This excellent study on the Abundant Life is biblically sound, doctrinally accurate, and practically applied. The author (with RevivalFocus.com) uses an explicit spirit/soul/body model of man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Would you categorize your daily life as abundant? If not, why?

“Greater than any craving for food and water is the deep longing within the soul of many of God’s children to be like Jesus—to be holy and victorious over evil and to be loving and effective in service,” says John Van Gelderen. “In a word, to experience Christ’s life.”

If you’ve felt these longings, but are discouraged and defeated, separated from the life of Christ by the rising waters of failure, John provides hope and help. Laying down biblical stepping stones, he leads you on a journey to a life that overcomes sin and overflows into ministry to others—The Revived Life.

This book combines the brokenness truth of Roy Hession, the Spirit-filled life truth of Watchman Nee, and the spiritual warfare truth of Jesse Penn-Lewis.

from clcpublications.com

From Exchanged Life Counselor, Anne Trippe:

I Wanted to let you all know that my new book, The Purpose of Trials and Adversity, is officially out and available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I am excited about the possibilities for those who read it. It is different. It is encouraging. It explains some “mysteries”.

The book is about 126 pages and a total re-write and expansion of same the truths of “Christ-as-Life” in a small booklet I wrote about 30 years ago…

“When facing trials and hard times, the problem and the solution each might include things we wouldn’t suspect. The chapters in this book will take us to     places we might not have considered.  Would you believe that scripture actually encourages us to be “preppers” – to get ready for the trials that will come?  But in the book, before we learn to be “preppers”, we take a side trip to unearth some origins and discover a mystery.

Did you know our learning to respond correctly to adversity includes what we call a “paradox”, an enigma to the world system?  And this paradox to the world is a picture of God Himself? There is a chapter explaining the lines that must be drawn as this paradox is lived out.  As readers progress through the book, they will learn what God’s will is for them. They will see that His purposes are actually woven into and worked out of trials and adversities in the lives of His people – a divine design. Experiencing the grace and promises that are already theirs, and exposing the Life of Christ that dwells in born-again believers, are main themes in the book.”

…We face difficult days in our country. Not only do we have no future hope in our political system, but the moral and spiritual fabric of our culture is rapidly declining. No longer do we see subtle changes, but it is now everyday some new law is passed allowing a sin God condemns. We are on the proverbial “runaway train!” Yet, as believers we remain encouraged in the Lord’s sovereignty and strategy. He controls all events and uses them for His ultimate purpose. Through the permissiveness and potential ruin we are facing, God can cause people to see their need for Christ as never before. Sadly, Christians are being carried along by the world’s pressures.

It is increasingly clear from those counseled through Grace Solutions, that regular church attendees have little or no Biblical foundation. The basics of forgiveness of all sins through the blood of Jesus Christ are foreign to the majority of those we see. The truths of the indwelling life of Christ are like an unknown language to most. Yet, the days in which we live, God controls and uses the difficulties to bring men and women to the end of themselves and prepares them for the truth.

Please pray for our ministry as we continue to share the truth of salvation and sanctification by grace through faith in Christ alone. Our vision remains as follows:

Grace Solutions International, trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit, proclaims the grace of Jesus Christ as God’s only solution for sin, self, suffering and service. We desire to see individuals and families come to Christ and learn to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

– reposted from the Counseling ministry of walesgoebelministry.org

Since Christian leaders are to equip the saints, and the Body of Christ is to develop though members edifying one another (Eph. 4:12,16), some of you may be interested in a free online workshop by CCEF. It’s on the topic of “You Are a Priest: Considering an Underused Identity” by Dr. Ed Welch. Although Nouthetic Counseling usually operates from a different model of man and of sanctification, we can still benefit from learning from others outside of our Network. As we do, it may also open outsiders to consider– or reconsider–Exchanged Life Counseling perspectives. https://www.ccef.org/events/ccef-live

One of the primary tasks in Exchanged Life Counseling is to take the client’s panoramic life history in order to clarify their unique version of the flesh. This helps them deny their natural source of life, and appropriate Christ as Life (Luke 9:23; Col. 3:4).

Reginald Wallace identified the devil as our infernal enemy (1 Per. 5:8,9), the world system as our external enemy (1 John 2:15), and the flesh as our internal enemy (Gal. 5:16,17).

When a prominent devotional writer was asked about “the flesh” he replied that Theology had still not defined it. That comment was made about 20 years ago. We seek to serve the Body of Christ by contributing to this definition process.

What is “the flesh”? The flesh remains in the believer’s mortal body after salvation (Rom. 7:18). It makes him vulnerable to a carnal (fleshly) condition in his personality (1 Cor. 3:3) if/when he walks according to the flesh instead of the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-5;13:14). Here is a recent paper on defining the flesh: Flesh – Body of Sin  (See also under Doctrinal Matters menu.) And here are a couple of relevant Grace Notes:

Well-Adjusted Flesh
http://www.gracenotebook.com/pub/165.html

Maladjusted Flesh
http://www.gracenotebook.com/pub/164.html

As in all matters, balance and clarity are needed. “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

Am I ‘only a sinner saved by grace’? As Exchanged Life disciplers, we are alert to this sentiment that relates directly to the issue of identity. I addressed this topic in a Grace Note article … hopefully in a way that’s persuasive without being combative. – JBW

Are you “only a sinner” saved by grace?

As an evangelical Christian, this is probably a statement you’re familiar with. It sounds right, but is it?

I regularly hear that this sentiment is all to common in conservative church circles. Why is that?

1. The good old hymn declares, “I’m only a sinner saved by grace!” We sing it with glee and gratitude.

2. Salvation is by grace alone through true faith that flows from a repentant heart. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9).

3. Liberal Christianity needs to discover that the gospel is more than trying to follow the example and ethics of Jesus. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5,6).

4. Even as children of God, we still fall short and sometimes sin: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8;see James 3:2).

Then why are we scrutinizing this popular sentiment? Because it is not true. In Christ, your identity is “saint,” not “sinner” (Eph. 1:15,18)! If you love truth, hang in there and consider the rest of this brief Bible study.  Continue reading…

Our friend Mike Quarles just published an expanded edition of his booklet on Kindle. It’s titled The Key to the Victorious Christian Life: A Grace Oriented Introduction.

“The Director of Grace Walk Recovery, calls attention to the pervasive need for Christians to live an overcoming, abundant life. In this concise biblical summary, he explains how to experience the victory, peace, freedom and joy God has provided for believers in Christ.”

This week the Kindle edition is on sale for 99 cents. It’s a great opportunity to “gift it” to others (if you know their email address).

One of our alumni, pastor Richard Scheer, leads a chapter of RU Recovery near Buffalo, NY. He noticed strong similarities between GFI and RU content. John attended the RU basic training in Rockford, Illinois June 2,3. We are glad to report that RU Recovery has an explicit message of victory through appropriating Christ as Savior, Lord and Life. They speak of this in terms of “the Hidden Life” (Col. 3:3). Their materials feature Chuck’s body/soul/spirit wheel diagram (1 Thess. 5:23), and emphasize grace for Christian living, rather than self-righteousness. Reformers Unanimous resources are available to equip individuals and ministries, even if they are not enrolled as an official RU chapter.  See RUrecovery.com

The Church Leaders blog just posted a 2 minute video about the believer’s new identity in Christ.

We congratulate our associate, Joe Freeman, on completing his certification in Exchanged Life Counseling.

He writes,

“I was challenged early on by my physical condition and the workload I had as a result of being a student in the Masters program at Luther Rice University. These two factors delayed my journey to becoming a certified Exchanged Life Counselor through GFI. However, it was a blessing in that I genuinely appreciate the process as well as the content, and I have been able to apply what I learned especially at the [America’s Keswick] Colony of Mercy.

The process was comprehensive and challenging. …The audio seminars were informative and provided a different perspective on how to counsel, particularly the Counseling God’s Way sessions. The required readings were a joy and I learned much from a variety of writers’ personal views of the Exchanged Life. I especially enjoyed, The New Life and Bone of His Bone.

Overall, I am grateful to be done this portion of the certification process and look forward to what Father will bring my way so I may apply and teach the various things I learned and was exposed to. Thank you, John, for your patience in answering my questions and being my guide, teacher and mentor.”

Check out XLproject.org for more about Joe’s testimony and ministry