by Mark Shaw | Nov 19, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
A first “fruit” I look for in a “transforming” (Rom. 12:2) addict is RESPONSIBILITY. Is the person taking full responsibility for his/her actions or are they shifting the blame to someone else and/or other things? Only when we take FULL...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 17, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff, Vs. Psychology
If you do counseling, what’s your message? Are you preaching yourself? Are you proclaiming the so-called “wisdom” of mankind? OR are you proclaiming Christ? 2 Corinthians 4:5 states: “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 14, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
You hear a lot about hypocrisy. People act like Jesus talked about hypocrisy all of the time, but He didn’t except when He dealt with religious Pharisees. Today, Christians are afraid to be bold and to biblically counsel or tell others about Jesus because of the...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 13, 2009 | Announcements, Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
For those of you who are new readers, I blogged a lot on UNITY in the early days of this blog! Unity is near and dear to my heart though it’s a struggle for me at times. I have to fight to keep unity just as you do, too, I’m sure! I love unity in the body...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 9, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
Where will transformation of Birmingham and our nation come from? Politics? Not likely. Look at our current mayoral mess and the debt in Jefferson County. Social organizations and civic groups? Not likely. Good hearts but they often do not point people to Christ....
by Mark Shaw | Nov 7, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
Can mankind unlock someone’s heart? No, only the Lord can do unlock the human heart. Then, why counsel someone if mankind cannot? The Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together to unlock the human heart according to Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 5, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Truth in Love Staff
Ken Ham wrote a book called “Almost Gone” that is great though it is a challenging read. It has statistics in it but Mr. Ham is such a good communicator that it is smooth and informative. I highly recommend you read it. The book challenged me to re-think...
by Mark Shaw | Oct 25, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
When our goal is simply to glorify the Lord by being obedient to Him as He leads us by the Holy Spirit in accordance to God’s Word, then there are “by-products” produced. For example, the “by-product” of seeking to glorify God in your...
by Mark Shaw | Oct 9, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Truth in Love Staff
Society mistakenly promotes the “heart” as ONLY emotions sometimes today but the “heart” refers to the central part and CORE of someone’s inner person. The HEART, biblically speaking, includes THINKING according to Strong’s...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 30, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
I told someone recently that I appreciate the heart’s desire of many in psychology who want to help hurting souls. These folks are compassionate. It’s just that their goal is not enough. God offers more. God wants more! I know that God offers more than...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 15, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, family, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
Not everyone knows that we provide biblical counseling to children and teens! We are counseling more and more young people and I love it because teens are fertile ground. They are teachable (most times) and do their assigned homework unlike many adults. In fact, many...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 11, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Scripture, Teaching, Truth in Love Staff
Our culture – even our Christian culture – has believed the lie that God’s Word of truth is separate from love and nothing could be further from the truth. While the truth might hurt us for a moment, it’s because it really hurts our pride....
by Mark Shaw | Aug 10, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Teaching, Truth in Love Staff
The TRUTH of God’s Word IS love. The Bible is NOT a dead book that is no longer relevant to us in our modern culture. In fact, I’d argue it’s more relevant and needed today than ever before! The Bible is also powerful – alive and active! It is...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 9, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Truth in Love Staff
Wow, I need the truth. Every day. God’s truth is love. I need to know what God thinks. I need to know what God says. I need God to speak to me. Guess what? He does speak to us through the Holy Spirit and His Word of truth. Does the truth hurt? It may hurt our...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 4, 2009 | Devotions, Life Lessons, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
Interesting observation I’ve had through the years in counseling. Christians who have truly been victims really do not want to stay that way. They want to be victorious through Christ! Another observation – those who are not true victims of others’...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 1, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
Now that you are dead to yourself, you are to be alive to Christ. You are to live for Him! What a difficult life Jesus lived! It was not a life of ease. Jesus was challenged by religious leaders. Jesus said things that people became so angry about that they tried to...
by Mark Shaw | Jul 25, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Truth in Love Staff
I wrote The Heart of Addiction for one primary purpose: to glorify God by pointing people to Christ and His Word for the answer for all types of “addictions.” Glorifying God means honoring His Word which is THE most powerful weapon in overcoming any and...
by Mark Shaw | Jul 22, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
I hear people and even counselors say, “Her perception is her reality.” While that is a half-true statement, it is not wholly truthful. People believe lies. People deceive themselves. I do it, too, sometimes! None of us are immune to falling prey to...
by Mark Shaw | Jun 29, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff, Vs. Psychology
A friend told me that Tozer used to say that the “prevailing winds often blow toward hell.” What he meant is that popular opinion of the majority are often WRONG spiritually speaking. As Christians, we are to be called out, holy, pure, and different from...
by Mark Shaw | Jun 24, 2009 | Devotions, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
I posed the question: “Is God ever thankful?” in an earlier post. Now, I’m posing the question “Is God ever disappointed?” Certainly, God is not sad as humans are sad. If God knows everything that ever was, is, and ever will be, then how...
