Rest is Not a Reward for Productivity

It’s a new year and now is the time we hear a lot about “A new year, a new you!” The holiday season in the West is focused on activities, concerts, parties and getting as much done as one can to prepare for guests or to be out of the office. All this preparation is important to us for various reasons. For some, it can be a desire to celebrate the season with others. For others, there can be a desire to impress others or be perceived a certain way by hosting these activities, leading them, or landing that final ...

Author Q&A: The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-Care

Today's guest post is an author interview with Counselors and Co-Authors, Eliza Huie and Esther Smith about their new book, The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-Care. Eliza Huie, MA, LCPC, is the Director of Counseling at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA and the Dean of Biblical Counseling at Metro Baltimore Seminary. She is the author of Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualized World and Raising Kids in a Screen-Saturated World and is the coauthor of The Whole Life. Esther Smith, MA, is a biblical counselor at Life Counseling Center Ministries and is a licensed clinical professional counselor in the state of Maryland. ...

Who’s Got Your 6? 6 Reasons Why You Need A Prayer Posse

Are you familiar with the question, “Who’s got your 6?” Or the phrase, “I’ve got your 6”? For us non-military folk, it’s a military term used to describe the 6 O‘clock position of a pilot’s plane—or your backside, aka what makes you vulnerable to an enemy sneak attack. This is powerful imagery of life on the battlefield and a great metaphor for the spiritual battlefield. If someone says, “I got your 6,” they are saying they’ve got your back, they’ve got you covered. You are not vulnerable because they are looking out for you. It shows that you and the ...

Suffering, Part III: Deliverance from Suffering is Not One-Size-Fits-All

Dave Shive lives in Catonsville, MD, and has been married to Kathy for 52 years. They have 3 married children and 11 grandchildren. Dave writes, not as a clinician or therapist, but as a pastor. His thoughts on suffering emerge from his study of the Bible, reading widely, pastoral counseling, and personal experience. This is Part III of a multi-part series on suffering. Have you ever felt like you aren't "getting over" your suffering as fast as someone else? Have you ever felt pressured to move on in your grief by those around you and you just weren't ready yet or ...

Chronic Illness: Walking by Faith (31-Day Devotionals for Life)

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Today's post is an interview with author, Esther Smith. Esther is a counselor at Life Counseling Center Ministries in Marriottsville, MD. She has an MA in Professional Counseling, a Certificate in Biblical Counseling through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, and is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Maryland. She is the author of Chronic illness: Walking by Faith (P&R Publishing, 2020). Her next book, coauthored with Eliza Huie, explores the topic of biblical self-care and is scheduled to be released in 2021 with New Growth Press. Esther lives near Baltimore with her husband, Ian. She enjoys ...

4 Spiritual Misconceptions Teens Face in Youth Group

Today's guest post is written John Song of Columbia, MD who serves as the Pastor of Youth Ministries at Columbia Presbyterian Church, where he also leads and coordinates worship services.  He has served for over 16 years as a youth volunteer, intern, and pastor in a variety of different contexts. A former teacher, John is passionate about education and the local community to see how the Gospel changes everything. Remember your first day of middle school? No longer were you expected to stand in organized lines and walk hallways throwing a peace sign in the air; suddenly you were given the ...

Joy Matters

Can you remember a time when something happened that instantly stole your joy? If joy was a scale, what number are you today? 1-10? One being not even on your radar and 10—your cup runneth over with joy.Answer this question. “I’d be full of joy all the time if only ____.” Friends, do you know your joy matters to God? Do you know the Bible has a lot to say about joy? For those of you who are in Christ, do you know that Jesus was inspired and motivated by your future joy?Joy reflects Who you know and what you ...

Worship: An Antidote to Anxiety

I don’t know about you, but when I’m struggling with feelings of anxiety or fear, worship is the last thing on my mind. Anxiety is something God’s people have struggled with for a long time with God’s Word on the topics of fear, worry and anxiety going back nearly as far as fear itself. One way that God draws our wandering hearts back to himself is through the gift of musical worship. Sometimes, when I feel too anxious, fearful or worried to read my Bible or find the words to pray, listening to God’s life-giving, truth-speaking, peace-giving Word that stands ...

When Anxiety Takes Over

Today's guest post is written by Pastor, Professor and Missions Mobilizer Dave Shive. He is the author of Night Shift, released in April 2001. Based on Psalm 40:1-3, Night Shift is an easily understood and thoroughly biblical explanation of how God uses affliction to prepare His children for greater usefulness to Him. Since 2009, Dave and Kathy have served as full time mission mobilizers on staff with Frontier Ventures (formerly the US Center for World Mission) in Pasadena, CA. Dave and Kathy have been married for 49 years and live in Catonsville, MD. They have three married children, Dan, Mike, and Becky and are the proud grandparents of 11 grandchildren. You ...

How Discipleship Ministries Enhance Counseling Outcomes

This post originally appeared in Careleader.org Jenna, a twenty-seven-year-old working professional, comes to see you initially for anxiety related to work. She shares with you that she’s been really stressed working sixty-plus hours a week and that it’s starting to take more of a toll on her. Over time, you learn that she has developed an online shopping addiction and accrued thousands of dollars of debt. She is also single and lonely and has become addicted to online porn. Over time, Jenna begins to discover some of the deeper heart issues related to her addictions and anxiety and slowly learns to ...