Tag Archives: Counseling

Discipleship in the Wilderness

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Helping Our Fellow Believers Live Out the Pursuits of Psalm 63 In the July/August issue of The Baptist Bulletin, Dr. Jeff Newman, professor of Biblical Counseling at Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary, wrote an article titled “Dependence in the Wilderness.” In that article, available here, Dr. Newman explored Psalm 63 and its implications for growth during difficult circumstances. This Faith Pulpitarticle builds upon his previous work by applying the Biblical concepts to discipleship ministries. For a more thorough study of these concepts, you may purchase his most recent book, Dependence in the Wilderness (Regular Baptist Press, 2015).

Improving Adult Sunday School Classes

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My purpose in the first article was to call churches back to the priority of adult Sunday School classes because I believe they can do everything small groups can do and more and can provide the best format for discipleship. In short, adult Sunday School has the greater potential for benefit to a church. In this second article I offer some suggestions for how we adult teachers can improve our adult classes so they reach their full potential. 1. Commit to using printed curriculum that covers the Bible systematically.

The Christian and Church History

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All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. As I study church history, 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 is a comforting passage. When one studies the discipline of church history, many unsettling episodes present themselves. We often wonder how people could make the decisions they did, and even more, how they justified those decisions with the authorities they used.

Discipleship in the Details

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Counseling has become an important part of church ministry today. As with many elements of ministry, counseling has taken various forms. Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary is committed to a thoroughly Biblical approach to counseling. In this issue of the Faith Pulpit, Dr. Jeff Newman, professor of counseling at Faith, lays out a Biblical approach to counseling. This article positions Faith in the counseling spectrum and serves as a paradigm for your personal counseling ministry. The mission of Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary is to train called servants of God to minister the Word of God effectively in vocational Christian service.

The Preacher and His Library, Part 1

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“And the books, but especially the parchments . . .” II Timothy 4:13 Introduction While no one knows for sure what Paul was requesting when he talked about the books and the parchments, it is probable that he was asking for a copy of the Old Testament, or at least for part of it. Even in his final days of life, Paul was a reader. Since the days of the apostle Paul, reading has been part of the lifestyle of preachers.

Real Religion, Part 2

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Care for widows should be viewed from two perspectives immediate and long term. First, the death of the husband must be addressed. The wife’s world is devastated. Her lifelong companion and provider is gone. Words do not do justice to the instant, entire, irreversible change that occurs at the moment a woman loses her mate. Special consideration must be given to this time and the immediate days and weeks that follow. Immediate Ministry We must realize that a woman instantaneously experiences a transition from dependence to an independence for which she is not prepared.

Three Principles for Biblical Church Growth, Part 2

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Dr. Luke’s account of the church in Antioch (Acts 11:19–30) yields three principles for Biblical church growth. The previous issue of the Faith Pulpit explained the first principle: “Reach Out To The Lost” (11:19–21). The believers in Antioch shared the good news of Christ with their neighbors, “and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord” (11:21). Reports of church growth reached the believers in Jerusalem. Earlier they had sent Peter and John to Samaria (8:14). This time they sent Barnabas to Antioch (11:22).

Faithful Shepherding

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The picture given to us in Scripture of faithful local church leadership is that of the shepherd tending his flock. While other terms are used of him—he is an elder which speaks of his maturity and he is a bishop which views his responsibility of oversight of the Lord’s work—the term pastor describes well the heart of his ministry, that of shepherding the flock. Aspiring to hold this office is good, we are told in the Bible (1 Timothy 3:1), and there are many individuals today who occupy this office.

Biblical Preaching in the Twentieth Century

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Preaching is foremost in the minds of those who teach homiletics classes. They love to preach, and they like to talk about preaching. Such was the case recently as another teacher of homiletics and I met for breakfast to discuss how to be more effective in the classroom. Our conversation was side-tracked from methodology as we began to deal with the dearth of expository preaching today. This weakness is readily observable in many recent books on homiletics. The emphasis is away from exposition to “inductive” or “life experience” preaching.

A Prescription for Safe Counseling

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Pastoral indiscretion has reached epidemic proportions. The news media often headline today’s religious leaders who have fallen into sexual sin. However, the list is not limited to Swaggart and Bakker. The sad truth is that many, many pastors have become casualties in the war against the flesh. Dr. Paul Tassell, the national representative of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, has reported that in the last ten years he knows over 40 GARBC pastors who have become involved in sexual indiscretion.