The Journal of Biblical Counseling: Volume 22, Number 4, Fall 2004
Overview
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.
Top Highlights
“Psalm 119 is about life’s painful realities. And it is about the gifts of God. And it is about how those two meet, talk, come to grips, and find life’s highest delight.” (Page 2)
“To obey God’s will is to love well because you are loved well.” (Page 8)
“This psalm is actually not about the topic of getting Scripture into your life. And it’s certainly not a meditation, contemplating a topic in one’s mind. Instead, we overhear the honest words erupting when what God says gets into you. We hear someone speaking to the God who speaks, someone who needs the God who speaks, someone who loves the God who speaks. It’s not thinking about a topic; it’s getting down to business. It’s not an exhortation to Bible study; it’s an outcry of faith.” (Page 4)
“But Psalm 119 gets you out of the monologue business entirely. It gets you about the business of a living dialogue with the person whose opinion finally matters. The problem with self-talk, whether ‘negative’ or ‘positive,’ whether ‘irrational’ or ‘rational,’ is that we aren’t talking to anyone but ourselves. The stream of consciousness is unconscious of the One with whom we have to do. A stream of conversation ought to be taking place, but we repress conscious awareness of someone who so threatens our self-fascination.” (Page 6)
“It’s so simple. Ten times he simply asks, ‘Teach me.’ Nine times, ‘Revive me.’ Six times, ‘Make me understand.’ Is it that he doesn’t know what God says? On the contrary, he knows exactly what God says, and exactly what he needs. It’s because he knows those wonders of judgment, promise, testimony, and command—and because he knows his dull heart, and the distraction of his troubles—that he begs God to teach him, to make him alive. ‘I can read it, I can quote it, I want to live it. You must make me do it. You must awaken me. You must change me. You must teach me.’” (Page 12)
- Title: The Journal of Biblical Counseling: Volume 22, Number 4, Fall 2004
- Author: David Powlison
- Series: The Journal of Biblical Counseling
- Publisher: The Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation
- Print Publication Date: 2004
- Logos Release Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Counseling › Practice; Pastoral counseling › Practice; Pastoral theology
- Resource ID: LLS:JBC22_4
- Resource Type: Journal
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-16T17:44:26Z