by Colin McFarland | Apr 27, 2023 | Blog, Care & Counseling
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” | 2 Corinthians 1:3 No, how can that be! Not another one! It was all too familiar, another phone call sharing that a friend had lost a spouse. In the space...
by Colin McFarland | Apr 27, 2023 | Blog, Care & Counseling
You can’t fix it all It starts before our children are born. The desire to protect them from harm. We “childproof” our homes to soften the rough edges of life. We try to move all the dangers out of their reach. It feels like our responsibility to create a “safe” place...
by Colin McFarland | Apr 26, 2023 | Blog, Care & Counseling
Last year Mission Hills Church hosted more than 30 memorials. Our congregation is filled with people who are grieving. Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to know how to care for those who are hurting. If you search social media, you will find thousands of recipes...
by Colin McFarland | Feb 21, 2023 | Blog, Care & Counseling, Reflection
Mental health is a popular and growing societal focus. The human brain, the most complex of organs, influences all that we experience, both good and bad. As the stigma around mental health continues to (thankfully) decline, more and more people openly share their...
by Colin McFarland | Feb 8, 2023 | Blog, Care & Counseling, Reflection, Values
We’re a Bible-driven church, but what does that mean? While Christians could safely assume that God’s Word was considered a reliable source of truth for most of the last 2,000 years, that’s not the case anymore. Since the dawn of postmodernism in the 19th century,...
by Colin McFarland | Jan 5, 2023 | Blog, Care & Counseling, Reflection, Values
Ever struggled to change your thoughts? It can be tough to change unhealthy thought patterns if you’re just trying to remove unhealthy, unholy thoughts. A better strategy is to replace them with better, God-centered thoughts. And the best source of good replacement...
by Colin McFarland | Nov 3, 2022 | Blog, Care & Counseling, Marriage
As a parent of a teenager, it can be so difficult to know how to have important conversations with your child. Perhaps you resonate with a conversation like this that happens daily or weekly: Parent: Hey! How was school today? It is so good to see you!Child: Oh…it was...
by Colin McFarland | Oct 26, 2022 | Blog, Care & Counseling, Marriage
Seeing at-risk marriages saved and transformed is close to the heart of God, and our church. Too often, couples are told by the world that their problems cannot be solved and they should, therefore, divorce. However, this perspective fails to consider the reality of...
by Colin McFarland | Jul 11, 2022 | Blog, Care & Counseling, Reflection, Values
Research has determined that our thoughts are a driving force behind how we feel. As an authority on the subject, author and psychiatrist Dr. David Burns writes: “Your feelings result from the messages you give yourself. In fact, your thoughts often have much more to...
by Colin McFarland | Jan 11, 2022 | Blog, Care & Counseling, Guest Author, Reflection
Research has indicated that many find the middle of January to be the most depressing time of the year. The holiday cheer has faded and the bills accumulated for it are arriving. The cold and dark of winter persists and there doesn’t seem to be much on the calendar to...
