on the great commandment to love God and love others. Ministry should be comprehensive as we recognize that it often happens outside the counseling room and our comfort zone. We must focus not just on the soul but also on the physical issues people face. Finally, ministering the Word must be practical, avoiding the temptation to “dispense” Scripture verses and truly focusing on helping people as they struggle. Sometimes helping someone get the milking done or the crop harvested or the animal to the vet while appropriately and lovingly sharing God’s Word is just what we need to do. Sometimes sitting up all night with someone who is struggling with a crisis is what God requires. As we look for opportunities to be in relationships with those around us and follow the example of Jesus and the teaching of the Bible, others are blessed and served; and we grow and honor our Lord as we speak the truth in Love (Eph. 4:15).
MINISTER THE WORD!
NOTES
1. Matthew 22:36–40. 2. 2 Corinthians 1:3–5; Dale Johnson, “The Sufficiency & Authority of Scripture to Diagnose & Cure the Soul” Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (blog), October 18, 2019, https://biblicalcounseling.com/the-sufficiency-authority-of-scripture-to-diagnoseand-cure-the-soul/. 3. Some examples are Deuteronomy 5:1–ff, Joshua 8:31, Ezra 6:18, Matthew 4:1–11, Romans 1:17, and 1 Corinthians 1:19. 4. For one example, see Theodore Tappert, ed. and trans., Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel (Auckland, NZ: Muriwai Books, 2018). 5. Heath Lambert, A Theology of Biblical Counseling: The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 32. 6. Jay E. Adams, Competent to Counsel (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1970). 7. Adams, 51. 8. Adams, 44–50. 9. For more information about the history of the field of Biblical Counseling, see David Powlison, The Biblical Counseling Movement, Context and History, (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2010), or Heath Lambert, The Biblical Counseling Movement Since Adams, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012). 10. John Babler and Nicolas Ellen, ed., Counseling by the Book, Revised and Expanded Edition (Fort Worth, TX: CTW, 2019), 15. 11. The above section is adapted from Babler and Ellen, 171–180. 12. Mark Mann, One Ministry of the Word (Stanley, NC: Timeless Texts, 2005).
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The Journal of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary