Post Traumatic Stress: 3 of 9
PUNDERSTAND the impact of my suffering
This seminar is one of nine sessions. Select additional sessions below
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Brad serves as the Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, NC. He also serves as Instructor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and has authored several books including Do Ask, Do Tell, Let’s Talk: Why and How Christians Should Have Gay Friends and God’s Attributes: Rest for Life’s Struggles.
Watch all nine seminars at the author's website: http://bradhambrick.com The “Post-Traumatic Stress” seminar is also available there in podcast format.
Author: Brad Hambrick
Post Traumatic Stress: 2 of 9
ACKNOWLEDGE the specific history and realness of my suffering
This seminar is one of nine sessions. Select additional sessions below
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Brad serves as the Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, NC. He also serves as Instructor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and has authored several books including Do Ask, Do Tell, Let’s Talk: Why and How Christians Should Have Gay Friends and God’s Attributes: Rest for Life’s Struggles.
Watch all nine seminars at the author's website: http://bradhambrick.com The “Post-Traumatic Stress” seminar is also available there in podcast format.
Author: Brad Hambrick
Post Traumatic Stress: 1 of 9
PREPARE yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually to face your suffering
This seminar is one of nine sessions. Select additional sessions below
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Brad serves as the Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, NC. He also serves as Instructor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and has authored several books including Do Ask, Do Tell, Let’s Talk: Why and How Christians Should Have Gay Friends and God’s Attributes: Rest for Life’s Struggles.
Watch all nine seminars at the author's website: http://bradhambrick.com The “Post-Traumatic Stress” seminar is also available there in podcast format.
Author: Brad Hambrick
Quieted for Care | John Erickson
I came into the basement emotionally undone. The elders were gathered around folding tables in the fellowship hall; the old Awana lines can be seen taped on the floor. I was a mess. As I sat down, I was asked how I was. The brothers knew it was a rough time, but they were looking for more.
I came into the basement emotionally undone. The elders were gathered around folding tables in the fellowship hall; the old Awana lines can be seen taped on the floor. I was a mess. As I sat down, I was asked how I was. The brothers knew it was a rough time, but they were looking for more. During the last few weeks, it felt as though our family was being torn apart. I had nothing. A few words spilled out, but then, more than words were sobs and many tears. Heaves came rather than words. Finally, a sputtering report came and the elders surrounded me, each with a hand on me. They prayed, oh did they pray, with love and care and compassion and earnestness.
Reflecting many years later, I remember this moment of extreme shepherding with deep gratitude. At my lowest point, my brothers were there to care, to love and to shepherd.
One aspect that we desire to mark every TCT church is Mutual Care, which TCT defines as a “corporate commitment to pursue a life together in sacrificial, faith-sustaining care for each other in loving relationships at every level of youth and age, joy and sorrow, comfort and crisis, health and brokenness.”
It can be trendy to try to learn from the biggest and most “successful” churches when planting, yet deep in the reality of every ekklesia is the reality that we gather as the broken, the hurting and the weak. As shepherds, we are first sheep, sheep who need care and shepherds who understand the call to care.
Pulsing through Paul’s epistles is a call for elders to love Christ’s blood-bought bride by leading the body to Spirit-fueled mutual care. Structures must be established, time must be given so that each one is cared for in this family we call the church.
Then the email comes, “Pastor I am going to return to my old life of unbelief. I have not made friends and I don’t see a way of happiness ahead. I am leaving Christianity.” Oh, that hurts. My instant reaction is to see every communication through the lens of self. What did I do or not do? How will I respond?
Yet our Father has persistently shown me, not only my weakness but also the corporate nature of the body; I know that this is a “we” challenge not just a “me” one. I must draw in others so that we together can seek our Father’s face and pursue a good way forward.
One family in our body has gone through more painful trials in the last four years than many families combined; they have been cared for by shepherds and their wives and brothers and sisters in the body, not mainly by the lead pastor. We have, together, loved, and cried, and babysat and listened and grieved with them. It has been long, and fresh challenges continue to come; yet our good Father has surrounded this precious family with a church family that has loved them imperfectly and, at the same time, so well.
The email remains. What will happen? Our Father knows. I don’t. So I pray; I plead for help. I prepare to gather with our team and share and invite them into the circle of prayer and care. Our trust is that our Father will help us and will keep this precious saint walking with Jesus and His people.
Quickened To Care | April Whedbee
Life is hard. Life in covenant community is sometimes even harder. It takes intentionality and sacrifice to love those God has placed in our lives.
Encouraging One Another to the Glory of God
Life is hard. Life in covenant community is sometimes even harder. It takes intentionality and sacrifice to love those God has placed in our lives. But what a great privilege it is and how beautiful it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity. We absolutely cannot sustain this type of care for one another on our own. Cultivating covenant relationships corporately is only successful by the sustaining grace of our gracious and loving God, who first demonstrated His love for us while we were still His enemies.
Sometimes we are the one doing the caring, and sometimes we are in need of great care. Either way, as the English dictionary points out, “care” requires “watchful attention.” I love the idea of watchful attention as we think through what it means to practice mutual care in the local body of believers we have the privilege of belonging to.
As believers, we are commanded and created to care for the good of those around us and ultimately for the glory of God. As our souls are quieted by the great love of the Father, through daily intake of His word and regularly meeting with Him in prayer, our hearts are quickened to care well for and give watchful attention to those God has placed around us. The power of the Holy Spirit does this. We cannot manufacture and sustain this type of care on our own. It is a self-sacrificing, humble type of love and care.
Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are to “speak the truth in love” and “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” It is this growing up in Christ that allows us to have a strong and deep commitment to building each other up; and as we build each other up in love, we are exalting and glorifying Christ. Again in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains the body of Christ and helps us see the beautiful ways God has created us all to work together in unity for the common good. In verse 24, Paul gives this beautiful truth: “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (emphasis mine).
How do we do this thing called mutual “care”? The author of Hebrews gives us a great plan of action in chapter 10; three steps to quickening our hearts to care for our brothers and sisters. This has been an encouragement to me as I long to grow in giving watchful attention to these beautiful people around me. First, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, then let us hold fast, and finally, let us stir one another up to love and good works and encourage one another more every day as we await the return of our Lord and Savior.
First, Hebrews 10:22 commands us to draw near. We cannot care well for those around us if we are not first drinking from the fountain that never runs dry. We must spend time in the Word and in prayer. Draw near in full assurance to the throne of grace. Christ has opened the way for us. He is our portion and our cup. He will fill our cup daily so that love and grace and truth can overflow naturally and beautifully onto the people around us.
Then, “hold fast” (Hebrews 10:23). He who promised is faithful. We never have to waver in the promises of God. He hasn’t let us down and He never will. Hold onto that hope as you draw near to Him in the good times and in the hard struggles. Hold fast to Him, knowing He is holding onto you and sanctifying you as you love and care for those around you.
The order of these first two exhortations is not by accident. Once we are continually drawing near to our good Father and holding fast to our hope, we can then begin looking outward and considering how we can stir one another up to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).
I have watched this happen in and through the men and women in our sweet body here in Tampa for the last two years. At The Heights Church, we place significant value on community and pray regularly that God would teach us more and more about living and loving each other well. Our actual value states that we believe “the gospel creates a new community where we as the church grow together in grace (Ephesians 4:11-13). Therefore, we will daily pursue deep, transparent, authentic relationships within the church for the purposes of mutual growth, encouragement and care (Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25).”
This daily pursuit, this “watchful attention”, requires work on our part. We must sometimes put aside the schedule and agenda of our day for the good of someone else around us. It can be uncomfortable, and it can be inconvenient, but it is beautiful to behold and so glorifying to Christ.
Recently, God ordained a beautiful transition and merge with a small body of older saints down the street from where we had been meeting at the local YMCA. Members of our body have reached out to others in completely different walks of life, ages, and stages. I have seen many examples of mutual care recently, and I am blown away by how God is at work in these sweet lives around me. As they draw near to the throne of grace and hold fast to their hope, they are being sanctified and built up to be poured out on those around them.
I overheard one 40-year-old mom of two talking recently about how she realized she lives down the street from one of our newest members, an 80-year-old widow. This busy mom didn’t hesitate or shy away from how she could love her sister; she leaves her house early to pick her up and bring her to women’s bible study on Sunday nights.
As you follow the Spirit’s leading, call up that sister who is struggling and ask her if she wants to go for a walk. Rejoice with the brother and sister who had a new baby. Weep with the ones who lost theirs.
Walking through pain and trials with each other is one of the hardest things we will do together. One thing I have learned as I have walked alongside these amazing women at The Heights is that you do not have to have all the right things to say to care well for someone. Yes, we should hide God’s word in our hearts so it comes bubbling out and spilling over onto those around us. But sometimes, mutual care for that sister who had the miscarriage or that sister who lost her mom to cancer does not have to immediately include words at all. We may just need to show up and cry with her. Pray with her. Let her know that we do not understand it all either, and then point her gently and lovingly to the One who knows all things and who cares for even the lilies and the sparrows. How great the Father’s love has been lavished on us. May we pray and grow and beg God to allow His great love to flow out onto those He has graciously allowed us to call brothers and sisters IN Christ.
I pray we all grow more and more each day in giving this beautiful, Christ-like, “watchful attention” to those we are walking together within covenant community. How good and pleasant it is!
April Whedbee worships at The Heights Church
Spirit-Empowered Gospel Community
A Video from the 2018 BCSPasCon
Jonathan Parnell is the lead pastor of Cities Church in Minneapolis–St. Paul, where he lives with his wife, Melissa, and their seven children. He is the author of Never Settle for Normal: The Proven Path to Significance and Happiness. In this video he discusses spirit-empowered Gospel community.
Speaker: Jonathan Parnell
Spirit-Empowered Perseverance
A Video from the 2018 BCSPasCon
Sean Cordell is the executive director of TCTN and a pastor at Treasuring Christ Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. In this video he discusses spirit-empowered perseverance.
Speaker: Sean Cordell
Healthy Churches 2015: Session 5
A Video from the Acts 29 W Regional Conference in 2015
"The Healthy Soul of a Leader" Jim Cofield & Rich Plass, authors of the book "The Relational Soul" and members of Crosspoint Ministry.
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
In this new edition of an influential and award-winning best-seller, more than twenty men and women have committed their talents to produce the most thorough response yet to this modern movement. Combining systematic argumentation with popular application, this volume deals with all of the main passages of Scripture brought forward in this controversy regarding gender-based role differences.
Edited by: John Piper and Wayne Grudem
Download or purchase at DesiringGod
What's the Difference?
The topic of manhood and womanhood is still strongly debated today and still greatly impacts our society. For Christians there is no doubt that the Bible must be the last word. But what does it teach about true manhood and womanhood? In what ways are men and women essentially the same? In what ways are they essentially different? And how do these differences affect our roles in the home, the church, and the wider society?
Author: John Piper
Download or purchase from DesiringGod
Good: the Joy of Christian Manhood and Womanhood
Good: The Joy of Christian Manhood and Womanhood is a unique volume from 14 different contributors who set out to cast a vision for manhood and womanhood that is rooted more in beauty than mere ideology, more in gladness than mere position. This book’s aim is to capture and highlight this indispensable accent for an emerging generation of Christians.
Edited by: Jonathan Parnell and Owen Strachan
Download or purchase at DesiringGod
CCEF Counseling Mini-Books
Mini-Books: A Ministry Tool
A series of small books dealing with a variety of counseling topics from OCD and Self Harm to Depression and Addiction. Written by a variety of authors and intended to aid in ministry settings.
When People are Big and God Is Small
When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man
Overly concerned about what people think of you? Welch uncovers the spiritual dimension of people-pleasing and points the way through a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and others.
Author: Edward T. Welch
Purchase online at CCEF
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making
Impossible? Idealistic? Not really. In Relationships: A Mess Worth Making, Tim Lane and Paul David Tripp show you how God does it, and how it can happen for you. They help you tackle the stubborn problems that plague many close relationships. They show you the deeper issues that drive our reactions, choices, and behaviors. And they show you how God steps in to help you build relationships that are all he intended them to be.
Authors: Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp
Buy online at CCEF
How People Change
What does it take for lasting change to take root in your life? If you've ever tried, failed, and wondered why, you need How People Change. This book explains the biblical pattern for change in a clear, practical way you can apply to the challenges of daily life. But change involves more than a biblical formula: you will see how God is at work to make you the person you were created to be. That powerful, loving, redemptive relationship is at the heart of all positive change you experience.
Authors: Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp
But online at Amazon
Suffering and the Sovereignty of God
In Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, contributors John Piper, Joni Eareckson Tada, Steve Saint, Carl Ellis, David Powlison, Dustin Shramek, and Mark Talbot explore the many categories of God's sovereignty as evidenced in his word. They urge readers to look to Christ, even in suffering, to find the greatest confidence, deepest comfort, and sweetest fellowship they have ever known.
Authors: John Piper and Justin Taylor
Purchase or download at DesiringGod
Preparing for Marriage by John Piper
John Piper wants to help you faithfully walk the road to becoming husband and wife. Here you’ll find his counsel on practical topics like engagement, wedding planning, finances, and sex. But most importantly, John shares his single most important word on marriage: a vision grander than many of us have ever dared to dream, about what God is doing in every Christian marriage.
Author: John Piper
Download or purchase at DesiringGod
Disability and the Sovereign Goodness of God by John Piper
This ebook — including four sermons and an interview with a man of a disabled son — focuses on John 5:1–18 and John 9:1–38 and is designed to serve pastors who will be called on to minister God’s Word to God’s people at decisive points in their lives. The question is not if disabilities will surface in your church, the question is how you will respond when they do? At that decisive moment, what will you say?
Authors: John Piper and Tony Reinke
Download or purchase at DesiringGod
When I Don't Desire God
For decades, John Piper has trumpeted the truth that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” He calls it Christian Hedonism. The problem is that many people, after being persuaded, find that this truth is both liberating and devastating.
It’s liberating because it endorses our inborn desire for joy. And it’s devastating because it reveals that we don’t desire God the way we should. What do you do when you discover the good news that God wants you to be content in him, but then find that you aren’t?
Author: John Piper
Download or purchase at DesiringGod
The True Christian's Love to the Unseen Christ
In The True Christian’s Love to the Unseen Christ, Thomas Vincent endeavors to excite and provoke Christians to a lively and vigorous exercise of love toward Jesus. With pastoral affection, Vincent delivers a variety of arguments and motivations to stir us up to love. He also provides a number of wise directions for how to warm and enflame one’s heart with a love for Christ. A devotional classic, this specimen of practical Christianity is full of biblical application and encouragement.
Author: Thomas Vincent
Purchase online at Amazon