Celebrate Easter With Us!
Join us this Easter as we reflect on the cross and rejoice in our risen Saviour Jesus Christ
Note: Our Easter Sunday service times are different from our regular service times.
Services will be at 8AM, 10AM and 12PM
Join us this Easter as we reflect on the cross and rejoice in our risen Saviour Jesus Christ
Note: Our Easter Sunday service times are different from our regular service times.
Services will be at 8AM, 10AM and 12PM
1. Truth in Love Podcast Episode 425: The Sufficiency of Scripture
3. Podcast interviewing Omri Miles entitled, “God Glorifying Change”
4. Article: The Sufficiency of Scripture and Extra-Biblical Information
5. Dr. Heath Lambert’s 95 Theses for an Authentically Christian Commitment to Counseling
6. The Sufficiency of Scripture and Extra-Biblical Information
7. Book Recommendation: A Theology of Biblical Counseling by Heath Lambert. This is THE textbook for the theological basis behind Biblical counselling. This book unpacks the core theological convictions that underlie sound counseling, and practical wisdom for counseling today. Dr. Heath Lambert shows how biblical counseling is rooted in the Scriptures while illustrating the real challenges counselors face today through true stories from the counseling room. 352 pages.
8. Book Recommendation: The Sufficiency of Scripture by Noel Weeks. The Sufficiency of Scripture deals with such diverse issues as revelation, translation, creation, prophecy, and the role of women in the church. Dr. Weeks provides careful analysis of the biblical teaching in these areas, giving ‘depth criticism’ of much of the superficial and false thinking expressed in some contemporary discussions of these questions. 344 pages.
9. Book Recommendation: A Clear and Present Word by Mark Thompson. Mark Thompson surveys past and present objections to the clarity of Scripture; expounds the living God as the Guarantor of his accessible, written Word; engages with the hermeneutical challenges and restates the doctrine of sufficiency for today. 196 pages.
10. Book Recommendation: Sufficiency, Historic Essays on the Sufficiency of Scripture by Lambert, Mack, Bookman, and Powlison. This is for those who want to do a deep dive into this topic, some very detailed and trustworthy essays on the Sufficiency of Scripture. 150 pages.
1. Truth in Love Podcast Episode 269: The Goal of Biblical Counseling
2. Truth in Love Podcast Episode 301: Emotions as Vital Indicators
3. Article/Sermon: Discerning what a Counseling System Really Believes
4. The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges
5. Safe & Sound: Standing Firm in Spiritual Battles by David Powlinson
1. Walking with God through Pain and Suffering – Timothy Keller
2. Suffering is Never For Nothing – Elisabeth Elliot
3. When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty – Joni Eareckson Tad, Steven Estes
1. Truth in Love Podcast Episode #360 – “Mind vs. Brain”
2. Book Recommendation: Lies My Therapist Told Me by Greg Gifford. Too many people are caught in a vicious cycle of visiting every doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, and therapist in their area only to find frustrating labels and numbing medications at the end of each path. Rather than eradicating anxiety in the same way vaccines conquered smallpox, the mental health establishment has seen the number of diagnoses and prescriptions skyrocket on its watch. How did we get here? And does Christianity have any answers for this mental health crisis? In Lies My Therapist Told Me, Dr. Greg Gifford delivers the definitive Christian critique of secular psychiatry and psychology. He shows how mental health culture spreads beliefs that misinform our understanding of ourselves and our issues, and he debunks popular myths. If this entire issue is new to you, if you have been believing the secular worldview on these things, this is a great place to start your learning. 245 pages.
3. Book Recommendation: The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin by Kris Lundgaard. This book is a classic, a great help to understand the battle within your heart and mind against sin. It takes dead aim at the heart of ongoing sin. Drawing from two masterful works by John Owen, Kris Lundgaard offers insight, encouragement and hope for overcoming the enemy within. An easy read, a profoundly insightful read. 77 pages.
4. Article/Sermon: “The Effect of Sin on our Thinking” by Andrew Rogers (The noetic effects of sin)
5. Scientific article: Secular in source, showing that the psychiatric theory of our problems does not have a scientific basis for its belief. This was quoted in ‘Saving Abnormal’ by Daniel Berger II. Article = University of Liverpool, “Psychiatric Diagnosis ‘Scientifically Meaningless.’”, ScienceDaily 8 (July 2019)
6. Scientific article: “Genetic research as completely failed in the past two generations in psychiatry. For over 30 years researchers have assiduously looked for “the” genes for major depressive disorder, bipolar illness, schizophrenia, anxiety conditions, personality disorders – and completely come up empty.” (quoted in Saving Abnormal, Daniel Berger) – Nassir Ghaemi, “the Genetic Fallacy in Psychiatry,” Medscape Psychiatry (August 5, 2013)
7. Book Recommendation: Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life by Dr. Allen Frances. This book is by a secularist, zero religious inclination, a recognized expert in the areas of Psychiatry, a key leader of all that is secular psychiatry, yet he writes this incredibly blunt and damning indictment against the runaway over diagnosis and over medication of the masses today. He condemns the DSM-5 (latest version) and warns strongly against what has become widely excepted ‘truth’ about mental illness and disorders today. If you really want to see how deeply we have been deluded from the words and experience of one of their own, you need to read this book. 352 pages.
1. From Pride to Humility by Stuart Scott
2. Unmet Expectations by Lisa Hughes
3. 50 Fruits of Pride
4. “A Generation Passionate for God’s Holiness” by John Piper (article)
1. When People are Big and God is Small by Ed Welch
2. Pleasing People by Lou Priolo
3. Heart & Habits by Greg Gifford
4. Synonyms for People-Pleasing, Insecurity, or Fear of Man
5. Life Over Coffee Podcast episodes 531, 532, 533
6. Think Again by Jared Mellinger
1. Uprooting Anger by Robert Jones
2. The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo
3. Article: Addressing Sinful Anger by Tim Keeter
4. Truth in Love Podcast Episode 406: A Biblical View of Anger
5. Biblical Sorrow without Sinful Complaining by Brad Bigney (sermon)
6. Anger and Stress Management God’s Way by Wayne Mack
2. Truth in Love Podcast Episodes 311-12: Misrepresentations of Biological Psychiatry (parts 1 & 2)
3. Truth in Love Podcast Episode 259: The Problem with the Mental Illness Narrative
4. Book Recommendation: Rethinking Depression, Not a Sickness, Not a Sin by Daniel Berger. There clearly exists an urgent need to rethink the widespread human struggle known today as depression. In this book, Daniel Berger proposes from both Scripture and scientific evidence that the root of our mental struggles lies in our metaphysical souls rather than in our physical bodies. As the reader will discover, the solution is not to endlessly invent new theories and alleged physical remedies that inevitably fail, but to return to understanding humanity’s true nature as God declares it to be from the beginning of time. This is not a book that suggests that those who struggle should simply pray and read their Bible more and that all of their problems will vanish. Rather, this book offers proven and practical answers addressing our mental suffering, sorrow, and hopelessness—no matter how severe, showing that we are not abnormal or different from one another at our core. In truth, what we all desperately need is sure hope and genuine healing for our souls that is only found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 256 pages.
5. Book Recommendation: Blame it on the Brain?: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience By Ed Welch. As human problems seem to get both deeper and more widespread, people are desperate for solutions—and the quicker the better! How wonderful it would be, many think, if the right pill or genetic alteration could solve our problems! The purpose of this book is twofold: to introduce areas where the brain has received too little credit and to highlight where the brain has received too much credit (or blame). Part One of this book supplies the theological resources necessary for dialogue with the brain sciences. Part Two explores some modern diagnoses and experiences, all attributed to the brain, and considers them from a biblical perspective. 206 pages.
6. Book Recommendation: The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference, 2nd Edition by Charles Hodges. Biblical counselors and pastors often have questions when a counselee is struggling with a mixture of physical, emotional, and spiritual difficulties. The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference 2nd Edition helps counselors understand how some medical conditions impact counseling needs. The first section offers guidance for the extra challenges inherent with certain medical diagnoses. The second section examines the challenges associated with a variety of physical and mental conditions such as autoimmune disorders, PTSD, Alzheimer’s, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, and more, helping counselors better understand the specific counseling needs that often accompany each condition. 384 pages.
7. Book Recommendation: Biblical Counseling and Mental Disorder Diagnosis by Jenn Chen. Dr. Jenn Chen, a veteran psychologist turned biblical counselor, addresses the very relevant topic of mental disorder diagnosis and how to think about it biblically. She will help you to understand the DSM (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), what some have incorrectly labeled “the bible” of mental health. Jenn demonstrates how the DSM is not as scientific as it is purported to be, nor is the process of diagnosing. While some in the biblical counseling world are seemingly moving toward the DSM, Jenn has removed herself from it and has accepted the Bible as her standard. 120 pages.
8. Book Recommendation: Saving Abnormal: The Disorder of Psychiatric Genetics by Dr Daniel R. Berger II. Daniel Berger II presents an eye-opening account of both the historic origins and development of the current model of mental illness, as well as how and why creating and asserting concepts of abnormality/degeneracy upon society is vital to sustain psychiatry’s existence. The currently held construct of mental illness is simply not an approach to human nature and human phenomena that saves lives or rightly explains the human condition. Instead, it is a phenomenology that judges some people to be categorically “unhealthy”/abnormal, blames it on their biology, and leaves them at the mercy of mother nature’s selection. If you want to dig very deeply into this topic, Berger footnotes on almost every page extensively, mainly using secular and scientific sources to show from their own camp why what they put forward as scientific fact is anything but. This is a heavy read, with lots of pages, but Saving Abnormal presents a wealth of evidence to consider and calls for a paradigm shift in the way the human soul/psyche is framed and approached. I (Norm) found it a long read, but a very profitable one. 660 pages.
