Worshipping God and Making Disciples
Consider reading this article:
Every so often, I have conversations with some single guy or another who has his eyes on a great young lady but is concerned that he’s not “all that attracted to her”. Basically, he’s worried that if he pursues this woman he’s going to wind up spending his life in the nightmarish prison of a long-term, committed love relationship with someone that he doesn’t find to be extremely physically attractive.
I have little patience with this kind of conversation…
I came across an old quote in my files that I once cherished. I will cherish it again today.
“Most churches make the mistake of selecting as leaders the confident, the competent, and the successful. But what you most need in a leader is someone who has been broken by the knowledge of his or her sin, and even greater knowledge of Jesus’ costly grace. The number one leaders in every church ought to be the people who repent the most fully without excuses, because you don’t need any now; the most easily without bitterness; the most publicly and the most joyfully. They know their standing isn’t based on their performance.” – Tim Keller
Pray that your church leaders continue to grow this way.
These days, aside from spending big chunks of time preparing sermons, I am also being used to counsel people in our faith family and few outside. On average, 4-5 people per week. On the one hand, I would say half are pretty light, even humorous counseling sessions with just some simple reminders. On the other hand, there have been many intense situations so far this year that required much time (+3 hours per), grace, and wisdom.
Could you pray for me (especially, if I am one of your pastors)? You could pray for the following.
I love the following quotes that has kept me focused on the goal and fueled my desire of counseling in my ministry.
All counseling issues involve the exaltation or the denigration of Jesus Christ. Either our attitudes and feelings and behaviors are making much or making little of Christ. We were created to make much of Christ. There is no true success in counseling if a person becomes socially functional without conscious dependence on and delight in Jesus Christ. This is the means and goal of all health. John Piper
Biblical Counseling must go to the heart of our problems and the heart of God’s solution, which always means going to the cross where the depths of sin and the heights of grace are revealed. There is no true exalting of Christ or honoring of God that does not cherish the cross. The decisive severing of pride and despair is the cross of Christ. It is the ground of humility and hope. There is no true mental health without understanding the desperate condition we were in without the cross, and without feeling the joy of deliverance from that condition through the death of Christ on our behalf. John Piper
