Biblical Counseling
7 Items for a Pastoral Care Team Meeting Agenda
Every week I sit with our Care and Counseling Team to review the current people we are caring for. This is not always a short meeting. On any given week we may have as many as 60 active cases to review. A "case" is someone that we we are currently engaging in biblical counseling or are caring for in...
Taking a PAUSE to Pursue Peace
When it comes to describing the current state of our world, peaceful is not the word most people would use to characterize culture. God calls us to a kind of peace that doesn’t mean living in the absence of conflict. Instead, He gives us a roadmap for navigating the struggles and disagreements that come when sinful people engage with one another, inevitably leading to broken relationships. Here is a way to take PAUSE to pursue peace.
Biblical Strategies for Dealing with Anger
Biblical definition of anger. Anger is a God-given emotion of displeasure. It is seen in Scripture as being something felt and expressed by both God and man (ex. God: Ps. 7:11; 78:49; Jesus: Mark 3:5). Anger can be righteous or unrighteous. Even if our anger is righteous, anger is not something we strive to possess or keep in our lives....
10 Resources for Counseling Marriage Conflict
Prepare and Enrich Prepare and Enrich is a tool that was designed by Dr. David Olsen to help evaluate the health of a couple’s relationship. This tool can be used for premarital and marriage relationships. It is something that a counselor would administer and facilitate for the couple, allowing them to see what is happening behind the scenes in their...
Six Strategies for Developing a Caring Relationship with My Counselee
The Bible is the source by which I provide all biblical counseling. It is not just a filter by which I pass all my theories and thoughts. Rather, the truth I impart comes solely from Scripture, and in doing so, I will provide biblical and practical care for my counselees. The following are six biblical strategies to develop a...
Top 10 Internet Resources for Depression
Biblical Counseling Coalition – Depression Articles This site has an excellent list of articles, audio and video resources on the topic of depression. There are several different biblical counselors that wrote these articles, giving a variety of perspective and expertise. Tools and steps are included to help the counselor know where to start and how to set realistic goals for...
Biblical Counseling After Suicide or Suicidal Thoughts
Suicide is one of the most difficult types of suffering and pain we can experience. Counseling those who are in the wake of a tragic loss, or those who are contemplating taking their own life, requires deep biblical wisdom. The Bible has hope and help to guide us. The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors has given me permission to share...
I Want to Punch God.
Life is not fair. God is always fair. Shelly (name changed) is a woman who has had a very hard life. The things she has told me in our counseling sessions are enough to make me depressed. I’ve told her time and again, “I wish there was a ‘reset’ button I could push for you. Life has been so hard...
Forty-Eight Things you Can Do to Relieve Anxiety
Dealing with anxiety can be an up-and-down journey. The hills and valleys come when you least except them. We would love to just take the short cut to avoid them, or the straight path that will cut right through them, but it is not always that easy. Believe me, I know. Anxiety is a frequent feeling that I have dealt...
The Search for a Biblical View of Counseling (A Helpful Article Review)
Dr. David E. Carlson wrote an intriguing article in the mid 70’s that was delivered at the Research in Mental Health and Religions Behavior Conference in 1976. It was title, "Jesus’ Style of Relating: The Search for a Biblical View of Counseling”. His goal for this article was to “Bridge the gap between carrying helping professions and dedicated to communicating...
A Proven Tool for Breaking Sinful Habits
Breaking a sinful habit can take a lot of faith and work. The prophet Jeremiah asked a provoking rhetorical question when he wrote in Jeremiah 13:23, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil." He was making the point that evil that is so ingrained...
“You Did What?” and Other Questions You Shouldn’t Ask When Counseling
As a pastor, I have the opportunity to do quite a bit of counseling. I get to sit with the people that I care about deeply and delve into the problems of their life. As I’ve been doing this more and more over the last 6 years, I’ve learned many valuable lessons. Most of my lessons were taught to...