by Luke Geraty | Apr 15, 2015 | Church Life, Counseling, Ethics, Gender Issues, Politics, Practical Theology, Sex, Social Justice
Thomas Creedy wrote “An Open Letter to My Church Friends” in regards to a recent book published by Steve Chalke called Being Human: How to Become the Person You Were Meant to Be. Since anthropology and spiritual formation are such vitally valuable topics...
by Think Theology | Nov 3, 2014 | Counseling, Family, Forgiveness, Parenting, Practical Theology, Sex
Dear Dad, I want to let you know first of all that I love you and forgive you for what this has done in my life. I also wanted to let you know exactly what your porn use has done to my life. You may think that this effects only you, or even your and mom’s...
by Aimee Tiernan | Nov 2, 2014 | Conflict Resolution, Counseling, Family, Healing, Mental Illness, Messy Church, Parenting, Practical Theology
I was at church one day when the Smith family (names are changed) approached me asking me to pray for them. Their daughter Vanessa had started cutting on herself. They were distraught, worried, and had no idea what to do. They could not understand how their daughter...
by Kenny Burchard | Sep 3, 2014 | Church Life, Conflict Resolution, Counseling, Ethics, Messy Church, Practical Theology
A few years ago I was the worship leader and an associate pastor in a large church. There was a new guy in the church who was an excellent guitar player, and who was looking for a way to both connect to people and re-connect in his relationship with Jesus. I started...
by Kenny Burchard | May 15, 2014 | Conflict Resolution, Counseling, Forgiveness, Healing, Marriage, Practical Theology
I wrote a recent post about how to treat sinners based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:15-17. In the comments that followed, Luke had a great question about what to do with people who are destructive, and how to engage them when they are unrepentant. That got me...
by Kenny Burchard | Nov 26, 2013 | Counseling, Practical Theology
A Four-Part Series Emphasizing Biblical Masculinity Pt. 1 Here | Pt. 2 Here Are you a man? I’m not talking about being a “male” – I am talking about being a mature man. Are you one of those? If so, when did you “become”...
by Kenny Burchard | Nov 19, 2013 | Counseling, Family, Practical Theology
A Four-Part Series Emphasizing Biblical Masculinity In the last post I ended with a short section on “Daddy Issues.” I attempted to point out a link between a man’s concept of himself in direct relationship with the father-influences in his life. I...
by Kenny Burchard | Nov 15, 2013 | Conflict Resolution, Counseling, Family, Marriage, Practical Theology, Sex
Two weeks ago I met with an emerging leader in our church to discuss his coaching process for ordination in our denomination. As we worked through the practical implications of our denominational credal statement, we came to item number 19 which reads… “19...
by Kenny Burchard | Nov 12, 2013 | Counseling, Family, Gender Issues, Practical Theology
A Four-Part Series Emphasizing Biblical Masculinity Men have problems! I know, because I am a man, and… I have problems. I also find myself working with men quite a bit because of my pastoral role in our church. I have two confessions about this: (1) I...
by Kenny Burchard | Oct 24, 2013 | Counseling, Leadership, Marriage, Mental Illness, Practical Theology
I joyfully admit that I, as a Pastor, have gone through extended times of personal counseling, and on a couple of occasions, even marriage counseling. The result for me was incredibly positive on just about every level I can think of. I can remember several times, as...
by Able Baker | Oct 8, 2012 | Conflict Resolution, Counseling, Leadership
In pastoral ministry I have had many experiences where people approach me with this sentence “Pastor we need to talk with you.” I can usually differentiate between a person going through crisis who needs help and a person who is angry with me over something I have...
by Luke Geraty | Aug 19, 2012 | Counseling, Gospel, Missional, Reformed Theology, Soteriology
As an advocate of what is essentially a Reformed perspective regarding issues related to soteriology, I fully subscribe to the idea that those whom God has chosen for salvation shall, in the end, be saved. I would gladly affirm what the Westminster Confessional...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 7, 2012 | Charismatic Theology, Counseling, Pneumatology, Prayer, Worship
This past Sunday I started teaching a new series called, “Baggage: Learning to Let Go.” We’re spending the month of March exploring how God frees us from our past as well as discussing how important it is to work through things that we carry around...
by Luke Geraty | Feb 1, 2012 | Christian Living, Church & Pastoral, Counseling, Reviews
Allow me to make several introductory remarks regarding this “review.” First, it’s not going to really be a critical review in the sense of evaluation because I simply am totally out of my league here. My theological training did not include a lot of...
by Luke Geraty | May 24, 2011 | Counseling, Ecclesiology, Leadership
While I’m sure that one’s gifting and training plays a role in what is more difficult or easy, I think all would agree that counseling can be one of the most difficult aspects of being a pastor. Seminary and books simply can not prepare you for some of the...
by Luke Geraty | Apr 26, 2011 | Christian Hedonism, Counseling
” Contrary to popular opinion, refraining from sexual activity is not psychologically harmful. Sexual energy can be strong, but its expression is not essential for maintaining physical or emotional health.” (David G. Benner and Peter C. Hill, Baker...
by Luke Geraty | Dec 17, 2010 | Counseling, Cultural Engagement, Sex
I was reading through portions of Called into crisis : The nine greatest challenges of pastoral care and found some really helpful advice for pastors. As many of you probably know, the pornography problem is incredible. It seems that with each technological advance,...
by Luke Geraty | Nov 6, 2010 | Conflict Resolution, Counseling, Ecclesiology, Ethnic Reconciliation
Jesus made it quite clear that there is a blessing for those who are peacemakers. He said that peacemakers will be sons of God! Here are some free online resources that give you an idea about their approach: Getting to the Heart of Conflict – Conflict starts in the...
by Luke Geraty | Sep 1, 2010 | Counseling, Preaching
Pastoral preaching has been called “therapeutic preaching,” or “life-situation preaching,” or “invitational preaching.” I would suggest that pastoral preaching is concerned with pastoral care and, generally speaking, will address a...
by Luke Geraty | Jul 20, 2010 | Counseling, Devotionals, Missional, Small Groups, Worship
Paul gave the Corinthians an imperative when he wrote, “Let a person examine himself.” I continue to consider self-examination (see previous post, How am “I” doing). Karl Graustein, author of Growing Up Christian, provides helpful questions for...
