Becoming an Effective Christian Counselor

Book excerpt: The twentieth century will be known in church history as the age when psychological thinking displaced biblical thinking, self-centeredness displaced Christ-centeredness, concern for personal needs displaced concern for the needs of others, feelings displaced mental attitudes, self-esteem displaced humility and favor with God, and health-and-wealth Christianity displaced sacrifice-and-service Christianity. This has resulted in Christians who have a multitude of seemingly unsolvable problems. We wrote this book to provide biblical answers for the common personal problems in today's confused and valueless culture. The Bible has eternal values, sure direction, and answers (at least in principle) to every nonmedical problem that people experience. Our book identifies the thirty-five most common problems, categorized under seven biblical root causes: bitterness, fornication, materialism, rejection, lying, imagination, and doubt. The chapters on addiction, cruel men, suffering and grief, and depression are separate because of their length, but each falls under one of the root causes. Family problems are listed in three separate chapters because they each may be a result of several root causes. There are enough suggested solutions to each problem that, by using the appropriate solution, the counselor can help the counselee find God's solution to the problem, no matter what the situation. - Back cover.