Suicide, Silence in the Church..

Matthew Warren

Copy right all rights reserved, 2013 This includes ideas as well as material.



In the United States on average, a suicide occurs every 17 minutes.
Most of them go unmentioned. Most obituaries because of stigma do not mention the word suicide.    It seems to me the most common label used in obituaries is "died unexpectedly".
You probably have heard -- Rick Warren, son, Matthew, (Rick pastors the Saddle back Church, one of the largest churches in the country), committed suicide.  Because of Pastor Warren's fame, which came about after  came after he wrote, A Purpose Driven Life), a window has been opened that creates an opportunity for a national discussion about suicide.  Suicide, is responsible for  49.1 of the world's violent deaths.  This is much more than both homicides and war related deaths.  It is a global problem. Another man of God, Dr. Frank Page, lost his daugther to suicide.  He has written a book aboutt it called Melissa: A Father's Lessons from a Daughter's -Daughters-Suicide   
You can read about it at
 http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Fathers-Lessons-Daughters-Suicide/dp/1433679108
Hi this is a re post from 2010.

Statistics on suicide tell the story. Fifteen percent of persons with a depressive disorder will successfully commit suicide. It is hard to understand how a person can ‘out of the blue’ begin to have intense thoughts of taking his/her own life. However, if you have been seriously depressed you can empathize with those who are stepping near the threshold of eternity.

“Just saying no” will not work when you are dealing with suicide.

The nature of the disease and the devil himself, prove formidable obstacles to cause a person with severe depression  to keep living.  Suicides are complex because they involve biological chemical imbalances, strong and clever Satanic attacks and some other things we cannot mention because of space.  In our book Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It, the largest chapter is on Suicide and Suicide prevention. Please see the link below.

Suicide, the elephant in the room
Suicide is the subject and the death that very few talk about. It happens all the time. If you don’t believe that, just look at the statistics for this last decade. It is not getting any better; in fact, it is getting worse.  Some think it to violent to discuss it.  It is violent just as murder is violent. Do we address murder? It is happening to our sons and daughter, to our children and our parents.  We need to talk about it and then talk about it some more.

Pastors should be trained in suicide assessment

Yes, we know that The battle belongs to the LORD. However, this does not mean that churches should just “let go and let God”, when its members come up against suicide.   In your church, you should have a Suicide Hot Line. The pastors should be trained in suicide awareness and stop gap interventions. The devil is a very intelligent being. He knows more Scripture than we do. He takes advantage of the hopelessness and the  horrible psychic pain of depression and he is merciless.

  Suicide leaves in its wake, children who will practice it like the parents who model it. Most people don’t commit suicide the first time they try it. Each time a person attempts suicide, it weakens his/her resolve to live.

 

If you are pastor, we have a seminar by which we can train your staff and other groups in your church. Our book Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing  is a  true story of depression and God's grace helping Robyn and me to persevere in the faith while suffering horribly. Broken Minds  has an academic standing with Kregel.Publications of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  If you would like to see the table of contents and some material in the book; Please go to this link http://books.google.com/books/about/Broken_Minds.html?id=HQAzGHfmdJUC

 

Please order our book,  It is available by paperback, E-book and Kindle.
For more reviews please go to http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187

Our website is http://www.heartfeltmin.org