by Mark Shaw | Mar 20, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
Parents are going to pay a price either on the FRONT end or the BACK end for how they teach OR fail to teach their children. If you INVEST your time and energy to discipline your children in the Lord (Eph. 6:4) while they are young, the investment will pay off down...
by Mark Shaw | Mar 7, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
It is March 1st in Birmingham, AL, when I wrote this…and it’s snowing for the first time all year. So I thought to myself, what if we had visitors to our city today from Asia and they only came to B’ham today. What would they think about our city?...
by Mark Shaw | Mar 2, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
Physically, when young people smoke cigarettes, it is said that it “stunts their growth” primarily because it suppresses their appetite. Thinking about this same concept in a spiritual sense: what suppresses our appetite for spiritual food from God’s...
by Mark Shaw | Mar 1, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
Physically, when young people smoke cigarettes, it is said that it “stunts their growth.” Do you know why that is? The answer: it suppresses their appetite. They do not eat because their natural, God-given desire to eat is suppressed. Now, let’s...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 28, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
From Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 when Satan tempted Adam & Eve (who failed) and Jesus (who succeeded!): 1) You can do anything you feel like doing! Obey your appetites! 2) You will not have any consequences for your selfish choices! 3) You are your own god and you do...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 25, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
The world often teaches people that they need more self-control but that’s not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that SELF is NOT the source of control. Self is NEVER the source of power for control. Instead, self is the OBJECT to be controlled by the...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 22, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff, Vs. Psychology
One of my biggest concerns about secular psychology is that it promotes a “victim mentality” where individuals who are responsible for their actions claim irresponsibility. This problem spills over into many aspects of our lives – like in the legal...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 19, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, family, Posts by Mark, Teaching, Truth in Love Staff
People who want a divorce say, “I’m not in love anymore” as though the fleeting feeling of love is the basis for marriage. Real love is what marriage requires you to do – commit loving acts toward your spouse for the glory of God! It’s an...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 18, 2009 | Truth in Love Staff
A biblical fool is someone who is a rebel and refuses to fear God. Can there be anyone worse than that? Sadly, the answer is “yes”. Proverbs 26:12: “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Are...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 15, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
I meet with spouses who want a divorce frequently. I ask them, “Would you be willing to die for your spouse or at the least, give a kidney to your spouse?” To which, the person responds, “yes, of course.” Then, I often ask a follow-up question:...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 14, 2009 | Partnerships, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
I spoke to author, speaker, and radio host Mr. Jay Younts today (www.johnayounts.com) by telephone and he said something that was eye opening to me. He said that persons who excessively play video & internet games are often doing so because we were originally...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 12, 2009 | Life Lessons, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
Recently, I had an opportunity to sit down and talk with a man who is living under a bridge. He came to the place we were teaching for temporary shelter due to the cold. He shared his love for Jesus Christ with me and confessed sins in his life but he was NOT ready to...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 10, 2009 | Truth in Love Staff
My favorite verses in the Bible are Ephesians 4:15-16 because they are about the spiritual growth of Christians. From the ESV, Ephesians 4:15-16 reads: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 7, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
I heard a lyric in a song recently that encouraged Christians to “doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs” and I thought, “Yeah. That’s right.” Bottom line issue for me is to trust God and keep my eyes fixated upon Him and not my...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 6, 2009 | Truth in Love Staff
Maybe you have heard that phrase: “I took him at his word” which means I believed what he said. Usually, it’s said when someone’s actions did NOT match their original word as in, “Well, I took him at his word, but he deceived me.”...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 5, 2009 | Truth in Love Staff
By God’s grace and by God’s design, our ministry is exploding. Jason and I want to share what He’s doing with you! Example #1: We started with 3 volunteers on March 28, 2008. As of February 3, 2009, we now have 32 volunteer biblical counselors....
by Mark Shaw | Feb 2, 2009 | Truth in Love Staff
Since I was a lad, I’ve followed the Pittsburgh Steelers and rooted for them to win. This year was no different though I like Kurt Warner’s voice about being a Christian and his work with the Christian organization, Habitat for Humanity. I still pulled for...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 25, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
In Christian counseling, there CAN tend to be 2 extreme approaches: truth without love AND love without truth. Counselees need BOTH from their biblical counselors who represent Christ. John 1:14 reminds us that Jesus the Christ was BOTH full of grace and full of...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 22, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
As Christians who are “found,” we must be compassionate toward those who are lost. Do lost people know they are lost? Romans 1:18 and following says that unbelievers “suppress the truth” in their “unrighteousness” meaning they push...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 22, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
Have you ever been lost? Maybe you were driving and missed a turn so you kept going…only to realize at some point, “I think I’m lost!” When do we realize that we are spiritually lost? When do we realize that we need Christ to save us and to...
