A counselor friend asked how you encourage someone when they are angry at God for what happened to them. The lady is mad because Sovereign Lord did not protect her from horrific victimization. He has been meeting with her for weeks and wondered if he… Continue Reading …
Have you ever heard someone say that something breaks God’s heart? What do you think about when you hear such things? Do you understand the implications of having a God that feels your pain? The doctrine of impassibility holds that God is incapable of suffering.… Continue Reading …
Some relationships can become so painful that you must retreat while implementing self-protective measures to prevent being hurt again. The unintended consequence is that the strategies for protection can imprison you, which is what happened to Mable. Her husband was harming her so she did… Continue Reading …
I wrote this piece in 2012 originally. I’m republishing it with a few edits since the sad saga continues to unfold. I was part of Sovereign Grace Ministries from 2003 to 2008, and for four of those years, I served as a pastor. It was… Continue Reading …
Emotional abuse is real and painful. If ongoing, it can have a detrimental effect on your body and soul. Understanding emotional trauma biblically is vital, which is why the term “emotional abuse” is misleading, unhelpful, and sub-biblical. The Bible has a better way of thinking… Continue Reading …
Counseling abuse situations is challenging. The temptations to succumb to bad strategies are numerous. One of those is teaching the abused to fake strength to prove to their abuser that gaslighting and manipulation have no power. It’s an attractive facade of a defense that further… Continue Reading …
Have you ever trained a flea? It’s a simple process. You place a flea or a flock of fleas (not sure if flock is the right word) in a Mason jar and tighten the lid. Next, you leave the flea(s) in the jar for three… Continue Reading …
Humans were created for worship; it’s part of our ontology—the nature of our being—as determined by our Creator. You will worship something. If you worship the living God in spirit and truth, you will be transformed into His likeness; if you worship any version of… Continue Reading …
Daniel Berger and I talked about the word victim and how many biblical counselors are abusing the term, which has led to insufficient care within the biblical counseling movement ranks. Daniel told me the word victim comes from the Latin root vicarious, which means taking… Continue Reading …
Imperfect people steward neither blessings nor trials well. As Martin Luther said, we are curved inward on ourselves, meaning that self-interest rather than God’s glory or others’ good is what generally rules us, causing us to respond poorly to virtually everything that happens to us.… Continue Reading …