Gospel-Centered Counseling: How Christ Changes Lives
For the past year, in every spare moment, I’ve been working on a new book. Today I sent the completed manuscript to Zondervan for: Gospel-Centered Counseling: How Christ Changes Lives.
In the biblical counseling movement, we often ask the appropriate question, “How do people change?” In Gospel-Centered Counseling, I ask that question differently, “How does Christ change people?”
Life’s Eight Ultimate Questions
The book is a theological primer for biblical counselors, written for the lay person and pastor. In Gospel-Centered Counseling, I seek to address the biblical counselor’s core question:
“What would a model of biblical counseling and discipleship look like that was built solely upon Christ’s gospel of grace?”
To answer this vital question, the book addresses eight ultimate life questions:
- The Word: “Where do we find wisdom for life in a broken world?”
- 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?”
- Creation: “Whose are we?” “In what story do we find ourselves?”
- Fall: “What’s the root source of our problem?” “What went wrong?”
- Redemption: “How does Christ bring us peace with God?” “How does Christ change people?”
- Church: “Where can we find a place to belong and become?”
- Consummation: “How does our future destiny with Christ make a difference in our lives today as saints who struggle against suffering and sin?”
- Sanctification: “Why are we here?” “How do we become like Jesus?” How can our inner life increasingly reflect the inner life of Christ?”
Two hallmarks of the modern biblical counseling movement have always been the sufficiency of Scripture and progressive sanctification. In my outline of life’s eight ultimate questions, those two issues serve as bookends. By starting with the Word of God, we humbly submit to God’s wisdom about life in our broken world. By ending with sanctification, we acknowledge that we build our answer to the question, “How do we become like Jesus?” upon God’s answers to all the preceding questions—upon God’s grand redemptive narrative.
Table of Contents
Though I’m sure some of this will change after the editors do their diligent work, here are the working titles of each chapter in Gospel-Centered Counseling.
Introduction: Changing Lives with Christ’s Changeless Gospel Truth
Chapter 1: Mining the Richness of God’s Word: God’s Treasures of Wisdom
Chapter 2: Discovering Wisdom for Life in a Broken World: Our Treasure Hunt for Wisdom
Chapter 3: Knowing the Creator of the Soul: Our Great Soul Physician
Chapter 4: Recognizing the Most Important Fact About Us: Our View of God
Chapter 5: Engaging the Battle for Our Soul: Our Spiritual Warfare in Spiritual Friendship
Chapter 6: Examining the Spiritual Anatomy of the Soul: Our View of People
Chapter 7: Journeying into the Heart: Our Role as Soul Physicians and Biblical Cardiologists
Chapter 8: Exploring Serpentine Seduction to Sin: Our Spiritual Adultery
Chapter 9: Diagnosing the Fallen Condition of the Soul: Our Fallen Heart
Chapter 10: Applying the Gospel to Suffering: Our Gospel-Centered Self-Counsel
Chapter 11: Prescribing God’s Cure for the Soul: Part 1—Our New Nurture
Chapter 12: Prescribing God’s Cure for the Soul: Part 2: Our New Nature
Chapter 13: Finding a Place to Belong and Become: Our Growth in Grace Is a Community Journey
Chapter 14: Remembering the Future: Our Eternal Perspective
Chapter 15: Dispensing Grace: Our Gospel-Centered Growth in Grace
Chapter 16: Putting Off and Putting On: God’s Heart Change Model of Progressive Sanctification
Conclusion: Living Life Empowered by Christ’s Changeless Gospel Truth
Sign-Up for Pre-Order Sale Offer
I can’t sell the book yet since I have no idea what the price will be and since it won’t be out until mid-2014.
However, if you send an email to rpm.ministries@gmail.com with the subject line of “Pre-Order Offer,” when the book releases I will send you a coupon for a pre-order sale price.
By emailing me, you are not obligated to purchase a copy. You simply reserve a sale price coupon that you could choose to use for yourself or as a gift.
Book Two
Gospel-Centered Counseling is part of a two-book series I am doing with Zondervan entitled: The Equipping Biblical Counselors’ Series.
Book two, which I’ll start working on next week, will focus on a methodology of biblical counseling. It will equip lay people and pastors to develop twenty-two biblical counseling relational skills.
The title is, Gospel Conversations: How to Care Like Christ.
Join the Conversation
Of the eight ultimate life questions, which one(s) do you think is/are most important for the biblical counselor?
Of the sixteen chapters, which one intrigues you the most? Why?
RPM Ministries: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth
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