There is a zipper merge lane near the interstate exit roughly a mile or so from my house. If you find yourself confused by the phrase “zipper merge lane,” don’t worry, very few licensed drivers in my ZIP Code know…
How to avoid hiring a toxic pastor or church staff member
I recently listened to yet another pastor tell a story of havoc let loose in his congregation by a toxic staff member who never should have been hired and was difficult to fire. I’ve heard this story over and over,…
Baptist therapist has a prescription for our anxious pursuit of the good life
The American way of life may be good for business, but it wreaks havoc on the mental and emotional well-being of individuals and society, psychotherapist and former Baptist youth pastor Eric Minton believes. The diagnosis stems from his observation of…
American kids’ mental health is in crisis; the solution isn’t just therapy, it’s revolution
In early December, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a nationwide Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health in light of what he termed “the pandemic’s unprecedented impacts on the mental health of America’s youth and families, as well as the mental…
I’m aiming for a kind of fresh resolve to no longer continue producing solutions for the future based on problems from the past
It isn’t at all novel to admit this to you, dear reader, but New Year’s resolutions are gratingly unbearable; even under the best conditions. But I must say that this year, there is a uniquely hollow and darkly comedic quality…
Raising kids at the end of the world
Recently, in the parking lot outside my office, I cried in my car for 10 minutes before work. This was after listening to my local NPR affiliate interview a parent from my son’s school. In her remarks, this parent calmly…
‘I don’t think I care about anything anymore’: How to be anxious and depressed during the end of the world
My son is 6 years old and in the first grade. He loves Lego, Harry Potter, outer space and finishing books as soon as he gets them. Inexplicably, my son maintains this stubborn inquisitiveness about the world around him even…
The revolution will be hashtagged
“If you are the praying type” many tweets I come across often begin, “my son just died and I don’t think I can go on,” or “my husband, who is also a father of three, has incurable cancer,” or “I…
On Father’s Day, lessons from home, from church, from the SBC — and a better way to be a parent
My father and I are estranged and have been for several years now. I don’t mean for this to sound dramatic, because it isn’t. But just because something isn’t dramatic doesn’t mean there isn’t still pain. Especially around Father’s Day….