God also uses shocking words and phrases to describe those who are his: redeemed and forgiven (Eph. 1:6—8), made righteous (Rom. 5:1), new creation (2 Cor. 5:1), God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10), reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18), saints (l Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1), chosen, holy, and beloved (Col. 3:12), child of light, not […]
The Church is Vital To Biblical Counseling Ministry
“Biblical counseling must not only be church based; it must also be church driven and church saturated. One of the critiques often leveled against biblical counseling is that we can leave observers thinking that all you need for successful counseling is a godly counselor, a Bible, the Holy Spirit, and a willing counselee. All biblical […]
Comfortable Sensibilities
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Counting the Cost of Sexual Immorality
I know this article is a couple of years old, but I thought it was worth sending out again—just in case you missed it the first time.
Shame
Introduction: When Ed Welch begins a lecture on shame he often asks the audience if they have ever experienced shame. He pauses and adds ‘debilitating shame.” Most of the time, everyone in the room raises his or her hand. When describing what shame is, one author likens it to the response of a supreme court […]