#counseling

Counsel for Couples

Over the past few years, we have been blessed with an incredible volume of resources related to biblical counseling. From primers for amateur counselors to in-depth examinations of specific issues, we are now well-served with resources meant to address a host of common issues. New to the field is Jonathan Holmes’s Counsel for Couples: A Biblical and Practical Guide for Marriage Counseling. Holmes is the pastor of counseling at Parkside Church in Ohio and brings a wealth of both practical …

A La Carte (1/16)

John Stott’s Peace Offering – This is a great little story from the life of John Stott. It begins like this: “‘Fie upon you, IVP.’ I’m still shocked, fifteen years later, that John Stott uttered these words at our office gathering during an event in which we honored him in 1998 for fifty years of publishing with us.” How Do We Know If God Is Disciplining Us? – D.A. Carson takes on this question: “Of course God is sovereign over all things–but …

Become a Patron

A La Carte (5/4)

Muscular Christianity – Michael Horton has penned a good and interesting article in which he takes issue with the idea that Christianity needs to be masculine and muscular. It’s a bit dense and the font is pretty small, but make your way through it anyway! The Downside of Cohabitation – It could be that the most important thing about this article is that it is from the New York Times. “Couples who cohabit before marriage (and especially before an engagement …

A La Carte (11/29)

Critical Appreciation – When I grow up, I want to be able to write like Carl Trueman. “The death of John Stott has led to a veritable flood of accolades and uncritical adulation over the last few months. A recent example was the memorial service for him at Wheaton College which raised a number of questions in my mind. One was the issue of what Stott himself would have thought of it.” Child or Fetus? – This was very interesting …

Self-Understanding and Self-Giving

Today we draw one week closer to completing John Stott’s The Cross of Christ.  After this week’s reading, we’ve got just two remaining before we’ve finished the book and wrapped up another reading project. Thank you for bearing with me last week when I just wasn’t able to get things done on time.  Self-Understanding and Self-Giving You remember that last week’s chapter was about the community of the cross being a community of celebration. This week Stott shows that the …

The Conquest of Evil

Today we continue our project of reading through John Stott’s The Cross of Christ. Stott has been writing about the achievements of the cross. He has already spoken of the salvation of sinners and the revelation of God.  This week he looks to “The Conquest of Evil.” Now there’s a great title for a chapter. The conquest of evil is such a prominent theme in books and movies and stories–we love to see evil vanquished. And maybe the cross of Christ …

Read “The Cross of Christ” With Me

With a week left to go before we begin, I wanted to remind you of the next Reading Classics Together. One week from today I will begin reading a classic Christian book and I’d love it if you’d read along with me (and with several hundred others). The book we will be reading is The Cross of Christ by John Stott. Here is a brief description: The work of a lifetime, from one of the world’s most influential thinkers, about the …

John Stott (1921-2011)

Earlier today John Stott went to be with the Lord. He was 90 years old. Or as the Bible says of others, “He was old and full of years.” It is interesting to me that Twitter is today’s version of the water cooler. If you would like to know what other people are thinking about John Stott’s life and legacy, you can find out (in bite-sized chunks) at Twitter. In fact, I recommend that you do just that. If you …

Living in a Fallen World

Living in a Fallen World is a new series of booklets published by Day One Publications. I have been looking forward to seeing this series and was glad to have the first 8 show up in the mail today. The publisher says they are “small booklets that provide biblical help and practical guidance to people who find themselves in difficulties because of living in a fallen world.” And that about sums it up. Each one is printed in a small …

Reading Classics – The Religious Affections (Introduction)

This morning we kick off the fourth round of Reading Classics Together, an effort in which we read some of the great Christian classics together and convene here once a week to discuss them. In the past we’ve read J.C. Ryle’s Holiness, John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation and A.W. Pink’s The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. We’ve had hundreds of people participate by reading the books together and discussing them each week. All along we’ve been …