Do you want to remedy the shallow stereotype of “take two verses and call me in the morning?” Are you ready to stop placing band-aids on your friends’ suffering and sin? Then engage in mutual gospel conversations based upon a biblical way of looking at and living life. Gospel Conversations: Ephesians 4:29
ABC Blog
You can guess the age of my children by the title of this post. You may remember the scene I’m about to paraphrase. McQueen lost a race (and the chance to get out of town) to the old, run-down Doc Hudson because he kept sliding out of the turn on the small town dirt track.
When our Christian counselee says something like, “I just can’t forgive myself” as biblical
I’ve recently moved from the city to the country. I used to live within ¼ mile of Interstate 15, one of the busiest freeways in the world. I knew that we were near the freeway and I knew that it was noisy, but I never realized just how noisy it was until I returned to our old home. I was surprised, no, shocked, at just how loud that freeway was. It seemed deafening to me. Wow, I thought, I never heard this before! Aside from a trivial vignette about our transition from urban to rural life, is there something more to be learned here? I think so. I think we can learn that a noise can be so loud that we just don’t hear it anymore.
One of the great joys and freedoms of working at TS is the ability to have more time to counsel people. In the past, I counseled families for an hour to an hour and a half per session. With an arbitrary time frame like that, many decisions have to be made by the counselor based on how much time is available. Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”
We seemed to have it all: professional success, adorable twin daughters and a good marriage by worldly standards. But our picture-perfect image concealed a widening chasm between two people unable to connect on an intimate level. This led to 10 disappointing years of marriage, seven painful years following our divorce and one remarkable, true-life story of a love rescued by God.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way,
The word “boundaries” is a popular word in our culture today. From books and pop-psychology, to talk shows and everyday conversations at the local coffee shop, this topic of “boundaries” is a hot topic among people as we try to navigate our relationships. “I have to establish my boundaries.” “I need to figure out how to set up better boundaries with my in-laws.” “You need to define boundaries with your husband so he knows when he’s crossed them!”
In my last post we looked at how Proverbs 18 gives invaluable instruction regarding the importance of being a good listener in counseling. In this post we look at a case study of biblical listening in action. Here is an example from Solomon’s own life as recorded in I Kings 3. This is a concrete, practical example of what Proverbs 18:15 means by having active ears. Here is the text of the case study: 1 Kings 3:16-28 16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
The opposite of love isn’t hate, it is indifference. Indifference says I don’t care enough about you to give you my time, my energy or other resources to show interest, care, or love towards you. Indifference says how you feel or what you want doesn’t matter to me. Indifference says you are not a person to love, but an object to use. Indifference says I don’t need to change anything to make our relationship better for you if it’s okay for me. Indifference says that you exist for my benefit and when you don’t please me or benefit me anymore, you are replaceable or disposable.