“Why restore Christ to counseling? The wider counseling world views Jesus as irrelevant to understanding and addressing people’s deepest personal and interpersonal troubles. He might as well not even exist. Whoever he is, whatever he did, whatever he is doing, whatever he will do, and however he does it—it’s all intellectually and practically insignificant. The Jesus Christ of the Bible does not appear in self-help books, in classrooms, or in the licensure of mental health personnel. He apparently has no traction when it comes to the problems that break down lives and break up relationships.

But we believe that true, life-explaining insight into people necessarily involves thinking Christianly. Loving, lasting help necessarily involves practicing ‘counseling’ as one aspect of consciously Christian ministry. The deeper you gaze into what actually goes wrong with people—the weight of our sins and sorrows—the more clearly you see that Jesus Christ is essential to making it right.” (David Powlison, Journal of Biblical Counseling, Issue 26.1, “JBC: Renewing Our Mission”)

by Stephen Rodgers

In order to focus more on other writing and editorial duties, I typically leave Weekly Links to Richard these days.  Occasionally though, something happens that causes me to stick my finger back into the pie.

After a four-year hiatus, the Journal of Biblical Counseling has returned. I specifically mention this because their operating model is a bit odd, so if you want to enjoy their work at no cost, you’ll need to be on your toes:

• Each issue will be available for free online until the next issue is released.
• When a new issue is released, the previous issue will be archived.
• Archived issues are available for purchase through their store.

If Biblical Counseling is of interest to you, this is going to be a resource you will want to stay on top of. And yes, I’ve added the journal to our recommended resources page.

Coram Deo