Catholicity, Orthodoxy, and Lordship
Ed Welch once wrote that anxious and fearful people can easily slip into taking Scripture as a pill. This is true and quite problematic on numerous levels. When the life verse does not provide the comfort needed, suddenly the Scriptures become emotionally insufficient. I have seen the effects of such disenchantment among evangelical men and …
Thank you all for being here celebrating the completion of my doctorate! The Brito’s are humbled and honored by your presence. I want to offer a few words of gratitude: First and foremost, I thank the Triune God for his goodness to me. When I began my work in January of 2016, I thought that …
I receive lots of questions on parenting via private messages and other venues. Part of it is that I wrote a small book on it several years ago (which probably can be revised to add an additional 7-15 chapters), some speaking on the subject, pastoral counseling, and partly because it’s a conversation I have with …
Dear friend, You asked me to add some thoughts about why relatively outwardly peaceful marriages end in divorce. This is a truly complex question that requires a lot of nuances and some healthy counseling. The reality is that every marriage goes through periods of hopelessness. Some go through great travail for years and some survive …
I’ve had the joy of doing pre-marital counseling for over 20 couples. We cover a host of topics like communication, intimacy, submission, love, conflict, finances, etc. On the last session, I’ve developed a category called, “What a Church expects from newlyweds.” For most, this is a topic they’ve never heard discussed before, and one which …
Continue reading “What the Church Expects of Newlyweds, Part 1”
Dear friend, I have been fairly open about my concerns for the sexual problems in our culture, especially in the evangelical church. After all, judgment begins in the house of God. I spoke recently about the pressures young Christian ladies face (and let us not forget the godly men) to view sex as just an …
For those who have inquired and shown interest in my doctoral work, I have just turned in my last paper for Dr. Sinclair Ferguson’s class. This concludes 3 1/2 years of course work. At this point, I have concluded all the prerequisite classes and papers before I begin working on my project/dissertation in July. As …
Continue reading “Newsletter Updates with Doctoral Progress”
When a married couple says to me “Pastor, we have a good marriage. We never argue,” I have three reactions to this: a) “You are absolutely lying,” b) “Surely the Adamic curse has made you one cosmic exception,” or c) “You all need to be in counseling immediately.” Even the most placid, introverted couples I’ve …
Paul Tautges in his Counseling One Another observes that one of the affects of relying on secular psychology has been the internalizing of the faith, thus leading to a departure from the Church. He writes that the early church would never have entertained such a strange notion. The Church was tenacious about its biblical fellowship. He observes: …
In a recent interview, Deepak Reju offered some helpful steps for those who would like to be better equipped to counsel: First, find a discipler and a good, Bible-preaching, gospel-centered church. There is no legitimate substitute for living the Christian life out with a body of committed believers. As you grow and mature in the …
Continue reading “Steps to becoming a better counselor in the Church”