It’s been five years since my life took a strange sideways turn. I’ve written about it before (HERE, and HERE for example).  It has made Good Friday a very strange day for me, personally.

This year I’m in a better place personally and emotionally than I usually am by this time in Lent.  Sermons are done (I think).  Family is coming.  Everything is okay.  Maybe that doesn’t sound like much, but sometimes, that’s all you have, and it is enough.

I pray for all my fellow sufferers that Christ’s death and resurrection would sustain you in the true faith to life everlasting.  Your labor is not in vain.  Your suffering will come to an end.  There will be peace for you.

Grant peace, we pray, In mercy, Lord;

Peace in our time, oh send us.

For there is none on earth but You, None other to defend us.

You only, Lord, can fight for us.  Amen.  (LSB 778)

Messiah Lutheran Church is pleased to announce its first speaker in the IMPACT series. The IMPACT series is a series of presentations available to the community in conjunction with our fiftieth anniversary.

Our first presentation is entitled, I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression.  Our speaker is Pastor Todd A. Peperkorn, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church.  The title of the presentation comes from Pastor Peperkorn’s book of the same title, published in 2009.

Please consider joining us for this important topic.  It is free of charge.  You may follow updates on the IMPACT series through our Facebook page:

Messiah’s Facebook Page

You may also indicate if you will be attending by going to the Facebook event:

Facebook IMPACT event: I Trust When Dark My Road

We hope to see you there!

I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression first went into print last June. All of the copies from the first printing were taken before it even entered the building at LCMS World Relief and Human Care. The book has touched many lives with the Gospel, and I believe has served as a great opportunity for pastoral care to many people.

So after a six month hiatus, we are back in print! Thanks be to God.

The book is free, just as it was before. They are, however, charging a small amount for shipping. I’m very glad to hear this, as it will allow them to keep their costs lower and to make more of them available in the long run.

So what can you do to help spread the word about this free resource? Here are a few ideas:

• Tell people either by email or in person. You can send them to my web site and I will have the easy link setup in a prominent place.
• Write a review of the book on your blog, web site, or even in your church newsletter.
• Review it or at least rate it on one of the several online review places. Here are a few of them: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Google Books, or anyplace is that you may review it.
• Ask your church secretary to put a notice in your church bulletin about the availability of the book. Here’s a sample bulletin insert:
  

  Are you trapped in the fog of depression? Do you know someone you love who suffers from depression or anxiety? I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression is now available at no charge from LCMS World Relief and Human Care. Call (888) 843-5267 to order your free copy, or go to the web site darkmyroad.org for more information.

• Show this to your pastor, and encourage him to order up to five free copies for pastoral care and use at the congregation.

Thanks for all your help and support, friends! God is merciful, and He continues to bring healing and hope to His hurting children.

Pastor Todd Peperkorn
I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression

Preaching the Resurrection to the Mentally Ill | I Trust When Dark My Road

This is my interview from Wednesday, February 4, 2009 on Anxiety and the Christian.

I really envy pastors that get excited about Christmas.  In many respects I truly love Christmas.  I think that Advent hymns are probably the strongest in the hymnal, and once you get past all the English carols, Lutheran hymnody on our Lord’s Incarnation are wonderful and as full of Gospel as any you will find.

But I must also admit that I have a really difficult time with the season.

There are a number of reasons for this.  First of all, the period from Thanksgiving until about the end of January just has a lot of very difficult memories.  The death of our unborn daughter.  The death of my mother.  There are others, but those are teh two biggies.  So I kinda feel like this season is bookended for me with sadness on either side.

Secondly, it is just a lot of work.  There are typically 6-7 extra services with sermons during the month of December, and that is a lot if you care about actually preparing.

Third, many of the parishes problems and challenges inevitably arrive during December.  Budgets.  Personal crises.  Extra counseling.  Christmas programs.  It all happens this time of year.

Finally, there is the continued spectre for the preacher of coming up with something new on the most familiar of all biblical texts.  It is hard work, and I’m not always successful at it.

The result of all this is that I find myself more stressed out than usual, behind, tired, crabby, and generally not very full of Christmas cheer.  I am short and cross with my family.  I don’t have patience to deal with all of the very real problems that arise in my congregation.  At the very time when I need to be on my “A game” as a pastor, I feel like I am barely passing muster.

So what do you do when you are strung out as a pastor?  Inquiring minds want to know.

-LL

I enjoyed my interview on Issues, Etc.  If you missed it, you can find it as an MP3 file HERE.

Enjoy, and I would love to hear your thoughts.

-LL

This afternoon I am being interviewed on the topic of depression and the Christian on Issues etc.  The interview is at 3:25 p.m. CST.  Go to Issues Etc. for more information!

-LL