Ministries for everyday life: Nehemiah Notes and Psychology for Living
Ever find yourself troubled by spiritual questions you’re not sure how to answer? Questions like:
- How persistent should we be in praying to God—if a prayer isn’t answered, should we keep praying, or interpret God’s apparent silence as a “no”?
- How can we distinguish between God’s will for our lives, and our own personal desires?
- Is God a matchmaker? Is there a specific person singled out to be my spouse?
Chances are you’ve asked yourself at least one of these questions in the course of your life. They’re the sort of questions Christians are sometimes good at carefully stepping around without really addressing the spiritual issues behind them. But for years, Blaine Smith of Nehemiah Ministries has been posting his “Nehemiah Notes” essays, which deal with difficult and sometimes uncomfortable questions about the Christian life. Blaine started his ministry as a way to help the many Christians he encountered who were seriously confused about understanding God’s will for their lives, and over the years he has written about a huge variety of topics. There’s a massive archive of Nehemiah Notes essays—over 100 in all. New essays are posted every other week.
That’s a lot of reading material, and if you find it helpful, you might also take a look at some of Blaine’s books, which address topics ranging from marriage to overcoming shyness. (I’ve read a couple of his books myself and found them quite helpful.)
Blaine’s ministry also calls to mind another organization in the Gospel.com community—Bruce Narramore’s Psychology for Living website. Bruce has also written a large number of essays addressing tough questions, with a special focus on relationships and emotional issues. Both ministries are well worth exploring; both have a lot of content to help you get through the spiritual and personal questions you’re bound to bump into in the course of everyday life.
