Counseling for Christians Feeling Conflicted

An idea that you may not have been exposed to, an insight that could change everything, is that God is to be found in that very challenge – the crux (cross!) – of the issues we face.  We do not need to live in fear of new information, personal insights, or our questions.

Perhaps you’ve got issues that you just don’t feel comfortable talking about with your pastor. On the one hand, you want to remain faithful to Christ and on the other hand, you can’t discount your intellectual insight, intuitive knowing, or sense of self at a deep level. But your church or spiritual community says that you must choose between one and the other.

As a former chaplain in an academic community (The University of California, San Diego), I know well the dilemma that often is faced when trying to reconcile faith and reason/experience.

For many, the event of the cross is about “what God did on that hill apart from me to save me from sin.” My theological perspective is that “what God did on that hill” is about God’s presence with us under our own cross to meet us in our crises of life. But God in Christ, who is Immanuel (God-with-us), entered our estrangement to rescue us from it and put estrangement itself to death.

As one trained in theology and psychology, I know the terrain of personal growth, crises of faith, and the ways in which we may both embrace AND transcend former systems of belief and behavior. I look forward to assisting you to integrate your life and faith.