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Speaking Truth In Love

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Speaking Truth In Love is the lastest book by David Powlison, a faculty member at Westminister Theological Seminary and The Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation. In his own words, it is, "a book on how we are to live together." Although primarily directed at pastors and counselors, there is much here to be savored by every child of God. Indeed, an emphasis of the book is that speaking truth in love, wisdom, and grace into another person's life is both the privilege and responsibility for every Christian, not just the "professionals" or the "trained."

There are seventeen chapters, which are really separate essays all looking at differing facets of counseling, or "loving another person well" as Powlison puts it.

Chapter 1 is an extended reflection of Psalm 119, beautifully portraying it as the cry of a faithful heart toward God. It is worth the price of the book for anyone struggling through a trial or helping another.

Chapter 2 talks about the need to face the truth of our rebellious flesh, while chapter 3 talks of hearing the music of the gospel. Chapter 4-8 deal with various practical steps of preparation, listening, and questioning, while chapter 9 specifically deals with gently handling people who have already been immersed in the false psychologies of the world.

Chapter 10 starts looking at a more global emphasis, challenging pastors (and all) to consider that most of the "ministry of the Word" that Christ actually did was what we would now term private and small-group counseling, and not preaching sermons. Chapter 11 looks at how counseling should fit into the ministry of the church, and chapter 12 looks specifically at how the nature of prayer fits into counseling in the church.

The last chapters look at pastoral counseling, women in counseling, when to refer, where to train, and lastly a guiding doctrinal statement for Biblical counseling.

This is a rewarding book written by a wise servant of God, giving insight and direction on both the nature and the challenges the church faces in fulfilling our mandate on speaking truth in love to each other.

This book is life giving tonic for the evangelical pastor or ministry leader who wants to see wise counsel flourish among ordinary Christians, rather than remain the uncontested property of the mental health establishment. Powlison, brings a theologically rich, biblically sagacious, interpersonally wise perspective to help us navigate the minefields before us: defining terms, discussing models, paradigms and institutions--and how to sanely bring redemptive ministry to people stuck in perversion and pain. In doing so, Powlison deftly avoids the simplistic "take two verses and call me in the morning" as well as the "Jesus is my ticket to heaven, and my therapist is my ticket to wholeness" approach that characterizes much of the Christian counseling world.

My criticism is minor. The chapters can seem a bit duck-taped together since I believe it is a compilation of articles turned into a book. However, for a small shortcoming, those wanting to impart wise, winsome and redemptive biblical help to Christians in the trenches of sin and fallenness to do much worse than Powlison's handy little volume.

"Speaking Truth in Love" is something of a sequel to "Seeing with New Eyes," also by Dr. David Powlison. "Seeing with New Eyes" can be read as a theology of biblical counseling, while "Speaking Truth in Love" can be read as a methodology of biblical counseling. Together they provide the clearest foundational descriptions of biblical, nouthetic counseling written to date.

The first chapter lays the foundation for the character of the counselor. Chapter two builds upon the previous book by providing the theological content needed for biblical counseling--the fall of humanity. This vital aspect can be strengthened even more when read in conjunction with biblical anthropology (the creation of humanity in God's image) and biblical soteriology (the redemption of humanity through Christ's sacrifice). In chapters three through twelve, Powlison addresses core methodological issues such as listening, questioning, prayer, the role of the Word in personal ministry etc. The final five chapters provide something of a potpourri of important correlated issues such as referral, training, lay ministry, pastoral ministry, and women's ministry.

As another reviewer mentioned, the only possible "weakness" of the book is that it is not as seamless as it could be. The transitions between chapters are at times a little hard to connect, likely due to some of these chapters having been collated from previous articles, with rewriting. However, this minor issue aside, "Speaking Truth in Love" should be required reading for all students of biblical counseling.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D, is the author of "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," "Biblical Psychology," "Martin Luther's Pastoral Counseling," and "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction."

Reading through just the introduction had me hooked on this book. I knew from the beginning it would be sound with
solid instruction on how to wisely counsel others. It is possible to be able to speak in love as Ephesians exhorts and deliver strong biblical counsel that can transform the hurting, confused or struggling Christian. Learning to listen well is key for delivering such a message. Thank you for scriptural insights combined with counseling tools that will enable people to help those in need. To equip someone to come along side others and offer healing and transformation. As Isaiah reminds us of Christ's ministry, which set the captives free and brought beauty from ashes, I truly appreciated this book that teaches counselors and lay people how to best go about giving loving counsel. Not only is it good for us to love God's word we need to impart that love to others. Well worth your time in reading.

This book was awsome, and unlike so many "Biblical Counseling" books it does not start out with psychology bashing, it makes critique of Psychology appropriately. It is also devoid of smears against other christians that hold different views which seems to be a halmark of other authors in the Biblical counseling field. It is also amazingly practical and helpful for the pastor and the counselor.