This is why many people in Africa go to a church. They want a miracle. They want financial breakthrough. They want to be delivered from a curse. This type of mentality drives pastors to preach about these things. The congregations then largely ignore most of what the pastor is saying, because they are waiting for him to stop talking so they can at last get their miracle. Yet as serious as these people are about getting their miracle, the pastors to whom they flock are unable to deliver. No documented evidence has yet been discovered that proves even one of the claimed healings. This world has only seen three major peroids of miraculous activity. Yet the current era is not among these. The main point of miracles in the Bible is to declare the authenticity and authority of the word of God. God's words were God's revelation to man. Miracles confirmed it. Miracles are not even meant for evangelism. Jesus considered preaching more important than performing miracles. think about the fact that if there was one single true faith healer in the world today, his life would be consumed by healing rather than preaching. Preaching, according to Jesus, is far more important and far more glorious. Jesus avoided this pitfall. Jesus' purpose is not people's current comfort, even though he does bring comfort; rather it is about the glory of the coming kingdom of God. This is the direction of the whole of history in the hand of God.
Living Hope Church will be hosting a conference for singles on Friday and Saturday, 27 and 28 March. "Singles and Romance: Wisdom for unmarried Christians" will aim to help equip single Christians to think and go about romantic relationships in a...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Overview of Marriage and Family Topics Seminars in August and September, 2014 In August and September Strengthening Ministries Training Institute will be conducting some seminars that are designed to help Christians deal biblically and practically...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Having filtered out a lot of unhelpful language used by the world's counsellors, it is now time to ask some broad questions about our counselee. 1. Rather than asking what psychological label best fits this counselee, ask what biblical category...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
1. The world says a co-dependent person lacks balance in relationships with other people who are significant. They are either being excessively dependent or they are being excessively independent. Scripture shows that this person may be unloving,...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Co-dependency This is a label for a vast range of wrong patterns of thought, attitude and behaviour. It is convenient to staple this tag to the ears of many people in order to explain their actions. Scripture brings clarity to the issues raised by...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Still on the issue of so-called schizophrenia, biblical counsellors must note the difference between the way in which Scripture understands such behaviour and the way in which the world understands it. Dr. Jay E. Adams has included a good section...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
WorkaholismWhen examining the patterns in this person's life you may find things such as idolatry, greed, envy, pride, lack of understanding, covetousness, sensuality, foolishness, evil thoughts, ingratitude, foolishness, desire to look good, fear...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Some of the current psychological terms that need to be redefined.Dysfunctional familyBiblical counsellors must remove the mystery from a term such as this and get down to specifics. For example we could say that this is a family where the parents...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Probably one of the areas in which a biblical counsellor can confuse himself most at the stage of interpretation is to use a manual such as the DSM. There you find descriptions of the patterns of thought, attitude and behaviour you have been...[ abbreviated | read entire ]