Gospel Conversations: How To Care Like Christ (Kelleman)

How does a person learn to counsel others with the truth of God’s Word? Bob Kellemen believes that the best way to learn counseling is by doing it—by giving and receiving biblical counseling in the context of real, raw Christian community.

Gospel Conversations explores the four compass-points of biblical counseling:

• Sustaining: “It’s Normal to Hurt.”
• Healing: “It’s Possible to Hope.”
• Reconciling: “It’s Horrible to Sin, but Wonderful to Be Forgiven.”
• Guiding: “It’s Supernatural to Mature.”

These four compass points combine to equip readers to develop twenty-two ministry relational competencies—the “how to” of caring like Christ. This book serves as a practical training manual that can be used for lab and small group interaction.

Gospel Conversations is the second volume in The Equipping Biblical Counselors Series, a comprehensive relational training curriculum for the local church that provides a model for equipping God’s people to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth. This two-volume series weaves together comprehensive biblical insight with compassionate Christian engagement.

Table of Contents:

Foreword by Brian Croft

Introduction: Christlike Care

Section 1: Foundations of Biblical Counseling

1. 5 Biblical Portraits of the Biblical Counselor: Sharing Scripture and Soul
2. 8 Ultimate Life Questions for Biblical Counseling: Listening to Scripture and the Soul
3. 4 Resume Qualifications of the Biblical Counselor
4. 2 Guideposts and 4 Compass Points of Biblical Counseling

Section 2: 5 Sustaining Biblical Counseling Competencies: Grace

1. Sustaining through Climbing in the Casket
2. Sustaining through Grace Relationships

Section 3: 5 Healing Biblical Counseling Competencies: Rests

1. Healing through Celebrating the Empty Tomb
2. Healing through Grace Narratives

Section 4: 6 Reconciling Biblical Counseling Competencies: Peace

1. Reconciling through Dispensing Grace
2. Reconciling through Grace-Maximizing

Section 5: 5 Guiding Biblical Counseling Competencies: Faith

1. Guiding through Fanning into Flame the Gift of God
2. Guiding through Grace for Growth

 Commencement: How the Body of Christ Cares like Christ

Author

Bob Kellemen, ThM, PhD, is the executive director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and the founder and CEO of RPM Ministries.  Bob has pastored for over a dozen years and now serves as chair of the MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship department at Capital Seminary (Maryland).  He is the author of nine books, including Equipping Counselors for Your Church.

Endorsements

"Gospel Conversations is just what pastors, local church leaders, and compassionate laywomen and men need as we serve and minister to those God has placed around us. We come in contact with people who are suffering and struggling each and every day. Gospel Conversations will equip us all to better speak both truth and love in a way that is winsome and wise." -- Steve Viars, Senior Pastor, Faith Church, Lafayette, IN; author, Putting Your Past in Its Place

"I’m not a counselor” is an all too common and erroneous statement. We are all counselors. Some of us counsel from behind our steering wheel or from our couch while watching our favorite sport. We offer counsel of some kind every day. The issue is whether we are good counselors. More importantly, are we biblical counselors? Our counsel is only as good as it is biblical. Much of what fosters the thought that we are not counselors is our judgment that we don’t know how to talk to people about their particular trial or sinful habits. Bob Kellemen, in Gospel Conversations, provides the church with an invaluable resource to help people appreciate their fundamental role as a counselor. Not only that, it also offers the reader training in practical relational skills for becoming an equipped biblical counselor." -- Andrew Rogers, Pastor of Soul Care, College Park Church

"I needed a practical guide for pastors, counselors, and laypeople to help them understand the dynamics of gospel-rich conversations with struggling Christians. Now I’ve found it! Both rich in theology and Scripture, and at the same time very practical, Bob Kellemen’s Gospel Conversations is a powerful tool for everyone who wants to think more carefully about how to help others. It skillfully equips God’s people to have heartfelt, empathic, engaging, Christlike, servant-hearted, thoughtful, and gospel-centered conversation." -- Dr. Deepak Reju, President, Biblical Counseling Coalition; Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

"As a pastor who strives to equip others in the church to do what is covered in Gospel Conversations, I was affirmed, enlightened, challenged, and encouraged by Bob’s winsome and relentless gospel focus revealed in this incredible work. I highly recommend Gospel Conversations for your library and as a field guide for your ministry. It displays the very best of Bob Kellemen---the instruction of a coach, the love of a pastor, and the wisdom of a teacher." -- Dr. Robert K. Cheong, Pastor of Care, Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, KY