Council of Counselors: Jay Adams & Martin Luther / God as Father / Fighting Sin / Busy Schedule / Helicopter Parent

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.

Martin Luther and Jay Adams by Jim Newheiser

This year we remember the work of a reformer, Martin Luther, who five hundred years ago dared to challenge the established ecclesiastical authorities when he nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg. I see many similarities to what happened about fifty years ago when another reformer, Jay Adams, came on the scene and challenged the established church in the area of counseling and soul care through his book, Competent to Counsel. I believe that there are many significant parallels between Adams and Luther.

• If this post interests you, then you would likely also enjoy my series on Conversations through 95 Theses on Biblical Counseling.

Why I Continue to Call God ‘Father’ by Katelyn Beaty

If the referent of the word “father” is painful, broken, and a stumbling block for many of our neighbors, it’s fathers, and not the language, who need reform. Maybe more men need to get comfortable with being nurturing and showing emotion. Maybe more dads need to stay faithful to their families when they want to bail. Maybe all of us need to hold men accountable for treating women like co-rulers and not subordinates. Maybe it’s we, and not God, who need to change.

• If this subject is hard for you (or even if it isn’t) you might benefit from this sermon on “Knowing God as Father.”

A Three-Step Strategy for Fighting Sin by Colin Smith

As you come to know God better, you will become more aware of your sin. Suppose you go to the movies. While you are watching the film, you work your way through a bucket of popcorn drizzled with melted butter. When you come out, you realize that there are butter stains on your shirt. You didn’t see that in the theater because it was dark there. But when you come into the light, you see it. Similarly, when you come into God’s light, you will see sin that you did not see before. And you will want to fight it. The following is a three-step strategy for fighting sin and prevailing over it in your Christian life.

• If you want to know more about fighting sin, see the “What I’m Reading” section below.

What Is Your Busy Schedule Doing to Your Marriage? by Alli Worthington

I was always running “just a few minutes behind” (meaning I was always late) and arriving in a bit of a fluff. That was during my single years, and then wouldn’t you know it, I married a man who had never been late to a thing in his life.

• If you can relate to Alli and want to start your “stop doing list,” then the time budget tool in my burnout resource may be helpful for you.

Why Are Millennials Wary of Freedom? by Clay Routledge

Parental culture in this country has become increasingly guarded and safety focused, as illustrated by the rise of “helicopter parenting.” The benefits of increased safety are many. But somewhere along the way, protecting children from needless harm became conflated with shielding them from stressors and uncertainties (such as having to solve everyday problems, like getting lost, on one’s own) that are critical for developing personal independence.

• Whether its parenting or other helping relationship, enabling is an easy tendency to fall into. This resource is designed to help you differentiate loving from enabling.

What I’m Reading

The Enemy Within: Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin by Kris Lungaard. How would you like to fight an enemy who, just as you have him on the ropes, always evades the final blow? An enemy who hides just out of reach, lulling you into a fall sense of security, until he drops from nowhere onto your back?

That’s the advantage of indwelling sin—it lurks in an unsearchable fortress where you can’t get to it. But if God has redeemed us from sin—and given us his Holy Spirit to sanctify us and give us strength against sin—why do we go on sinning? Drawing from two masterful works by English theologian John Owen, Kris Lundgaard takes aim at the enemy within. He shares his discovery of hope, renewed love for Christ, an approach to holiness by faith in him.

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.

Here is your pumpkin-spiced humor.