Counsel for Couples: A Biblical and Practical Guide for Marriage Counseling

by Jonathan D. Holmes, Alistair Begg Narrated by Jon Watson, Carson Wishart

Overview

Many pastors feel ill-equipped to handle the challenges that arise when a couple is going through marital difficulties.

If you are or have been in this situation before, this book shows church leaders how to counsel married couples from both a logical and biblical perspective.

Author and pastor Jonathan Holmes offers you a practical guide to get started with the first sessions and then offers specific guidance on nine of the most common topics that come up in marriage counseling.

In Counsel for Couples, Holmes provides you with:

• a biblical methodology that navigates you through the world of marriage counseling based on God's word
• a theological counseling approach addressing the deepest of marital issues
• advice from several respected voices in the biblical counseling community

In each chapter, you'll meet a new couple dealing with a different issue, much like the people in your church, office, and neighborhood.

Whether you're a novice or already knowledgeable,*Counsel for Couples*provides theologically sound and biblically practical tools to help you as you help couples in need.

Editorial Reviews

DR. STEVE VIARS

A delightful guide for those seeking to help married partners, and a much-needed reference for every biblical counselor's library. The 'One Couple's Story' sections are gold mines of practical wisdom for everyday life.

J. J. SHERWOOD

This book is abundantly practical, thoroughly biblical, and deeply refreshing. Here is real help for those called to shepherd the flock of God among them.

DR. RYAN BOYS

Rather than candy-coat the challenges of counseling couples, Jonathan faces them head-on. He offers real gospel-anchored hope for the counselor and the counselee. This book is well-researched, founded on a rich biblical theology, filled with practical examples, and informed by experience. It's a must-have for pastors, counselors, and church leaders.

SCOTT ZELLER

This is a new must-have resource for pastors. I'll be taking all our pastors through the first part together for group discussion and encourage all of them to have the book on their shelf for when they need to refer to the second part before difficult counseling appointments.

PAUL TAUTGES

Counsel for Couples is rich with well-rounded, mature, biblical wisdom stemming from years of loving, pastoral ministry. I know of nothing else like it.

P. J. TIBAYAN

I've read many books on marriage, but Jonathan Holmes filled practical gaps and provided new strategies I now use to serve my church family. Read it and sharpen both your understanding of marriage and your wisdom in counseling.

PR. ALEXANDRE “SACHA” MENDES

A helpful, thoughtful, practical, comprehensive, and edifying book on marriage counseling. Jonathan equips counselors with truth from God's Word and encourages them to communicate it in love.

DAVID “GUNNER” GUNDERSEN

My heart was thrilled to sense Jonathan's kind eyes, gentle voice, and gospel of hope on every page of this book. If you often find yourself on the steep and thorny path of marriage counseling, this weathered map will help you find God's way forward.

DR. TIMOTHY S. LANE

A superb contribution to the field of marriage counseling! This should be required reading for anyone involved in pastoral ministry.

BOB KELLEMEN

Loving, biblical counseling with individuals is complex. Loving, biblical counseling with couples is exponentially complex. Jonathan Holmes has done the biblical counseling movement a great service.

DAVE FURMAN

I've been waiting for this book my entire ministry. This book is a treasure trove of wisdom for marriage counseling in the church. If you minister among married couples, you need to buy this book right now. Read it and keep it handy on your shelf for quick consultation.

ERIC L. JOHNSON

Much sage wisdom can be found in this helpful and practical guide for biblical counselors.

EDWARD T. WELCH

Read this book cover to cover—it is useful immediately. Then keep it close by as a handy reference tool. It is filled with Jonathan's pastoral experience, to which he adds many other wise, reliable voices and resources.

TIM SAVAGE

Marital counseling presents some of the most difficult challenges of ministry. This book walks us through a labyrinth of marital issues by providing wisdom from the gospel of Christ and practical insights from the Bible.

GARRETT HIGBEE

Counsel for Couples is a great read for those who want to grow in their ability to care for marriages in trouble. It will help you counsel marriages better!

MICHAEL R. EMLET

A wise, Scripturally-saturated primer on marriage counseling. If you're a pastor in search of biblically-based counseling resources, this should become a well-worn guidebook on your desk.

CHRIS MOLES

This book is not only a must-read but a must-reference. The most comprehensive and scripturally-faithful work on couples counseling I have ever read.

BRAD HAMBRICK

Counsel for Couples is an excellent introduction to the basic skills of marriage counseling and an overview of key challenges addressed in marriage counseling. Jonathan brings together best practices and leading voices in an extremely practical book.

LILLY PARK

Jonathan writes honestly about the realities of helping couples and points out hidden gospel opportunities to share true hope found in Christ, wisdom in Scripture, and our lives with others. Highly recommended.

JIM NEWHEISER

What makes this book stand out is how it walks the pastor/counselor through the process of couples counseling with key points to cover, sample questions for counselees, and brief scripts for counseling. And it covers important topics that are rarely addressed in marriage books, including in-law relations, infertility, and miscarriage.

JEREMY PIERRE

Jonathan Holmes is a rare kind of counselor—thoroughly biblical and attentive to the delicate dynamics of how people actually experience marriage. This book is a needed guide to addressing those dynamics with wisdom and skill.

BOB LEPINE

Whether you're a pastor, a counselor, or a layperson who wants to help marriages flourish, this book will help you help others. It's a resource you'll come back to again and again.

AARON SIRONI

What a unique and helpful trove Jonathan has labored to give us! From the concrete and practical elements of couples work to one personal story after another, here we have a rich reference that runs the gamut of marital counseling.

TEDD TRIPP

Jonathan Holmes has produced in indispensable manual for marriage counseling. This excellent volume will prove a well-used resource for counselors. Highly recommended.

DAVID MURRAY

As I look back on my pastoral and counseling ministry, I wish I'd had this book to guide me. I look forward to using it in my ministry and in training future biblical counselors.

SAM R. WILLIAMS

This book is an excellent basic primer in Christian marital counseling. Biblical, comprehensive, and realistic—the best marriage counseling resource available now to pastors and biblical counselors.

DR. SCOTTY WARD SMITH

A tremendous gift to the church! This book is anchored in the truth of God's Word, saturated with the sufficiency of God's grace, and written for the equipping of God's people. Easily accessible to young and mature believers alike.

JEREMY LELEK

From helping couples navigate the arduous paths created by things such as adultery, abuse, and pornography to guiding husbands and wives with rich wisdom to help cultivate marriages that reflect the beauty of God, Counsel for Couples is a must-read for anyone desiring to serve those who have entered the sacred covenant of marriage.

DAVID “GUNNER” GUNDERSEN

My heart was thrilled to sense Jonathan's kind eyes, gentle voice, and gospel of hope on every page of this book. If you often find yourself on the steep and thorny path of marriage counseling, this weathered map will help you find God's way forward.

PR. ALEXANDRE “SACHA” MENDES

A helpful, thoughtful, practical, comprehensive, and edifying book on marriage counseling. Jonathan equips counselors with truth from God's Word and encourages them to communicate it in love.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176453850
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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