Quotes by James MacDonald

When we pray, we are speaking to the One Whose eternal purpose and designs are unfolding as our present realities. In order to find hope in them, we must seek HIM and HIS perspective. This requires a keen understanding of the redemptive nature of our existence, which points to the glorious gospel of Christ.

Ed Welch says that all counseling is a variation on a single theme: knowing and praying for the counselee. Of all the questions the counselor might ask, then, the central guiding question in the counselors mind is, How can I pray for you?

The biblical counselor must always remember that the ROOT problem is deeper than skin; it is sin. The ultimate cure is not culture, but Christ.

While the United States is becoming the most culturally diverse nation in the world, less than 5.5% of Christian congregations are multiethnic.

Who we are is not a question we can ask without seeking to understand the context in which we live. Biblical counselors seek to understand the influences that shape the responses of the human heart.

What you hope for determines what you live for. What you hope for determines WHO you live for. Hope misplaced can devastate you.

Pride rises above and against the knowledge of God, acting as if He is unworthy to be retained in our thoughts.

We must rip the foundations out from under all the bastions of human reasoning that say, I dont need God! We must demolish every non-God story of life. We must pulverize every God-is-not-good life narrative.

In counseling, we dont simply help people to change one thought; we help people to understand the pattern of their thinking – their mindsets.

The marquee scrolling across our minds trying to reinterpret life reads: God-Against-Us. This becomes the dominant lens through which our flesh interprets life. We no longer give our loving Father the benefit of the doubt. Instead, we view every event as conclusive proof that God is against us.

A continual diet of the Word satisfies, and it builds an appetite for more.

If we are to use the Bible effectively, then we must use it the way God wrote it – in narrative form. Our team rejects the notion that the Bible is simply an encyclopedia of disconnected Bible verses. Gods Word is less like a cookbook and more like a novel.

All the stories and poems and letters and oracles and wisdom verses of Gods Word, like individual instruments in a great orchestra, serve THE WHOLE story.

Gods Word is especially suited to directing those who want to focus primarily on the nature and direction of their own hearts.

Our hearts are wired for worship, and our worship is directly tied to our sense of hope.

This is Gods world, so everything, even if it intends to efface God, bears witness to God – understood and interpreted through biblical eyeglasses.

Whether you realize it or not, your ongoing battle with unbelief drives all your sinful thoughts, emotions, desires, and actions.

Our view of human problems determines who is qualified to speak to them. If sin is the primary human problem, then those with the theological and practical expertise in dealing with sin – in its varied and complex forms – should lead the way in the field of people-helping. Unless we have an accurate and robust conception of sin, the church will concede much of its work to outside professional and will be ill-equipped to cooperate with them when needed.

A rebellion against God, even as believers, is fueled by the toxic fumes of unbelief.

When we worry, we are telling God, You are neither trustworthy nor in control, so I need to worry and scheme as I take matters into my own hands. In this way unbelief drives worry, for it is impossible to worry when we are trusting in the provision of our sovereign God.