Counseling Religion

We all have both good and bad habits in our life. Creatures of Habit reveals how to remove bad habits and replace them with godly ones. But it's not a matter of working hard, of "pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps." That approach simply doesn't work. True transformation is God's work - our job is to listen, obey, and put into practice what he's already directing us to do. Steve Poe has pastored large, growing churches for more than 34 years, and during that time he has counseled hundreds. He's seen that poor choices often become bad habits that in turn cause problems.

In Gospel Conversations, part of the Equipping Biblical Counselors Series, Bob Kellemen explores the four compass-points that guide 22 essential biblical counseling skills, providing a comprehensive approach to caring like Christ. These four compass points combine to equip listeners to develop twenty-two ministry relational competencies—the “how to” of caring like Christ. This book serves as a practical training manual that can be used for lab and small group interaction.

Everyone experiences emotions―some easy, some difficult. Dealing with them should be common sense, and yet it isn’t. Even though emotions are not uncommon to the human experience, we lack the language to fully understand and express them. This failure to understand can often lead to frustration and broken relationships. In The Path to Wholeness, Dr. Mark Mayfield teaches listeners how to slow down and explore the way our emotions develop.

Starting from the assumption that Jesus does heal in our day and age, Follow the Healer seeks to answer these questions with a balanced, pastoral, and scriptural approach. This is a call to help you better understand and minister God’s healing to a world that is in so much pain. You'll take a closer look at why Christian healing is still relevant and essential today and how to avoid the many difficulties, disappointments, and distortions that occur in healing ministry. S

In Helping Teens with Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, Roy Petitfils gives parents, pastors, and youth leaders the knowledge, courage, and tools they need to step in, make a difference, and be the presence of Christ for teens in crisis. Roy Petitfils knows what it's like to be an addicted, depressed teenager, filled with self-loathing and desperate for help. He describes himself at high school graduation as by far the largest person in his hometown and yet feeling as though he were "stuck in Harry Potter's invisibility cloak".

The church across North America has struggled to minister effectively with people struggling with mental health issues. One reason for the lack of ministry is the absence of a widely accepted model for mental health outreach and inclusion. In Mental Health and the Church, Dr. Stephen Grcevich presents a simple and flexible model for mental health inclusion ministry for implementation by churches of all sizes, denominations, and organizational styles.

This is a unique book that contains daily devotionals and sample negative self-talk guides as well as positive self-talk examples. All scriptural based phrases will help you declare life instead of speaking negatively (death) over yourself and the ones you love. Learn what you should say when you talk to yourself as well as what to say about others. Speak powerful faith-filled words. Speak life!

The battle to resist pornography is brutal. Its lure just seems too powerful. We've tried for years to be strong, run away from temptation, and manage our desires in better ways. No matter how hard we try, though, we just can't get free from pornography. Some of us have lost all hope. What if the battle you've been fighting isn't even the real battle? What if using pornography is just a symptom of something deeper going on inside of you? What if the things you are doing to protect yourself actually contribute to your obsession?

I spent many years in the “hell” of bondage to sexual lust. I know the torment it brings. You feel dirty, defeated, ashamed, and hopeless. You are aware that the Bible states that the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God, but you are unable to escape your enslavement to sexual lust. There is hope. I have been set free by Jesus Christ and his word. There is a biblical pathway to freedom from sexual sin. I am sharing that biblical path in this book. Your deliverance is assured, if you follow the biblical instructions and requirements listed in this book.

When suffering overwhelms us, it is easy to despair and even doubt God’s goodness. As the clouds of suffering roll in, we can lose sight of everything but our pain. In these moments, when the stars disappear, we must turn to Scripture to find assurance that God can and will carry us through. In this book, Mark Talbot recounts the suffering of some of the Bible’s greatest saints.

The damage you suffered may have been done in one terrible moment or over time. But the healing and the restoration will unfold at your pace, at a human pace. It unfolds as part of your story, and it unfolds over time. As a vulnerable child, instead of being protected, helped, and comforted, you were physically, emotionally, and or sexually abused. In CCEFs Recovering from Child Abuse: Healing and Hope for Victims by David Powlison, you'll learn how to express your experience to God by composing your own personal liturgy.

It is said that the true test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. As many as one in four girls and one in six boys experience sexual abuse during childhood, and it's estimated that as many as half of the incidents are never reported. This means that countless millions in our societies, both children and adults, carry this complex, often hidden pain. What does the path to healing look like for survivors? And how can ministry leaders, pastors, and counselors best help them as they walk this difficult road? Drawing on both his own experience and his wife's experience as survivors of childhood sexual abuse, minister and lecturer Tim Hein offers his expertise.

There’s an invisible prison that holds many in its grip, and Jesus is the way out. For the prisoners of both physical and invisible prisons, Behind the Wire is an invitation to discover the path to true freedom. It’s the story of Scott Highberger’s journey from the prison yard to the pulpit.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, even those who have never struggled with mental health have found themselves reeling, looking for answers they don't know how to find. For Christians, especially those who've despaired of help from a church that has too often stigmatized poor mental health as a lack of faith, the way forward can be particularly difficult to see. Jonathon Seidl aims to fix that. Having fought his own way through crippling anxiety, life-altering OCD, and suicidal thoughts, he knows the value of concrete advice grounded in strong biblical truth.

In The Weary Leader's Guide to Burnout, Sean Nemecek takes Christian leaders on a journey from burnout through recovery and on to spiritual transformation. By understanding the causes and symptoms of their burnout, these leaders will be ready to take practical, actionable steps toward wholeness. Then, if they choose, they will be poised to do the inner work of spiritual transformation by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. In the end, these leaders will emerge from burnout more confident in Christ, more connected with others, and with greater purpose, courage, and grace.

We all want life change, but achieving it is hard. As Christians, we know we’ve got God’s help. Jesus has made it possible. The Holy Spirit even lives inside us! And yet, too many Christians are stuck in the mud when it comes to life change. What’s going on? Can things ever get better? Can my life ever turn the corner?

Laurie and Matt Krieg are in a mixed-orientation marriage: a marriage in which at least one partner's primary attraction isn't toward the gender of their spouse. In the Kriegs' case, Laurie is primarily attracted to women - and so is Matt. Some find the idea of mixed-orientation marriage bewildering or even offensive. But as the Kriegs have learned, nothing is impossible with God - and that's as true of their marriage as anyone else's. In An Impossible Marriage, the Kriegs tell their story.

Stages of the Soul is about making tangible spiritual progress. It’s about truly understanding - understanding like you’ve never understood before - that you are deeply loved. Author Nancy Kane walks you through five stages of the soul’s journey toward embracing God’s love. This book will help you see more clearly how the Lord tenderly guides us to greater wholeness, holiness, and love.

Loss hurts. It's tough to go through, and painful to watch. Do you know someone who's grieving and wish you could help? Are you the one grieving and wonder if what you're going through is normal? Do you wish those around you understood you better? This book has answers. This practical and easy-to-listen-to book provides the answers you need to make a difference - in your own life and in the lives of others. Best-selling author, hospice chaplain, and grief specialist Gary Roe gives you a look at the grieving heart - the thoughts, emotions, and struggles within.

So many of us suffer from chronic guilt feelings; we assume that these feelings reflect God’s opinion of us. But then along comes the gospel – exploding the lie with its mind-shattering declaration that not only does He love us, He is the One who “forgives all [our] iniquities, who heals all [our] diseases” (Psalm 103:3). While we tend to conform to our own self-concept, becoming what we think we are, Jesus does something for us that no man can do, He give us a new identity. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have become new (2Corinthians 5:17).