Author: Dave Deuel

Book Review of Mobilizing Church-Based Counseling: Models for Sustainable Church-Based Care by Brad Hambrick

Book Review of Mobilizing Church-Based Counseling: Models for Sustainable Church-Based Care by Brad Hambrick

Posted by | Jan 23, 2024 | |

We need to concentrate biblically on ministry. Although thinking innovatively about meeting ministry needs is one more demand on a busy Christian leader’s schedule, all will ignore it to their peril. The early New Testament church constantly rebooted existing ministry models with new applications focused on addressing the spiritual needs of God’s people who struggled with sinning and suffering. The Apostle Paul’s letter ministry might be a good example, particularly when a pastoral understudy delivered and read them to the congregation. In the present study, Brad Hambrick calls us to recapture this creative mindset for meeting ministry needs by offering a framework—in pedagogical terms, a curriculum—for churches to start a counseling ministry built around two models: lay-led counseling groups and mentoring.
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Book Review of Loneliness: Connecting with God and Others by Lou Priolo

Book Review of Loneliness: Connecting with God and Others by Lou Priolo

Posted by | Nov 21, 2023 | |

Dr. Lou Priolo, counseling pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and founder and president of Competent to Counsel International, writes for the Resources for Biblical Living Series and serves as series editor. The present study expands his earlier treatment, “Why Are You Lonesome Tonight” with the conviction that you can’t solve a problem biblically unless you first diagnose it in biblical terms. This clear and welcome response to a complex problem sets the tone for the book’s importance. Continue Reading →

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Crossing Cultures in Our Counseling: Build a Spiritual Growth Context, Part Two

Crossing Cultures in Our Counseling: Build a Spiritual Growth Context, Part Two

Posted by | Nov 15, 2023 | |

In Part One of this article, we looked at the need for a family-like context in which guests from other cultures will be less culturally confused and more responsive to our counseling. In Part Two, we focus on how to disciple people from other cultures and why it requires developing a context aimed toward spiritual change and growth. Continue Reading →

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Crossing Cultures in Our Counseling: Create a Family Context, Part One

Crossing Cultures in Our Counseling: Create a Family Context, Part One

Posted by | Nov 14, 2023 | |

Why don’t counselees from cultures other than ours feel like they fit in? Cross-cultural counseling faces a double-edged sword. First, the counselee must understand and trust a counselor they may not know. Second, they must feel culturally at home in the counseling session to prevent confusion. They must feel safe and comfortable enough to receive our counseling efforts. Continue Reading →

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Book Review of Hope: Living Confidently in God by John Crotts

Book Review of Hope: Living Confidently in God by John Crotts

Posted by | Oct 24, 2023 | |

Pain-racked, Job cries out in despair, “Where then is my hope” (Job 17:15). We might ask if we have ever felt that way. Circumstances of life, particularly trials and suffering, can easily diminish our hope by clouding our vision. When we find ourselves overwhelmed with confusion and despair, it is time to look up to God. John Crotts’ study of hope informs this response. Continue Reading →

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