Ryan Bailey
“Strange how complicated we can make things just to avoid showing what we feel!” -Erich Maria Remarque- “…but I shouldn’t feel this way.” I have heard it, and even said it myself, very often. There is some emotion inside of me that lurks, feeling uncontrolled, like I can’t get rid of it…can’t make sense of it…so…
“There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain.” -R.D. Laing “Where do I start?” Almost every person that sits across from me has trouble knowing how to tell me their story…how they got to be sitting in a…
I want to wish you a merry Christmas and Happy New Year from 1st Principle Group! As I reflect on this year I am thankful for the ways you have allowed me to challenge you each week. The responses I receive from you are always encouraging and often challenging to me as well! As we…
When we turned the corner and entered the grounds of the church, I immediately froze. My wife and I were on vacation, exploring a foreign city, excited to visit the grounds of a church that was over 1,000 years old. What caused me to freeze was not some gorgeous stained glass window, or the sheer…
As I reflect on this previous year, I am struck by a constant theme I saw in a lot of the work I did with clients. When people have experienced years of abuse, unhealthy relationships, darkness, and relentless anxiety…they tend to make sense of it all by reducing it to small, bite-size statements of fact…
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my wife and I traveled on several flights and as many of you know, this provides sufficient time for reflection, rest…and people watching. More often than not, I get really excited about flying. I understand why people don’t like it, but I’m pretty content to sit and read or watch movies…
“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted,…
“…the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit…” Isaiah 61:3 I have been camped out in Isaiah for the past few months working on a paper specifically looking at chapter 61. It has been a good exercise diving deeper into what was happening at the time of this prophecy and how the people hearing…
We’ve been on this sex and singleness journey for a little over a month now and we’ve got just three weeks left. I hope that you feel the freedom to ask questions, offer thoughts/dialogue, and begin discussions within your own realms. And if you find that you leave with more questions than answers, I’m so glad.…
Compiled below are links to the second series of our Gospel-Centered Sexuality newsletter, Sex and Singleness. Click here to join us and sign up for our weekly newsletter offering Gospel-centered sexual education to empower, equip, and support you.