The mutual counsel, by Edwart T. Welch, is a small but great council book in its value to the Church of Christ. I can say that it was one of the best readings I have ever done because of its clarity and practicality. about how to manage mutual counseling, something that is often difficult and neglected in our local churches. The large and small book is divided into eight lessons and is designed so that it can be read aloud and as a group, without everyone present having Read it beforehand. The group studies in this book will certainly help, in the author’s own words, to “shape the culture of his church so that mutual counselling and care of the soul become natural characteristics of the daily life of the body”. Do yourself and the local church a favor and send this book to your pastors so that it can be read and studied throughout the church.
I leave you here 20 quotes:
- 1.
- As we have a long list of our own problems.
- We can easily see that it is better to leave the care of others to those who are most trained; but the kingdom of God sometimes works unexpectedly for us.
- Here are the weak and the humble who do the heavy work of pastoral care?(9).
2. Es a way to put humility into action: ask someone to pray for you. God has established His kingdom on earth in such a way that we must ask for help. We ask the Lord and others for help. Until we see Him face to face, God acts through His Spirit and his people. (13)
3. ? If you don’t know how to pray, ask others to help you make a connection between your needs and the Word of God. God’s will is that we ask him and others for help. When we do this, we take an important step toward becomes able to help others, because the best caregivers are needy and humble, and on the way we bless our community and influence others so that they too are in need, openly speaking, and vulnerable.
4. Kings welcome people. They agree to give you a five-minute hearing, after which you must withdraw. Kings don’t show up at home and don’t change their itinerary to help you. But everything changes when King Jesus arrives, this king leaves the palace outbuildings and goes looking for him. (18)
5. Too often we remain silent in the face of other people’s problems Silence, is it the same as turning our backs?(19)
6. The heart may be covered and it is difficult to know, we prefer to hide in it the less attractive thoughts, as well as some of its wounds, but when we are prepared to be a little more vulnerable and other people carefully treat our hearts, we find that the fact that we know and are known is part of what has been planned for us. (24)
7. The Lord hears us in the most complete sense of the word. He listens and acts, invites us to speak and responds with compassion, remembering his past faithfulness and with the certainty of his promises (25).
8. “People have the most obvious impact on our lives. We may be very poor, but we judge life by our relationships. When we have the wealth of good friends and family, life is good. When we are isolated and alone, there is no money that can make up for that suffering. When we are rejected or abused, it seems that the consequences of these earthquakes are endless. Our relationships bless us and also curse us. (35)
9. ?« Don’t call me the sufferings of life. Instead, we want to talk to the God who listens, remembers his promises and his faithful love, and grows in him (42).
10. “Perhaps we believe that true help lies in new and dramatic perspectives; Despite this, most of the time, this tends to happen in the most common way. Attendance depends on our personal commitment between us, our focus on Christ, and prayer. (43)
11. “We rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15) because when we do, we reflect the character of God” (46).
12. “One of the most striking revelations of God’s character occurs when, in response to Israel’s hesitant affections, the Lord says, “My heart moves in me, my compassion, is it lit?”(11. 8). A moved heart is not a surrendering heart. This means that God’s heart moves and awakens powerfully for His people. God is moved by His people; we also want to be moved by the joys and sufferings of those we love, when we think of the fact that God is moved by us, we hope to be even more sensitive to others (50)
13. “Sufferings and afflictions are everywhere, and on the other hand, the scriptures speak of our tribulations virtually on every page. (51)
14. “Things are not exactly what they seem to be. Even if our senses tell us that we are alone, the Lord is there and, as is the source of life, life will flow even from a dead land. desert that the water comes out of the rock and mana appears every morning. (53)
15. “Once our king has been taken to desolate places, we too, who follow the king, will be led into afflictions. (55)
Sixteen. ? Scripture?God’s personal communication with us?Tell us in our misery. Although it does not identify the exact nature of our desert, once we have identified our specific battles as suffering, the Word of God has much to say. (56)
17. Whatever sin you see in others, a brief investigation will usually reveal that you are also vulnerable to the same type of sin. Your version may seem different, but it comes from the same transgressive desires (65).
18. Sin always concerns God, whether we are aware of it or not, he is prone to independence. When we are angry, our anger does not consciously concern God, but God (Jacq 4. 1-4). Even our complaints and whispers refer to God, as they say, “What have you done for me recently?”It is to ignore God (Numbers 14,11). (66)
19. Our Father simply bows to forgiveness. This distinguishes it from all the invented gods of all mankind. Are you willing to forgive us at the slightest sign that we recognize our sin and guilt (Jeremiah 3. 3)?(67)
20. Like his children, we open our hearts to our Father and remain on the solid foundation of Jesus, which is our peace, acceptance and power, which leads us to the beginning. To build his church, God uses ordinary people, with his conversations becoming more wise, spontaneous, and dependent on God. These conversations do not depend on our brilliity to be useful; depend on Jesus, his power, our weakness, and our humble response to him. ? (73)