Narrative in Therapy and Theology: A Biblical Response to Susie Orbach’s Narrative Therapy
PAPER • Often, counselees are rife with inaccurate perceptions exposed by errant narratives and trenchant problems in living. In light of these issues, I raise a pressing question: how should a counselor approach interpreting and realigning counselees’ narratives to life-giving truth?
Read time: 25 min
Intimate Fellowship with God
DEVOTION • “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23).
Read time: 2 min
Teaching the World: Foundations for Online Theological Education
Book Summary • Timothy Paul Jones et al., Teaching the World: Foundations for Online Theological Education (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2017. Kindle Edition. 188 pp. $10.
Read time: 7 min
Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning
Book Summary • James Lang, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, 2nd ed. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2021). Kindle Edition. 260 pp. $19.
Read time: 7 min
The Illuminating Revelation of God
DEVOTION • “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).
Read time: 2 min
What the Best College Teachers Do
Book Summary • Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004). Kindle Edition. 207 pp. $22.
Read time: 5 min
Never Alone: The Promise of the Holy Spirit
DEVOTION • “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18).
Read time: 2 min
Hear, My Son: Teaching and Learning in Proverbs 1–9
Book Summary • Daniel Estes, Hear, My Son: Teaching and Learning in Proverbs 1–9 (Grand Rapids: InterVarsity Press, 1997). Kindle Edition. 174 pp. $12.
Read time: 5 min
Adopted by God: Embracing Our New Identity
DEVOTION • “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15).
Read time: 2 min
On Christian Doctrine
Book Summary • Augustine of Hippo, On Christian Doctrine, trans. J. F. Shaw (Aeterna Press, 2014). 175 pp. $7.
Read time: 4 min
The End of Guilt
DEVOTION • “Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me” (Jer 2:22); “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Is 1:18).
Read time: 3 min
Part 3 – What Are We Doing Here? How the “Aims” of Biblical Counseling Differ from Secular Therapies
ARTICLE • Biblical counseling diverges from the aims of secularized therapies in multiple ways, including the desire to transform lives into the image of Jesus Christ, to bring about personal sanctification, and to relate realistically to counselees in light of the realities of both God and indwelling sin.
Read time: 7 min
Part 2 – What Are We Doing Here? How the “Content” of Biblical Counseling Differs from Secular Therapies
ARTICLE • Biblical counselors understand that solutions to life’s problems lay external to us in God’s Word and are mediated to us through Scripture-saturated, Spirit-empowered, sanctifying conversation.
Read time: 6 min
Part 1 – What Are We Doing Here? How the “Worldview” of Biblical Counseling Differs from Secular Therapies
ARTICLE • The worldview of biblical counselors differs significantly from both secular and secularized ‘Christian’ worldviews, influencing the aims that the counseling conversation should take, the diagnoses of the root causes of a counselee’s troubles and responses to trouble, and the actual counsel given.
Read time: 7 min
Lazarus & a Vital Lesson in the Love of Jesus
ARTICLE • “If Jesus really loves me, he would….” How would you complete the sentence? For Martha and Mary, the test of Jesus’ love was whether he would heal their brother, Lazarus. Jesus exposed their short-sighted assumptions by letting Lazarus die, so they could learn that Christ is no mere means to our ends in life—he is the Source and Substance of life itself.
Read time: 9 min
From Suspicion to Salvation: Understanding Jesus’ True Identity
SERMON • Who was Jesus, really? John 10:22–42 narrates Jesus’ unequivocal claims to deity as the Good Shepherd, as the Giver of eternal life, and as God the Son. Listen in to better grasp how Jesus affirmed his true identity while averting an angry mob intent on killing him for blasphemy.
49 min
Mixtures of ‘Smoke and Light’
DEVOTION • “A smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory” (Matthew 12:20).
Read time: 3 min
Coram Deo: Moment by Moment Before the Face of God
DEVOTION • “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
Read time: 2 min
Feast on God’s Word: A Call to Daily Scripture Meditation
ARTICLE • Discovering the lost art of meditating on Scripture will feed your soul, nourish your life, and strengthen your walk with God. Here’s how to get started.
Read time: 5 min
Lord of Life
POEM • A heartfelt prayer in the spirit of Augustine, “Lord of Life” expresses deep longing for Christ, the Bread, Fount, Light, and Word of Life, surrendering all lesser loves to receive his boundless grace.
Read time: 1 min
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