Author: Nate Brooks

When Your Spouse Suffers from Chronic Pain or Illness, Part One

Many forms of suffering are quite adept at catching people’s attention. The twisted metallic crunch of cars colliding, the sheer devastation of neighborhoods pummeled off the map by spiraling winds, the shock of a spectacular sin that can no longer be hidden–all capture people’s attention and, most often, their help. But not all forms of suffering are so spectacular enough to warrant recurring news articles. Some exist only in quiet whispers, unseen by most harried passers-by. Debilitating chronic pain and illness is one of those quiet sufferings, a trouble that most commonly draws its victims from the center of the room to its outer edges Continue Reading →

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You Have Heard of the Complexity of Job

The book of Job starts out like a crisp thriller. There’s an argument between God and His Adversary, followed by the instantaneous plunge of the main character from the pinnacle of prosperity into a dystopian nightmare. From the ashes, he affirms his loyalty to God, and his circle of close friends comes from near and far to…well…make bloviating speeches at him across the next twenty-odd chapters. So much for the Job-as-thriller concept. Continue Reading →

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Understanding the DSM

This week’s mini-series on the Grace and Truth Blog focuses on understanding the DSM and its categories from a biblical worldview. In our first article, Nate Brooks provides an overview of the purpose and usefulness of the DSM. In other contributions to the series, Howard Eyrich addresses what to do with a diagnosis brought by a counselee, Lilly Park discusses children and the DSM, and Jordan Williams offers an example of providing counseling for the DSM diagnosis of OCD. Continue Reading →

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Book Review of Gwen Tells Tales: When It’s Hard to Tell the Truth by Ed Welch

The publication of another title in the Good News for Little Hearts series is always an occasion for rejoicing in the Brooks household. My six and 4-year-old sons love these stories, and my wife and I love having heart-focused tales to draw from as we all live life together. If you’re unfamiliar with this series, each title follows an animal family in their adventures in the town of Mulberry Meadow. As human as you and me, the animal children run into some kind of trouble that highlights trouble in their hearts: lying, fear, pride, and all sorts of other things. The books seek to engage kids’ hearts as they see both trouble and God’s help and grace set side by side. They’re truly marvelous. Gwen Tells Tales is a wonderful next entry in the series, focusing on the ever-tempting trouble of lying. Continue Reading →

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Book Review of Help! I’ve Been Diagnosed with a Mental Disorder by Christine Chappell

Some books take courage to write. I suppose every author has a certain degree of courage as they set ideas in stone and allow others to evaluate and critique them. But some topics are more fraught with confusion and trouble than others. Christine Chappell’s Help! I’ve Been Diagnosed with a Mental Disorder addresses a topic that is inescapably personal. Mental disorders are not an “out there” topic, distant from people’s lives, but an “in here” topic that is woven through a person’s own perception of reality. Whatever we may think of the term “mental disorder,” we must first start by recognizing that it speaks to a person’s experience of themselves and others and that deep suffering is taking place. Continue Reading →

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