[Discipleship Counselors need to emphasize the believer’s union with Christ. This is an excerpt from The Secret of Christ our Life  by Andrew Murray. The Secret series, is ideal for client “homework.” – ed.]

A poor spiritual life results when a Christian thinks, “Christ for me” is enough… and does not know or even desire “Christ in me.”

The Twofold Life
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10

EVERYONE can understand the difference between life that is weak and sickly and life that has abundant vitality.
Thus St. Paul speaks of the Christian life of the Corinthians as not spiritual but carnal, as of young children in Christ incapable of assimilating strong meat or of understanding the deeper truths of the gospel (see 1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5).

There are some, the majority of Christians, who never advance beyond first principles. They are dull of hearing and remain carnal Christians.
There are others again, a minority, who indeed show forth the abundant riches of grace.

All through the history of the church we find this difference. In our day, too, the number is small of those who seek to live wholly for God and, being spiritually minded, have large thoughts of the abundant life there is in Christ. These few witness to the glory of Christ as “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14); “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (1:16).

The preacher’s aim should be so to declare the fullness of God’s grace in Jesus Christ as to make Christians ashamed of the poverty of their spiritual life, and to encourage them to believe that “life abundant” in the fullness of the Spirit is for them.

Dear reader, ask yourself if you are living such an abundant life as Jesus came to bestow. Is it manifest in your love to the Savior and in the abundant fruit you bear to the glory of God in soul-winning?—for remember, “he who wins souls is wise” (Prov. 11:30).

If not, pray God to strengthen your faith so that He will be able to make all grace abound toward you that you, always having all sufficiency, may abound in every good work. Let Jesus be precious to you and daily communion with Him indispensable. He will teach you by His Holy Spirit to honor Him by an abundant life.
re-posted from CLC Publications. Find out more…

Excerpt taken from The Secret of Christ our Life  by Andrew Murray

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

These words were penned by the Apostle Paul from prison, a place that often leaves one in a state of hopelessness and despair without a positive outlook for the future or concern for another’s well-being. This was not so for the Apostle Paul. His assurance and confidence was rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Paul explains God’s plans for Him and how his imprisonment was being used as an opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel. He made it clear: God had positioned him at this specific place, under these specific circumstances, for a specific reason. That reason was to preach the unfathomable riches that come from knowing Christ as one’s Lord and Savior!

My name is Curtis Fahrlender. I am currently a youth pastor in Central Iowa and finishing up a Master of Science in Counseling from Clarks Summit University in Clarks Summit, PA. As I was nearing the end of my counseling degree, I needed to find a ministry where I could complete my practicum and internship requirements. As I was praying and searching for possible locations, I remembered a counseling ministry that focused on remedial discipleship under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Grace Fellowship International (GFI). Dr. John Woodward graciously agreed to allow GFI to be my supervision and practicum site. I have been able to meet with Dr. Woodward every other week to discuss counseling and ministry situations, and he has guided me in applying the Exchange Life Model to my current ministry settings. This has been extremely helpful and I have seen great results.

2 Corinthians chapter 1 is sometimes referred to as the soul care passage. Paul teaches us important attributes of God. He is the God of all comfort and Father of mercies (2 Corinthians 1:1-7). He then moves from theological to personal testimony. In verses 8-11 we are invited to the apostle’s personal struggle and affliction. The climax of his testimony is found in verse 9, “Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” This verse summarizes the impact GFI has had on my counseling methodology. The struggles, afflictions, aspects of rejection, unmet expectations, frustrations, and so on all happen in our life, as Paul says, to teach us something extremely important. They teach us reliance. We can rely either on ourselves to get through the difficult journey or on God who raises the dead.

This is summed up in the wheel and line diagrams which — along with the other significant contributions GFI have made to the field of biblical counseling — has been so valuable to me. I desire to come alongside the local church and to train and equip the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:12). As I continue to embrace this Christ centered message in my own life, I look forward with great excitement to see how the Lord will use my training at GFI. I’m excited to see the Exchanged Life message be used in bringing about hope in a world that desperately needs it.

• Sessions 1, 2: “Verify Your Salvation” – Dr. Phil Young
• Sessions 3, 4: “New Life in Christ” – Dr. Dan Riley
• Sessions 5, 6: “The Spirit-Filled Life & Victory” – Dr. Phil Jones

Network 220 ministries held their annual convention in Plano, TX April 27-29. This association of ministries has grown from the daughter offices of Grace Fellowship Int’l which formed the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries in 1986. Photos are at the N220 Facebook page and audio recordings from the sessions are available at http://network220.org/convention/

How should we appeal to pastors if they are not teaching the believer’s new identity in Christ?

We can convey is the importance of clarity, emphasis and dignity.

Clarity: We have a relative identity as people, male or female, Americans, etc. But in Intensive Discipleship we clarify the essential identity of the believer…which is based on their regenerated spirit.

Emphasis: The emphasis of the New Testament (especially after Pentecost) is on the believer’s new, positive, unshakeable identity. This is grace-based, therefore it glorifies God.

Dignity: If we wallow in a relative identity based on our behavior, our past or our conditioning, it will erode the sense of dignity that is part of a healthy self image. As we gratefully accept our value and dignity as those created in the image of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, it motivates us to practical holiness, worship and love for others.

– John Woodward

Continue reading this article…

We have appreciated the ministry of Jim Cymbala over the years, having visited the “Tab” and hearing him speak with Daniel Henderson at a renewal day in Knoxville.

In a sermon posted on February 13, 2018 Pastor Cymbala uses four scriptures as a starting point for this challenging message about experiencing real change in the Christian life (John 8:28-29; Romans 6:5; Romans 8:5; Galatians 2:19-20). The audio message can be heard online or downloaded here: https://www.brooklyntabernacle.org

JBW

At North Point in Atlanta, Andy Stanley preached a series that addresses some vital themes related to grace for Christian living and the believer’s new identity. It’s entitled “NU ME” and is available from their download store. North Point includes insights from “NU ME” in their Care Network’s “Re:New” one-on-one mentoring ministry.

Their team has produced an 8 lesson video-assisted small group study that incorporates the essential content used in North Point’s Re:New ministry. It’s titled Renovate. This resource has great potential to guide participants in spiritual renewal.

“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:3,4).

Lee LeFebre

[Lee LeFebre has made important contributions to this branch of the Biblical Counseling family tree. Here is a testimony about his spiritual journey. Used with his permission. – JBW]

Daily, I was asking God to be on the throne of my life. I didn’t understand that God would take me through a breaking process, and that Christ didn’t just want to be on the throne of my life, but wanted to be my life.

Throughout college, graduate school, and my work experience in social services, I saw tremendous inconsistencies between psychotherapy and Scripture. The more I analyzed psychotherapy, the less convinced I became that it held any real answers. I believed Christianity had an answer, but what? How could accepting Christ change the shattered lives of the street kids I worked with? I thought they needed Christ and therapy, so I tried to combine Christianity and secular theory for the “best of both worlds.”

I saw a series of contradictions in life. The Bible promised peace that passes all understanding, that keeps our hearts and minds by Christ Jesus; but Christians I knew in the 50’s and 60’s were having nervous breakdowns right and left. The Scripture also promised joy, yet my church was a sponsor of the largest Christian mental health hospital in the country.

I had been in church and Christian schools all my life. At the age of 27, I had received assurance of salvation through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Yet in spite of all that, I struggled terribly with anxiety, my inability to conquer sin, and my efforts to reconcile psychotherapy and Biblical teaching.

To drive home the truth of my condition and the insufficiency of my efforts, in the early 70’s God showed me five things:

1. God promised peace that passes understanding, and I didn’t have it. I had peace with God, but not the peace of God. I had to confess that I couldn’t attain it. If I were to obtain that kind of peace, it would have to be a gift.

Continue reading…

http://leelefebre.com/

Bob Kellemen (Th.M., Ph.D.) compiled this list with its book summaries. He is Professor of Biblical Counseling at Faith Bible Seminary and was the founding Executive Director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. The list is from the editorial perspective of the Coalition; their theology is primarily Reformed sanctification with a dichotomous view of man, and Nouthetic counseling methodology. Yet, because the authors are Protestant Christians with a conviction of the inspiration, authority, and relevance of the Holy Bible, most of the content is commendable and useful, especially on the resurrection side of the Cross (Gal. 2:20). – JBW

[Reposted from Biblical Counseling Coalition’s blog]

If you are a counselor, pastor, student, one-another minister, small group leader, or spiritual friend, you want to know the most helpful books about biblical counseling—using God’s Word for helping hurting people.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the top 17 books published in 2017 about biblical counseling, written by a biblical counselor about Christian living, or important to biblical counselors.

I’ve selected these books on the basis of their biblical depth, relevance to life, practicality for one-another ministry, faithfulness to the sufficiency of Scripture, application to progressive sanctification, and by surveying what leaders in the biblical counseling world are saying about them.

[Example]

Descriptions and Prescriptions: A Biblical Perspective on Psychiatric Diagnoses and Medication by Mike Emlet, New Growth Press

As Christians, how should we think about psychiatric diagnoses and their associated treatments? We can’t afford to isolate ourselves and simply dismiss these categories as unbiblical. Nor can we afford to accept the entire secular psychiatric diagnostic and treatment enterprise at face value as though Scripture is irrelevant for these complex struggles. Instead, we need a balanced, biblically and scientifically-informed approach. In Descriptions and Prescriptions, biblical counselor and retired physician, Mike Emlet, gives readers a helpful way forward on these important issues as he guides lay and professional helpers through the thicket of mental health diagnoses and treatments. Descriptions and Prescriptions is a clear, thoughtful primer in which the Bible informs our understanding of psychiatric diagnoses and the medications that are often recommended based on those labels.

Continue reading the full article: https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2017/12/29/the-17-top-biblical-counseling-books-of-2017/