People of God, today I hosted a free workshop at our church titled, The Unspoken Struggle - Suicide and Depression Among the Ranks of Clergy. We had a total of 5 people in attendance (including our facilitator) but the workshop was EXTREMELY informative, SO NEEDED and, personally, liberating for me! Now, some people would have been too ashamed to say that only 5 people came. However, for me, it simply spoke as a confirmation to me that, in many ways, the body of Christ puts so much weight on programs and not enough emphasis on getting to the ROOT of matters that hinder TRUE deliverance and healing from taking place n our lives. We host and go to all of the womens and men conferences, jump, shout, roll on the floor, fall out at the altar and then STILL go home depressed, ready to quit, desiring to give up, stuck OR back in our SAME condition two weeks later! We go to all the conferences about chains being broken and yet come home bound and yet STILL dragging those same chains! We go to all the worship and music conferences but yet STILL leave WITHOUT the ability to WORSHIP HIM through becoming delivered and set free from that which plagues us! The Lord spoke to me a few weeks ago to say that one of the reasons the body of Christ yet suffers from SAME hindrances is because of our inability OR refusal to discuss the hard issues within the body of Christ. We simply want to tell people to pray about it not knowing (or caring) that they may be 2 seconds away from ending their own lives while we are yet arguing, singing, shouting, planning the next conference, fighting with one another and EVERYTHING ELSE! We must do better! Nevertheless, my brother in Christ, Pastor Lorenzo Neal (senior pastor of New Bethel AME-Jackson, MS) came and facilitated this workshop for us. He did a PHENOMENAL job and I would HIGHLY recommend any pastor or leader to invite him to come and present at your ministry. He can be contacted at pastorlorenzoneal@gmail. He shared some things today that TRULY broke some things in my life and granted a release where needed! I am TRULY grateful! I thank God for his willingness to come to share! At the end of the day, plain and simple, we must do MORE than simply tell people to pray. We MUST begin to address the hard issues if we are going to see continued suicide and depression cease! Thank you , again, for those whom attended.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 21:54:57 +0000
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