A potpourri of helps for those involved in service for Christ, including Prayer Training, “A Word Fitly Spoken” (friend-to-friend counseling), “Hard Questions,” Caregivers Seminar, Titus 2 Men and Women, and extensive Small Group Leaders Training.
Matthew 5:38-42
When a person's rights are violated, it's all too common to respond in retaliation. The Pharisees of Christ's day, for instance, were so bent on revenge that they sidestepped the clear teaching of the law and took the administration of justice out of the courts and into their own hands. They saw it as a matter of right and duty to personally take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and, in some, cases go beyond that.
Here are some of the options: “Jesus lived, but I don’t think He did all of those miracles; I mean, that is impossible.” “Jesus was a con man.” “Jesus existed, but He was not the Son of God.” “Jesus never claimed to be God.” “Jesus was just a good man.” “Jesus was one of the...
There are certainly a lot of opinions about the definition of a Christian:
What kinds of people miss the healing benefits of wise counsel?
Not all counseling is effective. The failure may not be with the counselor, but with the one seeking counsel. Before we identify six types of people who lose the benefit of counseling, we must note that occasionally a person's problem is organic in nature. That person may need physical help—the attention of a medical doctor. With that in mind, let's now identify the ones upon whom counseling has minimal effect:
Another quality of an effective encourager, an extension of being a good listener, is to be
slow to speak
Proverbs 12:18; 13:3; 17:27-28; 29:20.
What are the qualities of the person who can help?
In order to determine that, let's begin with a simple test. This will tell us how effective we will be as helpers, encouragers, and counselors to our friends and family members.
Why is wise and healing counsel needed?
To help a person understand his heart
Proverbs 20:5: "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out."
I can vividly remember the first time I heard about Solomon and his wisdom in Sunday School. It made quite an impression on me because of the way our teacher introduced the subject, asking the class, "If you had three wishes and could have anything you wanted, what would you choose?" My potential list was filled with things that would gladden any boy's heart, but I believe I finally narrowed it down to three. I wanted a bicycle, money and fame. After the members of the class offered their wish lists, our teacher told us about how Solomon had a similar opportunity to choose, and chose wisdom above everything else. I was deeply affected by that class. I went home that day and prayed: "God, that makes sense to me. If I'm wise, I'll get wisdom and anything else I want as well—including a bike." So I asked for wisdom, and it has since been my consistent prayer.
A topical study can be a very exciting process, as a person goes to the Scripture to find answers to their problems. But certain rules and procedures should be followed. Typically the way such a study begins is by looking up a biblical word in the concordance that represents the contemporary problem or need they...
A second example of what a Topical Study might yield, this text illustrates the results of an extensive topical study on this difficult subject. Don't be intimidated by the length or the breadth of this study. Few topical studies will be this extensive. Studying just a few passages will yield wonderful results.