by Mark Shaw | Dec 17, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
2 Cor. 3:18 and Romans 12:2 use the word “transform” which is translated from the Greek word that we derive metamorphosis from! Are you a metamorphosis? Are you a “new creation” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17)? Have old things passed away? Or are you...
by Mark Shaw | Dec 12, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Church Life, Life Lessons, Posts by Mark
What about in the arena of giving money? “I want to give to this organization” rather than “I feel led to give to this organization.” Sometimes, I think we want to justify our giving as though it is super-spiritually led by the Spirit and it...
by Mark Shaw | Dec 11, 2009 | Church Life, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
We say this phrase a lot and sometimes it’s a good phrase. But whatever happened to “I want to…” What’s wrong with “I want to…” when we are Spirit-led? God says that when we delight in Him, He gives us the desires of our...
by Mark Shaw | Dec 8, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Prayer Requests, Teaching
This may sound harsh at first, but people want to claim that excessive video game playing is an “addiction” but that is not true if you begin with the Word of God. The Bible says it’s a sin. Specifically, it’s idolatry, or a false god that they...
by Mark Shaw | Dec 1, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
I think there are 2 very different models for churches in America today: an Evangelist model vs. a Discipler model. Here’s what I mean. The Evangelist model emphasizes conversions and is wonderful in bringing people to Christ, but deficient in discipling those...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 21, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Devotions, Posts by Mark
Do you know facts about God? Or do you KNOW God intimately? There is a difference. God wants you to know Him relationally, deeply, and intimately. He doesn’t want you to simply know facts about Him. When you know Him, you find eternal life (John 17:3; I John...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 19, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
A first “fruit” I look for in a “transforming” (Rom. 12:2) addict is RESPONSIBILITY. Is the person taking full responsibility for his/her actions or are they shifting the blame to someone else and/or other things? Only when we take FULL...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 17, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff, Vs. Psychology
If you do counseling, what’s your message? Are you preaching yourself? Are you proclaiming the so-called “wisdom” of mankind? OR are you proclaiming Christ? 2 Corinthians 4:5 states: “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 14, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
You hear a lot about hypocrisy. People act like Jesus talked about hypocrisy all of the time, but He didn’t except when He dealt with religious Pharisees. Today, Christians are afraid to be bold and to biblically counsel or tell others about Jesus because of the...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 13, 2009 | Announcements, Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
For those of you who are new readers, I blogged a lot on UNITY in the early days of this blog! Unity is near and dear to my heart though it’s a struggle for me at times. I have to fight to keep unity just as you do, too, I’m sure! I love unity in the body...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 9, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
Where will transformation of Birmingham and our nation come from? Politics? Not likely. Look at our current mayoral mess and the debt in Jefferson County. Social organizations and civic groups? Not likely. Good hearts but they often do not point people to Christ....
by Mark Shaw | Nov 7, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
Can mankind unlock someone’s heart? No, only the Lord can do unlock the human heart. Then, why counsel someone if mankind cannot? The Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together to unlock the human heart according to Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is...
by Mark Shaw | Nov 5, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Truth in Love Staff
Ken Ham wrote a book called “Almost Gone” that is great though it is a challenging read. It has statistics in it but Mr. Ham is such a good communicator that it is smooth and informative. I highly recommend you read it. The book challenged me to re-think...
by Mark Shaw | Oct 25, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
When our goal is simply to glorify the Lord by being obedient to Him as He leads us by the Holy Spirit in accordance to God’s Word, then there are “by-products” produced. For example, the “by-product” of seeking to glorify God in your...
by Mark Shaw | Oct 9, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Truth in Love Staff
Society mistakenly promotes the “heart” as ONLY emotions sometimes today but the “heart” refers to the central part and CORE of someone’s inner person. The HEART, biblically speaking, includes THINKING according to Strong’s...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 30, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark
I told someone recently that I appreciate the heart’s desire of many in psychology who want to help hurting souls. These folks are compassionate. It’s just that their goal is not enough. God offers more. God wants more! I know that God offers more than...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 15, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, family, Posts by Mark, Truth in Love Staff
Not everyone knows that we provide biblical counseling to children and teens! We are counseling more and more young people and I love it because teens are fertile ground. They are teachable (most times) and do their assigned homework unlike many adults. In fact, many...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 11, 2009 | Posts by Mark, Scripture, Teaching, Truth in Love Staff
Our culture – even our Christian culture – has believed the lie that God’s Word of truth is separate from love and nothing could be further from the truth. While the truth might hurt us for a moment, it’s because it really hurts our pride....
by Mark Shaw | Aug 10, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Teaching, Truth in Love Staff
The TRUTH of God’s Word IS love. The Bible is NOT a dead book that is no longer relevant to us in our modern culture. In fact, I’d argue it’s more relevant and needed today than ever before! The Bible is also powerful – alive and active! It is...
by Mark Shaw | Aug 9, 2009 | Biblical Counseling, Posts by Mark, Scripture, Truth in Love Staff
Wow, I need the truth. Every day. God’s truth is love. I need to know what God thinks. I need to know what God says. I need God to speak to me. Guess what? He does speak to us through the Holy Spirit and His Word of truth. Does the truth hurt? It may hurt our...
