“Christ-centered, church-based, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally informed biblical counseling depends upon the Holy Spirit to relate God’s Word to suffering and sin by speaking and living God’s truth in love to equip people to love God and on another (Matt. 22:35-40). It cultivates conformity to Christ and communion with Christ and the body of Christ, […]
A Purpose of Scripture
“The person who routinely looks in the mirror without making alterations does not understand the purpose of the mirror. Likewise, the person who reads or listens to God’s Word without applying what he has heard obviously doesn’t understand the purpose of Scripture” (C.J. Mahanney, Why Small Groups?, p. 9).
What Counts in the End
“No matter how extensive one’s scriptural knowledge, how amazing one’s memory, it is self-deception if that is all there is…It is not what one knows, but what one does that counts. True knowledge is the prelude to action, and it is the obedience to the word that counts in the end” Peter Davids quoted in […]
wise love in action
Wise counseling is essentially a way of loving another person well. It is a way of speaking what is true and constructive into this person’s life right now. Good counseling is essentially wise love in action. David Powlison, Speaking Truth in Love, p. 5-6.
As Iron Sharpens Iron
“This is what we want to work toward in our small groups. Like Wesley’s Band Societies, we want our small-group meetings to fulfill Proverbs 27:17; ‘As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another.’ Even as we rest fully secure in our justification before God because of the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son, let us […]
Leaders want to change lives
The people I consult with are hungry for a comprehensive, real-world approach to equipping God’s people for one-another ministry. Like you, they want to empower others for the personal ministry of the Word—as biblical counselors, caregivers, spiritual friends, elders, deacons, small-group leaders, disciplers, or mentors. Leaders want to change lives” Robert Kelleman, Equipping Counselors for […]
Freedom From Sinful Desires
There has been a lot of talk recently about homosexual men living godly Christian lives. They claim to do this by living celibate lives. You can read about a book written on this subject here. I will be the first to acknowledge that I might be missing something here, but I don’t understand how a […]
Empiricism and Psychology I
“Empiricism is the doctrine that all knowledge is derived from the senses—what we see, hear, hold, weigh, and measure. Obviously, moral truth cannot be stuffed into a test tube or studied under a microscope. As a result, moral statements were no longer considered truths at all, but merely expressions of emotion” (Nancy Pearcey, Saving Leonardo, […]
We need others
“There is a common yet false supposition among Christians that practicing the spiritual disciplines (prayer, memorizing and meditating on Scripture, fasting, confession of sin, etc.) is sufficient to maintain spiritual growth. But as vital as these practices are, they are not sufficient. Small groups provide the encouragement, correction, and accountability that are necessary to keep […]