The essentials of pastoral care involve the pastor's distinctive task of caring for those who are estranged--the lost sheep. Taken from the biblical image of the shepherd, the pastor by virtue of his or her professional calling cultivates wise judgment in order to hear the hurting and offer guidance, reconciliation, healing, sustaining presence, and empowerment to those in need. This book will outline the quintessential elements pastors need to wisely minister in today's context by discuss...

An expert in the field of pastoral care, John Patton demonstrates that pastoral care is a ministry of the church. He focuses on the community of faith as an authorizer and source of care and upon the relationship between the pastor and a caring community. Patton identifies and compares three paradigms of pastoral care: the classical, the clinical pastoral, and the communal contextual. This third paradigm emphasizes the caring community and the various contexts for care rather than focusing...

This very practical book offers no-nonsense instructions for pastors,chaplains, and ministers whose real specialty is the practice ofrelational wisdom. Patton provides a helpful, step-by-step template forpastoral counseling sessions and clear guidelines for understanding whento defer and how to refer—all while remaining faithful to the basicpastoral calling to connect persons seeking help with the relationshipsand resources they need to deal with t...

This collection contains the fi rst fi ve books completed by John Patton ODell. They appear in the order they were written. The fi rst four books are volumes of poetry, ranging from epic to lyric. The poetry is emotional, spiritual, and at times religious. The fi rst and fourth books do not contain long poems, nearly half the poems in the fourth book were written as song lyrics. The fi fth book is a collection of short stories which house elements of drama, fantasy, suspense, and the super...

A classic in the field of Christian counseling, Competent to Counsel is one of the first works to fully articulate a vision of "nouthetic" counseling—a strictly biblical approach to behavioral counseling and therapy.Dr. Jay Adams defends the idea that the Bible itself, as God's Word, provides all the principles needed for understanding and engaging in holistic counseling. Using biblically directed discussion, nouthetic counseling works by means of the Holy...

The statistics are jarring. One in four women and one in six men have been sexually assaulted. But as sobering as these statistics are, they can’t begin to speak to the darkness and grief experienced by the victims. The church needs compassionate and wise resources to care for those living in the wake of this evil. Other books attempt to address the journey from shame to healing for victims of sexual abuse, but few are from a Christian perspective and written for both child and adult victi...

The Christian Counselor's Manual is a companion and sequel to Dr. Jay Adams' influential Competent to Counsel, which first laid out a vision of "nouthetic" counseling—a strictly biblical approach to behavioral counseling and therapy.This practical guide takes the approach of nouthetic counseling introduced in the earlier volume and applies it to a wide range of issues, topics, and techniques in counseling, including:Who is qualified ...

Connecting sound biblical doctrine to the practice of effective counseling.Jay E. Adams—vocal advocate of a strictly biblical approach to counseling and author of the highly influential book Competent to Counsel—firmly believes that the Bible itself provides all the principles needed for understanding and engaging in holistic counseling.But in order to bring the practice of counseling—whether by professional therapists or by the church—under biblic...

How do you integrate your spiritual life with your psychological expertise?This book is part of the professional series that offers Christian counselors the latest techniques, theory, and general information that is vital to their work. While many books have tried to integrate theology and psychology, this book takes another step and explores the importance of the spiritual disciplines in psychotherapy, helping counselors to integrate the biblical principles of for...

Therapeutic counseling in a Christian context can be highly effective when it maintains narrowly focused goals in a time-limited setting. The details of this proven model of pastoral counseling are described in this practical guide.This second edition of Strategic Pastoral Counseling has been thoroughly revised and includes two new chapters. Benner includes helpful case studies, a new appendix on contemporary ethical issues, and updated chapter bibliographies. His study will continu...

Congregations are always struggling with what quality Christian education is and how to build and maintain it. In this concise and easy-to-use guide, Karen Tye offers practical help, addressing the vital areas that need attention when planning for and building a Christian education program. Questions and exercises at the end of each chapter help pastors, Christian educators, seminary students, and laity apply the information to their own unique setting, building on the basics to renew and ...

Change is the essential goal of the counseling process. How can a Christian counselor facilitate such change? The answer, of course, may be found in Scripture, specifically in 2 Timothy 3:14-17.Professor, pastor, and well-known counselor Jay E. Adams bases his whole approach on Scripture. This book provides an unparalleled opportunity to see how he discovers and applies biblical principles as well as the way in which Scripture functions as the basis for his counsel...