Proverbs 27:5 says: “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” (ESV) One of the Puritans, Richard Baxter, wrote about the pride of mankind that hinders spiritual growth: “We are so tender, that a man can scarcely touch us but we are hurt; and so high-minded, that a man who is not versed in complimenting, and…
The least read book in the U.S.A. is NOT the Bible – it’s your car’s instruction manual. Very few people read that book. Crisp, fresh, unmarked, and clean is how you’ll find this manual in most cars. But guess when people do read it? When their car breaks down! Don’t we do the same thing with…
Someone recently congratulated me for, “completing a successful year in your business.” Even though it was meant as an encouragement, it is wrong on two counts. First, we are NOT a business. We’re a ministry. Plain and simple. We do not operate to make money. In fact, we lose money to save souls. We are…
Thank you all for standing with us for the Bible as sufficient to help us change into the image of Christ! What is counseling but an opportunity to offer people an evaluation of their thinking, speaking, and acting in order to bring about change? That’s simply what counseling is! What book is better for a counselor…
Thomas Oden wrote that our job is “to lead back the wandering sheep and to cure that which is wounded by the serpent” (Classical Pastoral Care, vol. 3, Baker Publishing, p. 57). This is PRECISELY what our ministry is all about: helping hurting, wandering souls who have been wounded by their own sin and the…
One of the things I strongly dislike about counseling teens and youths is the parents! Typically, we meet with the parents FIRST before meeting with the child. In most cases, the child is a product of the lack of parenting or poor parenting of mom and dad. It’s not always the case as some parents are…
Cough syrup is a drug in liquid form. Likewise, alcohol is a drug in liquid form. So why do we think of alcohol differently than we do other drugs? Why does our culture put it into a totally different category? Some say, “alcohol is legal” but so are other over the counter meds that come…
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 the road. For example, you…
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? What conclusions would they reach? Well, they…
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 Word? In other words, what stunts our spiritual growth? Here are some of the things that suppress our spiritual appetite…
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