely could have taken the win away from Wiggins but honored his commitment to be a domestique. The tour has distinct parallels to the body of Christ.

We each have gifts and talents. Sometimes I’m up front. Sometimes I’m backstage. Sometimes I get the spotlight on me and sometimes I get to shine the spot light on someone else. Each role is good and necessary. The topic of gifts and talents is all over the New Testament. From the words of Paul to the parables of Jesus. The Tour de France is just a contemporary example, a reminder that no one person can do it all and that God doesn’t expect that from anyone. It’s a reminder that this life is far less about the ‘me’ than it is about the ‘we’.

Anita LustreaAnita Lustrea is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and has worked for Moody Radio since 1984. She is a sought-after conference and retreat speaker and loves to connect with Midday Connection listeners face-to-face. Anita lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Mike, and her son, John. To learn more about Anita, her speaking schedule and her blog, please visit her website.

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16 Jul 2012
1 Comment

Midday blog: One Simple Prayer

Towards the end of May, I was invited to participate in a week long gathering of women who serve with Project Hannah; a ministry of TWR, (Trans World Radio) offering compassion, encouragement and hope to suffering women around the world through prayer, awareness and radio programming.

Imagine a room filled with women from various denomination and nations. Women with different styles of prayer and languages praying to a living God who is so faithful. An amazing collective brought together by God united in prayer for women across the world. Individuals who have personally experienced the power of prayer. Within half an hour of being in the room I found myself struggling to contain my tears. I kept thinking what in the world is wrong with me? Why am I so emotional? I was reminded of another time when I experienced something similar and my Pastor said, “when God’s presence is so tangible sometimes all we can do is weep.” There is something really powerful about hearing woman not just pray but cry out to God on behalf of the woman who are broken, hurting and the voiceless. Woman standing in the gap and wrestling with the enemy for souls in bondage.

That day God broke my heart for woman all around the world dealing with injustices; girls as young as nine forced into marriages, or sold for prostitution. Woman in Europe, who suffer mental break downs because they were forced into aborting their babies. Woman in Uruguay who feel so low and have no hope that they commit suicide. Woman in North Africa who are told that if they want to get married they should get circumcised and then disowned because of health complications such as incontinence. The list is heartbreakingly endless, but instead of feeling defeated and overwhelmed I rejoiced at the fact that our God is bigger. My heart skipped a beat as I finally truly grasped that I do not need to make more money, get a certain qualification or become more spiritual to make a difference. It was in that room surrounded by these women who despite their brokenness, fear and imperfection accepted Gods call to prayer. Women who understand James 1:22 “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” (NLT)

God is raising up a generation that is rising up to take their rightful place at His feet and I’m done fooling myself and hiding behind my insecurities. I am so excited about joining the body of Christ and the sisterhood of prayer.

“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” Psalm 141:2

Lebo PooeLebo Pooe is a student at Moody Bible Institute and currently serves as an intern for Midday Connection. Lebo was raised in a single parent home in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been a Producer/Presenter for TWR-Africa (Trans World Radio) in Johannesburg. As a result of Moody Radio’s partnership with TWR, she was selected to receive a four-year scholarship to study Communications at Moody Bible Institute. For her, it’s an answer to prayer and a dream fulfilled.

Posted in Lebo Pooe and tagged , , ,
09 Jul 2012
1 Comment

Midday blog: Where’s the Church?

I have an exercise that I often do, and often do it unintentionally, when I’m watching a movie, or go to the theatre, or really any time I’m engaging with a story. I ask myself “Where’s the church?” It’s a challenge to me to see how the author of a piece portrays the church in the story and what that might mean. Do they see the church and Christians as judgmental, crazy or something else entirely? Or is the church even present?

One story in particular stands out to me that left me wondering, where is the church? The first one was written in the early 1990s and deals with a community that is being hard hit by poverty and AIDS. This story was heavily influenced by the author’s own life experiences, and when I got to the end I was struck by the complete absence of the church (except for one part where there’s a funeral).

I wondered after seeing the story what the author’s personal experience had been when it came to the church. Did he see the church reaching out to those who had AIDS, or those who identified themselves as gay? I almost wish that he at least had the church there and as judgmental rather than the church so isolated that it was irrelevant.

I end with this challenge: Let’s make the church visible, and show the love of Christ. This will require work, and effort, and sacrifice. There will be times we’re misunderstood, and seen in the wrong light, but let’s be seen.

Josh Klos is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Radio Communications, he has served as the engineer for Midday Connection since 2010. He is also a part of the volunteer College & 20’s group staff at his church and enjoys spending time outside, as well as at libraries, bookstores and various coffee shops. He’s busy these days with graduate school, where he studying communication and culture.

To learn more about Josh and read his blog, please visit his website.

Posted in Josh Klos and tagged , ,

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