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How Ministers Can Be Excellent and Effective Teachers Effective teaching is important not only to the Christian faith but to the success and impact of Christian ministry. This book champions the role of teaching as a necessary skill for ministers to develop, equipping them to work effectively for the spiritual growth of young people. Terry Linhart, who has more than twenty-five years of experience training youth workers, brings together expert Christian educators representing a broad array of evangelical institutions and traditions to show how teaching connects to discipleship and the church in current contexts. Designed for the classroom, the book covers a wide range of topics and includes helpful illustrative diagrams, tables, line drawings, and charts.
In recent years, many Christian clergy, laity and mental health professionals have rediscovered the ancient practices of spiritual direction. Seen as a refreshing alternative to the techniques and limitations of modern psychology, such practices offer new insights for pastoral care. But many remain unclear on what spiritual direction is and whether its methods are applicable to their own clients and parishioners. Spiritual direction is a practice of Christian soul care that is found most notably in the Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopal traditions but is also present in Wesleyan/Holiness, Pentecostal/charismatic, social justice and Reformed communities. Predating modern counseling and psychoth...
Today’s youth struggle with difficult questions of sexual identity. How can a youth worker offer wise care and counsel on such a controversial and confusing subject? Mark Yarhouse, Director of the Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity, writes to equip youth ministers so they can faithfully navigate the topic of sexual identity in a way that is honest, compassionate, and accessible. Reframing the focus away from the culture wars, Yarhouse introduces readers to the conversation beginning with the developmental considerations in the formation of sexual identity—all of which occurs in the teen years. He offers practical and helpful ways to think about people who experience same-sex attraction. Sections of the book are also dedicated to helping parents respond to their children and teens who struggle with questions of sexual idenity, as well as how youth ministry can become more relevant in the lives of youth who are navigating these issues.
Done properly, integration enriches our understanding of both Christianity and psychology. Through biblical and theological grounding, this expert overview takes stock of the integration project to date, provides an introduction for those who wish to come on board, highlights work yet to be done, and offers a framework to strategically organize next steps.
Mark A. Yarhouse, Richard E. Butman and Barrett W. McRay offer this revised companion volume to Modern Psychotherapies, addressing students and mental health professionals who want to sort through contemporary secular understandings of psychopathology in relationship to a Christian worldview.
We’ve all been through events in which we feel, at least in the moment, that there is no coming back. Maybe it was a severe break-up; a fall from grace as a leader; an occupational dream shattered; a psychological and emotional breakdown; or, as in many western films, you are a leader who has come to the middle of your life, the hopes and expectations you held have crashed around you, and all of a sudden you feel lost. Our brains often translate this as some sort of trauma. On paper, my life looked perfect: married, four kids, house in the downtown area of one of the best cities in the United States, and a vocation that many spend much time and money trying to gain. However, at some point, I lost myself. I got swallowed up in the hype and movement, and forgot what it was all about. I want to invite you into my story and take you on a journey of resilience, the same journey that helped me come back better than before, the journey that will help you begin to recreate your life.
"Most contemporary young people operate far enough from Moses’ moral compass that it never occurs to them that “OMG” (“oh my God,” in teenspeak) has anything to do with the Ten Commandments, much less that it breaks one of them. After all, the phrase is a nearly ubiquitous adolescent throw-away line...Yet Christians should hear the phrase “oh my God” differently. Youth ministers, parents, teachers—anyone who has ever loved an adolescent—know that “OMG” can be a prayer, a plea, a petition, a note of praise, or an unbidden entreaty that escapes our lips as we seek Christ for the young people we love." from the book Using six lens the authors detail current practices and tease out underlying questions as youth ministry becomes more self-consciously aligned with practical theology. Contributors include: Kenda Creasy Dean, Mike Carotta, Roland Martinson, Rodger Nishioka, Don Richter, Dayle Gillespie Rounds, and Amy Scott Vaughn.
This substantially revised and updated edition of a widely used textbook covers the major approaches to counseling and psychotherapy from a Christian perspective, with hypothetical verbatim transcripts of interventions for each major approach and the latest empirical or research findings on their effectiveness. The second edition covers therapies and techniques that are increasing in use, reduces coverage of techniques that are waning in importance, and includes a discussion of lay counseling. The book presents a Christian approach to counseling and psychotherapy that is Christ-centered, biblically based, and Spirit-filled.
Mark A. Yarhouse and James N. Sells survey the major approaches to family therapy and treat significant psychotherapeutic issues within a Christian framework, offering timely wisdom for therapeutic practice. Fully updated and revised, this second edition is an indispensable resource for those in the mental health professions, including counselors, psychologists, family therapists, social workers, and pastors.