I approached this book with a rather open mind. However I left rather disappointed. I think this book points out some of the glaring shortcomings in the realm of Christian or Biblical Counseling.

As someone who has sought to study counseling and psychology I often have found that we tend to put too much emphasis on the Bible and simply say “just give it to God” and as a result don’t promperly mourn or deal with our problems. I fealt like this was one of the major shortfalls of this book. 

Overall, I was left disappointed from this book, and disappointed in the Biblical Counseling field.

There is need for people to step in the place of persistent helper, compassionate listener, and wise counsel in the world today. These are the foundational elements of biblical counseling. This book is designed to help counselors, pastors of all theological doctrines, and even the layperson who find themselves in the position of counseling, equipping them with biblical wisdom and truth to succeed. Using systematic theology, the author shows how biblical truth and wisdom can help counselors and pastors bring change and healing to their client’s lives.

The author uses a clear and understandable tone to his writing. While there are technical terms and concepts throughout the book, it is still easy to follow the flow of his thoughts and to take in what he is conveying. This book is packed full of great information and how it applies to counseling. The examples used will help counselors practically apply biblical lessons and wisdom to their own lives and well as to the lives of those they help. This book was an enjoyable and educational read. I would recommend this book to everyone who finds them consistently in the position of counseling others, regardless of they are a counselor or not. The author breaks down what a counselor is in the first chapter; a counselor is really everyone in one way or another. With the information this book provides, one can gain knowledge about helping others while at the same time gain knowledge about helping themselves. 

Disclosure: I have received a reviewer copy and/or payment in exchange for an honest review of the product mentioned in this post. This product is reviewed based on content and quality in consideration of the intended audience. Review or recommendation of this product does not solicit endorsement from Reviews by J or the reviewer.

Interesting book. The author goes through key doctrines, such as God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, salvation, and the church and how these doctrines play a role in counseling. The basis for counseling as a Christian is of course the Scriptures, so a theology of what we believe about the Bible is crucial to how we will counsel. The sufficiency of Scripture for counseling is explained along with addressing some of the criticisms of the biblical counseling movement.
Using examples of various counseling scenarios, the author addresses how the different areas of theology affect how we will counsel those who are dealing with the brokenness of life. Not only sins against them, but sins of their own, as well as suffering because of living in a world corrupted by sin. Ultimately faith in Christ and salvation is needed for true change in anyone's life and counseling will address the need for repentance and faith.
This is a good foundational book regarding the nature of biblical counseling and the need to be grounded in what the Bible teaches. We are all theologians; the question is whether we are good or bad theologians.

*I received a copy of this book free for Kindle from the publisher through Netgalley.com's Book Review program.