“Hurt people hurt people.” Popularized in the 1980s, this phrase has been repeated, tweeted, and “TikTok”-ed thousands of times. Perhaps you’ve used it with someone to help him or her make sense of suffering. Its basic meaning is that people with hurts in their past often hurt others. A Hindu might call it karma. The apostle Paul used the metaphor … Read More
Engage Fear or Avoid It?
Picture yourself in line to ride the biggest, fastest rollercoaster at Six Flags Great America. You feel nervous as the people all around you rave about the steep drops, the banked turns, and the cobra roll. You inch toward the platform, notice your quickened heartbeat and upset stomach, and wonder, “Will this rollercoaster be fun or a nightmare? Should I … Read More
Coming Together as a Blended Family
This article is written by BCC Counselor Dr. Lucy Ann Moll as part of our new series on the family. In this series, our counselors examine various difficulties of family life and share ways to pursue healthier family dynamics. Blended families have ups and downs, joys and messes. If you’re in a blended family, you know what it takes to … Read More
Help and Hope for Your Social Anxiety
This article was written by BCC Counselor Lucy Ann Moll as part of our new series on Mental Health. In this series, our counselors hope to call churches and Christians to re-engage with the discussion and care for mental health struggles. Ally called in sick again. No cold or flu that day. Rather, she dreaded giving a work presentation and … Read More
The 5 Lies of Panic Attacks
When panic attacks occur, the sufferer hopes that the terror will stop instantly and never return. This is a certain truth about panic attacks: no one wants them, ever. Panic attacks are brief episodes of intense dread accompanied by physical symptoms like an irregular or rapid heartbeat and sweaty palms. When you’re in the middle of one, they seem anything … Read More
Pursuing Peace from My Anxiety
Is it possible to live anxiety-free and in peace? To be “anxious for nothing,” as the apostle Paul mandated us believers? Anxiety is a distracting care that diverts our attention from the eternal Lord to temporal, earthly concerns. It not only divides our minds, but also weighs us down. Whether nagging worries, debilitating panic, or any other expression of it, anxiety has powerful and negative effects on the body, and we’ve all experienced it.
7 Tips to Make a Great Apology
When we are under a lot of stress, our anger may bubble over and scorch someone. Then what? We may think that we are justified in our anger and that the other person deserved our hot words or our icy stare. But Scripture provides a better way: confession leading to forgiveness. In other words: an apology! Jack and Jill needed … Read More
Afraid? A Method to Calm Your Fear
Where fear flourishes, there your heart will be also. [1] From a mild sense of unease to full-blown panic, fear is an emotion most of us would rather live without. It communicates that someone or something we care about is being threatened or that we might lose it. Fear shows us what we value most. Consider these three folks who … Read More
Counseling Via Video: 3 advantages and 1 downside
When a hurting person meets with a biblical counselor via video, the world opens. Counselees living in Topeka or Timbuktu, and every place in between, can receive the benefits of counseling by the Word and in the power of the Spirit, wherever they are. In fact, all that’s needed to “deliver” biblical counseling is the internet. And some 4.5 billion … Read More
