Human Pride and the Praise of Men What do you love more than anything else? What is it that you are convinced will make you happy? These questions form a basis for what we live, whether we are aware of it or not. All of us live for something . . . something we treasure, hope in, and in which we find pleasure.
Note: You’re reading Part One in a blog mini-series on The Law and Church Counseling. I’m summarizing this series from material in chapter twelve of Equipping Counselors for Your Church. To learn more about the book, visit Equipping Counselors (embed link http://bit.ly/EC4YC4E). The Elephant in the Room When I discuss legal and ethical issues in my seminars on Equipping Counselors for Your Church, I show a PowerPoint slide with a picture of an elephant in a living room. No one likes to talk about ethical and legal concerns in church counseling. They are often the unspoken elephants in the room that motivate church leaders to squelch biblical counseling ministries.
In every relationship, every day you harvest what you previously planted and plant what you will someday harvest. When division and acrimony take place in a relationship, we aren't experiencing mysterious difficulty. No, sadly, we're harvesting what we've sown. In this fallen world, where we're always sinners in relationship with sinners, one of the most beautiful and protective things God calls us to is forgiveness. But forgiveness doesn't always look beautiful to us. Sometimes holding onto a wrong seems to us to be a better way. Isn't it amazing that we who rest in and celebrate the forgiveness we've been given,
<p> For those of us who have the privilege of counseling other people on a regular basis, it is a sobering task to speak words of life and truth on behalf of God to a person who is hurting. Thankfully, in Jesus Christ we have an example of how we are all to approach personal ministry when we read the following in Hebrews 4:15-16:</p>
The Big Idea: Learn how to help others to receive the wonders of Christ’s forgiveness. (Excerpted from Spiritual Friends.) Grace Dispensers When a brother or sister repents of sinful patterns of the heart, we need to become dispensers of Christ’s grace who communicate “it’s wonderful to be forgiven." Three categories summarize the types of gospel
My husband and I were flying to Florida for a needed vacation. After we dragged ourselves through security we sat down to reassemble ourselves. Glancing up we observed an odd and troubling scene behind the airport information desk. “Inappropriate!” I said. “Weird” was the word my husband
Unless you live on a deserted island all by yourself, you understand that anger is a hugely important topic. Child abuse, conflict in the home, divorce, broken relationships, road rage, and much more are the result of sinful anger. These sinful expressions of anger are not just the problem of people who don’t know God, even Christians must wrestle with the issue of anger.
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw-n4, franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(60, 60, 60) !important;"> 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.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; font-family: franklin-gothic-urw-n4, franklin-gothic-urw, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(60, 60, 60) !important;"> 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?</p>
In Psalm 107:1-2, 8, 15, 31 and 43, God makes it clear that His number one driving motive behind allowing some of us to experience certain trials and tribulations is His saving love. He loves us enough to allow us to be hurt in the short-term if it leads to our salvation in the long run. That's the number one reason why God allows some to go to prison: He loves them.
"For behold, those who are far from you shall perish." (v.27) I was not designed to be on my own to author my own story to compose my own rules to live with me in the center. I was not designed to look for life outside of You to treasure the creation to love people, places and things