Bob Kellemen

A factual and friendly look at anxiety from author and biblical counselor Bob Kellemen. Kellemen asks what messages are we telling ourselves that are contributing anxiety and worry? He advises taking responsibility for our thought life (31), right in the same line of thinking as Philippians 4:8. This is a command to install healthy habits of thinking. The anxious must replace fearful inaction with others centered action.

Overall, a good read. It could have been strengthened with more exegesis of biblical passages and definitions of the terms anxiety, fear, and worry. At times, they feel conflated. The booklet is certainly a good resource and worth reading with a friend struggling with anxiety.… (altro)

Are you a pastor or counselor? Do you regularly counsel couples whose marriages are in need of serious help? Do you feel inadequate to help a couple walk through their marriage issues? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, this book is for you!

A quick online search will net hundreds of books on marriage, so you may be reticent to purchase yet another one. The libraries of most pastors and counselors I know include numerous books on marriage. However, this is not your regular “run of the mill” book on marriage. Keep reading to find out more.

The first part of the book is “A Theological Primer for Biblical Marriage Counseling.” Using relatable descriptions of marriage counseling situations, Dr. Kellemen lays out the biblical/theological groundwork necessary to undergird the counseling that helps counselees begin to ask the correct questions to diagnose the problems they are having and then moving to apply the biblical truths to their lives individually and as a couple.

After each portion of the information is taught and presented, you will find a section of questions entitled “Maturing as a Biblical Marriage Counselor: Solution” that lead you to interact with the biblical truths and the principles about which you just read and learned. The questions use real-life counseling situations as they lead you to apply these biblical truths and principles.

The next part of the book is “How to Develop 22 Marriage Counseling Relational Competencies.” Each of these chapters follows the same basic format as is contained in the first part of the book. The focus here is developing key marriage counseling relational competencies. This also is done through teaching and presenting practical ways to apply the theology you learn in part 1 to marriage counseling situations.
Dr. Kellemen’s writing style combined with the layout of the book provides a great format for learning and processing the biblical truths and principles and their application.

Now that I've done a straight-through read, I need to go back and really soak up and work through this book.

I highly recommend Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling to pastors, church staff, biblical counselors, and, well all Christ-followers. Even if you aren’t a pastor or counselor, your marriage will be strengthened as you learn, apply, and practice what you learn in this book. If you are not married, this book will provide wonderful information that will enable you to help your friends who are struggling with their marriages.

Note: I received a copy of Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling from Dr. Robert W. Kellemen for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review.… (altro)

What does a man do when he encounters the grace of God and finds peace with God? In Counseling Under the Cross, Bob Kellemen introduces us to Martin Luther and shows us how he learned to apply the Gospel to daily life. Initially, "Luther had attempted to care for his soul through his own wisdom and it earned him nothing but despair. Only as Luther clung to the sufficiency of Christ and Scripture did he find peace for his troubled soul" (pg. 25). Kellemen relates how God used His people and His Word to open Luther's eyes to the Christ of the cross, transforming him into a man whom God would use to minister His Word to others.

If you have read any of Bob Kellemen's works, then you likely know of the significant influence that Luther has had on him and will recognize the lens through which he views Luther's counseling. Through Luther's writings, Kellemen illustrates his four biblical compass points to speak gospel truth in love, what Kellemen refers to as "gospel conversations," compass points which Kellemen would contend were derived directly from Luther's works. In a fresh way, Counseling Under the Cross demonstrates that:

“Changed lives occur as we apply Christ’s changeless truth to help suffering people know that it’s normal to hurt (sustaining) and possible to hope (healing), and as we help sinning people to know that it’s horrible to sin but wonderful to be forgiven (reconciling), and supernatural to mature (guiding)” (Robert Kellemen, Equipping Counselors for Your Church, pg. 65).

According to Kellemen, "...Luther's counseling followed the historic focus of pastoral soul care and spiritual direction...[that] dealt with the evils we have suffered in a fallen world and with the sins we have committed" (pg. 40). This pastoral concern of Luther's became the spark that ignited the Reformation making this work a timely gift in light of the upcoming 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. Kellemen demonstrates how the: "'Sufficiency of Scripture' is the heartbeat of the Reformation. God's Word is sufficient, authoritative, and profoundly relevant for all of life and all of ministry" (pg. 221).

Counseling Under the Cross is well-documented and includes many quotes from Luther's letters, sermons, table talks, and other writings. While at times, Kellemen's terminology may seem cumbersome, his message is faithful to God's Word, centered on the Gospel, and provides useful categories for ministering the Word to others. Each chapter concludes with a "tweet-sized" summary for review, and the entire book wraps up with a call to make application from what we've learned. Kellemen shows how he has spent that last two decades of his ministry standing on the shoulders of a faithful brother who has gone before us. The thoughtfully selected quotes in Counseling Under the Cross are like flowers plucked out of books that will likely lead many readers to the garden of Luther's works in the future.** May we all continue to minister the Word to our brothers and sisters who are suffering, fighting sin, and seeking to grow in holiness, standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us just as Dr. Kellemen has done with Luther.

If you'd like a taste of the content that you can expect to find in the book, Dr. Kellemen has put together an edifying PowerPoint presentation which is available on his website.

*Many thanks to New Growth Press and Litfuse Publicity Group for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

**(Many thanks to Aimee Byrd for introducing me to Hannah More's excellent analogy through her book, "No Little Women". In it, Aimee Byrd writes: "One of the best treasure troves is the footnotes of the book you are reading. Authors pluck flowers out of books that will hopefully lead you to the garden they came from!" -- pg. 212.)… (altro)