Do you struggle with a Christian perspective on mental health? In the last couple decades or so, the topic of mental health has become increasingly popular with more and more people talking about it. You can’t really go far without either experiencing a form of mental illness or knowing someone with mental illness. But what exactly is mental illness? Why is it difficult to talk about? We talk with Christian counselor Brad Hambrick this week to address these important questions. In addition, he also talks about how we, as Christians, ought to consider medication as a solution to mental health. So, whether or not you personally struggle with mental illness, the wisdom and knowledge Brad gives during this conversation will help you.

 

Who’s Our Guest?

Brad Hambrick serves as the Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church in  Durham, NC. He also serves as Instructor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and has authored several books including Do Ask, Do Tell, Let’s Talk: Why and How Christians Should Have Gay Friends and God’s Attributes: Rest for Life’s Struggles.

Episode Links

Make sure to check out Brad’s site which is full of resources.

Read It

*Below is an edited transcription of the audio conversation.

With me today is Christian counselor and author Brad Hambrick. Brad serves as the pastor of counseling at the Summit Church in North Carolina. He’s an instructor of biblical counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and he’s also a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, so lots of counseling. Thanks for being here today, Brad.

It’s great to be with you. Thank you for the invitation.

You know, as we do with every single one of our guests, it just really helps kinda paint a picture of the voice. If you want to, it would be great to hear how you met Jesus, and also, what your day-to-day life looks like right now.

I came to faith at a small country church in the rural Midwest, Kentucky. I grew up on a corn and soybean row cropping farm, and came to faith under the faithful preaching and teaching in about a 150-200 member church, was nurtured in my faith by the same Sunday school teacher from the age of third grade through eleventh grade, as there were five or six of us. That was the totality of the youth group at our church, who were invited into the home, and played with, and taught the Scriptures there, in that area.

At this juncture in my life, I have two boys of my own, who are ten and thirteen. My wife Sally and I are having a blast, and this is that season of life when school, and different sports leagues, and hobbies, and the kids still want to play and have you be a part of most things that they’re a part of. And so that fills most of our days, and it really is a joy.

That’s awesome. Do you have any enjoyable hobbies that you do?

Well, right now, I’m coaching my boys’ sports teams, which happens to be baseball for each of them. A couple years ago, my youngest informed me that it was his goal that we run a marathon together before he graduates high school. And so, while I don’t enjoy running,