Sad. A man who has dedicated his life in suicide prevention has taken his own life. It came after 3 months battle with depression. The late pastor, Bill Lenz was sent on sabbatical after he revealed to elders and other
ministry leaders that he had begun experiencing sudden panic attacks.
A friend explains, "Over the last three months, he had what he would have just called anxiety. He would have bouts where he would be close to panic attacks or he would have panic attacks. And it was just so mysterious for him because he had never dealt with anything related to that at all. It was troubling to him. 'Like where did this come from.'"
It was also troubling, because of who Lenz was — an optimistic suicide prevention advocate.
"But he never led us into the darkest hours that he had. He would tell us he had these moments of anxiety. He would tell us that he had trouble sleeping, but we regularly asked if he had any self-destructive thoughts and he would always push that away as far as possible that, 'no, of course not, I would never consider it,'" his friend added.
He said his pastor's death has been a wake-up call for members of his leadership team to ensure they take time for self-care.
One of the recipients of Bill's goodwill wrote on Facebook: "Bill led me to Christ in 2012. After my own suicide attempt and battle with addiction, Bill preached to me about the hope and forgiveness offered in Jesus. Without Bill, I might not be here either. You will be greatly missed. Although I never expressed how much I owed to you, I'm looking forward to telling you all about it one day when I join you in the presence of our beautiful Savior."
*This thing called depression...
A friend explains, "Over the last three months, he had what he would have just called anxiety. He would have bouts where he would be close to panic attacks or he would have panic attacks. And it was just so mysterious for him because he had never dealt with anything related to that at all. It was troubling to him. 'Like where did this come from.'"
It was also troubling, because of who Lenz was — an optimistic suicide prevention advocate.
"But he never led us into the darkest hours that he had. He would tell us he had these moments of anxiety. He would tell us that he had trouble sleeping, but we regularly asked if he had any self-destructive thoughts and he would always push that away as far as possible that, 'no, of course not, I would never consider it,'" his friend added.
He said his pastor's death has been a wake-up call for members of his leadership team to ensure they take time for self-care.
One of the recipients of Bill's goodwill wrote on Facebook: "Bill led me to Christ in 2012. After my own suicide attempt and battle with addiction, Bill preached to me about the hope and forgiveness offered in Jesus. Without Bill, I might not be here either. You will be greatly missed. Although I never expressed how much I owed to you, I'm looking forward to telling you all about it one day when I join you in the presence of our beautiful Savior."
*This thing called depression...
Are there really problems that prayer cannot solve?
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