I was describing the emotional toll that ministry takes on pastors while they are encouraging and counseling people who experience especially difficult times. The person I was speaking to had received training for this very thing as an emergency medical technician. He said, “That’s compassion fatigue.”
DD didn’t even know which Grand Rapids charity or church it was. He only knew that they brought gifts to his house every Christmas. As his mother invited the strangers delivering the toys into her house, she thanked them with many hugs and tears. Then, while the toy deliverers were present, she placed the gifts under the tree. The volunteers left the house thinking they had fulfilled the hopes and dreams of another needy family at Christmas when their generosity and kindness had actually contributed to a recurring nightmare.
“Ask yourself: Is too much empathy really the problem you see in your church? In your pastor? In your life? We should all examine where we are and seek to accentuate what is right while repenting of what is wrong.” - Ken Brown
“Have a normal conversation. …a normal conversation about life, sports, family, who has the best French fries, whatever. Somewhere along the way, a problem with a child, a health concern with a family member, or an issue at work will pop up. Just offer this: Would it be OK if, when I pray, I include that in my prayers?” - Lifeway
“We’re all for ethics, all for kindness, all for grace, when we’re the potential victim. But when grace is called for from us, we want to live by the loopholes. In this instance, you see, it’s different. No. It’s not.” - Olinger
“…in Alaska, a church’s pastor preached from the parking lot during a drive-in Easter service, while the interior of the church was being used as an alternate hospital site to manage the overflow of COVID-19 patients. The last time churches in the U.S. were turned into temporary hospitals was during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.
“… if we recognize the inherent value of the individual we would aim to restore that person to a condition of personal freedom and independence. Our goal would be to raise the poor to a place where they are personally responsible for their own lives.” - IFWE
“What happens when they get there is difficult to predict, but it could be ugly. The country’s immigration dilemma will almost surely rise to new levels of political passion and rancor.” - American Conservative
…how do we properly respond to a big world in which needs surface according to their “newsworthiness” but rarely get solved immediately, and instead just disappear from our notice?—John Stackhouse
“According to blogger and Pastor Jarrid Wilson, “Hate the Sin, Not the Sinner” isn’t working out very well for the Christian community.” Crosswalk
