I deliberately did not name anyone in my post or link to any blog posts. However, I can understand why you think that the blog post was partly about yourself.

I’m very glad to read of your joy in ministry. I suppose it’s part of the pain of ministry to be misunderstood. However, whenever I’ve been misunderstood, my first response is to thoroughly examine not what I think I’ve communicated but how people have perceived it. I think any objective reader of your recent posts and writing would conclude that you’ve had an imbalanced emphasis on the negative and the discouraging. May I humbly suggest that perhaps you could use my critique to re-balance your message so that what is read in public more accurately reflects your private and ministry joys.

When we put words in the public sphere, I think it’s fairly common practice to assume that people will make conclusions based on what they read, and sometimes make a public response. I am worried about the image of ministry that you are portraying at times, and also the impact on pastors.

BTW, I use many of your wonderful counseling resources in both the Seminary and in local church ministry, and appreciate them very much.

David.