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Ministry in a Recovering World

The pastor is the link between what's happening in therapy and God's Word.
— Louis McBurney

Years ago a pastor attending Marble Retreat was trying to climb out of deep despair. Several years before coming to Marble, she had taken her personal struggles to a psychotherapist and wound up in bed with him. Her troubles, as you might imagine, compounded exponentially.

In one of our first counseling sessions, I asked her what seemed like an obvious question.

"How have you dealt with your sin of adultery?"

A funny look crossed her face. "No one has ever called it that before," she said. "But it is sin, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

Right there she repented. It was the catalyst to her recovery.

Later, the irony hit me: this pastor's adultery had happened several years back, but apparently nobody in her church, denomination, or circle of friends had mentioned that what she did was a sin. Neither had the professional counsel she had received after her affair. I was flabbergasted.

A Little History


The North American ...

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March
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