Consider the well-meant evangelical exhortation to “invite Jesus into your heart.” I assume this imagery comes from Revelation 3:20 (“I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me”). But why, on the basis of […]
having your identity reconstructed
You need to know God’s statements and images about who you are, not self-produced positive statements or the lies being told to you by your experience of disgrace. Confronting your distorted self-Image and having your identity reconstructed is not a chore you do but is the fruit of having faith in the person and work […]
Why You Can’t See Your Biggest Flaws
In my last article, I wrote about the 18th-century pastor John Newton, who showed us that most Christians live with obvious character flaws that ruin both their joy and also their Christian witness. But why do so many Christians live this way? Our natural virtues, which come from inborn temperament and family nurture—such as our […]
Anger
Introduction: Few things destroy people faster or more completely than anger. It crushes those it is unleashed upon and it shatters the person who has gotten angry. It often destroys every kind of relationship and even when forgiveness has been requested and granted, things just don’t seem to be what they were. It destroys relationships, homes, churches, […]
The Sufficiency of Scripture For Counseling
This book is a collection of true accounts about real people. The men and women featured here received hope, peace, joy, and dramatic change in their lives from Jesus Christ as they met with him in the pages of his Word, the Bible. These stories recount the details of how these people came to seek […]
Does Your Church Have a Mission?
So what is the mission of your church? Can you articulate it? Does it instill passion in you that causes you to live your life differently? How about the rest of your church? Do your church members display passion and ownership of the mission, or do they finish their pancakes? (Brad House, Community, p. 71).
Take Your Grief To God
In Mattew 5:4 Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Grief and mourning are a pivotal part of restoration. It can involve an extensive and painful process of identifying and experiencing many losses. There is much to grieve because much has been taken from you: the loss of control over […]
Great is Thy Faithfulness
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he […]
Putting It All In
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus […]