Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A Voice for the Voiceless


A Voice for the Voiceless:
Radio Interview on Sacred Friendships

Listen to Aaron Taylor at "Deep Thoughts with Aaron Taylor" as he interviews me about Sacred Friendships and various views of women in ministry. http://bit.ly/42vzcC

Here's what Aaron says about the interivew:

Listen to my fascinating interview with author Robert Kellemen on his new book celebrating the women heroes of the faith. Kellemen served for more than a decade as the founding Chairman of the Master of Arts in Christian Counseling and Discipleship Department at Capital Bible Seminary in Lanham, Maryland. He is now Professor-at-Large in that department. In his new book, Kellemen gives a panorama of Christian history celebrating the forgotten female heroes. In this, he gives a stunning blow to a patriarchal view of history.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Susannah Spurgeon's Ministry to Her Depressed Husband

Susannah Spurgeon's Ministry to Her Depressed Husband

The Sacred Friendships Blog Tour continues today with Angela Dockter-Harris posting author Q/As from our interview with her.

Please visit Angela's site at: http://bit.ly/gnE8L

Also, check out Angela's excellent book on grieving: Dance in the Rain.

In Angela's blog tour post, among other fascinating descriptions, you will learn how Susannah Spurgeon ministered to her discouraged and depressed husband, the famous Baptist preacher, C. H. Spurgeon.

For your own copy of Sacred Friendships, please visit: http://bit.ly/MG1l5

Monday, September 28, 2009

Sacred Friendships: Refuse to Bury Your Talents

Sacred Friendships: Refuse to Bury Your Talent

The Sacred Friendships Blog Tour enters its second exciting week today.

Angela Ambroise, at her He Speaks to Me blog site (http://bit.ly/1VHhvo) has posted an Author Interview.

Among other questions, she asks about the great women of the Reformation.

One of our answers: "The commonality among all these women of the Reformation is their refusal to bury their talents."

To learn more, be sure to visit: http://bit.ly/1VHhvo

You'll also learn about the African American woman who was Mary Lincoln's sole scared friend when President Lincoln was shot.

Angela also graciously linked the Sacred Friendships Blog Tour to the Book Blogs website at: http://bit.ly/8sUxh

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sacred Friendships Blog Tour: Week Two


The Sacred Friendships Blog Tour:
Week Two: Amazing Stories of Remarkable Women


Don’t miss out on the excitement. Join the journey this week as you learn the story behind the stories of over 50 remarkable women of the faith.

Learn More

To learn more about the blog tour, please visit:
http://bit.ly/J7Tpt

To learn more about Sacred Friendships, please visit:
http://bit.ly/1KqalI

To order your copy of Sacred Friendships, please visit:
http://bit.ly/MG1l5

Week Two

Here’s what you can expect to discover this week and where you can find it.

*Monday, September 28, Angela Ambroise:


Angela will post about women of the Reformation and about African American women of faith.

*Tuesday, September 29, Angela Dockter Harris:


Angela will post about Susannah Spurgeon and her amazing ministry to her husband C. H. Spurgeon.

*Wednesday, September 30, Aaron Taylor:


Podcast: http://bit.ly/42vzcC

Aaron does a Podcast interview of yours truly.

*Thursday, October 1, Sandra Peoples:


Sandra will provide the first of many book reviews of Sacred Friendships.

*Friday, October 2, Lynn Mosher:

http://lynnmosher.blogspot.com/

Lynn will post about Susannah Wesley and Margaret Baxter and how they overcame all odds to empower others for Christ.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Church Mother to a Church Father



Church Mother to a Church Father

We hear all about the Church Fathers, including perhaps the most famous of all, Augustine. But what about the Mothers of the Church?

And, do we realize that most of the Fathers of the Church were mentored by women?

As we continue our Sacred Friendships Blog Tour, please visit Jim Nestle's blog, Living Life on Purpose: http://bit.ly/2P2rIL

He shares about how Sacred Friendships tells the story of Augustine's mother, Monica, and how she was primary in his discipleship process.

For the rest of the story, visit: http://bit.ly/2P2rIL

Thursday, September 24, 2009

How to Care Like Christ

Be Empowered to Care Like Christ

Do you minister to people’s personal needs and care deeply, but desire further equipping so you can care like Christ?

Do you want to be empowered to use the Bible more wisely, powerfully, and lovingly?


Then attend the RPM Ministries Changing Lives Seminar: How to Care Like Christ.

Select from two upcoming RPM Ministries How to Care Like Christ Seminars:

1. Saturday, October 10, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Grace Baptist Church, 7210 Race Track Road, Bowie, MD 20715.

Cost: $25 per person if registered by October 3. ($35 at the Door.) Your costs include a continental breakfast, a light lunch, the seminar notes, and the full-day seminar presentation by Dr. Kellemen.

To Register:

*Contact Pastor Mark Tanious at 301-262-1767.

*Or, download the online registration at:
http://bit.ly/zJMvy

*Or, contact:
secretary@gbcbowie.org

To Learn More:

Please visit:
http://bit.ly/lX5PG

2. Saturday, October 31, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, 1615 Third Street, N.W., Washington DC.

*Cost: $25 per person. Your costs include a continental breakfast, a light lunch, the seminar notes, and the full-day seminar presentation by Dr. Kellemen.

To Register:

*Contact the Church Office at 202-667-1833 and ask for Minister Charles Traylor and the Changing Lives Seminar.

*Or, email Paula Stevens-Lassiter at
mtsinaidc@verizon.net

Cultivating Christlike Intercultural Relational Competency

Cultivating Christlike Intercultural Relational Competency

Note: The following is the outline that I spoke from at my presentation at Moody Bible Institute on September 23, 2009. Maybe people asked for the outline...here it is.

Cultivating Christlike Intercultural Relational Competency:
A Theological Primer
by Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC

The Big Picture: Michael Jordan and the End of the Story

The Big Idea: Since God is moving all of history toward Revelation 7:9-10, we must equip one another to relate and minister interculturally now as a TEAM in light of our eternal future.

The Big Issue: What Are We Talking About?

*Intercultural Relational Competency: The ability to relate like Christ when interacting with people whose patterns of relating, thinking, acting, and feeling are culturally different (diverse) from yours.

The Big Reason: Why Should We Embrace Minority Impact and Intercultural Competency?

*Taking God’s Worldview: Seeing the World as God Sees the World

1. Intercultural Relating Is a God the Father Issue: James 1:27-2:13; Romans 2:4-11

2. Intercultural Relating Is a God the Son Issue: Matthew 28:19-20; John 2:1-4:54

3. Intercultural Relating Is a God the Holy Spirit Issue: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

4. Intercultural Relating Is a Trinitarian Issue: John 17:20-26

5. Intercultural Relating Is a Salvation Issue: Ephesians 2:11-22; Rev. 5:9; John 3:16

6. Intercultural Relating Is a Sanctification Issue: Colossians 3:1-11

7. Intercultural Relating Is a Church Issue: Acts 2:14-47; Acts 10:1-48; Colossians 3:11-17

8. Intercultural Relating Is an Eternal Issue: Revelation 7:9-10

*A Christ-Centered TEAM Approach

*T: Taking Another Person’s Earthly Perspective through Empathy and Culturally-Informed Listening

*E: Engaging in Bridge-Building Spiritual Conversations through Focusing on God’s Eternal Perspective

*A: Abolishing Barriers through Forgiveness and Reconciliation

*M: Making Intercultural Peace through Spiritual Renewal—Shalom

The Big Questions: “What Motivates Us?” “How Are We Motivating Others?”

Blog Tour Day Four: Persistence and Perseverance

Persistence and Perseverance

The Sacred Friedships Blog Tour continues with day four over at my good friend, Brad Hambrick's site.

Visit his site at: http://bit.ly/1kd6Q7

Learn Persistence

Here's a small taste of what Brad shares as he asked us about the first female martyr of the church--Perpetua.

To the very end, Perpetua maintains her perpetual persistence. “The day of their victory dawned, and with joyful countenances they marched from the prison to the arena as though on their way to heaven. If there was any trembling, it was from joy, not fear. Perpetua followed with a quick step as a true spouse of Christ, the darling of God, her brightly flashing eyes quelling the gaze of the crowd.”

Perpetua provides riveting testimony to Christ’s power at work in the inner life of a Christian woman whose spirit could never be overpowered.

The Rest of the Story

To learn more about how Perpetua can encourage you to persevere, visit Brad's site: http://bit.ly/1kd6Q7

To purchase your copy of Sacred Friendships please visit: http://bit.ly/MG1l5

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Blog Tour Day Three: Podcast Interview

Sacred Friendships Blog Tour Day Three
For day three of the Sacred Friendships Blog Tour, check out Stacy Harp's podcast interview of me at:

http://stacylynnharp.blogspot.com/ and http://www.blogforbooks.com/

Here's part of what Stacy says on her blogs:

"And let me also tell you this, if you want a book that is going to build your faith, is easy to read, and inspiring, this is a great read. I’ve been reading my copy and love it….and Bob did not pay me to tell you that!"

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Julie Ganschow Interviews Kellemen and Ellis on Sacred Friendships

Sacred Friendships Blog Tour, Day Two

Julie Ganschow is a biblical counselor specializing in counseling women. Today on her blog: Biblical Counseling for Women she interviews Susan and me about Sacred Friendships. Check out her questions and our answers about important matters like why we think the church has and still tends to silence the voices of women.

Visit Julie's site and read her interview at: http://bc4women.blogspot.com/

Monday, September 21, 2009

Radio Interview on the Roles of Women and Sacred Friendships`

Radio Interview on Sacred Friendships

Listen to Aaron Taylor at "Deep Thoughts with Aaron Taylor" as he interviews me about Sacred Friendships and various views of women in ministry.

http://bit.ly/42vzcC

Here's what Aaron says about the interivew:

Listen to my fascinating interview with author Robert Kellemen on his new book celebrating the women heroes of the faith. Kellemen served for more than a decade as the founding Chairman of the Master of Arts in Christian Counseling and Discipleship Department at Capital Bible Seminary in Lanham, Maryland. He is now Professor-at-Large in that department. In his new book, Kellemen gives a panorama of Christian history celebrating the forgotten female heroes. In this, he gives a stunning blow to a patriarchal view of history.

A Recovering Pharisee Interviews Doc. K.


A Recovering Pharisee Interviews Doc. K. on Sacred Friendships

The Sacred Friendships Blog Tour begins today with Kary Oberbrunner, who describes himself as a "recovery Pharisee," interviewing me.

He asks some great questions, such as:

*What's the big idea of Sacred Friendships? What do you want readers to take away from it?

*What motivated you to write Sacred Friendships?

*With all that's going on in the world, why this book now? What's unique about Sacred Friendships?

*Who should read Sacred Friendships?

To read my answers to these questions and more, go to Kary's site: http://bit.ly/LWCst


Sunday, September 20, 2009

AACC Reflections: The Trinity

AACC Grace and Truth World Conference:
Day Four and Wrap Up Reflections—The Trinity


Each AACC Conference I attend, I listen for the “underlying” theme—not necessarily the planned theme (this year, Grace and Truth), as powerful as that is. But any consistent threads in plenary sessions, worship, track presentations, personal interactions—that might suggest the Spirit’s underlying theme.

Here’s what I heard: The Trinity.

What sets Christianity apart from everything else? The Trinity.

What sets Christian counseling apart from every other form of people helping? The Trinity.

I listened to the message of Trinitarian theology and Trinitarian counseling from Piper, Crabb, Dave Jenkins, and many others.

Christian counseling/biblical counseling will be filled with grace and truth, will be filled with Scripture and soul, will be filled with truth and love… to the extent that our theology and our personal lives are impacted by and infiltrated by the Trinity.

As I said in my track presentation (
http://bit.ly/3ShzlR), “Too often biblical counselors counsel more like Allah than like the Trinity.”

What in the world did I mean by that?

Allah is the alone with the alone.

Aloof.

Distant.

Other than.

Our Trinitarian God is the eternal community.

When we counsel soullessly, when we counsel aloofly, when we counsel with truth minus love…then we ought not to call what we do biblical Christian counseling.

Grace and Truth are mediated via our Trinitarian God as His life, His love, flow through us to those we counsel as we live the truth in love.

That’s the message I listened to this week.

How about you?

Friday, September 18, 2009

Amazing Stories of Remarkable Women


The Sacred Friendships Blog Tour:
Week One: Amazing Stories of Remarkable Women


Don’t miss out on the excitement. Join the journey this week as you learn the story behind the stories of over 50 remarkable women of the faith.

Learn More

To learn more about the blog tour, please visit:
http://bit.ly/J7Tpt

To learn more about Sacred Friendships, please visit:
http://bit.ly/1KqalI

To order your copy, please visit:
http://bit.ly/MG1l5

Week One

Here’s what you can expect to discover this week and where you can find it.

*Monday, September 21, Kary Oberbruner:
http://www.karyoberbrunner.com

Kary will post responses to an Author Q/A he sent to Susan and I. He’ll focus in part on The Big Idea of Sacred Friendships, what it’s about, who should read it, and why.

*Tuesday, September 22, Julie Ganschow:
http://bc4women.blogspot.com

Julie will post responses to another set of Author Q/A’s. She’ll focus on being a voice for the voiceless, why we think the church has often failed to listen to the voice of women, and whether we think this continues to be a problem today.

*Wednesday, September 23, Stacy Harp:
http://blogforbooks.com

Stacy will post a lively podcast interview she did with me. She’s a very engaging and encouraging host. Be sure to listen and get the inside scope on the passion and vision behind the book.

*Thursday, September 24, Brad Hambrick:
http://bradhambrick.com

Brad will explore the map used by Sacred Friendships to share the narratives of women soul care givers. He’ll also post author summaries of the first female martyr of the church (Perpetua) and share author stories of the Mothers of the Church.

*Friday, September 25, Jim Nestle:
http://intentionalintimacy.blogspot.com

Jim will share author interactions about Monica the Mother of Augustine. Who is the true discipler behind one of the greatest theologians and biblical psychologists of all time? He’ll also explore with Susan and me whether women’s counsel is all “touchy-feely” or whether it also has “teeth.”

AACC: Scripture and Soul


AACC Grace and Truth World Conference:
Day Three Reflections—Scripture and Soul


Friday at the AACC started early and went late.

In the morning, Ian Jones, a fellow BCSFN co-director, received the Gary Collins award for excellence in Christian counseling. Then Larry Crabb gave the plenary session on how the Trinity impacts our counseling.

Immediately after, I gave my BCSFN track presentation on How to Practice Comprehensive Biblical Counseling: Implementing a Dozen Dreams:
http://bit.ly/3ShzlR

Had lunch with my Baker Books editor from Beyond the Suffering, Vicki Crumpton. She was a great editor and is a wonderful encourager and friend.

Enjoyed a great time of mutual encouragement, sharing, brainstorming, and connecting during the BCSFN Mixer.

Topped things off with the evening the Dinner Theatre.

That’s the “stuff.”

Here’s the inside story.

People are hungry for truly biblical counseling. They are tired of biblical counseling that is half biblical—giving Scripture but not soul; giving truth without love. But they are also tired of counseling that claims to be Christian but follows more of the world than the Word. People long for Scripture and soul. They long for biblical Christian counseling that follows the Apostle Paul’s model in 1 Thessalonians 2:8. “We loved you so much that we were delighted to give you not only the Scriptures but our own souls, because you were so dear to us.”

Bob

AACC Day Two Reflections: Community


AACC Grace and Truth World Conference: Day Two Reflections--Community

Here’s a recap of Thursday at the AACC World Conference.

Conferences like these are never only about the content, as important as that is.

They are also about community.

I was able to connect with many students and co-workers from Capital Bible Seminary’s MACCD (MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship) department. Had a great time reconnecting with Professor Chris Boucher and his whole family. Also spent some wonderful time with Terri Polm who was our full-time mentor of women and with Jim Nestle who was our full-time mentor of men. Met up with two dear friends, Pastor Harry Pilson and Sister Olivia Pilson—Olivia is one of our women mentors.

Many of our student graduates/alums stopped by at the Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation Network (BCSFN) booth. It’s always so encouraging to hear how God is using people to impact others. I wish I could list every name.

Sister Ellen Barney and I talked for a long time. Sister Ellen was in the first two years of our program and has always been such an encourager. She also has trained lay women every year in LEAD: Lay Encouragers And Disciplers. Their church uses both Soul Physicians and Spiritual Friends to equip their women for one another ministry.

The World Conference is also always a great opportunity to reconnect with men and women from around the country and the world who also are equipping others. Had a great time at lunch with Dr. Ian Jones from Southwestern Seminary, a great time at dinner with Dr. Steve Greggo from Trinity. Spent time during the day with my good friend Dr. Eric Johnson from Southern Seminary, with Dr. Phil Monroe from Biblical Seminary, Dr. Miriam Parent from Trinity, Dr. Ron Hawkins from Liberty, and so many others.

Today, I will be off soon to hear Dr. Larry Crabb present a plenary message on the impact of Trinitarian theology on biblical counseling. It will be a special privilege to close that plenary session in prayer, since I studied under Larry at Grace Seminary. His personal mentoring, friendship, teaching, and writings have impacted me in many ways.

Then I’ll race off (lots of racing here!) to present my track session on How to Practice Comprehensive Biblical Counseling: Implementing a Dozen Dreams. We’ll be looking together at ways to ensure that our counseling is Christ-centered, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed.

A full day will follow after that. Lord willing, I will share about it on Saturday morning.

Thanks for following the journey.

Bob

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Grace and Truth: AACC Day One Reflections


Grace and Truth: AACC Day One Reflections

For me, this is really "day two" as I drove down Tuesday (6.5 hours). Tuesday afternoon/evening was fun reconnecting with fellow AACC folks...and trying to remember how to get from Point A to Point Z at the Grand Ole Opry. Personally, I prefer counseling conferences hosted in a local church...for many reasons. But that's just me.

Wednesday started for me with praying over and reviewing my presentation. I facilitated a three-hour pre-conference on how to develop a biblical counseling method/model. As I always do, I had many built in times for small group interaction to discuss and apply what we were learning.

The group in attendance was very encouraging, very engaged, very hungry and thirsty for relevant, practical ways to use God's Word to sustain, heal, reconcile, and guide God's people.

People have already asked, "Is this available in written form?" Yes. Actually, what I presented today is half of my typically day-long seminar on How to Care Like Christ. I have manuscripted that entire seminar, word for word, into an e-document of 20,000 words. How to Care Like Christ: Using the Bible Accurately, Powerfully, and Lovingly in Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation. You can get it at: http://bit.ly/DEKwc

I then spent most of the afternoon at the BCSFN (Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation Network) Booth in the Exhibition area. It was a great chance to meet new friends, to reconnect with old friends, and to tell people about the BCSFN which is one of the Divisions within the AACC.

Then in the evening kick-off plenary event, the music was inspiring with Charles Billingsley, New Song, and Amy Grant. Dr. Tim Clinton shared his heart, including, "tragedy is when we spend our life in things that do not matter." Pastor Piper concluded the evening with his signature focus on the glory of God's grace. He challenged all pastors, counselors, and lay people to make counseling all about God and not about us.

The day also was a blast in reconnecting with Capital Bible Seminary students and faculty in the MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship (MACCD) Department.

Today I'll be introducing all the BCSFN Track speakers, meeting with friends, and attending several other events.

More later.

Bob

This World Is Our Dressing Room



A Voice for the Voiceless: African American Women of Faith
Part 5: Octavia Rogers Albert: This World Is Our Dressing Room


Note: Taken from Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith. For more information on this book, please visit: http://bit.ly/YmaM1

Note: For part one of this blog mini-series, please visit:
http://bit.ly/T7Zas and for part two, please visit: http://bit.ly/14aWH6 and for part three please visit: http://bit.ly/wJs58 and for part four please visit: http://bit.ly/3iD5VS

This World Is Our Dressing Room

Octavia Albert was adept at using Scripture, hymns, spirituals, and Christian literature to minister healing soul care and guiding spiritual direction.

Aunt Charlotte shares how they sang the spiritual My God Delivered Daniel and then says that “it seemed the more trials I had the more I could pray.”

Octavia responds, “Aunt Charlotte, you remind me of Pilgrim’s Progress.” In the ensuing conversation, she compares Charlotte to John Bunyan (the author of Pilgrim’s Progress) who, like Charlotte, remained faithful to God even when persecuted for his faith.

Charlotte, identifying with Bunyan, notes, “But that’s the time a true child of God prays, when he gets in trouble.”

Octavia also skillfully uses imagery in her biblical counseling ministry. After discussing living for this life or living for eternity, she summarizes her practical theology.

“This world is our dressing-room, and if we are not dressed up and prepared to meet God when we die we can never enter the promised land; for there is no preparation beyond the grave. The Bible tells us, ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’”

Stirring Up Faith

Her ministry certainly wasn’t all talk. More than anything, Octavia loved to draw out, stir up, and honor Aunt Charlotte’s faith.

Discussing the evils of slavery and the goodness of God, Charlotte displays her own astute theology. “You see, my child, God will take care of his people. He will hear us when we cry.”

Octavia then fans Charlotte’s faith into flames. “Aunt Charlotte, it really makes me feel happy to hear you express your faith in the goodness of God.”

Entering the Rest of God

Octavia ministered to many ex-enslaved Christians. In talking to Aunt Lorendo about her husband’s (Uncle John Goodwin) health, Lorendo notes that John would never be physically well due to the cruel treatment he endured.

Expressing her faith and hope, Lorendo says to Octavia, “I trust we both will rest by and by.”

Octavia replies, “Yes, Aunt Lorendo, the Bible promises that there is ‘rest for the people of God.’ And it affords us joy to know that although we have trials and tribulations here we who prove faithful till death shall enter that ‘rest prepared for the people of God.’”

The Rest of the Story

For the rest of the story, please return to this blog for part six . . .

Note: Readers can enjoy the empowering narratives of over two-dozen African American women (and scores of African American men) narrated in Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering. For more information, please visit:
http://bit.ly/XvsTu

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Keeping the Faith



A Voice for the Voiceless: African American Women of Faith
Part 4: Octavia Rogers Albert: Keeping the Faith


Note: Taken from Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith. For more information on this book, please visit: http://bit.ly/YmaM1

Note: For part one of this blog mini-series, please visit: http://bit.ly/T7Zas and for part two, please visit: http://bit.ly/14aWH6 and for part three please visit: http://bit.ly/wJs58

Keeping the Faith

Sustaining enables suffering people to survive.

Healing and guiding encourage and empower sufferers to move beyond the suffering—to thrive.

Healing and guiding never ignore, deny, or minimize affliction; they always heroically, resiliently empower believers to keep the faith (healing) and to live out that faith active in love (guiding).

Octavia challenges her suffering spiritual friends to live their Christian faith by recognizing the common bond they share with captive Israel of old. Her work emphasizes the unshakable faith of slaves who survived and thrived despite their captivity, their ridicule, and the hypocrisy of their masters. Though urging them to be longsuffering, Octavia never encourages them to be passive.

Her husband and daughter, in their original Preface to The House of Bondage, clearly saw Octavia’s twin goals of sustaining (surviving) and healing/guiding (thriving).

“An only daughter unites with the writer [Octavia’s husband] in sending out these pages penned by a precious and devoted mother and wife, whose angelic spirit is constantly seen herein . . .” Having honored Octavia’s character, her daughter proceeds to venerate her ministry. “. . . and whose subtle and holy influence seems to continue to guide and protect both [daughter and husband] in the path over which they since have had to travel without the presence and cheer of her inspiring countenance.”

Hope Inspired through Inspired Scripture

Octavia inspires hope through inspired Scripture.

Often it involves spiritual conversations through guiding questions that draw out Aunt Charlotte’s embedded faith. Having listened to Charlotte’s testimony of repentance and faith in Christ, Octavia asks her “whether she felt lonely in this unfriendly world.”

Charlotte answers, “No, my dear; how can a child of God feel lonesome? My heavenly Father took care of me in slave-time. He led me all the way along, and now he has set me free, and I am free both in soul and body.”

At other times, Octavia’s counsel was more direct as she used scriptural exploration and Bible reading to encourage Aunt Charlotte and others. Charlotte was nearly blind by the time she met Octavia, and thus harbored no hopes of learning to read. On one occasion, while discussing the hope-giving nature of Scripture, Octavia reads Job 19:25-27 (“I know my redeemer lives”).

“Thank you, too, for it” Charlotte exclaims in response.

Apples of Gold

What stands out in Octavia’s use of spiritual conversations and scriptural explorations is her remarkable knack for selecting the right topic and/or passage for the right person at the right moment. When Aunt Charlotte shares about the inhumane, brutal treatment she received at the hands of her white masters, Octavia responds by reading the hymn All the Way My Savior Leads Me.

Charlotte replies immediately. “O, bless the Lord for the chance of hearing those word! They suit my case. I want to sing that very hymn in glory.”

To “suit the case” of another is to connect, to speak timely words, appropriate for the person and the situation. In this, Octavia follows the inspired counsel of the Apostle Paul. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

The Rest of the Story

For the rest of the story, please return to this blog for part five . . .

Note: Readers can enjoy the empowering narratives of over two-dozen African American women (and scores of African American men) narrated in Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering. For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/XvsTu

Monday, September 14, 2009

AACC World Conference: Grace and Truth


The American Association of Christian Counselors' World Conference
Grace and Truth

I'll be leaving Tuesday morning for and returning Sunday afternoon from the AACC's 2009 Grace and Truth World Conference.

Every other year we host 5,000-t0-7,000 pastors, lay people, educators, psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, missionaries, spiritual directors, and spiritual friends.

Great worship, plenary speakers, several hundred ministry "booths," 40 pre-conference presentations, and scores of track presentations combine with connecting to make this a premier event.

I'll be presenting a Pre-Conf Wednesday (9-Noon) on Developing a Biblical Methodology of Biblical Counseling.

Then Friday morning I'll lead a Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation Network (BCSFN) track on How to Practice Comprehensive Biblical Counseling (over 300 signed-up).

Friday night I'll faciliate the BCSFN Mixer: sharing our vision for biblical counseling and spiritual formation, hearing from among our over 5,000 BCSFN members how we can further equip them, and dreaming together.

I'd love to meet any of you in person. If you're attending, be sure to look me up.

I'll also try to Twitter and Facebook along the way to keep you posted.

For more info: http://www.aacc.net/

The big event is in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry--it's like a city all unto itself. Massive.

In Christ's Grace,

Bob

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Success--God's Way


Success--God's Way

Note: Today's post is part of the September RPM Ministries The VineLine Newsletter. If you would like to subscribe to The VineLine just type in your email address on the left of this blog post where you see:

Sign up for our Free VineLine E-News

Success--God's Way

Many of you know that I coach high school wrestling. The job of a coach is to make others successful.

Many of you also know that one of the "images" I have for God's calling on my life is that of a spiritual "coach." While running yesterday morning, I got to thinking about how much I enjoy helping others to succeed spiritually--whether it's in their personal walk with God or in their ministry call from God.

Then I got to thinking. "What is success from God's perspective?"

Surely, we're all tired of "health and wealth," prosperity "gospel," ego-driven, humanistic definitions of "success."

Simply, but biblically put, success is living the abundant life (John 10:10) of deep relationship with God and others (Matthew 22:35-40).

So...let's ask ourselves some questions:

1. Who are we helping to succeed?

Who am I, who are you, coaching toward spiritual success?

2. Where are we coaching "for free"?

Think like a lawyer and pro bono work. In other words, I'm not asking who we are coaching spiritually because it's our job (as a pastor, counselor, educator, ministry director, consultant, etc.). I'm not denying how wonderful that ministry is. I'm simply asking the additional question, "Without it being part of my job, who am I empowering to live the abundant life of deep relationship with God and others?"

3. Are we willing to help others to succeed, even if from the world's perspective, they're our "competitors"?

I think about this as I have launched RPM Ministries full-time. I've had a boatload of people over the last year ask me about launching ministries, launching websites, doing blogs, writing books, doing a blog tour, offering seminars, etc. None of them pay me for my "wisdom." And that's okay. And many of them are doing similar work to RPM Ministries. If I am convinced that God is a Rewarder and that His resources are infinite, then I'll do all I can to help others to succeed, even in similar ministries. And so will you.

4. How can I help you to succeed?

I mean it. And...for free. If there's a way I can be of spiritual assistance to you, please contact me:
rpm.ministries@gmail.com.

Now, in case you doubt this offer...try it out. Several have already since I sent The VineLine Friday. And I've already connected with each person.

In Christ's Grace,

Bob

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Weeping with Those Who Weep



A Voice for the Voiceless: African American Women of Faith
Part 3: Octavia Rogers Albert: Weeping with Those Who Weep

Note: Taken from Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith. For more information on this book, please visit: http://bit.ly/YmaM1

Note: For part one of this blog mini-series, please visit:
http://bit.ly/T7Zas and for part two, please visit: http://bit.ly/14aWH6

Weeping with Those Who Weep

Listening without feeling is rather worthless. Octavia Albert combines both as she ministers to Charlotte Brooks.

“Poor Charlotte Brooks! I can never forget how her eyes were filled with tears when she would speak of all her children: ‘Gone, and no one to care for me!’”

Octavia then weeps with Charlotte as she weeps.

“I must say that she caused tears to flow from my eyes many a day while relating her hardships.”

Octavia teaches us that it is not enough to listen (as foundational as that is); it is not enough to feel for another; we also must communicate our compassion.

Octavia does so not only via her shed tears, but also through her expressed commiseration.

“Aunt Charlotte, my heart throbs with sympathy, and my eyes are filled with tears, whenever I hear you tell of the trials of yourself and others. I’ve read and heard very often of the hard punishments of the slaves in the South; but the half was never told.”

Charlotte’s response indicates that Octavia has heard her accurately.

“No, half of it aint been told. I could sit right here and tell you the trials and tribulations I have had to go through with my three marsters here in Louisiana, and it would be dark before I got half through with my own; but if I tried to tell of the sorrows of others, what I have seen here in Louisiana since I have been here, it would take me all the week, I reckon.”

Imagine Aunt Charlotte not thinking that anyone would ever want to listen, but Jesus. Thinking no one would ever care, no one would ever record her words, much less hear them. Then having this college-educated pastor’s wife weeping with her. Identifying with her.

The Rest of the Story

For the rest of the story, please return to this blog for part four . . .

Note: Readers can enjoy the empowering narratives of over two-dozen African American women (and scores of African American men) narrated in Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering. For more information, please visit:
http://bit.ly/XvsTu

Friday, September 11, 2009

Thirty Christian Blogs to Equip and Empower You


The Sacred Friendships Blog Tour Stops
Thirty Christian Blogs to Equip and Empower You


The following thirty bloggers and blog sites all have blogs well worth following. They empower and equip you with their daily insights.

I’m thankful that each of the following bloggers has graciously given of their valuable time and blog space to join the Sacred Friendships Blog Tour.

To learn more about the blog tour, please visit: http://bit.ly/J7Tpt

To learn more about Sacred Friendships, please visit: http://bit.ly/1KqalI

The Sacred Friendship Blog Tour Bloggers:

Kary Oberbruner: http://www.karyoberbrunner.com/

Julie Ganschow: http://bc4women.blogspot.com/

Stacy Harp: http://blogforbooks.com/

Brad Hambrick: http://bradhambrick.com/

Jim Nestle: http://intentionalintimacy.blogspot.com/

Angela Ambroise: http://godandmytalks.blogspot.com/

Angela Dockter Harris: http://angelaadockterharris.wordpress.com/

Aaron Taylor: http://aarondtaylor.blogspot.com/

Sandra Peoples: http://sandrapeoples.blogspot.com/

Lynn Mosher: http://lynnmosher.blogspot.com/

Joshua Young: http://salvationsogreat.blogspot.com/

Bill Higley: http://3rdjohn8.blogspot.com/

Rick Howerton: http://serendipityblog.com/

Cynthia Russell Bailey: http://word4women.wordpress.com/

Ian Jones: http://bcsfn.aacc.net/?page_id=11

Mark Tubbs: http://www.discerningreader.com/blog

Leslie Wiggins: http://www.discerningreader.com/

Phil Monroe: http://wisecounsel.wordpress.com/

Julie Clawson: http://julieclawson.com/

Scott Bane: http://www.the-next-wave.info/

Trevin Wax: http://trevinwax.com/

Dan Lacich: http://provocativechristian.wordpress.com/

Cornelius Jamison: http://duolosslave.wordpress.com/

Mark Kelly: http://gracedependent.com/

Kelly Harbaugh: http://www.tabithas-team.com/Christian-Women-blog.html

Melinda Lancaster: http://dontfaint.wordpress.com/

Lucy Ann Mull: http://lucyannmoll.com/

Cathy Bryant: http://wordvessel.blogspot.com/

Jeff Caldwell: http://thetwobooks.com/

Keiki Hendrix: http://vesselproject.blogspot.com/

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Sacred Friendships Blog Tour


Sacred Friendships Blog Tour

Whew! It's a lot of work organizing a blog tour.

But...it's also a lot of fun...and it provides a great excuse for re-connecting with old friends and making fresh connections with new friends.

So...we have 30 stops on our Sacred Friendships Blog Tour. Every Monday-through-Friday, September 21 to October 30, for six weeks, someone new will be blogging about Sacred Friendships.

Some will do Podcast interviews.

Some will do full book reviews--and they can say anything they think, no strings attached.

Some will review portions of the book.

Some will have Susan Ellis and me respond to their own Author Interview Q/As.

Some will post excerpts from the Author Q/As Susan and I prepared.

A few days before each blog post, I'll list the web address, and then list it again, so people can be sure to visit.

And...get involved. Five people who comment on any of the blog sites will be randomly selected to receive a free, autographed copy of Sacred Friendships.

Many thanks to all my blogging friends new and old who have agreed to give of their valuable time and blog space to join the journey.

By the way...I pick up copies of the book tomorrow from BMH Books!

Have you ordered your very own copy yet? Here's your link: http://bit.ly/MG1l5

Be empowered and have your life changed by the amazing stories of over 50 remarkable women. You'll never think about ministry the same again.

Bob

PS: Are you an author and you'd like to learn about blog tours? Well, I'm a "rookie" just one month ahead on the journey, but I love helping others to succeed. So...whatever I've learned and will learn along the way, I'm glad to share. Email me your questions: rpm.ministries@gmail.com

Monday, September 07, 2009

African American Women of Faith



A Voice for the Voiceless: African American Women of Faith
Part 2: Octavia Rogers Albert: Throbbing with Sympathy


Note: Taken from Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith. For more information on this book, please visit: http://bit.ly/YmaM1

Note: For part one of this blog mini-series, please visit:
http://bit.ly/T7Zas

An Ear to Hear; a Mouthpiece to Speak

According to historian John Blassingame, Octavia Albert was one of the few well-trained and one of the most interesting interviewers in the country during the Reconstruction era. She combined academic excellence with sympathetic brilliance. That combination, important to researchers today, was vitally meaningful to the ex-slaves who shared their stories with her.

As the educated “First Lady” (pastor’s wife) of an African American church, she represented to them a figure of compassion, accomplishment, and status. So it is no surprise that when she moved to Louisiana her home became a gathering place for former slaves.

“There she offered them food, read them scriptures, taught them to read and write, and encouraged them to talk about themselves and their slave experiences.”

None But Jesus!

Her decision to offer them a listening ear and to be their mouthpiece surprised even her interviewees. Among those Octavia ministered to, Charlotte Brooks was preeminent. Octavia tells Charlotte that she has greatly enjoyed their conversations, has listened to every word of her “past unhappy life” in the cane fields of Louisiana, and that “I desire to write it in your own words.”

Charlotte bluntly expresses her shock that any human would identify with her.

“La, me, child! I never thought any body would care enough for me to tell of my trials and sorrows in this world! None but Jesus knows what I have passed through.”

And not just anyone—but the “First Lady” valued “Aunt Charlotte” by dispensing the sustaining grace of listening to her story of suffering. As “Jesus with skin on her,” Octavia’s ministry was life changing.

Listening to Her Sad Story

Octavia records her own perceptions of her soul care of Charlotte.

“It was in the fall of 1879 that I met Charlotte Brooks. She was brought from the State of Virginia and sold in the State of Louisiana many years before the war. I have spent hours with her listening to her telling of her sad life of bondage in the cane-fields of Louisiana.”

If one picture is worth 1,000 words, then this one example is worth 1,000 pages of training in sustaining. Spend hours listening to people tell their sad story of suffering. Our quick-fix, solution-focused, speak-first culture desperately needs to develop the relational competency of sustained listening.

The Rest of the Story

For the rest of the story, please return to this blog for part three . . .

Note: Readers can enjoy the empowering narratives of over two-dozen African American women (and scores of African American men) narrated in Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering. For more information, please visit:
http://bit.ly/XvsTu

Ten Reasons Why We Can Counsel ... Part II

Ten Reasons Why I Believe We Can “Counsel”
Members of the Opposite Gender
Part II: Reasons 6-10

Note: For part one, please visit: http://bit.ly/tXR7y

Introduction (Repeated from Part One)

I’ve been involved in a fascinating and stimulating discussion with a good friend and co-worker in biblical counseling. She believes that the biblical norm mandates that “counseling” must always be between two people of the same gender.

While I do not agree with her view, I do respect her thinking. Also, I certainly believe that there is much power in same gender “counseling.” It is not “wrong” to “counsel” someone of the same gender. I simply do not believe the Bible says that our “counseling” must be exclusively with members of our own gender.

Now, I’m no fool. I understand that I am going to have people “on both sides” at the very least disagreeing with me, some angry at me, and some even calling me a heretic (it wouldn’t be the first time!).

So why discuss this?

It’s a vital issue. It’s a question I am asked a lot. It’s relevant to ministry today.

So…this is a blog. It’s not a book. It’s not a published article. It’s not the final word. The following thoughts are my random ponderings on the issue pretty much as they appeared in the email string generated by my conversation with my friend.

So…the following views are not “hills I am going to die on.” I express them in the hopes of inviting intelligent, loving spiritual conversations. If you disagree with me, please share comments—speaking the truth in love, like a good “Berean.” If you agree with me, but would say things differently or would include additional reasons, please share those.

Here goes. In no particular order, some reasons why I believe we can “counsel” members of the opposite gender.

6. Titus 2: The Specific Context

Some would say that Titus 2 “mandates” and makes the “biblical norm” same gender “counseling.” But what is the context? And I don’t even mean, “is the historical context true for us today?” (which is an issue that some address). I believe the historical context of Titus 2 has application for us today. But what was the context then and what is it now?

Paul is talking about the specific situation of older women who are experienced wives and mothers mentoring younger women for/in the roles of new wives and mothers (and/or wives-to-be and mothers-to-be). So, yes, of course, who better to help a young woman to learn to be a mother and wife than an older woman/mother/wife?

Likewise, who better to help a younger man to learn to be a godly husband/dad than a mature husband/dad?

These are legitimate roles still today. And training women and men for mentoring focused on the home is very necessary and powerful.

I just do not happen to believe that this one passage ever was meant to imply that a woman could never minister to a man. This one passage does not mandate that every one another spiritual friendship or spiritual direction “counseling” interaction must be female-to-female or male-to-male.

7. 1 Timothy 2:11-16: Collaborative Spiritual Conversations

What about “a woman should learn in quietness…”? And, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man”?

These are highly contentious verses. I do not intend to address the full spectrum of issues (such as historical context, application for today regarding local church preaching, etc.). My focus is on what implication, if any, this might have for “counseling” today.

I have studied this whole section in detail. I would translate the lexical meaning of the words in context as, “a woman should not have final authoritative teaching over a man in the church.” (Again, I understand that some would take issue with this translation, with whether this is applicable to the church today, etc. For the sake of argument, I am granting that this is applicable for local church final authoritative preaching.)

However, as I’ve stated, my model of biblical counseling, spiritual friendship, soul care, and spiritual direction is not about final authoritative, directive teaching. It is about collaborative spiritual conversations that seek to relate God’s Word to another person’s life. I do not see 1 Timothy 2:11-15 as prohibiting women from offering spiritual friendship, soul care, or spiritual direction to men.

8. But What About Temptation: Fair Question

Many will say, “It’s not simply about whether women can or should ‘have authority’ over a male. It is about men not counseling women and women not counseling men—primarily because of temptation toward an emotional and/or physical affair.”

Granted, we have all heard the horror stories. However, if we are listening, then we have also heard, increasingly, the horror stories of female “counselors seducing female counselees.” I have a female friend who specializes in counseling women who have been seduced by their female counselors. If she specializes in it, just imagine how often it occurs.

And we have all heard the horror stories of “male pastors seducing male parishioners (especially young boys and teens).”

Thus, we really don’t protect against the temptation toward sinful affairs or emotional attachments simply by “counseling” only male with male or female with female.

What we need are mature, wise males and females who establish the appropriate boundaries and safeguards so that affairs and inappropriate attachments do not develop. Whether it is “formal counseling” or “informal spiritual friendships,” all such relationships must follow established procedures that ensure propriety and integrity.

We ought to empower and equip men and women with the spiritual maturity to engage in what God calls us to do with the wisdom to set appropriate boundaries. Instead, we avoid something good and commanded in Scripture because of something bad that might occur. Out of fear of what might occur in our sinful culture we avoid what the Bible calls us to do to impact our sinful culture.

No one is calling for inappropriate relationships without safeguards. No one is saying that every person is currently ready for one another spiritual friendships with members of the opposite gender. (That’s why the title is “Ten Reasons We Can,” not “Ten Reasons Everyone Must.”) For those without the current personal maturity to handle one another spiritual friendships, the answer is personal discipleship.

9. Potential Sinful Bias: The Potential for Negativity toward Women

I understand that many/most who are against counseling the opposite gender are not “anti-female.” However, in church history and still today in the church there are some who use this topic/issue as one more way to demean, discredit, and marginalize women.

There are men who use “women mentor women” to make women second-class Christians. The attitude can sometimes be, “Women, work with women and children because you are inferior to men.” Such attitudes toward female image bearers is sinful in the sight of God who made us different but equal.

10. Proverbial Wisdom: How God Works

We never build theology on experience. However, proverbial wisdom is a legitimate category of thinking and reflecting.

As I reflect on my life and the lives of many other men and women, I have been greatly ministered to by many godly women. They have been my spiritual friends and biblical counselors in one another ministry and in small group fellowship. Many times other men and women have pointed to these healthy, balanced, ethical, with-integrity, moral, pure relationships as examples to them of how men and women can minister to one another.

I've heard many women, in particular, express how sad it is for them that such fear of impropriety causes men never to have a candid, open conversation with them. They feel as if they are lepers or “Jezebels”—a temptress one must run from. How sad.

God, in His affectionate sovereignty, can choose to use healthy one another spiritual friendships as part of His maturing work in our lives so that we do not engage in sinful relationships. Perhaps it is our Evangelical fear of the opposite sex and the commensurate avoidance of one another spiritual friendships that contribute to the number of affairs we are seeing today.

What Are Your Thoughts?

These are my rambling ponderings.

What are your thoughts?

Ten Reasons Why We Can "Counsel" Members of the Opposite Gender

Ten Reasons Why I Believe We Can “Counsel”
Members of the Opposite Gender
Part I: Reasons 1-5

Introduction

I’ve been involved in a fascinating and stimulating discussion with a good friend and co-worker in biblical counseling. She believes that the biblical norm mandates that “counseling” must always be between two people of the same gender.

While I do not agree with her view, I do respect her thinking. Also, I certainly believe that there is much power in same gender “counseling.” It is not “wrong” to “counsel” someone of the same gender. I simply do not believe the Bible says that our “counseling” must be exclusively with members of our own gender.

Now, I’m no fool. I understand that I am going to have people “on both sides” at the very least disagreeing with me, some angry at me, and some even calling me a heretic (it wouldn’t be the first time!).

So why discuss this?

It’s a vital issue. It’s a question I am asked a lot. It’s relevant to ministry today.

So…this is a blog. It’s not a book. It’s not a published article. It’s not the final word. The following thoughts are my random ponderings on the issue pretty much as they appeared in the email string generated by my conversation with my friend.

So…the following views are not “hills I am going to die on.” I express them in the hopes of inviting intelligent, loving spiritual conversations. If you disagree with me, please share comments—speaking the truth in love, like a good “Berean.” If you agree with me, but would say things differently or would include additional reasons, please share those.

Here goes. In no particular order, some reasons why I believe we can “counsel” members of the opposite gender.

1. “Counseling”: How We Define It

Notice that I have been putting “counseling” in quotation marks. We need to start with what we mean by “counseling.”

I’m big on one another ministry. So for me, “counseling” is simply one another spiritual friendship. I don't see anywhere that the Bible suggests that one another ministry should be exclusively same gender.

Additionally, my model of biblical counseling and spiritual friendship does not focus on final authoritative, directive teaching. It highlights collaborative, “trialogues” where we explore together how God’s Word relates to one another’s lives. I do not believe that this one another practice of collaborative exploration of God’s Word is in any way excluded by any biblical exhortation about women teaching men (see more on this in a subsequent point).

Now, I’m not naïve. I understand that we must address the more formalized relationship of one person who is the recognized “counselor” and one person who is the recognized “counselee.” Even this is not a new issue. Throughout church history people experienced the relationship of a spiritual director to a “directee.”

But again, my definition of soul care and spiritual direction involves a mutual relationship where one person seeks to sustain, heal, reconcile, and guide another person to apply God’s changeless truth to another person’s life.

I do not believe that this spiritual direction practice of collaborative exploration of God’s Word is in any way excluded by any biblical exhortation about women teaching men (see more on this in a subsequent point).

2. Theology of Gender: Genesis 1 and 2 and Creation as Male and Female

I know that some could take our distinct genders to mean that since we are different at the soul level, we should not counsel one another. I would say the opposite.

The idea that it is not good for man/male to be alone, is not only husband/wife, but also male/female. In other words, when we separate by gender in the church, just like when we separate by ethnicity and by age, we lose the beauty of diversity that God has planned.

Males need the unique spiritual friendship insights of females. Females need the unique spiritual friendship insights of males. We need one another.

3. Biblical One Another Exhortations: Let’s Be Consistent

I believe all the one another passages exhort us to offer one another mutual spiritual friendship, soul care, and spiritual direction. None of these passages hint at such commands being directed only toward same gender spiritual conversations.

In fact, when Paul says to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, the context is across cultures, across socieo-economic lines, and across genders (Colossians 3:11-16). When Paul says, in this same context, “Bear with each other, and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another,” surely no one would say, “That only applies to men with men and women with women.”

Paul says in Colossians 3:9, “Do not lie to each other.” Surely no one would say, “Well, that applies only to men with men and women with women.” Yet, a scant few verses later Paul says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with wisdom…” (3:16). Sounds like “counseling.” That’s why I would define biblical counseling as teaching and admonishing one another with wisdom, and I would see Paul commanding all believers to engage in such biblical counseling one with another—including men with women and women with men.

4. Biblical Examples: What Do We See in the Bible?

Jesus and the woman at the well provide a biblical example of a male ministering one-to-one with a female.

The relationship of Aquila and Priscilla to Apollos provides a biblical example of a male/female team mentoring (providing spiritual direction to) a male. Some might say, “Wait, that’s a husband/wife team, so that’s not even in your category of “counseling.” That comment just shows how much we’ve been influenced by modernistic, secular images of what “counseling” is.

Aquila and Priscilla with Apollos is exactly the category of ministry I am addressing. One another spiritual friendships with the opposite gender can include husband and wives ministering to husband and wives. They can include “mixed” small groups. The issue is, can we minister to members of the opposite gender? The issue is not simply the “setting.”

Paul’s list of names in the small house churches in Rome is another example of one another spiritual friendship and small group fellowship being across genders (Romans 16).

I plan to search the Scriptures for further examples.

5. Church History: Women and Men Provided Sacred Friendships to One Another

Anyone who reads my new book, Sacred Friendships (
http://bit.ly/YmaM1) will see how many godly women mentored godly men. The famous Church Fathers were mentored, time after time, by the less-famous, but equally vital, women of the early church. Clearly, women were spiritual directors for the Church Fathers.

I am not saying that history and tradition are equal to inspired Scripture. However, since my interpretation and application of Scripture is not inspired, and neither is yours, I do want to learn from others in church history. And many great Church Fathers, Reformers, and Puritan men benefited from and believed in the role of ministry “across genders.”

Additionally, throughout church history, male pastors provided “counsel” to women. In many cases, we have detailed descriptions of ongoing “counseling” between male pastors and their female parishioners (this is especially true of the Reformers and Puritans).

What Are Your Thoughts?


Thus ends part one of my rambling ponderings.

What are your thoughts?

Be sure to return for part two…

A Voice for the Voiceless



A Voice for the Voiceless: African American Women of Faith
Part 1: Octavia Rogers Albert:
Who Will Tell Our Story?

Note: Taken from Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith. For more information on this book, please visit: http://bit.ly/YmaM1

Octavia Rogers Albert: Who Will Tell Our Story?

She lived a mere thirty-seven years, yet in The House of Bondage Octavia Rogers Albert (1853-1890) chronicles two-hundred-fifty years of African American history. Like no one before her or since, male or female, she provides a voice for voiceless ex-enslaved African Americans.

Her writing offers the immediacy of first-person accounts mediated by her sensitive interviews and empathetic conversations. She recognizes the insufficiency of secondary sources.

“None but those who resided in the South during the time of slavery can realize the terrible punishments that were visited upon the slaves. . . . The half was never told concerning this race that was in bondage nearly two hundred and fifty years.”

Her Lifelong Mission

Octavia’s lifelong mission was to unpack the personal narratives of those whose “home” was the “house of bondage.” When Colonel Douglass Wilson derides himself for telling his experiences of enslavement and of military service in the Civil War, Octavia insists that he testify.

“I believe we should not only treasure these things, but should transmit them to our children’s children. That’s what the Lord commanded Israel to do in reference to their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, and I verily believe that the same is his will concerning us and our bondage and deliverance in this country.”

Her resolve is steely. She writes to give God glory by giving African Americans a voice to answer the question, “Who shall return to tell Egypt the story?”

The hymn (Sound the Loud Timbrel O’er Egypt’s Dark Sea) that concludes her narrative of former slaves “summarizes her theme that abolition was the triumph of God’s will over evil and that those who have been delivered must return to tell the story.”

Firsthand Experience

Octavia does not write as an aloof observer. Born on December 24, 1853, in Oglethorpe, Georgia, of slave parentage, she faced firsthand the horrors and humiliation of enslavement. While still living in Oglethorpe she joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was led by the legendary Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, whose ministry grounded her in her lifelong Christian faith.

After Emancipation, she studied at Atlanta University. Her first teaching job was in Montezuma, Georgia, where, on October 21, 1874, at age twenty-one, she married another teacher at the school, the Rev. A. E. P. Albert, D.D., who later became an ordained minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Soon after their marriage, the Alberts moved to Houma, Louisiana, where Octavia began conducting her interviews with men and women once enslaved. She apparently suffered an untimely death, the circumstances of which are unknown. The preface to her book, authored by her husband and their only child, Laura, implies that she died in 1890.

The Rest of the Story

For the rest of the story, please return to this blog for part two . . .

Note: Readers can enjoy the empowering narratives of over two-dozen African American women (and scores of African American men) narrated in Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering. For more information, please visit:
http://bit.ly/XvsTu

Sunday, September 06, 2009

The 20 Most Influential Books on Methods of Biblical Change

Kellemen’s Christian The Best Of Guide
The Best of Books on
Methods of Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation

Kellemen’s Christian The Best of Guide: Making your life easier by finding, summarizing, evaluating, and posting the best resources on a wide variety of topics from a Christian perspective.

The Twenty Most Influential Books on
Methods of Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation


Note: The following books focus on the methodology, practice, skills, relational competencies of biblical counseling and spiritual formation. They do not highlight theology/theory (see last week’s post for that: http://bit.ly/T75vO) (if it made last week’s list, it is not in this week’s list). The books on this week’s list focus broadly on methods of helping people to grow in Christ. They do not highlight how to help people with specific “issues” in living (such as depression treatment, anxiety treatment, etc.).

Note: For the sake of space, I have not reviewed each of these books. However, I do have a 55-page document that reviews over 125 books on Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation:
http://bit.ly/sYx1U.

Note: That fuller document explains that I do not endorse everything in all the books below. That’s why my subtitle to this post is: “The Twenty Most Influential” rather than “The Best Of.”

Bibliography

Adams, Jay E. The Christian Counselor’s Manual: The Practice of Nouthetic Counseling. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973.

Adams, Jay E. Competent to Counsel: An Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970.

Clebsch, William A. and Charles R. Jaekle. Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective. New edition. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1994.

Clinton, Tim, Archibald D. Hart, George Ohlschlager, eds. Caring for People God’s Way: Personal and Emotional Issues, Addictions, Grief, and Trauma. Nashville: Nelson, 2006.

Collins, Gary. The Biblical Basis of Christian Counseling for People Helpers: Relating the Basic Teachings of Scripture to People's Problems. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1993.

Crabb, Larry. Soul Talk. Nashville: Integrity, 2005.

Crabb, Larry and Dan Allender. Encouragement: The Key to Caring. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984.

Fitzpatrick, Elyse, and Dennis Johnson. Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2009.

Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. Twenty-fifth anniversary edition. San Francisco, Harper, 2003.

Huggins, Kevin. Friendship Counseling. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2003.

Kellemen, Robert W. Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. Revised Edition. Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 2007.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. and Wayne A. Mack. Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005.

Moon, Gary W. and David G. Benner, eds. Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls: A Guide to Christian Approaches and Practices. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity. 2004.

Ortberg, John. The Life You’ve Always Wanted. Expanded Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.

Peugh, Roger and Tammy Schultz. Transformed in His Presence: The Need for Prayer in Counseling. Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 2005.

Powlison, David. Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2005.

Welch, Edward T. When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 1997.

Whitney, Donald. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991.

Willard, Dallas. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God. San Francisco: Harper, 1998.

Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Reprint edition. San Francisco: Harper, 1991.

Important Stuff

*Your Guide: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC, is the Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries (www.rpmministries.org) through which he writes, speaks, and consults to equip God’s people to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth. He blogs daily at http://rpmministries.blogspot.com.

*My Necessary Disclaimer: Of course, I don’t endorse everything in every article, book, or link that you’ll find in Kellemen’s Christian The Best of Guide. I report, you decide.

*Your Suggestions Are Welcomed: Feel free to post comments and/or send emails (rpm.ministries@gmail.com) about resources that you think deserve attention in various categories covered in Kellemen’s Christian The Best of Guide.