“In order to suffer without dwelling on our own affliction,” Thomas Merton once contemplated, “we must think about a greater affliction, and turn to Christ on the cross. In order to suffer without hate, we must drive out bitterness from our heart by loving Jesus. In order to suffer without hope of compensation, we should […]
Sunday’s coming
Highlight Longings: God created us for Paradise, but we now live in a desert. So we thirst (John 7:37-39), we suffer (John 16:33), and we groan for home (Romans 8:18-25). Biblical discipleship counselors keep their hearts and ears attuned to the discrepancy in the soul between what people were designed for (Paradise) and what they […]
to embrace you with is love
But it doesn’t stop there. Can the Father turn a deaf ear to the pleas of his own Son? (If Jim can’t, you can bet God can’t. And if he can, we’re in Big Trouble.) The answer resounds from an empty tomb three days later: No, may it never be! And because the Father raised […]
shame separates—sorrow connects
Satan seeks to fill our souls with shame that separates. Paul labels it “worldly sorrow [that] brings death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Satanic shame involves self-contempt and self-disgust that causes me to despair of all hope that God could love a sinner like me. Condemning shame convinces me that God has forever justly rejected me. Godly […]
the thrill of delighting
The Trinity is a mutual admiration and adoration society of shared glory. In John 1, the apostle John carries us back before time began. In John 17, Jesus is our time traveling Guide. In His prayer, He transports us to that infinite stretch before time so we can sense the unbounded esteem the Trinity shares. […]
I Know Lord, But…
This article came from: Dr. Rick Thomas Founder & Director Mt. Carmel Ministries & Biblical Counseling Education 816-437-8410 www.mtcarmelmin.org Lamentations Author: Probably Jeremiah although others have been suggested. Date: Sometime around the final fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC Purpose: Lamentations means “lamenting,” “sorrow.” The author is greatly saddened, grieved, and in painful anguish over […]
possessing Christ’s righteousness
Christian women who have been abused in childhood often confuse the exhortations and commands in Scripture with the harsh judgments of their abusers. They feel condemned by the passages intended to comfort them. For this reason it is crucially important to build a firm foundation on the indicatives of Scripture (what God has done for […]
Love As Christ Loved the Church
The Father looked out at a world in rebellion against him. He saw the world filled with “children of wrath.” He saw children who had rejected him, walked away from him, turned their backs on him, and wanted nothing to do with him. And what is the Father’s response? Out of his great love, he […]
Successful Ministry
Can someone who can’t see, hear, or talk be “successful in ministry”? One of the most effective evangelists I’ve ever met was a child who never uttered a word. Mandy was born into our family two years ago, severely and profoundly retarded due to microcephaly. At first we desperately prayed that Mandy would develop some […]