As people face addictions, deal with loss and grief, and seek help in restoring broken relationships, where can they turn for counsel and assistance? The local church has been uniquely blessed with the gift of the gospel and is able to offer hope and counsel that no other institution on earth can. In Biblical Counseling and the Church, Bob Kellemen and Kevin Carson have assembled over twenty respected ministry leaders who examine the relationship between counseling and the church. This comprehensive resource, part of the Biblical Counseling Coalition series, helps leaders and counselors develop a vision that goes beyond being a church with a biblical counseling ministry to becoming a church of biblical counseling-a church culture that is saturated by "one-another" ministry. Divided into five parts, Biblical Counseling and the Church will help church leaders: Unite the pulpit ministry of preaching the Word with the personal ministry of the Word in counseling Offer practical and theological training to equip counselors Launch and lead a counseling ministry, regardless of the size of your church Bring together the relational focus of small group ministry with the ministry of care and counseling Better understand the relationship between biblical counseling, church discipline, and conflict resolution Learn how to use counseling in outreach through "missional" biblical counseling-moving biblical counseling beyond the doors of the church and into the world

Today we face a tremendous weakening of confidence in the Bible. This is just as true for the pastor offering counsel in his office as it is for the person in the pew talking with a struggling friend at Starbucks or the small group leader who is unsure of what to say to a hurting group member. We need to regain our confidence in God s Word as sufficient to address the real life issues we face today. We need to understand how the Bible equips us to grow in counseling competence as we use it to tackle the complex issues of life.

Scripture and Counseling is divided into two sections of nine chapters each:

• Part One helps readers to develop a robust biblical view of Scripture s sufficiency for life and godliness leading to increased confidence in God s Word.
• Part Two assists readers in learning how to use Scripture in the counseling process. This section demonstrates how a firm grasp of the sufficiency of Scripture leads to increased competence in the ancient art of personally ministering God s Word to others.

Part of the Biblical Counseling Coalition series, Scripture and Counseling brings you the wisdom of twenty ministry leaders who write so you can have confidence that God s Word is sufficient, necessary, and relevant to equip God s people to address the complex issues of life in a broken world. It blends theological wisdom with practical expertise and is accessible to pastors, church leaders, counseling practitioners, and students, equipping them to minister the truth and power of God s word in the context of biblical counseling, soul care, spiritual direction, pastoral care, and small group facilitation."

Lives grind to a halt when people don?t know how to relate to their past. Some believe ?the past is nothing? and attempt to suppress the brokenness again and again. Others miss out on renewal and change by making the past more important than their present and future. Neither approach moves people toward healing or hope.

Pastor and biblical counselor Stephen Viars introduces a third way to view one's personal history?by exploring the role of the past as God intended. Using Scripture to lead readers forward, Viars provides practical measures to

• understand the important place ?the past? is given in Scripture
• replace guilt and despair with forgiveness and hope
• turn failures into stepping stones for growth

This motivating, compassionate resource is for anyone ready to review and release the past so that God can transform their behaviors, relationships, and their ability to hope in a future.