Council of Counselors: 95 Affirmations / Panic Attacks / Art of Disagreement / Impressed? / Art of Manipulation

This is a weekly post that highlights resources from other counselors that I have found helpful. The counselors may be from the biblical counseling, Christian psychology, integration, or secular counseling traditions. By linking to a post, I am not giving it my full endorsement, I am merely indicating that I believe it made a unique contribution or raised an important subject for consideration.

95 Affirmations for Gospel-Centered Counseling by Bob Kellemen

It seems only natural for me to combine my appreciation for Luther’s pastoral counseling and my involvement in facilitating the BCC’s Confessional Statement into this document: 95 Affirmations for Gospel-Centered Counseling. In this document, I’ve taken the BCC’s Confessional Statement and divided it into 95 positive affirmations or thesis statements. My prayer is that you might find these summaries to be a helpful presentation of what it means to apply Christ’s grace to daily living through the personal ministry of the Word—gospel-centered biblical counseling.

• For more by Bob Kellemen on biblical counseling and Martin Luther, see the What I’m Reading section below.

God Is with You in Your Panic Attack by Colleen Chao

That was a dark season of my life, to be sure. And it was the beginning of a new reality for me. Eventually my “heart-attack-insomnia” bouts were diagnosed as panic attacks, and for the past sixteen years they have dotted the landscape of my life.

• If you struggle with depression or anxiety, consider this “Depression-Anxiety Daily Symptom Chart” to help you track your experience and identify solutions.

The Dying Art of Disagreement by Bret Stephens

The title of my talk tonight is “The Dying Art of Disagreement.” This is a subject that is dear to me — literally dear — since disagreement is the way in which I have always earned a living. Disagreement is dear to me, too, because it is the most vital ingredient of any decent society.

• Consider “The Importance of Our Disagreements” from introduction to Mere Christianity as a reminder of why even Christians need instruction on how to disagree.

Choose What You’re Impressed With by Jeremy Pierre

It takes discipline to be impressed with the right things and to steward our desires properly. In the book of Jude, a Christian leader told believers to be mindful about what they were impressed with. He was concerned they were impressed with pompous leaders who gained influence by appearing successful, but who would lead the church astray.

• If you enjoy this post, you might also enjoy this reflection on a C.S. Lewis quote – “Good and Bad Desires Do Not Exist.”

Are You Being Manipulated? by Darlene Lancer

Favorite weapons of manipulators are: guilt, complaining, comparing, lying, denying (including excuses and rationalizations), feigning ignorance, or innocence (the “Who me!?” defense), blame, bribery, undermining, mind games, assumptions, “foot-in-the-door,” reversals, emotional blackmail, evasiveness, forgetting, fake concern, sympathy, apologies, flattery, and gifts and favors. Manipulators often use guilt by saying directly or through implication, “After all I’ve done or you,” or chronically behaving needy and helpless. They may compare you negatively to someone else or rally imaginary allies to their cause, saying that, “Everyone” or “Even so and so thinks xyz,” or “says xyz about you.”

• If you benefited from this post, you might also enjoy “Manipulative Repentance: 8 Red Flag Phrases.”

What I’m Reading

Counseling Under the Cross: How Martin Luther Applied the Gospel to Daily Life by Bob Kellemen. Martin Luther not only reformed theology, but his understanding of the gospel revolutionized soul care. In Counseling Under the Cross, biblical counselor and noted author Bob Kellemen explains how Martin Luther s gospel-centered and cross-focused pastoral care transformed his own approach to soul care.

As Kellemen mines Luther’s own writings and other first hand accounts, readers will gain a new understanding of how Luther richly, relevantly, robustly, and relationally applied the gospel to suffering, sin, sanctification, and our search for peace with God.

Counseling Under the Cross will guide pastors, counselors, lay leaders, and friends toward a rich understanding of the gospel that will directly impact their personal ministry to others. Through lively vignettes, real-life stories, and direct quotes from Luther, readers will be equipped to apply the gospel to themselves and others so together they find their hope and help in Christ alone.

Tweets of the Week

Meaningful Meme

On the Lighter Side

Because, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones,” Proverbs 17:22.