When we consider the biblical understanding of “church,” it’s clear that we don’t really go to church, because the church is the people of God who have been called “out of darkness into his marvelous light” through Christ (1 Peter 2:9). Certainly, when Paul wrote “to the church of God in Corinth” (1 Corinthians 1:2), he was not referring to a building in Corinth, but the Christians there. It is tr...  Read More

It can be argued that repentance is not a popular subject to bring up these days, even in the church. And your response to such a statement may be, “Yeah, and it wouldn’t take much to make that case either.” Assuming that this is true, how should this neglect be addressed? More sermons on repentance? A Sunday school series, perhaps? Those are good answers, but only if the repentance that is taught...  Read More

I have never met someone who enjoys trials. Yes, many believers enjoy the spiritual maturity and deeper relationship with God that come as a result of trials, but I have not met one that enjoys the trial itself. When trial strikes, we all desire escape to one degree or another. This can be seen in the way that many of us pray in trials. In desperation we plead with God to make it all stop with lit...  Read More

It is no secret that believing lies leads us into sin.  We see this as far back as Genesis 3 when Eve believed the lies of the serpent and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree (vv. 1-6).  But perhaps it is not as obvious that we also believe lies as we seek to repent of the same sins that were influenced by lies in the first place.  This is, of course, not true repentance, but rather, a false repen...  Read More

Only a matter of days earlier, life was remarkably different than it is now.  It may be that we are living in a time that has not seen its equal in our country for a hundred years.  Many of us are working from home, with kids out of school, and it seems like each time we check the news something else has been closed or canceled to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  We are trying to practice social d...  Read More

In our day and age when we have access to sermons galore on demand and immediate contact with friends through our devices, the importance of commitment to the church worship service may be a hard sell for some people. However, there are solid reasons why every believer should count this as one of the highest priorities in life, and for every biblical counselor, why this should be a staple homework...  Read More

No doubt, there are many people who read biographies out of curiosity. With the release of a biography of some prominent historical figure, there are those who pick up the book off Amazon because they are fascinated by the individual and they want to know more. Why was this person the way he was? What made him tick? Why did his life end so tragically?There is nothing wrong with such curiosity, but...  Read More

A couple of years ago, my second son was learning to ride his bike without training wheels. As with many children, he was quite anxious about the prospect of losing his balance and crashing. With each new try, I would hold the back of his bike seat until he got going fast enough and then I would let go. A tendency of his when I let go was to stop pedaling. When he felt himself losing balance, this...  Read More

Review of Religious OCD Post 1In a previous post, I labeled Scrupulosity or Religious OCD as being characterized by obsessions related to issues that are specifically moral or spiritual in nature. In contrast to obsessions centered around cleanliness and orderliness, the person struggling with Religious OCD battles obsessions centered around moral purity and a persistently-plagued conscience. The ...  Read More

OCD: More than just repeated hand-washingWhat do you think of when you think of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? In contrast to cleanliness, health, or order, there are people who obsess over issues that are specifically moral or spiritual in nature, like obsessing over whether something they are doing is sinful or whether they will commit a sin that they are particularly disturbed by. This ki...  Read More

In our suffering, we can often respond with much self-focus. If you’re like me when you get sick, you find it challenging to think about much else beyond, “Wow…I feel crummy and I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”  When life hurts, you have likely asked one or more of these questions: “Why?” “Why me?” “When will it all stop?” “What do I have to do to get out of these circumstances?” “Why does ...  Read More

Whether you are someone struggling with trials and/or sins, or you are a counselor helping a person who is struggling with trials and/or sins, you must be careful not to read the Bible with a “fix-it” mentality.  What I mean is that you must be cautious of reading God’s Word in such a way that fixing a problem becomes your main goal for reading. Certainly, the truth of the Word is our lifeline in ...  Read More