Rob McPherson is back on the podcast to discuss what we should be looking for to expand lives and grow our ministries. Instead of trying to increase our numbers in the crowd, look for individuals you can care for. Better than something else for you to do, they are opportunities God is strategically giving you. Your care will matter.
Caring for the grieving and suffering exposes an incomplete or shallow theology. It sure did mine! I meant well, but I thought the “Good News” of the Gospel meant a perpetual good mood, victory and happy endings to every story. That is not reality and it is terribly disappointing. An accurate understanding of who God is and where he works is not only a complete theology, it works better because it is connected with reality. The we find real comfort and hope.
Do you get a heavy feeling when you are caring for people who are suffering? How do you think God feels about the suffering and wrong in this world? How do you think we should feel about it? I have been having many episodes of a darker, melancholy mood. In this episode of the podcast I discuss this feeling with that conclusion, this feeling might be the right feeling. This may be the feeling of care.
My conversation with Anthony was intense. Anthony is a combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He lost friends in battle and on this side to suicide. He helped me see what Vets really want and need, how little we really understand why they are different when they return from battle and how their intense commitment to serve needs and equal proportion of commitment from our care to them. His friend and mentor/supporter, Jim, joins us so we can see what this caring relationship looks lik...
Joe Hess came to this week’s conversation with raw emotions from his father’s recent death and the call, earlier the same day, to support a family who just lost their adult child to suicide. But, even though the circumstances were difficult and the intense emotions were sad and dark, there was also the feeling of being where he needed to be in supporting people in their times of greatest need. This is heavy lifting in care ministry. It is meaningful and rewarding beyond measure and this is where...
This week Dan takes time to explain why Memorial Day is special to him, and how we can remember, on this sacred holiday, those who paid the ultimate price. He shares the names of the men on his Dad’s B-17, Lassie Come Home, who were on that fatal mission, where four survived and six perished.
A meal is always a welcome expression of care. It meets a need that comes up at least three times a day. When it tastes good it brings pleasure to the day and when it is enjoyed with others it provides life-building fellowship. In my conversation with Marquise Merriweather, you will hear of meals served to honor a loved one and to help people who are having a hard time. I’ve worked with his crew and the story of this generous ministry will make you feel good and might give you an idea or two....
Often we “exclude” people, who would like to be involved, from our churches. Autism, dementia and other disabilities should not mean people do not fit into ministries. Including them requires intentional effort but not as much as you would think, and the benefits extend to everyone in all of ministry. I am proud to introduce Tori White and Friendship Ministries as she tells her story and describes the expertise and tools they offer to include the disabled.
Where does the grief journey lead? Are there stages that everyone experiences? How do we move forward without forgetting our loved ones? While everyone’s grief journey is personal and unique, there is a process most of us experience. These stages were identified by the late British Psychologist, John Bowlby. My good friend Jason Mueller is back to share his story of grief after losing his nineteen year old son, Austin, to murder. He will help us identify the goal of grieving and Bowlby’s stages ...
It is hard to understand the value of Care Ministry because you cannot measure your return on investment and usually, it takes place one on one, behind the scenes, in the uncomfortable place where a need emerges. In this episode a Care Pastor has come to terms with that in his own soul and serves for an audience of one and finds care ministry to be personally rewarding. His stories help the care ministry cause by helping make visible the type of service that is valuable beyond measure.
The picture of my calling was coming into focus. Every life matters, each death is sacred and grief is the most common human experience became defining applications for God’s love and my role in serving Him. Mark Brewer asked me to preach for him on my Main Lessons as A Hospice Chaplain. That sermon is my story and I hope it will help some of you clarify your niche in life and ministry.
Susan’s mother has been gone for 37 years, yet Susan still misses her. Her mother was a wonderful example of being a wife. She was full of wisdom and ideas on raising children, and she was a ready and reliable encourager to Susan. So, when Susan was only 29 and her mother was diagnosed and died from cancer at age 52, Susan had to live with a huge piece of her life missing. In this episode, Susan tells how hard that is, but also demonstrates to live fully blending sorrow and joy while never forge...
We can do something about the Mental Health crisis that is affecting our culture. I don’t mean to oversimplify a complex problem. Professional help is often required, but not always and. Even when it is, peer support can help it work better. In this episode I have a conversation with Kimberly Britt, Executive Director of Anchor International, a faith based organization that trains and provides Mental Health resources to help us do something. “I wish this was in every school and every church,” sa...
His condition deteriorated sooner than they expected. It seemed like all at once the question of Hospice came up. Even though it came quickly, this wife sees the value in choosing Hospice care sooner. Within her story there is advice of how to make that decision. It is about living and making the last chapter of life the best it can be.
This “Who Cares?” episode contains advice, hope and celebration for anyone suffering from profound grief and disappointment. In an incredibly articulate account an expectant mother tells of the day her world was rocked with the news that her baby had profound birth defects. She describes the emotional roller coaster of hope and disappointment during the pregnancy. After delivery, she tells of precious times of love and care that were experienced for the brief one week life of her precious Sara B...
Jason fell to his knees when he heard that his nineteen year old son had been shot to death. That began Jason’s, sometimes unbearable, journey of grief. As he tells his story, we also learn about grief and grieving, the importance of talking and the Ministry of the Other Chair.
In this episode a dad shares very openly how much his son’s addiction tormented the whole family. We hear a lot about addiction, but understanding what people actually go through equips us to care for them make a difference in our culture. And, if there is an addiction in your family, this episode will let you know you are not alone.
Jim Gilbert is a businessman and former military, and has a heart for those dealing with PTSD. From comrades to his father-in-law he has helped soldiers returning from war deal with their PTSD through one thing... listening. Sometimes that is all we are able to offer, but it is the help most needed when dealing with various trauma.
Rob McPherson works a demanding job in the professional world of Real Estate compliance, and at the same time has dedicated his life to providing 1-1 care for people in the church as a Care Pastor. In this conversation he uses the imagery as “A View from the Rooftop” as he scans the world below for people who need care. Providing this care, helps people feel God’s love and helps them open their lives to Him as their savior and Lord.
Everybody needs to care for other people and everybody needs to learn to care effectively. But why do some people look for opportunities to care? Why do they allow their own tragedies become building blocks to living a life of compassion for others? From the time she was a child, this woman was moved by the needs of others. Hear how the tragedy of her son’s suicide helped her care for others and ask yourself, if God can use your heartbreak to enlarge your compassion. Are you ready to learn how t...
Terrible things happen to even the most together people. Good moms are not safe from bad and tragic events in the lives of their kids. And bright and deeply spiritual people need help and support too. The suicide of a son rocked the world of this mom. Hear how she found comfort, strength and the loving support from another mom who knew how to care effectively. She also knew the pain of a son’s suicide.
Some people are made to make a difference in other people’s lives. They have the heart to do it, the examples to show the value of caring and the convictions that fuels the fire to make a difference through caring. Are you one of those people? Should you make this a priority in your life? How can you position yourself to be ready to care for people when they are in a dark hole?
A cool job is not enough to make one happy when divorce puts you in a deep emotional hole. What does someone in a deep emotional hole need the most? Why is it normal to resist what is most needed? Hear what happens when this musician and sound professional took the chance to share his story with a trusted Stephen Minister. The results will amaze and encourage you. Maybe other men in a dark place will man-up to talking to another man so their lives can experiencing emotional, relational and spiri...
Is there more to serving people than performing tasks and doing good deeds? Can you make a difference in another person’s life? Is it possible to help someone who is experiencing something you have never experienced at a level darker than any place you have lived? Watch how this man overcame his doubts and questions and learned to walk alongside a man in a dark place. A life was changed and a friendship was begun.
Men think they can solve their own problems. Engineers think they have the power to figure everything out. The male engineer could not find the answers to his dark place in life due to a divorce. All he needed was to talk to someone, but he was reluctant to talk with anyone. He did not want counseling. Watch how he learned to relate in a healthy open one to one relationship that resulted in happier emotions, healthier interpersonal skills and healing in his spirit.
A continuation of Episode 1 Can you help someone when you have needs of your own? Can you help someone if you have junk in your story? Can you care effectively for someone even if you have doubts about your abilities and do not have any training to be a caring professional? Hear how this woman followed the training of Stephen Ministry to learn how to care with presence and listening. Her caring worked when nobody else’s did. Her care changed a life.
What is the best way to care for a mom going through a divorce, who has three teenage children and one who almost succeeds at suicide? The circumstances are overwhelming. She does not know where to turn for help. Emotional exhaustion makes it hard to think. Advice is not the answer. So what is? Hear her tell what she really needed, how she found it and how a person with caring skills that helped her through this terrible time
Welcome to this journey of the Who Cares? podcast. Your care matters. People feel better when they know that you care about them—especially in the hard times. So, “Who cares? Well we all care about people and things to some extent. But in this podcast, we are here to search for answers to the question, “How can we care better?” Join us as we sit down with people who received care in their grief, and others who have offered care to people grieving. This our journey to learn to care better....
