Have you ever wondered, “what did hurting souls do before the invention of psychology in 1879?”
Hurting souls who were Christians went to their pastors and trusted leaders of their church who were actually fluent in biblical theology and knew how to practically apply the Scriptures to people’s problems. Unfortunately, some seminaries & churches today do not teach practical theology from a biblical perspective in the area of counseling – instead deferring to psychological constructs and man-made ideas. Not all psychological information is bad, but the man-centered theories underlying the majority of psychological theories oppose biblical truths.
What we enjoy about biblical counseling is that God is glorified in our ministry because we do our best to honor His Word’s sufficiency. Many people SAY that the Bible is sufficient but do they really practice it? Is Christ sufficient? Is His Word sufficient? We believe Him when He says it is in 2 Peter 1:3: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” – The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) . Good News Publishers: Wheaton.
You only get the “knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence” from reading the special revelation of the Holy Scriptures because they reveal His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, children in Christian homes are much more likely to come to know Christ because their exposure to biblical truths is far greater than children raised in homes of unbelievers. The Bible reveals God’s Son and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to us.
Go to our webpage entitled “What is Biblical Counseling?” to read a little bit more about this topic. Also, my booklet, Hope and Help Through Biblical Counseling, is a very helpful tool to help people understand what biblical counseling is all about. It can be ordered from Focus Publishing at www.focuspublishing.com
-Mark Shaw (believing Him and what He says in His Word – in its total sufficiency!)