Author: Lucas Sabatier Leite

When the Counseling Conversation Stalls

When the Counseling Conversation Stalls

Posted by | Jul 7, 2023 | |

In biblical counseling, the Word is ministered in conversations. The interaction between counselor and counselee allows for specific applications of biblical teachings. The counselor can learn the particularities of the counselee’s struggles and then provide biblical wisdom that is especially relevant to that situation. But what happens when the conversation stalls? What can counselors do when answers of “I don’t know” dominate the dialogue? And what strategies can we embrace when we, counselors, don’t know what to say? Continue Reading →

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The Sick Heart in the Waiting Room

The Sick Heart in the Waiting Room

Posted by | Mar 27, 2023 | |

The wise counselor is, in a sense, a realist. He knows from Scripture that we live between the ages. And so, he helps the counselee to see how his desires and expectations point to our deeper longing for eternal pleasures that are found only in God (Ps. 16:11). Not only that, the faithful counselor points to Christ—crucified, raised, ascended, and given to and in us by the Spirit—our hope of glory. Continue Reading →

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When Goodness Doesn’t Make Sense

When Goodness Doesn’t Make Sense

Posted by | Dec 5, 2022 | |

If ultimate authority is given to our senses, then doubts about God’s goodness will abound. However, if God’s goodness depends primarily on His own special self-revelation in Scripture, then the here and now finds its context within the framework of the cross and the triumphant return of Christ. Counselors act as wise guides when they lead counselees to greater awareness of their location in the history of redemption. Continue Reading →

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Sitting in on a Puritan Counseling Session

Sitting in on a Puritan Counseling Session

Posted by | Aug 3, 2022 | |

Have you ever wondered how a Puritan minister would counsel someone? What if we could be a fly on the wall to observe the Puritans doing the work of physicians of the soul? That would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? Well, we can’t go back in time. But we do have access to writings that illustrate those counseling conversations. Here is an example. Continue Reading →

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Reconsidering “Incarnational Ministry”

Reconsidering “Incarnational Ministry”

Posted by | May 18, 2022 | |

I have often referred to biblical counseling as an “incarnational ministry.” I have also seen various authors and speakers describing biblical counseling in the same way. Those who are more careful present such descriptions as analogous or metaphorical. Others mention it without qualification—probably because it became jargon, a part of our biblical counseling culture. But language matters, especially if we are to consider our discourse theo-logical. This short article will articulate why I have decided to no longer refer to biblical counseling (or other ministries of the church) as “incarnational ministry.” Continue Reading →

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