Comments on: 7 Broken Men: David Brainerd

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 22:40:37 +0000

In reply to Chï. I reread my comment. And I stick with it. Did you read his diary? I was making a comment about what he wrote about himself in his diary. Not about what has been written about him by biographers and others. Actually, I can agree with your comparison to the apostles and others AND stick to my point about manic-depression.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 22:11:03 +0000

In reply to Chï. Chi Very well said. Thanks.

By: Chï

Chï — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 21:07:39 +0000

Umm… I don’t think you guys really understand. This man lived the life of the original apostles (by this I mean the first century apostle). They saw the work of God as a do or die affair ( sorry, even that is an understatement). Paul the apostle in Philippians 1: 21 said ” For me to live is Christ and to die is gain”. This was, has been and will always be the original Way of the one we follow , Christ. Even Jesus himself, if you recall from the bible, didn’t even have time to eat , to the point where His disciplines were almost practically begging Him to eat something.
The balanced truth now is this: not everyone will be called to this form of service to God . There will always be the nominal christians and at the same time, there’ll always be those whose very lives will be required for the furtherance of the Kingdom. Jesus was the first to thread this path, the apostles also along with the countless martys who are now among the cloud of witnesses ( Heb 12:1). If you want to pitch your points on Brainard’s mental health, remember that David also suffered from terrible depression, even Jesus himself was ” troubleled unto death ” at mount olive. Sometimes, God permit His faithful ones to go through the toughest and most scandalous paths just so HE can be glorified and if you don’t see the glory in that, remember that it isn’t yours to judge or determine God’s choices.
Look, I know we’re in different parts of the world, and you might feel my view of the faith is a lil over the top , and I may feel yours is watered down and shallow, but it all depends on how far we permit the Holy Spirit to take control and teach us . But please, mind how you state your views sometimes because that you might take lightly may be what may be bringing hope and strength to another wailing son of God somewhere who has willfully taken the chains of a slave to to the things most of us may not in order to propagate the Kingdom of Light (Acts 28:20)

By: Lila

Lila — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 02:59:35 +0000

In reply to Jo McKenzie. I'd love to connect! Should I put my email here?

By: Jo McKenzie

Jo McKenzie — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 20:22:58 +0000

In reply to Lila. Hi Lila, this has been my experience too. It nearly killed me. I am just working through it now after a breakdown that has taken me five years to even begin to recover from. I was so anxious I began to have delusions. I was in an elite academic career before and have just today started a new academic job. I would love to connect if you were open to it!

By: Lila

Lila — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 02:08:16 +0000

In reply to Michael. You should read "Scattershot" by David Lovelace. It's a great memoir of a man and his bipolar family. The father was a pastor, and was really into studying the Puritans.

By: Lila

Lila — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 00:59:01 +0000

In reply to Joseph Paquette. thank you :). Glad I was able to give voice to this issue.

By: Joseph Paquette

Joseph Paquette — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 22:44:22 +0000

In reply to Lila. Wow, you summed that up so well. I struggle with those same feelings and it has crippled me these many, many years.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 17:15:57 +0000

I have been reading Brainerd’s Diary. If the day to day entries accurately reflect his experience, he must have been manic-depressive. Frequently declaring himself a nothing whom God has left and then hours later declaring he’d never felt more Spirit enabled to devote himself to God forever, his was an emotionally intense roller coaster of a daily life. His extremes of feeling about himself and his religious practices couldn’t have been good for his physical health. Humility before God and man can become an idol.

By: Lila

Lila — Sat, 29 Jun 2019 14:22:13 +0000

I personally think that Brainerd’s physical and mental health issues and his early death stem from a warped, performance oriented view of God. That he was operating from a place of slaveship versus sonship. I read a book a few years ago about burnout and depression amongst missionaries, written by a Christian psychiatrist, who has done a lot of work with missionaries. She said that a common factor in those cases was the “mindset” of the ministry: working as a slave, thinking that you must prove your worth to God and man by what you do, as opposed to working as a son. I was in my own season of overcoming that mindset. Even though I wasn’t a missionary, I viewed my work as my ministry. I suffered from severe burnout and breakdown.

And, like these broken men…my own abandonment trauma was at the root of it. The rejection that I faced from my own father was at the root of my warped view of God. A God who, like Jonathan Edwards, created me as a disgusting spider and is waiting for an excuse to drop me into the flames of Hell. I do not personally believe that this kind of theology breeds virtues of faith, hope and love. It certainly didn’t in my life.