We have been on a journey since writing our first book, The Psychological Way/The Spiritual Way. We have written a number of books along the way, but as we were writing Against Biblical Counseling: For the Bible, we found it necessary to tell Moody Press that we could no longer support our book How to Counsel from Scripture, because we had departed from the biblical counseling movement and were voicing our concerns. While How to Counsel from Scripture contains much material we still uphold, some of it supported the biblical counseling movement from which we had departed. Moody Press kindly put the book out of print. This current book, Competent to Minister: The Biblical Care of Souls, is a natural result of having departed from the biblical counseling movement and includes many of the biblical reasons why we did. Here we encourage the church to return to its biblical roots.
The Reformation was a turning point in church history. Two great teachings of the Reformation are Sola Scriptura and the priesthood of all believers. Sola Scriptura means by Scripture alone. The priesthood of all believers means that believers, guided by the Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, are equipped and called to minister to one another in the Body of Christ. This book rests heavily on those two doctrines. It is a call forward to confidence in the efficacy of Scriptures and the knowledge that:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:16,17).
This book is also a call to believers to use the Word empowered by the Spirit to minister to one another.
The above paragraphs are the opening words of Competent to Minister: The Biblical Care of Souls, which answers such questions as:
- What can believers do to help individuals suffering from problems of living?
- What should churches do for suffering souls?
- What did the church do for almost 2000 years without psychological counseling?
- What did the church do without the biblical counseling movement, which began about 25 years ago?
Competent to Minister: The Biblical Care of Souls calls Christians back to the Bible and to the biblically ordained ministries and mutual care in the Body of Christ that have effectively cared for souls for almost 2000 years. The retail price of Competent to Minister: The Biblical Care of Souls is $14.00. However, PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries is offering the 252-page book for $13. To order, see Books.