Tag: anxiety

  • Be WHAT?

    Be WHAT?

    Be not afraid, be strong, be not discouraged, be anxious for nothing, be transformed. How are we supposed to obey God’s seemingly impossible commands? During a recent sermon, our pastor was teaching through Jesus’ healing of a leper, who threw himself on Jesus’ mercy and implored Him: “Lord, if You are willing, You can make…

  • Salt and Light Online

    Salt and Light Online

    During the pandemic, I was honored to be asked to address a student leadership conference for a Christian school in the Philippines via Zoom. Looking over my notes, there isn’t much here that doesn’t apply to ALL of us with any kind of online connection. In order to follow Jesus’ call to be salt and…

  • On Suicide

    On Suicide

    The incidence of depression, anxiety, and suicide has skyrocketed as the isolation and life-disruption from Covid-19 has ravaged our world. I wrote this post in April 2013, but it’s even more salient today. Over the weekend, Rick Warren (pastor of Saddleback Church in California, author of The Purpose Driven Life) and his wife Kay revealed…

  • Addressing  Anxiety in Tumultuous Times

    Addressing Anxiety in Tumultuous Times

    Byron Barlowe connects the dots between the universal problem of anxiety, what brain science is teaching us about our minds, and how Scripture and spiritual disciplines can help. In a world consumed by violent riots and trauma surrounding the Covid virus, this is a timely topic that God and science speak to well. Millions of…

  • From Fears to Tears

    From Fears to Tears

    In a previous blog post, I’m Scared, Lord, I wrote about my apprehensions concerning my upcoming hip replacement surgery. My doctor was cheerfully confident that I would not experience the post-operative pain I was afraid of, but I was all-too-aware of my potential complications. As a polio survivor, I’m twice as sensitive to pain as…

  • I’m Scared, Lord

    I’m Scared, Lord

    My daughter-in-love recently sent me a video of my son introducing their new Golden Retriever puppy to a swimming pool in which he coaxes little Judah, “Don’t be scared! Bohlins don’t get scared!” . . . While I’ve been working on this blog post about being scared. Well yeah, sometimes we do. For four years…

  • A Doctor’s Journey with Cancer

    When you suddenly learn you might have only 18 months to live, its a good time to sort out what really matters in life. Last December, Yang Chen, MD, dismissed an aching pain under his shoulder as muscle strain. Five weeks later, as the pain persisted, a chest x-ray brought shocking results: possible lung cancer…

  • Starting Over: Facing the Future after Significant Loss

    February 13th fell on a Tuesday that year, but it seemed like my unlucky day. My wife of twenty years was divorcing me; it would be final in two days. February 1, my employer had shown me the door—on the twenty-fifth anniversary of my employment. Now, on February 13, I was in my physician’s office…

  • Overcoming Anxiety: Finding Real Peace When Life Seems Crazy

    What makes you feel anxious? Being late or unprepared for work or appointments? Maybe unresolved interpersonal conflict. Airline travel? Public speaking? Fears of losing love? Serious illness or a friend’s death?  This article is also available in Spanish. What makes you feel anxious? Being late or unprepared for work or appointments? Maybe unresolved interpersonal conflict.…

  • Fear and Its Remedies

    All set for the next terrorist attack? Got your biohazard suit? How ’bout your gas mask, radiation detector and potassium iodide pills? A new store opened in Manhattan recently, only a few blocks from Ground Zero. “Safer America” markets personal safety products for a post-9/11 world. Work in a high-rise? Have you considered a personal…