I’m not sure why, but The Lord has been dealing with me to GET SERIOUS!  I have hesitated and fought.  Some may not like the subjects I will be talking about.  However, if one does not know there’s a problem, they cannot deal with it.
   Part of the problem is a growing feeling that we must be POSITIVE within our participation of church service.  We don’t want to bring someone down.  We want to lift them up.
If we are lifting them up, then why are there more Christians suffering from depression than ever.  A Christian shouldn’t be depressed.  But we are!  Sometimes, in that depression, all we need is someone to talk with.  Someone who will listen.
   Here are some stories you might find difficult to hear since they have occurred within Christians.
   A lady working at a fast food restaurant in my home town was talking with me.  We had never met.  I told her I was a minister.  As we talked, she began to cry and share: “my daughter committed suicide”!  She began to tell how her daughter went to church regularly.  She believed in The Lord.  Circumstances and hardship put her into a depressed mode.  She tried to talk with her pastor who was busy.  She tried to talk with friends who were either busy or un-interested.  Life became so hard, she gave up.  Some may think this will send her to hell.  I believe God understands and forgives.  We believe God takes people to heaven who have mental problems.  Depression is a mental problem.  None-the-less, WE ARE NOT GOD!  Thankfully so.
   Another story is a boy who was so intent on helping others that their depression became depressing to him.  In his depression, he would take walks.  Once, his walk was over an icy pond.  He fell, he drowned.  People in his church said that he just sat in the back pew and never talked with anyone.  They felt they should just leave him alone.  I knew this boy.  He was my son.  I responded that he just wanted someone to come to him.  To be a friend!
   Another story is of a man who would talk with a Christian couple he knew.  The pain was intense.  He cried.  They told him to “Quit your Belly-Achin”.  They said a real Christian would not dwell upon their problems.  They should only speak positively.  The Bible tells us to help one another.  To lift each other up. 
   How can we lift one another up if we close our ears when one is down.  The Bible says not to forsake the fellowship.  Part of that fellowship is testimony on the good things.  It is also necessary to hear about the bad things.  You cannot help someone if you don’t know what’s wrong.
   Medication seems to be offered as a cure for one’s depression.  I reject that notion.  The cure for depression is love.  Why is it that medication for depression always comes with a suicide warning.  Think about it!
   There is someone, somewhere that needs to know that God is there when things are bad as well as when things are good.  Things are not always good.
   Why bother crying if no one cares.  Why bother taling if no one listens.  Why bother loving if no one loves you.  This is what creates depression.  This is what creates HATE!
   Our leaders must address other issues than preaching the Gospel.