This post is simply a summary post on chapter 22 “The Central Elements of the Biblical Counseling Process” of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling. Randy Patten and Mark Dutton submit that there are six practices that summarize the counseling process: Gathering pertinent information Sorting out the problems Involvement Hope Instruction: the path forward Homework What follows is…
Several weeks ago I finished Mistakes Leaders Make by Dave Kraft. It was a short, easy read with several helpful principles that leaders tend to make. His list involves mistakes that oftentimes go unaddressed which is unfortunate because they can have serious consequences, to the pastor and church or both. Read through the following list…
If you’re interested in reading one book on biblical counseling read Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling. It gives the nuts and bolts of biblical counseling and is thoroughly biblical, focused on Jesus and is saturated with God’s Word. The chapters included the power of the Redeemer (Jesus), the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the unity of the…
Biblical confrontation is an expression of Christian love.
I’ve recently been reviewing Paul David Tripp’s book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change and was challenged by his words regarding confrontation. Typically when we hear the word rebuke or confrontation we immediately think of something negative or possibly…
This past Sunday I made the statement that the underlying reason for our sinful behavior, thoughts, affections and words stems from unbelief. For sure this unbelief manifests itself in a lot of ways but I humbly believe it is an overflow of not believing the truth and promises of God’s Word and instead believing the…
Tim Chester and Steve Timmis in Everyday Church: Gospel Communities on Mission give five principles of community-based, gospel-centered, mutual pastoral care that are very helpful in answering the question, “what does everyday pastoral care look like.” And just as a preface they contend that “pastoral care is not the sole responsibility of pastors anymore than evangelism…
This past weekend Ed and Kathy Litton facilitated a marriage retreat for Indiana Pastors/Wives and among many of the encouraging and challenging things Ed shared was the issue of where is security found. A Christian’s security should not be in anyone or anything else but the person of Jesus. If we wrongly place our security in…
It’s been over two weeks since the bombing in Boston so most people’s thoughts, unfortunately, have moved on to other things; such is the nature of our culture and lives. However, we need to be intentional about understanding and being able to explain why things like this happen and how to rightly respond to events…
Two weeks ago my wife and I returned from our 10-year anniversary cruise. It was relaxing, rejuvenating and much-needed. We were blessed by my bride’s parents watching our kids for 9 days – yes, read that again, 9 days; they served us in an amazing way in those 9 days by taking care of our…
