Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Gospel-Centered Counseling by Bob Kellemen

I'm currently reading the new book from Bob Kellemen, Gospel-Centered Counseling: How Christ Changes Lives.

So far, it's really good. Bob, the executive director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and a prolific author is well-suited to write this entry-level textbook for equipping biblical counselors.

In the book, he addresses the biblical counselor’s foundational question:

“What would a model of biblical counseling look like that was built solely upon Christ’s gospel of grace?”

And then he breaks that question into 8 ultimate life questions and briefly unpacks how the Bible answers them:

1. The Word: “Where do we find wisdom for life in a broken world?”

2. The Trinity/Community: “What comes into our mind when we think about God?” “Whose view of God will we believe—Christ’s or Satan’s?”

3. Creation: “Whose are we?” “In what story do we find ourselves?”

4. Fall: “What’s the root source of our problem?” “What went wrong?”

5. Redemption: “How does Christ bring us peace with God?” “How does Christ change people?”

6. Church: “Where can we find a place to belong and become?”

7. Consummation: “How does our future destiny with Christ make a difference in our lives today as saints who struggle against suffering and sin?”

8. Sanctification: “Why are we here?” “How do we become like Jesus?” How can our inner life increasingly reflect the inner life of Christ?”

I think this book would serve well those who don't know where to start in both understanding what biblical counseling is and how to practice it. I think that counseling students in Bible colleges and seminaries would especially benefit from reading it. Recommended.

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