Generally, I'm a little sceptical about stories that say "I've been in the same boat" because that's not sufficient.
If Christ is in the boat then it's just fine. But if it's just the two of us then it is likely it is going to go down.
(1 hr, 14min, Lecture 1, James Nestingen)
Christian counselling can look like any of the following:
1. Secular advice - practical things to do gleaned from experience, medical science and the culture.
2. Biblical advice - practical things to do from the Bible and the Biblical understanding of what it means to be human.
3. Good news of what has been done by God, needing to be applied - Christ has died. We are forgiven, now what we need to do, to feel the benefit, is to think over that.
4. Good news of what has been done by God and is being done by God now - Christ has died, Christ is risen. We are forgiven and the Holy Spirit has been given to us by the risen Christ to change us now.
5. Good news of what has been done by God, is being done by God, and will be completed by God - Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. We are forgiven and the Holy Spirit has been given to us by the risen Christ to change us now and that will be completed when Christ comes again.
There is good in all those which are needed, but 5 is the full Gospel word people need to hear.
1-2 give you different plans to rebuild your life and leave you to do the work. 3 says that the foundation has been built, now do the rest of the work on your own. 4 says that God will build the house but leaves you disappointed because it is not looking all that great, leaving you guilty because you think you're ungrateful. 5 says that God will build the house, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't look much yet because it will look amazing once it is finished.
The other bit of Mike Cosper's review of Radiohead's album I noticed was this:
I have a friend who’s a pastoral counselor. In almost any situation, when he puts on his "counseling" hat, he opens the conversation by asking, "What are you noticing?" and follows that line of questioning with, "How are you processing that?" I think these are great questions to ask when we look at art in the wider world: What are the artist noticing, and how are they processing it?
Very good questions for all of life.
