Back in my early days of ministry, I was a kindergarten teacher at a Christian school. Those were the four longest years of my life...actually, that's not true. They were four great years, because I was finally with an age group that I could relate to!
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Marriages have needs. Two sinners reside together in a fallen world, and while the power of sin has been broken, the presence of sin still remains. This comprehensive, life-long relationship will require spiritual care. No matter the size of your church, there will never be a staff large enough to provide for each marriage. Will many marriages be left unattended? Will the spiritual needs of couples go unnoticed?
Marriage is hard. Even in the best marriages, the heart of each spouse tends to turn inward and build the kingdom of self. Most of my marriage counseling clients at least claim to be believers in Christ. Most of them regularly attend a bible-teaching church. Most of them are in some kind of small group community within their church. And…most of them are seeking biblical counsel because their marriage is struggling in some way— perhaps profoundly.
<div class="BlogEntry" style="font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="Body" style="margin-bottom: 30px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: both;"> <p> <span style="line-height: 1.7em; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit;">On several occasions I spoken on the topic of sexual abuse and the shame associated with it. Shame is such a pervasive part of any kind of abuse or any sin. What has profoundly impacted me as I’ve thought about all this is how my brothers and sisters are overwhelmed by the sin of sexual abuse and the shame that accompanies it.</span></p>
"...for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence." (v.12) "Breathing out violence," perhaps no two words in Scripture more dramatically capture the powerfully damaging presence of sin than these two words. Imagine a human being, who was made in the image of God, made for loving worship of the Lord and loving community with others, getting to the place where they've fallen so far from God's original intention that they actually exhale violence! You don't have to look very far to see the dramatic damage that sin does
If you walk into a Christian bookstore, go to the area where Bibles are sold and you will be amazed at how many Bibles there are. There’s the Spirit Filled Life Bible, the Battlezone Bible, The Good News Bible, The Archeological Study Bible, the Apologetics Study Bible, the Rainbow Study Bible, the Thompson Chain Reference Bible, the Reformation Study Bible, and on and on. Walk in a church and you will find a small
It’s interesting to ponder the Psalms and how they view “depression.” It is such a rich view. Honestly, it makes a DSM-V view of depression seem quite flat and shallow by comparison. Richness in Definition/Descriptions of Depression In the Psalms we discover a great variety of descriptions of depression.
I was speaking at a major Christian University about building healthy relationships recently and a student approached me with a problem. He said, “You teach mutuality and reciprocity are important components in
If you're not familiar with the recent tragedy involving Jake Evans, a 17-year old, homeschooled young man who shot his mom and younger sister, read/watch/listen to this: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/09/17-year-old-kills-his-mother-and-sister-calls-911-to-turn-himself-in/ Being involved in prison ministry, I frequently scan the headlines for the latest crimes and convictions. I was working late one night when I read about Jake's crime and listened to his chilling confession for the
Have you ever noticed how some things correlate? The amount of air pressure in your tires affects the smoothness of your ride and the gas mileage of your vehicle. The amount of sleep you get influences your memory and mood. The nutrition of your diet affects your susceptibility to certain diseases. Let’s examine another correlation – the level of honor in your sense of humor significantly influences the level of honor in your conflicts. While I am not a mechanic, sleep specialist, or nutritionist, I am a counselor and have seen this principle hold true quite frequently.