Five to Live By

Linking you to the top 5 Christian blog posts of the week—posts that provide robust, rich, and relevant insights for living.

Are You an Astronaut or an Archeologist? 

Paul Tripp discusses how when we are young we are astronauts looking ahead to each new launch phase of life. As we age, we become archeologist looking back on our past. He also explores how we can look back, failures and all, and experience Christ’s Grace. Read his perspective in Archeologists and Unafraid. 

The Parenting Pendulum

Ed Welch at CCEF has an intriguing post with an even more interesting title: Parents Ignore Your Kids’ Feelings. Read it to find out what Ed thinks about the pendulum swings in how society says we should parent.

When Should I Confront?

Paul Tautges has a great post on Ten Questions I Need to Ask Before Confronting a Brother in Christ.

How to Recognize a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

This “classic” (old) post from John Piper has insight relevant for today about How to Recognize a Wolf in the Making. 

What Makes Biblical Counseling Biblical?

9Marks has an excellent interview with David Powlison on What Distinguishes Biblical Counseling from Other Methods? 

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Which post impacted you the most? Why? What blog posts have you enjoyed this week that you want to share with others?

Tags: Parenting, Pastoral Ministry

Five to Live By 

Linking you to the top 5 Christian blog posts of the week—posts that provide robust, rich, and relevant insights for living.

Mother’s Day: Be Very Sensitive

Justin Taylor links you to several important posts about Mother’s Day—and our need to be very sensitive. In wanting to honor Moms, our churches often are insensitive to those women for whom Mother’s Day may be a very difficult day. Read with insight and act with compassion: Infertility and Mother’s Day.

A Dirty Word List?

Ed Welch is one of my favorite biblical counseling bloggers. I appreciate his candor, as in this post about our dirty word list in biblical counseling. Read all about it in Biblical Counseling Dirty Words.

Incompetent to Counsel

You know that it’s rare for me to list one of my own posts. Well, technically I’m not doing that. Instead I’m listing a post from the Biblical Counseling Coalition’s new blog site, Grace & Truth. I just happen to be one of the first week’s blogger. Read my post on finding strength in weakness (and all the others): Competent in Christ.

A Prayer by Jay Adams

Jay Adams, the founder of Nouthetic Counseling, posted a moving, candid prayer that is a great reminder to all of us, regardless of our age. Read and learn from Jay’s wisdom in Age.

Daddy Takes the Bee Sting for Us

My good friend, Pastor Steve DeWitt, shares a stirring illustration of the bee sting in The Sting Removed.

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Which post impacted you the most? Why? What blog posts have you enjoyed this week that you want to share with others?

Tags: Biblical Counseling Coalition, Ed Welch, Five to Live By, Jay Adams, Nouthetic Counseling

Equipping Counselors for Your Church: What People Are Saying

My sixth book will be released in September, 2011 by P&R Publishing. To view the book video trailer of the book click on this link: Equipping Counselors for Your Church: The 4E Ministry Training Strategy.

Over a dozen leaders in biblical counseling have graciously shared their recommendations. Read what they have to say…and plan to order your book as soon as pre-ordering is “live.”

“Dr. Bob Kellemen knows that God has called all of His children to be active participants in the ministry community that He designed the church to be. Bob also knows that it is not enough to give people a vision and call them to commitment; they must also be biblically trained. Equipping of the Body of Christ for personal ministry has been Bob’s life work. This practical, step-by-step equipping manual is the mature fruit of that life-long commitment.”—Dr. Paul Tripp, D.Min., Founder and President of Paul Tripp Ministries, Author of Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hand

“Bob Kellemen—trainer and coach extraordinaire—has a simple goal: he wants to see your church’s one-to-one ministry transformed. The way he does that is by giving clear, practical instruction along with a huge package of supplies and tools. And when you follow his coaching you’ll be surprised to find that the result is not so much Bob’s system as it is an equipping model that is specific to your church.”—Dr. Ed Welch, Ph.D., Faculty Member CCEF, Author of When People Are Big and God Is Small

“So many of us long to see our churches equipped to minister the blessings of God’s Word to one another…and yet somehow it seems all too easy to get bogged down in the how. Bob Kellemen has given the church a tremendous resource—outlining not only the “how but also the “why” and most importantly the “Who.” This is a resource that will revolutionize the way your church does ministry and will give you the resources you need to offer practical help from a many-membered body serving one another and their community.”—Elyse Fitzpatrick, MA, Author of Counsel from the Cross

“This is a must-read book for every person who longs to see their church be more effective at helping people grow and handle the issues of everyday life. It is intensely biblical with a model that flows right out of the pages of Scripture. Yet it is equally practical. You will be encouraged and equipped to be a person who…encourages and equips. My friend Bob Kellemen has done a masterful job at helping us all think about how to be truly effective in the culture in which Christ has placed us.”—Pastor Steve Viars, D.Min., Sr. Pastor, Faith Baptist Church, Lafayette, IN; Author of Putting Your Past in Its Place

“This is the book we needed years ago at Mars Hill Church to help us re-think our counseling ministries. By God’s grace, we ended up with something like what Dr. Kellemen envisions; but save yourself the trouble we endured and let Bob’s wisdom guide you strategically through the process. In fact, join me: I’ll be using this book to re-think it all over again.”—Mike Wilkerson, Pastor of Biblical Living, Mars Hill Church, Seattle, WA; Author of Redemption: Freed by Jesus from the Idols We Worship and the Wounds We Carry

Bob Kellemen’s Equipping Counselors for Your Church is a desperately needed gift to pastors and church leaders for helping the church to envision, enlist, equip, and empower the saints for the work of ministry. Bob’s seasoned, insightful, and humble experience emerges in each chapter and is also reflected in his detailed appendices. I highly recommend this work whether you are just starting out or you have been in the trenches for years. I was personally encouraged and challenged in addition to coming away with many ideas that I will use to assess my own ministry.—Pastor Robert K. Cheong, Ph.D., Pastor of Care and Counseling, Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, Kentucky

“Bob Kellemen knows equipping biblical counselors from A-to-Z. He has done a tremendous job of structuring a step-wise strategy to develop the lay counselors in your church. In his humble style, Bob has gathered the best leaders of local church counseling ministries and done the work of bench-marking for you. This is a book that you will reference often as you help the hurting, and equip the saints for the work of soul care in your church.”—Pastor Garrett Higbee, Psy.D., Executive Director of Biblical Soul Care Ministries, Harvest Bible Chapel, Elgin, Illinois

“Dr. Kellemen has produced a landmark book that fills a significant vacuum in the biblical counseling literature: a comprehensive work that not only offers an exceptional overview of biblical counseling, but also provides a wise, strategic, and thoughtful guide outlining the essentials of developing a robust counseling ministry within the local church. Equipping Counselors for Your Church has the potential to influence a massive paradigm shift in how ministry is exercised in the Body of Christ both now and in future generations.”—Jeremy Lelek, M.A., L.P.C., President, Association of Biblical Counselors

“Dr. Bob Kellemen is a born encourager, coach, and equipper. His vision and enthusiasm are contagious! Bob has thought carefully about how to foster effective counseling of those struggling with sin and suffering in the context of the local church, and encourage informal disciple-making among all members. The result is this comprehensive resource, which will take your congregation through envisioning your unique counseling ministry, enlisting, equipping, and leading counselors, and administering your program. Whether you are a pastor, ministry leader, or a church member who’s already caught the biblical counseling vision, there’s something in this manual for you. Read it and dare to dream.”—Dr. Laura Hendrickson, Psychiatrist, Biblical Counselor, Author of Will Medicine Stop the Pain?

“Dr. Kellemen’s book fills a long-standing gap in Christian counseling and church-based ministry literature. It is an excellent resource for church leaders or counselors who are looking for practical biblical guidance, including instructions and all the necessary nuts-and-bolts, in developing the one-to-one, personal ministry component in their church’s spectrum of care. It is marvelously comprehensive and systematic, while at the same time flexible enough to apply to a variety of church personalities.”—Dr. Sam R. Williams, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Counseling, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

“This is a remarkable book. Bob Kellemen has accomplished the seemingly impossible task of combining sound Christian theology, informed biblical counseling principles, and practical training procedures into a guidebook for developing a counseling ministry in the local church. While some books focus on counseling models, the structure of training programs, or on counseling techniques, Dr. Kellemen has demonstrated the importance of addressing a comprehensive biblical approach to counseling in the church. Bob gives you the information necessary to build a complete biblical counseling ministry. He walks you through each step and shows you how to make counseling ministry unique to your church, not borrowed and artificially applied, but intrinsic to the God-given vision and biblical mission of the local body of believers. The result is a thoroughly biblical book that provides rich material for ministers, seminary students, and people interested in developing care-giving ministries. This is a ‘must’ book for anyone interested in counseling and the church.”—Ian F. Jones, Ph.D., Ph.D., Baptist Community Ministries’ Chair of Pastoral Counseling, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

“I am alarmed in our ever-increasing multiethnic urban society at how many people faithfully attend Bible believing churches with a successful external appearance while living in unbelievable personal and family dysfunction! Bob Kellemen’s call for and guidance towards a revolution of humble growing biblical counselors within the church is a timely resource for an urgent need.”—Dr. A. Charles Ware, President, Crossroads Bible College, Indianapolis, IN; Author of Darwin’s Plantation: Evolution’s Racist Roots

“Do you ever wish someone would help you better envision, understand, organize and implement personal ministry in your local church? If so, this book is for you. Who wouldn’t value an opportunity to sit with twenty-five leaders in biblical counseling—just to hear the conversation, listen to the interaction, learn from the dialogue, and benefit from the exchange of ideas in order to capture the challenges, commitments, struggles, vision, discernment, strategy and passion of these experienced and skilled counselors? After interacting with twenty-four ministry leaders, Dr. Bob Kellemen serves as your personal coach, giving you insight on how to better serve the Body of Christ. As you seek to serve those God has called you to help grow and maneuver through the challenges of life, this book will help you understand, plan, develop and implement authentic and lasting personal ministry in your church.”—Pastor Kevin Carson, D.Min., Pastor, Sonrise Baptist Church, Ozark, Missouri

Tags: Biblical Counseling, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Equipping Counselors for Your Church, Steve Viars

Five to Live By: Relationships Matter 

Linking you to the top 5 Christian blog posts of the week—posts that provide robust, rich, and relevant insights for living. Today’s 5 converge around the theme of relationships.

Relational Biblical Counseling

Ed Welch of CCEF has an outstanding post reminding us that soulless ministry is not biblical ministry at all (compare 1 Thessalonians 2:8). Gain from his wisdom in Are We Skilled Counseling Mechanics?

Who We Are in and to Christ

Pastor Tullian Tchividjian shows that our grace relationship to Christ frees us from the obsessive pressure to perform. Learn about Our New and Exalted Identity.

The Humble Sr. Pastor

Rick Howerton provides an excellent reminder that the phrase “humble Sr. Pastor” shouldn’t be an oxymoron, and that “relational mega-church pastor” shouldn’t be a contradiction in terms. Read Rick’s insights in Sr. Pastors and Wise Relational Decisions.

What Seminary Leaves Out

H. B. London shares Ten Things Seminary Never Taught Me. Let’s pray that seminaries of today are doing a much better job in these ten areas.

“I Don’t Know”

Elliot Grudem at Acts 29 reminds us of our need for humility in Why Arrogance Has No Place in Reformed Theology.

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Which post impacted you the most? Why? What blog posts have you enjoyed this week that you want to share with others?

Tags: CCEF, Ed Welch, Tullian Tchividjian

Five to Live By

Linking you to the top 5 Christian blog posts of the week—posts that provide robust, rich, and relevant insights for living.

Living with Regrets

Why have over 1,500 people passed this post on to friends? Find out when you read Ed Welch (CCEF) post If Only: Living with Regrets.

Holy Joy

Dr. Laura Hendrickson teaches us that we can bear the truth about ourselves because it’s not the end of the story. Ponder he life-changing biblical reflections in When You’ve Really Messed Up.

Wrestling with Convictions

By now, most have heard about the young Christian wrestler from Iowa who choose to forfeit his match at the State meet rather than wrestler a girl—based upon conviction. As a high school wrestling coach, I wanted to blog on this. I did not, but many did. The best post was Al Mohler’s A Clash of Worldviews.

Biblical Counseling Homework

Pastor Mark Kelly provides four worksheets he developed while working through Jonah with a teen struggling with obedience toward authority. They’re a great example of how to use the Bible to engage people in spiritual conversations and scriptural explorations about their lives. Read them and even download them at Counseling from Jonah.

On Display?

Mary Kassian helps us to understand the purpose of womanhood in The Amazing Display.

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 Which post impacted you the most? Why? What blog posts have you enjoyed this week that you want to share with others?

Tags: Al Mohler, CCEF, Ed Welch, Five to Live By, Laura Hendrickson, Mary Kassian

The Best of the Best Around the Christian Net: This Week’s Top 5

Linking you to the top 5 Christian blog posts of the week—posts that provide robust, rich, and relevant insights for living.

Do We Need Another Biblical Counseling Organization?

The Biblical Counseling Coalition launched this week. Read all about them at the BCC launch website.

The Experts on Bias…Are Biased!

Surprise, surprise. Social psychologists who study bias are themselves biased. So shares Al Mohler in Academic Bias Against Conservatives.

If Only…

How do we handle life’s “what ifs?” Ed Welch and CCEF explores this important question in Living with Regrets.

God Still Speaks through a Fish

The folks at The Resurgence teach us about God’s amazing grace in Jonah as the Parochial Prophet.

A Prayer of Augustine

Trevin Wax shares Augustine’s prayer Let Me Fly and Take Refuge in You.

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Which post impacted you the most? Why? What blog posts have you enjoyed this week that you want to share with others?

Tags: Al Mohler, Biblical Counseling, Biblical Cousneling Coalition, Ed Welch