Author:James (Steve) Clay, MABC, LPC
Anger is something that we all struggle with—either with our own or with that of others. It is one of those emotions that cause people to feel very uncomfortable. It can evoke fear and/or anger when we are on the receiving end of someone else’s. Anger is so prevalent. It is seen universally in various forms. Anger is often soft-sold as frustration by those who want to minimize it. Sometimes it is undeniably the source torrential rage. In whatever way it is experienced, people who feel it internally can also feel alternately powerful and subsequently full of shame and regret. What is anger? Is it an emotion, an experience, or something more? What does the Bible say about anger? How does the Bible portray it? And what does it tell us we are to do about it?
Author:James (Steve) Clay, MABC, LPC
One of the more common problems that people face is inter-personal conflict. Whether in marriage, in families, in the church community, or elsewhere, conflict is inevitable, given that we are all inclined toward those things which create conflict. The way we handle disagreement is perhaps the greatest indicator of our heart affections, both toward God and other people. Our intention in this discussion is that we address that part of conflict to which we can all relate—feeling wronged and wanting to retaliate.
Read more: Avoiding Reactive Retaliation--Thinking and Responding Biblically in Conflict
Author:James (Steve) Clay, MABC, LPC
Why do people seek counseling? When and why is help sought? When is it actually needed?
People seek help from counseling when they desire change in some area of their lives, or if there is some level of discomfort prompting action in the form of outside help from a counselor. Though counseling is sought by some for desired growth, more often is the case that some form of suffering has motivated a sense of urgency that is deemed as needful of outside assistance. But what is it that needs to be addressed that would make biblical counseling biblical? Or said another way, what is the aim of counseling that makes it biblical? I want to suggest that people who seek counseling that is biblical learn the reasons for which biblical counseling should exist, in order that they enter counseling relationships with those intentions in mind.
Author:James (Steve) Clay, MABC, LPC
Anyone who has lived any amount of time realizes that life, at its best, is hard. Our fallenness, combined with that of the world, makes trudging through our days as a maddening experience of unfulfilled desires and expectations, both of self and others. Why is it so hard! We get lost and confused in the mire of details, difficult relationships, disappointment with our selves, and a general sense of meaningless of it all. Surely, the writer of Ecclesiastes knew something of this condition. Depression of some sort is not far from each of us.
Author:James (Steve) Clay, MABC, LPC
The Bible’s view of marriage is lofty and magnificent. Because of our tendency toward sinful, selfish thinking, and culture’s profound influence on us, viewing marriage rightly is a formidable task. We must think and study hard, and depend upon God’s word and the Holy Spirit to give us eyes to see. And, we must want to see! Jesus’ high view of marriage is demonstrated in His disciples’ reply to Him after His correction of the Pharisees concerning divorce. They were so stunned by the content of His rebuke that they replied, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” (Matthew 19:10)
Author:James (Steve) Clay, MABC, LPC
As a matter of habit, being the generally friendly guy that I am, I often find myself engaging in conversations with other men at the gym, seeking an opening to talk about the Lord. What is also often the case is that I find a brother in Christ, who shares a common faith and wants to talk about things pertaining to Christian life. At other times, men are open to talk about Christ but have no faith of their own. With all that said, the point of my concern in this blog is that of what appears to me as a dichotomy of two opposing worldviews held by a person claiming to know Christ. What I have in mind in particular is that of a Christian man’s view of women and his battle against (or giving into) the flesh.