How Pastor-Counselors Differ from Secular Counselors, by David Powlison

The uniqueness of your message is easy to see. But you already know this. I won’t rehearse the unsearchable riches of Christ, or the 10,000 pertinent implications.

But I do want to note the uniqueness of your message by contrast. Every counselor brings a “message”: an interpretation of problems, a theory that weighs causalities and context, a proposal for cure, a goal that defines thriving humanness. How does your message compare with their messages? Simply consider what our culture’s other counselors do not say.

To discover what they do not say and what we have to say, go here.

Helpful Quotes to Consider (of Late)

“Remove Christ from the Scriptures and there is nothing left.” Martin Luther

“The Bible is not fundamentally about us. It’s fundamentally about Jesus.” Tim Keller

“Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment.” CS Lewis

“God will not go forth with that man who marches in his own strength.” Charles Spurgeon

Timeless Wisdom for Seminary Graduates . . .

. . . and for me.  Delivered by Archibald Alexander, November 1815.  A taste:

In these hints of advice I subjoin an earnest exhortation that you look well to the spiritual condition of your own souls. Endeavor to obtain full satisfaction on Scriptural grounds that your piety is genuine. It will be an awful thing to preach to others and then become a castaway yourself. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure.

Endeavor also to grow in grace. Keep up a lively sense of religion in your own hearts and strive to promote lively piety in others. While you await the best gifts, remember that there is a more excellent way. No gifts, no knowledge, no beneficence, will serve us any purpose without charity; that is, without sincere love to God and man.

For full article, go here.

Thinking Theologically About Depression: It’s Causes and Cures

An interview with Mark Mellinger.

The Church and Homosexuality: Ten Commitments, by Kevin DeYoung

Of the many complexities involving the church and homosexuality, one of the most difficult is how the former should speak of the latter. Even for those Christians who agree that homosexuality is contrary to the will of God there is little agreement on how we ought to speak about homosexuality being contrary to the will of God. Much of this disagreement is owing to the fact that there are many different constituencies we have in mind when broaching the subject. There are various groups that may be listening when we speak about homosexuality, and the group we think we are addressing usually dictates how we speak.

For the entire article, including pastoral wisdom on understanding who you are speaking with and the ten commitments, go here.

On the Reliability of the NT

See the graph here, and here for more helpful and useful information concerning various biblical subjects.

One Ministry, Two Kingdoms, by Paul Tripp

I think this is a particular war of mine, and so important to consider for all like me — which may just be every Christian!  Excerpt:

The biggest protection against the kingdom of self is not a set of reformative defensive strategies. It’s a heart so blown away by the right-here, right-now glories of the grace of Jesus Christ that you’re not easily seduced by the lesser temporary glories of that claustrophobic kingdom of one, the kingdom of self. The problem is that no matter how committed I am to the big kingdom, I am always grappling with the dynamic of shifting treasure.

Go here for the full article.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Woefully and Tragically Fallen, by Steve Cornell

An article giving consideration to a holistic approach to Christian counseling.  Thought-provoking read, whether you entirely agree or not.  A taste:

Evangelicals have a significant stake in the decision-making nature of human beings. Terms like belief and unbelief, obedience and disobedience, are part of a biblical grammar of responsibility. Accountability and culpability are essential concepts in relation to the bad news about sin, the good news of the divine gift of salvation, and the expectation of final judgment. Typically, only extreme cases of mental disability find exemption from this understanding of willful human agency and accountability.

With this longstanding view of human responsibility, it should not be too surprising that evangelicals—particularly in the fields of counseling—have been reticent to accept the relatively recent findings of medical research that attribute moods and behaviors to neuro-physiological conditions. As neuro-chemical deficiencies became an established social narrative for explaining a host of personal problems ranging from depression and anxiety to learning deficiencies, suspicion of these findings has grown. Some evangelical leaders worry that the findings of neuroscience assault biblically based theological conclusions about humanity, sin, and even salvation.

For the full article, go here.

On What It Means to Be Biblically Balanced

It is not to give equal airtime to every biblical theme, says Tullian Tchividjian, rather it is:

To let our theology and preaching be proportioned by the Bible’s radically disproportionate focus on God’s saving love for sinners seen and accomplished in the crucified and risen Christ.

Go here for full article.

Fake Love, Fake War, by Russell Moore

A short but necessary read for every Christian, particularly of the male variety, living in this present generation of rampant pornography and irresponsible gaming.  We were created for much, much more — real love and real war!  Go here.