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Care for Self is Caring for Others

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As a counselors (or perhaps just as a caring person) you might tend to put others first and focus on their needs above your own. This pattern in life might be sustainable for a short time, perhaps during a crisis, but if that becomes a lifestyle the ability to support diminishes. If you are not well, you cannot help others become well. Therefore, it is critical that you take time for your own well being and growth apart from caring for others.

Does that sound selfish to you? If so you’re in good company. A lot of people struggle with self-care because they believe that to practice self-care is to stop caring for others. After all, if we are taking time to care for ourselves then we are taking time away from caring for others. However, if we understand self-care correctly it is accurate to understand that the better we are practicing self-care the healthier we will be and the more effectively we will be able to care for others. Continue reading →

It’s Not Just Locker Room Banter!

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Disclaimer: This post is not meant to start a long political debate about who is right and who is wrong. It is also not meant to start a long political debate about a person’s ability to govern our country. This is not my endorsement of one candidate over the other. This post is only meant to speak to a larger topic that has come to the forefront during an already tumultuous campaign season.

For days, I have seen responses to Trump’s words about his treatment of women and a large majority of them have been done well; however, it seems that the majority of the articles have been written from a non-male, non-Christian perspective. This post is an attempt to fill that small gap that has been noticed and why as a Christian male I am outraged and you should be too over the words spoken by Donald Trump. Continue reading →

Social Media Crisis

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Facebook has over 1.7 Billion users. That means that within the last month over 1.7 Billion different accounts have been accessed and used to connect with one another to view, share, and like post by other users that they may have never met but consider “friends.”

Social Media. The place that we go to hide in the open. We escape into a land of hashtags and picturesque photos of our latest vacations or the most recent newlywed couples that allow us to believe the fairytale others choose to tell us. Continue reading →

How Dare We?!

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Two days after the largest mass shooting in the United States, I find myself incredibly angry. It’s easy to be angry after such an unnecessary, careless, incomprehensible act of violence. I’m angry at the young man who felt this was a necessary action. I’m angry about the investigations that came away with results that didn’t prevent the young man from purchasing the weapons he used to carry out his act of hate. I’m angry that so many people died for no reason. However, I think more than anything I’m angry about our response in the wake of tragedy.

So for now I turn to my blog, a space that I hope I can open a dialogue by sharing my thoughts, hoping that from this you hear my anger as more than just anger. I wish I could say that people around the country were coming together and mourning for the victims and the family and friends that were left behind. Continue reading →

Time to be a "doer"

John ChapmanLeave a comment

I live in a bubble. I go to church where most of the people are Christians. I go to Southeastern Seminary where EVERYONE is a Christian. I hang out with my small group one or more nights a week, they’re all Christians. My girlfriend and her friends, Christians. I like it in my bubble because it’s comfortable. I am surrounded by Christians on all sides. They are my buffer. I don’t have to worry about those difficult conversations where people might not believe what I believe or might challenge me. I’m preaching this Sunday at a church that is not often frequented by large numbers of non-believers. That’s easy. I don’t have to worry about someone leaving with a bad taste in their mouth towards Christianity because what I say challenges them to their core. Most of the population will be elderly people who have been a Christian longer than I have been alive. I’ll most likely even get the occasional “Amen!” That’s how I like it. Comfortable. Continue reading →