"Continue the Conversation" with Dr. Don Allen

Is there a Balance between an Awesome God and Mental Health?               I sit in my office and deal daily with patients that have dual-diagnosis; they suffer from addictions to alcohol, crack, pot, and any number of substance and life controlling problems.   However, that is not the worst of it, some also struggle daily with the problems of mental health issues.   Issues such as depression, anxiety, post trauma stress disorder, Bi-polar, and this list could go on.             Each of these issues in there own right could cause serious life problems for the individual.    They cause arguments, miscommunication, frustration, anger, resentment, and who knows how long this list could be.   Family members want the individuals to just do what is right, get over it, pull themselves up and move on, don’t sit around an mope all day.   The individual has a sense of confusion, why am I this way?   But the despair and inability to kick these feeling just keeps looming overhead, and frus

Ethics is not always easy! David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the world’s largest church, was convicted recently for embezzling twelve million dollars. Evidence was presented, witnesses were heard, and disagreements were voiced about court room procedure. I am disheartened that I am subjected to only the opinions of the various news media and their biases. Several well-known pastors have focused on just the greed aspect of this case in articles they’ve written or in their blogs. I believe that they have left out an important aspect of this case: ACCOUNTABILITY , as in the ethics of our actions and behaviors within the ministry and all the relationships within that ministry. The past is littered with these types of cases where a minister goes astray, becomes unaccountable to his ministry, and destroys many relationships. This is a very scary thought that is described in scripture. Accountability is not only required of all ministers in the financial aspect of the church, but in wh