Comments on: I Need Your Help

By: Sandy Dunham

Sandy Dunham — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 03:59:31 +0000

Finding Jay Adams “Competent to Counsel” back in the 1990’s was for me like finding a cool glass of water in the dry desert. Beginning in the 1960’s, when I was converted, I had been reading all of the books I could find concerning life problems faced by myself and other professing Christians who were my friends. Most of the books I found were less than helpful. Since then I have purchased mostly used copies of almost all of his books and I am thankful I have been able to take the training from the Institute of Nouthetic Studies. I don’t know where this training will take me in the future, but I am surely learning a lot and I find it so very helpful in my own life and also as I share with others.
“Insight and Creativity in Christian Counseling” is a book that I would not want to see discontinued. I read it about four months ago and am still trying to use daily the suggestions made at the end of the book as to how to discern and apply truths from Scripture to specific circumstances in the lives of people. Also “What To Do on Thursdays” presents some excellent guidance as to how to understand and make a difference in situations in which wrong habits have become deeply ingrained in one’s life. I haven’t yet read “Committed to Craftsmanship.”
Just yesterday I gave a copy of “The Case of the Hopeless Marriage” to a dear Christian friend whose adult son is suffering in a marriage he has called “hopeless.” I believe that Dr. Adams’ thorough teachings have shone the light on the Scriptures in such a way that the themes and truths from Genesis to Revelation shine as beacons that will clearly direct anyone who has “ears to hear” to Christ’s path of life.

By: Martha

Martha — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 17:54:49 +0000

As someone interested in mental illness for many years, due to family history; observations regarding alcoholism, eating disorders, anger management, schizophrenia, depression, relational problems – I came across the research, teaching and methods of Jay Adams through a book I read by John McArthur. It was like a veil pulled back and I saw how through Scripture and the Holy Spirit, repentance and ‘put on and put off’ changes, it is possible to get to the root of many problems and enable real lasting change. Sin, in some form, is usually the root cause. Of course, this is an unpopular message today but I came to see how it gives hope. The diagnosis must be right if the person is to proceed out of a place of confusion and depression to be released and renewed into a life of usefulness and closeness to God. If a person is willing to humble themselves and obey God’s commands they can be restored to sanity. Sadly, many find Jay Adam’s teaching on counselling offensive, but it does not make it untrue. I bought many of Jay Adam’s counselling books second hand and they have become my most treasured theology books. In my opinion, Jay Adams is truly the father of modern biblical counselling.

By: Miyoshi Gardner

Miyoshi Gardner — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 14:24:18 +0000

Having just graduated from a Christian college with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Bible, I applied for a job at a pregnancy care center. At the end of my interview, the chairman of the board handed me, Competent to Counsel by Dr. Adams and suggested I read this as soon as possible. Well, I did. And am SO glad I did. During college I debated everyone I could about starting with Scripture as the basis for counseling fellow-believers. Now, I finally had a strong tool to help me. It changed my philosophy of counseling, my method of counsel and my hope in counseling.