Our elders are reading through Paul David Tripp’s book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change and I am continually challenged and exhorted by his words. Here are five principles he draws from Genesis 3 to give us a biblical understanding of…
I’m reading through Brad House’s book Community: Taking Your Small Groups Off Life Support and wanted to share a an excerpt that speaks to how sin distorts and perverts community. God’s purpose in creating Adam and Eve were that they would be fruitful and multiply,…
First, you should humble yourself or ….(James 4:7-10) with the Gospel and a Cross-centered perspective. Here’s some practical steps as well: Pray for God to search your heart (by His Spirit with His Word) and help you repent of pride and to grow in humility (Ps 139). Read the Law, Psalms and the Prophets often…
Humility manifests itself in the following ways: Recognizing and trusting God’s character (Psalm 119:66) Seeing yourself as having no right to question or judge an Almighty and Perfect God (Psalm 145:17; Romans 9:19-23) Focusing on Christ (Philippians 1:21; Hebrews 12:1-2) Biblical praying and a great deal of it (1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:1-2) Being…
Pride manifests itself in the following ways: Complaining against or passing judgment on God (Numbers 14:1-4, 9, 11; Romans 9:20) A lack of gratitude (2 Chronicles 32:25) Anger (Proverbs 28:25; Matthew 20:1-16) Seeing yourself as better than others (Luke 7:36-50) Having an inflated view of your importance, gifts, and abilities (Acts 12:21-23) Being focused on…
Brad Hambrick from The Summit Church has some outstanding videos on overcoming anger. Admit I have a struggle I cannot overcome without God – Video 1. Acknowledge the breadth and impact of my sin – Video 2. Understand the origin, motive and history of my sin – Video 3. Repent to God for how it…
Personal ministry is not about always knowing what to say. It is not about fixing everything in sight that is broken. Personal ministry is about connecting people with Christ so that they are able to think as he would have them think, desire what he says is best, and do what he calls them to…
This is summary from Mark Driscoll’s and Gerry Breshears’ book Doctrine on what is sin. In the Old Testament sin is described and defined in many ways: As a relational breach – Gen 2-3 where because of their sin our 1st parents are separated from God and one another; they hide from God and one…
Listen Up! A practical guide to listening to sermons is a short, yet insightful book that was given out at T4G last year. If you’re looking for a good tool to teach your church on how to listen to a sermon this is a great resource. You can access a short summary here.
What follows is a short summary of remaining three practices in the biblical counseling process. The first three practices (gathering pertinent information, sorting out problems and involvement) were summarized in an earlier post, which can be found here. Hope: The biblical definition of hope is “the expectation of something good.” The authors also add their…
Theology Along the Way 