Digital Logos Edition
For nearly 30 years, the Journal of Biblical Counseling (previously the Journal of Pastoral Practice) of CCEF (the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation) has provided a forum for biblical counseling’s development and application. The journal’s mission is to develop clear thinking and effective practice in biblical counseling through articles that faithfully bring the God of truth, mercy, and power to the issues faced by ministries of counseling and discipleship.
“Write down ten things, or the two or three that are hijacking all your attention. Get a grip on the pressures harassing you today, and the entire context in Philippians 4 will explode with significance. It matters that he is near. It matters that he’s listening. It matters that he willingly communicates his peace to an anxious heart. You find relevant promises, and guidance, and an invitation to think hard about the intersection of God’s nearness with your life. You become aware that you must pray real prayers to the real God whom you really need. You hear a call to limited but significant action—doing a few things that are right to do today, knowing that what you do never controls the outcome or makes all the pressures go away.” (Volume 30, Number 3, Page 5)
“What I came to understand is that I was not counseling him; rather, he was using me to control his wife” (Volume 30, Number 3, Page 24)
“patterns of oppression occur in one quarter of all marriages.” (Volume 30, Number 3, Page 26)
“Oppressors are not grieved at their own sins and are not committed to change. Instead, they magnify the faults in their spouses and are more than happy to have these failings addressed. It justifies their domination (‘See, I told you. You are the problem!’). So even if the oppressed spouse makes a change, it will not improve the marriage and can actually empower further abuses. It feeds the very fire you are trying to extinguish.” (Volume 30, Number 3, Page 27)
“When headship considers itself independent, autonomous, and self-governing, without humility toward God and man, it will serve itself rather than others. Such leaders ‘do what is right in their own eyes.’” (Volume 30, Number 3, Page 52)