The following text was taken from the book by faithful editor O Pastor ea Counseling, Jeremy Pierre and Deepak Reju.
On Tuesday afternoons, you’re at war with your mailbox when your secretary calls you on the phone. A lady, a member of the church, wants to talk to you; And that’s a problem. With a quick prayer that sounds more like a sigh, you pick up your phone and enter a half-hour conversation that confuses you and, of course, also confuses your interlocutor. When you’ve finished the call, your mind is full of thoughts about what to do with this unexpected revelation of the gravity of things between her and her husband. The first thing you’ll do the next day is meet with them to solve this problem. How do you start preparing for Wednesday morning?
- Pastors and lay leaders are familiar with phone calls like this.
- Perhaps quite familiar.
- Resilient depression.
- Deep sadness over the practice of adultery.
- Violent anger.
- Chronic lack of communication.
- Struggle with guilt related to pornography addiction.
- Eating disorders with physical calorie avoidance.
- Recurrent cancer.
- Secret same-sex attraction.
- Suicidal thoughts?And that’s the short list.
- Life in a fallen world is full of misery; for some.
- Life is plunged into misery; this applies to both people inside and outside the context of the church.
That’s why you’re a shepherd. God has called you to shepherd your sheep, and these sheep are often wounded, confused, or stubborn, but it is not always clear how to care for them, especially in the most complex situations that overwhelm them. a pastoral counselor, but the indisputable fact is that you have been called to work for your people on these problematic problems and it is a worthwhile job.
We offer this brochure because in our type of work, we often receive phone calls from pastors who need help handling difficult situations in their churches.
In fifteen minutes I’ll be talking to a couple considering divorce. Is this what I plan to do?
A young man from our church recently told me that he was attracted to people of the same sex. I need to help him, but I don’t know what to say.
Some parents in my church have been telling me these days that their daughter is anorexical. Is there a place I can recommend them?
Most pastors have little time and are in charge of many other responsibilities. Add to this some common facts that afflict a pastor’s work:
Most seminary students take only one or two consultation subjects in their curriculum and generally underestimate the amount of advice they will give when they reach their first pastorate.
Most pastors enter the shepherd to teach and preach, not to counsel; advise because it’s an expected part of their work, not because they’re excited to do it.
Churches large and small have people who have made their lives chaos. Small churches, especially those in rural areas, generally have few resources in their communities that they can turn to for help. A pastor and a church are sometimes the only resources available.
Church members expect their pastor to help them in their struggles. After all, members pay the pastor’s salary. Are you waiting for the pastor to give you your time? Very often of his time.
They may even assume that the pastor has immediate access to the biblical response to life’s problems.
Weak sheep tend to consume large amounts of the shepherd’s agenda, with its problems, demands, and sometimes pervasive selfishness, which often comes with little gratitude to God for the loving care offered by the shepherd and her. church.
Most church members let their problems get worse before overcoming their pride and asking for help. They are deceived by thoughts like, “Don’t I want the pastor to think mediocre about me?”Can I handle this problem myself? And try to manage your difficulties alone. If they had asked for help earlier, this attitude would have saved everyone a lot of sweat and tears.
What should a pastor do with all this? Maybe he has very little counseling training. You may have weak, time-consuming sheep. There may be little valuable relational help that can be used in an unhealthy church. That doesn’t sound very promising, does it?
Honestly, no one expects this book to change their world. Our goal is not to allow you to face everything that comes your way, rather, the goal is to give you confidence that in the gospel you have the categories you need to address. with the problems of your people. His trust is not in an overdeveloped consulting technique, but in Jesus Christ.
True trust is rooted in the power of the good news of Jesus Christ that changes life; After all, Jesus is the model of how human beings work best and came to a dysfunctional world as a replacement for dysfunctional human beings like us. that’s why we suffer and fish. But Jesus reconciled what was madness by paying for sin with his death. And now Jesus lives risen, transforming people to live according to their righteousness, according to a restored Relationship with God. It is God, through his glorious Son, who changes people. Now that’s why we trust.
Human beings are created to manifest God’s character in what we think, what we desire, and how we act. When stubborn thinking, lustful desire, or selfish intent arise in the human heart, that heart fails to manifest the character of its Creator. , who is patient, pure and generous to others. In short, everything inside and outside a person was designed to glorify God.
Was Jesus’ heart the only one who perfectly manifested God’s character?For he himself is God, but also human, like us, so he is fit to be our representative, our example, our savior (Hebrews 4:14-16). . To advise, we must take into account the following facts:
Jesus Christ is the means of change. Believing in the gospel of Christ changes the reactions of our hearts. All theoretical wisdom and practical counsel given in the Council must essentially promote a relationship with Jesus Christ through faith.
Jesus Christ is the goal of change. The manifestation of Christ’s character is the model of maturity we seek. Circumstances may not change, problems may not go away through counseling, but God promises the power we need to respond in a way that reflects His Son’s trusting obedience.
The advice, in its simple form, is a person who seeks to walk next to another who has been lost. Vocational or academic training programs can be very useful for improving skills, but if you haven’t had them you can advise if you want sincerely. Adopt the Word of God as the instrument that shows people their greatest needs and hopes.
This job is worthy of your time, pastor. Our hope is to provide you with the basic tools to get started. The structure presented here expresses our attempt to be bold in using gospel truth to address our people’s unresolved problems. Frankly, it would be much easier to eliminate them, all with widespread instructions from the pulpit or to recommend to people seeking outside help. But it is a worthwhile job for a pastor who aims to provide specialized care to his people.
The board, in its simple form, is a person looking to walk alongside another who has lost its way and needs a direction. In this book, Jeremy Pierre and Deepak Reju will help you with a basic framework to solve this problem. to give you the security that the scriptures contain everything you need to deal pastorally with the counselor, regardless of the complexity of the problem, and that even if you cannot solve all aspects, you can demonstrate it. by faith in Christ.
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