Foundations

God’s revelation in Scripture is complete. While every believer is called to seek God’s revealed moral will, some go beyond this and claim that God speaks to them. How does God guide us today? How are we to understand his will for our lives?

The goal of parenting is to make your children ready to live wisely on their own. Parents must recognize that their relationship with their adult child is very different from what it was when the child was small. One of the biggest mistakes made by Christian parents is to treat young adults as if they were still small children. How can parents foster healthy relationships with their adult children and pursue peace?

What should parents do when their children rebel? Christian parents must be aware of two extremes: giving up too soon because of personal hurt feelings, anger and bitterness … and tolerating and enabling sin. How can we beware of not being manipulated and becoming enablers of their sinful lifestyle?

Those advocating formulas often assume a form of “parental determinism” – the (unbiblical) belief that how well you follow their formula determines how your kids turn out. Parents who depend on these can tend toward pharisaical pride, as if we can save our kids by our good works. Parenting is not about following an extra-biblical man-made formula; it is about the gospel.

Parents often look for a formula which will guarantee that their kids will turn out right. Many “Christian” approaches to parenting are legalistic. It is very important to distinguish between what Scripture commands versus one of many possible ways to fulfill our responsibilities to God. Some make their particular methodology “law”, while failing to acknowledge that other approaches are equally valid ways to fulfill biblical commands.

Anger is a problem both in the world and in the church. Anger is very deceptive and dangerous. It is usually murderous by nature and leads to many other sins. What are some ways that people try to justify their anger? Where does anger come from? How do we go about uprooting anger from the heart?

Psychology and theology both deal with the same fundamental issues of meaning and value. Many modern approaches have unscriptural presuppositions and practices. This opening session introduces biblical counseling and the importance of approaching these issues from a Christian perspective.

What are some common Christian approaches to counseling in our day? Why might it be useful to learn about psychology? This session explores several Christian approaches to counseling including integration and synergism.

How is the biblical counseling approach different from all other Christian approaches? What are some key texts for defending the sufficiency of the Scriptures for counseling? IBCD’s position of biblical counseling (the Bible as the sole and sufficient authority) is outlined and its key concepts explained.

The fundamental assumptions that shape biblical counseling are reviewed and key elements expanded upon. Building hope in God’s promises from the earliest stages of counseling is critical. What are some ways we can seek to build hope?

This session continues exploring the key questions involved in biblical counseling. Why is investigation a crucial part of the counseling process? What is the goal of asking good questions? Why is it important to give biblical labels to our counselee’s problems? How much sin be dealt with?

Counseling is more than instruction and the greatest progress in counseling is made between sessions. What are some ways we can prepare our counselees for growth between sessions? Why is concrete homework important? This session completes outlining the key elements of biblical counseling.

Counseling is about helping people to change. The change biblical counselors seek is unique and unbiblical approaches to change will impede spiritual growth. This session explores how change begins by understanding and applying the Gospel. Understanding our union with Christ is the key to growth in holiness.

We and our counselees are responsible to exert effort towards change. Immediately after telling us to consider our identity in Christ, Paul exhorts us to take action against the lusts of the flesh. What is the proper use of biblical indicatives and imperatives? What should our motive be for obedience?

This session covers the fundamental theological concepts involved in biblical counseling. It explores the IBCD and NANC understanding of the Bible’s authority, the Trinity, anthropology, Christology, soteriology, pneumatology, and ecclesiology.

Biblical peacemaking is founded on the gospel. Christ came to make peace between God and man. All conflict is the result of sin. Conflict is very dangerous but brings great opportunity: to glorify God, to be more like Christ, to serve others, and to bear witness to a watching world.

This session completes the Peacemaking series of the curriculum. It lays out important things to consider before attempting to confront someone’s sin and describes the peacemaking process. Church discipline is also explored along with how church structure and membership is related to peacemaking.

As Christians, we ought to do all that is in our power to pursue peace. How can we seek forgiveness biblically? How does the gospel empower us to forgive? Why is it important to go though a thorough process of confession?

Trials are the ordinary experience of believers living in a fallen world. Believers in the Bible suffered great trials and we will continue to endure significant trials. Why do Christians tend to be so surprised by trials when the Bible speaks so often about them? How does God work in our trials and use them to mature us?

What is depression and how are we to understand it? Many secular psychologists see mankind as merely physical and therefore tend to see depression as a physical problem with a chemical solution. Christians recognize the dual nature of mankind – body and soul. What are some important things for biblical counselors to keep in mind when handling cases of depression?

Worry is a problem of the mind and can become life dominating. Worry, stress, and fear are closely related and often dealt with sinfully. How can we help counselees think about their lives in light of biblical truth? How might someone misunderstand or abuse God’s promises to care for them?

The Bible says we are to fear God. Fear can also be an appropriate response to real potential dangers. Fear becomes sinful when we fear men more than God and we fail to trust God. What are some proper and healthy manifestations of fear? What are indications that fear has become sinful?

This session looks at David’s catastrophic sin of adultery in 2 Sam 11:1-5. This passage shows that the Bible is honest about its heroes and serves as a warning to us against sin and presumption. How does David’s sin point us to Christ? What are some practical ways to guard ourselves from temptation?

What is the difference for an unbeliever and a believer who are confronted with temptation? How is idolatry connected with temptation? This session walks through some specific issues involved with temptation such as substance abuse. How can a drunkard or an addict find help to overcome his sin?

To what extent does our body (nature) and relationships (nurture) affect our hearts? We are embodied creatures. However, both our inner and outer person have been affected by the fall. While we reject both genetic determinism and social determinism, we recognize that the Bible teaches that both body and social environment influence the inner person.

Every family experiences communication breakdown. The key to our relationships with each other is our relationship with God (and vice versa). We need to grant forgiveness when we have been wronged. We need to learn to listen in love. Are we more concerned about being heard, or hearing?

God is the owner and source of all wealth. We need to maintain a balanced perspective on finances. Money can be good but it is also dangerous. Christians need to learn the secret of contentment as they work hard and smart to make a living. Make it your goal to be wise, not rich!

How can we make our sexual relationships in marriage all that they should be? We need to think about our marriage and sex lives through a gospel lens. Gracious sex gives to your spouse freely, just as God has given to you – treating him/her better than he/she deserves.

God designed marriage to be a lifelong covenant of companionship. Marriage is worth fighting for. Some are called by God to remain in hard marriages. Divorce (and remarriage) without biblical grounds is sinful and adulterous. This session unpacks the surrounding issues and questions about this difficult subject.

God created sex to be a blessing. It is part of God’s perfect and holy creation but is often twisted sinfully. Idolatry, more than adultery, is the key to understanding sexual sin. Even something which is good can become sinfully idolatrous when we desire it more than we desire God, are willing to sin in order to get it, or react sinfully when we don’t get what we want.