Pastoral and Counseling

Books And Articles On Pastoral Issues

Articles

What The Bible Says About Sex
Twenty or so articles on Christianity and sexuality and what the Bible says about sex.

Your Body Is A Temple Of The Holy Spirit
Many of our emotional problems stem from what we think about our bodies and in turn what we then do with them. This article says that God created and loves your body and has a good, holy and honoring plan for it. Provides a basis for an emotionally healthy understanding of who you are that may solve many of your problems.

Sex Before Marriage?
What the Bible says about sex before marriage, engagement, STD's and prostitution.

The Meaning Of Life
Is there meaning to life? YES! You can know the meaning of life! A deep exploration of this vexing question that starts with King Solomon and ends with Christ.

How To Be Calm, Poised And Unafraid - In The Midst Of An Often Dangerous World
How to find inner peace, poise and confidence even when life seems very anxious and threatening.

Towards Right Affections - What Should We Love? What Should We Hate
What you love says a lot about who you are. As Scougall said "The excellency of a soul is measured by the object of its love". Thus taste is not a 'personal choice", taste is everything! What you like and what you dislike, what you love and what you hate, what your prefer and what you reject ends up being of ultimate importance. Your soul is formed by what you love and what you hate, what you accept as part of you and what you reject as having no place in you at all.

How I Ended Up Happy
This is the story of how a miserable, intense, anxious born-again Christian ended up self-accepting, happy and content. It is the text of an email to a friend with the typos fixed up.

Why You Should Not Marry An Unbeliever
What the Scriptures say about marrying those outside the faith. References from Abraham right through to Paul are analyzed and seven strong reasons for not proceeding are extracted. You may be surprised, as I was, by the intensity of God's feelings on the issue.

How To Find A Christian Husband or Wife
Principles for Christian courtship - how to find the right person for you and how to avoid making a big mistake!

Loneliness: Causes And Cures
Fifteen reasons why people end up lonely and the cures for each of them; plus how to go about making friends.

How To Overcome Your Fear Of Social Occasions And Develop Real Social Confidence
A Christian counselor explains seven key factors in overcoming fear in social situations and gives his "top thirty" tips for becoming a popular and appreciated guest.

Same Sex Marriages
Looks at what God thinks of same-sex marriages. Concludes that churches must not sanction them to any degree.

Handling Stress
Quick tips on how to handle stress well - from a Christian perspective.

Finding Peace In The Midst Of Life
Seven Differences In the Life Of Happy Christians

The Experience Of Intense Spiritual Temptation
Discusses how intense spiritual temptation is a uniquely Christian (but negative) experience that can carry us away to destruction and how to overcome it through the Word of God and prayer.

The Management Of Stress, Burnout, Threat, Conflict and Misunderstandings In The Ministry
Tackles the four key areas of emotional survival in ministry - overload through doing too much, perceptions of threat, values clashes, and handling difficult conversations.

Why Christians Should Not Be Advocates Of Conspiracy Theories
Many conspiracy theories abound. But God should be our fear - not man.

The Mind of God
Rodney Brydon examines how God thinks, how we should think, and how we can know some things that God knows.

Apostles And Church Discipline The Management of Sin and Sinners In The First Century
Researches the New Testament approach to sin in the church and the nature of the discipline the apostles applied and how we can learn from that to help manage God's church today.

Astrology - Just A Bit Of Harmless Fun
A Biblical look at astrology by Dr. Peter Kraus. Is it really "just a harmless giggle"?

A Christian Approach To Conflict Resolution
Twenty conflict resolution principles from Scripture that could make you a "peacemaker and blessed son of God" in your world.

Heroes With God's Heart
Brief testimonies of those who have defied the odds to forgive someone or be Christlike.

The Winners
"The meek shall inherit the earth". Therefore, they will be the winners and achievers. A look at what the Bible says about meekness.Part of the Sermon On The Mount series.

Profile Of An Ex-Pastor
A composite look at the personal conflicts that force some men to leave the ministry.

What's Wrong With Using Sex To Advertise Things?
An article on the commercial exploitation of sexually tempting visual imagery .

How To Counsel Your Friends
Basic "friendship" counseling.

John's Super-Quick Guide To Pastoral Counseling
A simple one page "cheat sheet" to give you some initial perspectives on pastoral counseling so that you end up choosing the right response in most situations.

'MY GOD, MY GOD..' WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT'S DARK?
Our experiences of desolation - in the light of the cross and Easter. (by Paul Tyson)

What's Wrong With Gambling?
Is gambling just a game.....

How To Receive Guidance From God.
Rowland Croucher takes us through some basic steps in finding God's will.

Working Out What The Bible Says About Homosexuality.
All the Bible passages on homosexuality are carefully reviewed with brief notes on each.

'TOWARDS CIRCUMSTANCES - BE HOPEFUL'
Rowland Croucher takes us into 1 Peter and a look at Christian hope.

Why Christians Must Take A Stand Against Pornography
Six solid reasons why pornography must be fought.

The Empowerment of the Laity
Why ministers should release church members to minister Christ.

The Art of Listening
A valuable tool for helping improve your relationships.

Habits Of Happy People
Some practical hints to help you be a happy person.

Being A Truly Christian Single
Coping Christianly with the single life.

Six Arguments As To Why Abortion Is Nearly Always Wrong
A rebuttal of the six most common arguments put forward by pro-choice supporters. Builds a strong case against abortion.

The End Of All My Searching
Lindy Croucher looks at what it means to "know God" in a personal and meaningful way.

Being Led By The Spirit
A ten question bible study that covers the basic New Testament teaching on "being led by the Spirit", and is suitable for small groups.

Heal My Spirit!
This is a daily prayer for Christian inner healing that will help people whose deepest part of their being (the human spirit) has been damaged by life. It will deal with the root spiritual problems, help them to feel normal and enable them to have joy in life. Bible verses included.

Untidy Saints - God Draws Straight Lines With Bent Sticks
An article that proves that the people God chooses,uses and blesses are often very different from the tidy, respectable model that is found in many churches.
 

Captivity Captured
Free yourself from your chains.

The Work Values Explorer
Find out what you REALLY want to do with your life.

Who Dares - To Serve God - Wins
Being A "Salty" On-Campus Christian.

12 Principles For Taking Action
A free 21 page ebook written by Rev. John Edmiston to help Christians to do good works that result in high quality outcomes. It can be read as a stand-alone book, or used as a resource for a bible study, men's group or mastermind group.It is meant to be applied directly to the issues of your own life.

Goal-Setting For Christians
The Holy Spirit can give us definite and specific plans that we are to carry out later.

God's Will About the Future
by C. H. SPURGEON, How not to plan ahead.

Homiletics (Preaching) Course Notes and PowerPoints
Notes from two courses on preaching that I taught a few years back: Expository Preaching (verse-by-verse) and Occasional Preaching (preaching for special occasions such as Mother's Day). Free to use.

Everyday Christianity
A review of "The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity" by Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens. (IVP)

The Ocean Of Truth
A perspective on wisdom and knowledge.

Movies And Morality
How Movie Morality Ministries Evaluates Movies and TV Shows.

Tough Questions
About the Bible.

The "Rich" And The "Poor" In The New Testament
What Jesus and Paul and the New Testament writers teach about this topic.

Women In Ministry
I decided to search the Scripture regarding the question of women as leaders in the church. by Dr. Steve Martin

Hymnal Songs
Hymnal Songs (with Chords)