Okay, it happened again. I was reading some commentary on a Biblical passage. This one was from when Jesus said to His disciples in the garden, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, …
Continue reading Jesus Caught Being Weak in the Garden of Gethsemane?
I know that people tend to think of chaplaincy as decidedly different from missionary. However, both come from a missional spirit, as one embraces the calling to serve others outside of the church setting. Well, I was supposed to give an commissioning address for some chaplain trainees at our center a couple of weeks ago. …
I chose not to name names here, but as the stories/charges from my former school have multiplied since I first wrote this narrow somewhat even-handed post, I invite you to read more on your own... https://rightingamerica.net/rape-sexual-harassment-and-more-the-cedarville-stories-are-multiplying/?fbclid=IwAR3w4PvmDPtu5fcnddvHU_EtiR1P534Vdd3PsOu0NVUvx5ZfJlSsFNt5CUQ A Christian college I attended years ago has been in the news lately. It recently fired a professor (I …
Continue reading The Murky Waters of Ministerial Restoration
I decided to move some articles from an old blog of mine on Pastoral Theology. That is why some of my posts here are more about pastoral counseling and theology rather than "classic" missions. But since I am in missions and am an administrator at a pastoral counseling center, it is not NOT missions. I …
Continue reading Can You Do Good Pastoral Counseling With Bad Pastoral Theology?
Let's just face facts for a moment. EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH DEATH Isn't that a crazy thought? We embrace a future and hopeful orientation. How could such an outlook ignore perhaps the most important milestone that each of us go through in the path into the future-- death? Let me give a few anecdotal evidences of …
Celia and I have gone through our most recent book, Dialogue in Pastoral Counseling and Training, and made a few modest changes. Some of these were fixing small glitches. Played with the structure in spots as well. I think the book is stronger now. Yes, I know that this blog is MOSTLY about missions, and …
Continue reading Updated Book, “Dialogue in Pastoral Counseling and Training”
Before getting into the topic, I would like to share with you my view of anger. I think anger is neither good nor bad. It is an emotion and emotions are not good or bad. Emotions begin to take on ethical concerns when tied to motives and actions. In this sense, then, I believe that …
It has been a slow process, but the book that Celia and I are working on is kind of done. That is, it is done in terms of content. It is called "Dynamics in Pastoral Counseling" and is to serve as a textbook for some of our training. Of course, there is still editing, adjusting …
We do a number of tests at our counseling center. We have partners in our work who are psychometricians, but we generally have little to do with tests that are built around DSM-V. We tend to focus on tests that are more valuable in pastoral counseling, and ones that lead more towards conversation than formal …
The Presentation is available on Slideshare.