In contemporary American society, millions have to deal with chronic fear, depression, abuse, addictions, and similar problems. Millions more have grown up without good role models for marriage and parenting. An increasingly large portion of Christian literature is devoted to helping believers overcome such difficulties and live joyful, productive lives.
I've gotten great benefit from Kevin Leman and Gary Smalley. Larry Burkett and James Dobson are also excellent. Kevin Johnson and Jeramy Clark are good for young people.
Jay Adams (b. 1929) - Reformed evangelical proponent of biblical counseling. Adams opposes the integration of psychology with Christianity, although his "nouthetic" model of counseling is similar to behavioral cognitive psychology in principle. He was formerly at Westminster Theological Seminary and has written over fifty books. Titles: The Biblical View of Self-Esteem, Self Love, and Self Image; The Christian Counselor's Manual; Competent to Counsel; From Forgiven to Forgiving; How to Help People Change; Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible; Shepherding God's Flock; Solving Marriage Problems; A Thirst for Wholeness. He also helped produce the Christian Counselor's New Testament.
Neil T. Anderson (b. 1942) - dispensational evangelical founder of the Freedom in Christ deliverance ministry, and former chair of practical theology at Talbot Seminary. Anderson focuses on the believer's authority over spiritual powers and combines the usual deliverance techniques with more conventional methods of prayer and Bible study. He is one of the more moderate deliverance ministers but teaches the existence of generational and territorial spirits. Titles: The Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Warfare; The Bondage Breaker; Christ-Centered Therapy; Finding God's Will in Spiritually Deceptive Times; Living Free in Christ; Praying by the Power of the Spirit; Setting Your Church Free; The Steps to Freedom in Christ; Stomping Out the Darkness; Victory over the Darkness; Who I Am in Christ; Winning Spiritual Warfare.
Stephen Arterburn - conservative evangelical Christian counselor, and creator of Women of Faith, which is conceptually similar to Promise Keepers. While he has occasionally clashed with other popular Christian counseling authors, his books and appearances are extremely popular among both men and women. Titles: Addicted to "Love"; Avoiding Mr. Wrong; Every Man, God's Man; Every Man's Battle; Every Woman's Battle; Every Woman's Desire; Every Young Man's Bible; Finding Mr. Right; Gentle Eating; Mastering Your Moods; More Jesus, Less Religion; Parents' Guide to the Top 10 Dangers Tees Face; Seven Keys to Spiritual Renewal; Toxic Faith. He also produced the Life Recovery Bible.
Larry Crabb (b. 1943) - evangelical clinical psychologist at Colorado Christian University. Crabb believes psychologists would be almost unnecessary for Christians if the church were the caring community it was meant to be. He stresses deep friendships and the training of lay Christians to help one another. Titles: Connecting; Finding God; How to Deal with Anger; Inside Out; Joy Breaks for Couples (Ed.); The Marriage Builder; Men and Women; The Pressure's Off; The Safest Place on Earth; Shattered Dreams: God's Unexpected Path to Joy; Soul Talk; Understanding Who You Are.
Florence Littauer (b. 1930) - conservative evangelical humorist and counselor. Littauer seeks to improve lives and relationships through high self-esteem and the temperament theory of personality with which she is most often associated. Titles: After Every Wedding Comes a Marriage; Blow Away the Black Clouds; Dare to Dream; Freeing Your Mind from Memories that Bind (w/ Fred Littauer); Getting Along with Almost Anybody; How to Get Along with Difficult People; I've Found My Keys, Now Where's My Car?; It Takes So Little to Be Above Average; Personality Plus; Personality Puzzle; Silver Boxes; Talking So People Will Listen; Your Personality Tree.
Robert McGee - Southern Baptist pastor and founder of the controversial ministry Rapha, which "provides in-hospital and outpatient care with a Christ-centered perspective for those with psychiatric and substance-abuse problems." (Not to be confused with the Rapha faith-healing ministry founded by Kevin and Lorna Mathews). McGee has also served as president of the National Christian Counseling Association and sees high self-esteem as essential to the Christian life. Titles: Conquering Chemical Dependency; Discipline with Love; Father Hunger; Getting Unstuck; Rapha's 12-Step Program for Overcoming Eating Disorders; The Search for Freedom; The Search for Peace; The Search for Significance; The Secret of Significance; Your Parents and You. Not to be confused with business ethics writer Robert W. McGee.
Frank Minirth (b. 1946) and Paul Meier (b. 1945) - popular evangelical scientists whose research is the basis for much of Christian psychology. While recognizing the sin nature, they believe Christians are largely in control of their emotional well-being. Titles: Christian Psychiatry; The Complete Life Encyclopedia; Happiness Is a Choice; How to Beat Burnout; 100 Ways to Overcome Depression; Stress Factor; Transcendent Love. Not to be confused with fiction writer Paul Maier or personal growth author Paul J. Meyer.
Clyde Narramore (b. 1916) - dispensational evangelical founder of the Narramore Christian Foundation in the early 1950s, which helped open the door to Christian counseling literature. The current president is his nephew, Bruce Narramore. The ministry also has a radio show and magazine, Psychology for Living. He has sought to refute some Christians' suspicions that psychology was humanistic or Freudian. Titles: Compact Encyclopedia of Psychological Problems; How to Handle Pressure; How to Tell Your Children About Sex; How to Win Over Nervousness; The Integration of Psychology and Theology (w/ John D. Carter); Life and Love; Parents at Their Best; The Psychology of Counseling; This Way to Happiness; A Woman's World.
Luis Palau (b. 1934) - dispensational author trained at Multnomah, with honorary doctrates from Talbot and Wheaton. Palau conducts mass evangelism in the revivalistic tradition but prefers to call his meetings festivals instead of crusades. Titles: Calling America and the Nations to ChristGod Is Relevant; Healthy Habits for Spiritual Growth; A Heart After God; It's a God Thing (w/ Mike Yorkey); A Man After God's Heart; A Moment to Shout; Say Yes; So You Want to Grow; Stop Pretending; Where Is God When Bad Things Happen; Whom Shall I Marry?; Your New Life with Christ. He also helped produce the Starting Point Study Bible.
David Powlison (b. 1949) - Reformed evangelical apologist and editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. Powlison is critical of deliverance ministries and the secular assumptions behind much of psychology, and also writes against the Third Wave movement. Powlison teaches at Westminster Theological Seminary and occasionally writes for the Christian Research Institute. Anger: Escaping the Maze; Becoming Like Christ; God's Love: Better Than Unconditional; Pornography: Slaying the Dragon; Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare; Seeing with New Eyes; Why Me?; Worry: Pursuing a Better Path to Peace.
Liberty Savard - nondenominational author, preacher, and host of the Breaking the Power television series. She believes the deliverance concepts of binding and loosing demonic mental strongholds are the key to spiritual warfare. However, she does not by this mean the exorcism or rebuking of demons but submission to God's will to remove demonic oppression from a believer's life. Titles: Apples of Gold in Baskets of Silver; Breaking the Power; Freedom Here and Now; Producing the Promise; Shattering Your Strongholds; Soul Ties, Soul Power, and Soulish Prayers; Spiritual Understanding and Warfare; The Unsurrendered Soul.
Neil Clark Warren (b. 1934) - conservative evangelical clinical psychologist and founder of Associated Psychological Services in Pasadena; former dean of Fuller Seminary's Graduate School of Psychology. Currently most well known for his Internet matchmaking service, eharmony.com. Warren stresses peace and contentment in Christ as the keys to emotional health, and he has written several popular studies for engaged couples. Titles: Catching the Rhythm of Love; Date...Or Soul Mate?; Falling in Love for All the Right Reasons; Finding Contentment; Finding the Love of Your Life; Forever My Love; God Said It, Don't Sweat It; How to Know If Someone Is Worth Pursuing in Two Dates or Less; Learning to Live with the Love of Your Life; Love the Life You Live; Make Anger Your Ally; The Triumphant Marriage. Not to be confused with megachurch pastor Rick Warren.
Thomas B. White (b. 1947) - generally evangelical founder of Frontline Ministries and one of the more extreme proponents of deliverance ministries. White's contact with the New Age and the occult before his conversion have convinced him that Satan has a great deal of power over anyone who falls into sin. White sees demonic forces as the root of nearly all Christian suffering, with the solution being exorcism or rebuke of the demons responsible. His major works, The Believer's Guide to Spiritual Warfare and Breaking Strongholds, have done much to popularize belief in generational and territorial spirits outside Word-of-Faith circles.
H. Norman Wright (b. 1937) - dispensational evangelical trained at Talbot Seminary. A family counselor whose primary emphasis is on psychological personality theory. He rejects the temperaments in favor of the Meyer-Briggs multi-axis theory and places much stress on left-brain/right-brain preferences. Titles: Always Daddy's Girl; Before You Remarry; Before You Say "I Do"; Communication: The Key to Your Marriage; Crisis Counseling; Finding Your Perfect Mate; Freedom from the Grip of Fear; How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen; Making Peace with Your Past; The Power of a Parent's Words; The Premarital Counseling Handbook; Quiet Times for Couples; Recovering from the Losses of Life; So You're Getting Married; Starting Out Together; Will My Life Ever Be the Same?. Not to be confused with New Testament scholar N. T. Wright.
Zig Ziglar (b. 1926) - conservative evangelical motivational speaker who teaches Sunday School at Prestonwood Baptist Church. He is best known for his optimistic messages for both families and business leaders. Titles: Confessions of a Grieving Christian; Confessions of a Happy Christian; Courtship After Marriage; How to Be a Winner; How to Get What You Want; Over the Top; Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World; See You at the Top; Something to Smile About; Staying Up, Up in a Down, Down World; Success and the Self-Image; Top Performance; A View from the Top; Zig; Zig Ziglar's Secrets of Closing the Sale.
Larry Burkett (1939-2003) - conservative evangelical founder of Christian Financial Concepts (now part of Crown Ministries), and host of "Money Matters." Burkett's teachings on money dealt with responsible stewardship and budgeting rather than miraculous abundance. He also addressed family concerns and was closely associated with James Dobson and Bill Bright. Titles: Business by the Book; The Coming Economic Earthquake; The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples; Debt-Free Living; The Family Financial Workbook; Finding the Career that Fits You; How to Manage Your Money; The Illuminati: A Novel; Money Before Marriage; Money Matters; Securing Wealth to Last; Women Leaving the Workplace.
Gary D. Chapman (b. 1938) - conservative evangelical minister at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. Chapman leads marriage seminars and has written many books on the healthy Christian family. Titles: Covenant Marriage; The Five Love Languages; Five Signs of a Loving Family; Hope for the Separated; The Love Languages of God; Loving Solutions: Overcoming Barriers in Your Marriage; The Other Side of Love: Handling Anger in a Godly Way; Toward a Growing Marriage. Not to be confused with fellow family counselor Gary Smalley, men's author Steve Chapman, or musicians Gary Chapman and Stephen Curtis Chapman.
Henry Cloud and John Townsend - conservative evangelical psychologists who emphasize high self-esteem and good judgment in relationships. They are frequent guests on Focus on the Family, The 700 Club, and TBN. Cloud is solidly Arminian> due to his Methodist background, and Townsend is a dispensationalist trained at Dallas Theological Seminary. Titles: Boundaries; Boundaries in Dating; Boundaries in Marriage; Boundaries with Kids; Changes That Heal; God Will Make a Way; Hiding from Love; How People Grow; Making Small Groups Work; The Mom Factor; Raising Great Kids; Safe People; 12 "Christian" Beliefs that Can Drive You Crazy. Not to be confused with fundamentalist author DavidW. Cloud.
James Dobson (b. 1936) - Nazarene conservative evangelical and founder of Focus on the Family and one of the leading social/political activists among conservative Christians. Dobson has a Ph.D. in child development and uses it to mix sound psychological concepts with solid biblical principles. Titles: Bringing Up Boys; Dare to Discipline; Life on the Edge; Love for a Lifetime; Love Must Be Tough; Marriage Under Fire; Night Light (w/ Shirley Dobson); Preparing for Adolescence; The Strong-Willed Child; What Wives With Their Husbands Knew About Women; When God Doesn't Make Sense.
Gary Ezzo - somewhat evangelical theologian and advocate of very strict, structured forms of child upbringing and discipline from infancy through the teenage years. Associated with Growing Families International. Ezzo has been critized for rigidity, lack of formal training, and focus on unconscious motivation. He was excommunicated by his church a few years ago for dishonesty and lack of integrity. He has thus fallen out of favor with many evangelical groups. Titles: Growing Kids God's Way; Let's Ask Auntie Anne How to Raise a Loving Child; On Becoming Baby Wise; On Becoming Child Wise; On Becoming Preschool Wise; On Becoming Preteen Wise; On Becoming Teen Wise; On Becoming Toddler Wise; Potty Training Made Easy; Reaching the Heart of Your Teen; The Smart Parent.
Steve Farrar - dispensational evangelical trained at Dallas Theological Seminary. Farrar is a popular men's author and the founder of Men's Leadership Ministries. His greatest strength is using sports analogies to drive home truths of Christian life and family commitment. Farrar advocates a complementarian model of family life and is one of Promise Keepers' most sought-after speakers. Titles: Anchor Man; Dads Walking Faithful, Standing Strong; Finishiing Strong; Get in the Ark; Gettin' There; Men Leading the Charge; Overcoming Overload (w/ Mary Farrar); Point Man: How a Man Can Lead His Family; Standing Tall; Tempered Steel.
Mike Farris - conservative evangelical lawyer and ordained Bible Church minister. Farris is founder and chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association and president of Patrick Henry College. He has won landmark religious freedom cases and written many books supporting homeschooling. Titles: Anonymous Tip; Constitutional Law for Christian Students; Forbid Them Not: A Novel; The Future of Home Schooling; Guilt by Association: A Novel; Home Schooling and the Law; The Home Schooling Father; How a Man Prepares His Daughters for Life; A Sacred Foundation (w/ L. Reed Elam); What a Daughter Needs from Her Dad; Where Do I Draw the Line?.
Bill Gothard (b. 1934) - founder of the Institute for Basic Life Principles, a training organization with a focus on parenting. His basic teaching is that Christians are to live under the absolute, unquestioned authority of superiors, including arranged marriage and life-long submission to parents in all things. God's will is revealed and His grace is earned through such submission. Gothard also believes that circumcision and portions of the Old Testament ceremonial law are morally binding on all Christians. Gothard's seminars have declined in popularity as a result of several scandals and legal entanglements. Public titles: Our Jealous God; The Power of Crying Out; The Power of Spoken Blessings. (IBLP-related titles are only available to attendees of the seminars.) [Note: Gothard's organization is becoming increasingly cult-like. I recommend the book A Matter of Basic Principles from Midwest Christian Outreach for its documenation of the most troubling aspects of Gothard's ministry.]
Kevin Leman (b. 1943) - evangelical known as "the relationship doctor," the former radio co-host of Parent Talk. Leman focuses on a balance between authoritarianism and permissiveness and encourages involvement, understanding, and open communication in parenting. Titles: Adolescence Isn't Terminal; Becoming a Couple of Promise; Becoming the Parent God Wants You to Be; Bringing Up Kids Without Tearing Them Down; First-Time Mom; Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours; Making Sense of the Men in Your Life; The New Birth Order Book; The Real You; Sex Begins in the Kitchen; Sheet Music; What a Difference a Daddy Makes; When Your Best Isn't Good Enough; Women Who Try Too Hard.
Marabel Morgan - conservative evangelical who opened the door to Christian women's literature and to practical books on marriage from a believer's perspective. Her main topics are organization, acceptance of one's husband, sexuality, and communication skills. Her groundbreaking book The Total Woman was criticized by feminists upon its publication for its conservative stances, particularly her praise of professional homemaking. Other titles: The Electric Woman; The Home on the Range Cookbook; Life Without Purpose; Ten Ways Women Please Men; Total Joy.
Patrick Morley - conservative evangelical pioneer of the Christian men's movement and leading figure in Promise Keepers. Many of his books are being retitled to relate to his most famous work, The Man in the Mirror. Other titles: Devotions for Couples (w/ Patsy Morley); Effective Men's Ministry; I Surrender; The Rest of Your Life; Second Wind for the Second Half; The Seven Seasons of a Man's Life; What Husbands With Their Wives Knew About Men; Understanding Your Man in the Mirror; Walking with Christ in the Details of Life. Not to be confused with anti-cult writer Robert Morey.
Les and Lesslie Parrott (b. 1961 and 1964, respectively) - conservative evangelical founder of the Center for Relationship Development, and popular speakers on family psychology and conflict management. Trained at Fuller Seminary in its more conservative days. Titles: Becoming Soul Mates; The Comprehensive Guide to Youth Ministry Counseling; The Control Freak; Helping Your Struggling Teenager; High Maintenance Relationships; Love Is...; The Love List; Meditations on Proverbs for Couples; Pillow Talk; Relationships 101; Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts; When Bad Things Happen to Good Marriages. He also edited the Marriage Devotional Bible.
Dennis Rainey (b. 1948) - conservative evangelical executive director of FamilyLife. With his wife Barbara, he leads "I Still Do" seminars to combat divorce and writes books upholding the American family. Their work is psychologically based and practically oriented. Titles: Building Your Mate's Self-Esteem; Guiding Your Teenagers; Improving Your Parenting; Ministering to 21st Century Families; Moemnts Together for Couples; Parenting Today's Adolescent; Passport to Purity; Pressure Proof Your Marriage; Simply Romantic Nights; So You Want to Be a Teenager?; Starting Your Marriage Right; Two Hearts Praying as One; and the Homebuilders Bible study series. Not to be confused with financial advisor Dave Ramsey.
Dave Ramsey - conservative evangelical financial consultant and popular radio host. Ramsey advocates raising children to have discipline, financial responsibility, and a strong work ethic. He is outspoken in his opinions about stern discipline and a complementarian view of marriage, and sees the Word of Faith movement as a destructive influence on the home as well as the church. Titles: Financial Peace (w/ Sharon Ramsey); How to Have More Than Enough; Priceless; The Total Money Makeover. Not to be confused with family author Dennis Rainey.
Gary Smalley (b. 1940) - conservative evangelical psychologist and marriage counselor. Smalley is a Southern Baptist Bible study writer and frequent guest speaker for Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family. One emphasis of his work is the difference between right-brain and left-brain tendencies. Titles: The Flood of Love (w/ Rex Russell); For Better or for Best; Hidden Keys of a Loving, Lasting Marriage; If He Only Knew; The Key to Your Child's Heart; Making Love Last Forever; Secrets to Lasting Love; Winning Your Husband Back Before It's Too Late; Winning Your Wife Back Before It's Too Late; and the Redemption fiction series (w/ Karen Kingsbury). Titles with John Trent: The Blessing; The Gift of the Blessing; The Hidden Value of a Man; The Language of Love; Love Is a Decision; The Two Sides of Love. Not to be confused with fellow family counselor Gary Chapman.Ed Wheat - conservative evangelical physician and marriage and sex therapist. With his wife Gaye, he helped popularize Christian books on marital intimacy with his book Intended for Pleasure. Other titles: The First Years of Forever; How to Save Your Marriage Alone; Love Life for Every Married Couple; Secret Choices; Staying in Love for a Lifetime.
Jeramy Clark - dispensational evangelical youth pastor at Tri-Lakes Chapel in Colorado Springs, affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America. He has a degree in biblical exposition from Talbot and specializes in giving humorous presentations of serious topics. Clark urges a biblical approach to singlehood, with critical thinking to resolve problems. Titles: Define the Relationship; He's Hot, She's Hot: What to Look for in the Opposite Sex; I Gave Dating a Chance, the last being a response to Joshua Harris's view of dating.
Vicki Courtney - founder of Virtuous Reality ministries, which seeks to encourage Christian attitudes among girls from middle school to collee age. Converted from agnosticism and feminism in 1985, she promotes biblical purity along with attitudes of self-worth, wisdom, and purpose. Titles: Get a Life; More Than Just Talk; The Virtuous Woman; Yada Yada: A Devotional Journal; Your Girl: Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World.
Elisabeth Elliot (b. 1927) - evangelical Episcopalian widow of martyred missionary Jim Elliot, whose biography she wrote (Through Gates of Splendor). The focus of her ministry is on preserving traditional concepts of Christian femininity. She also advocates a very conservative version of the courtship. Elliot was a consultant for the New International Version. Other titles: A Chance to Die; Disciple: The Glad Surrender; Keep a Quiet Heart; Let Me Be a Woman; The Making of a Man; The Mark of a Man; Passion and Purity; The Quest for Love; Shadow of the Almighty.
Josh Harris (b. 1974) - evangelical (some say fundamentalist) director of New Attitude Ministries and executive pastor at Covenant Life Church in Maryland. Harris advocates the courtship model for romantic relationships. His book I Kissed Dating Goodbye has created much controversy among youth groups. Other titles: Boy Meets Girl; Not Even a Hint; Stop Dating the Church.Kevin Johnson - conservative evangelical youth author and popular conference speaker. Johnson has written many devotionals for high school students to ground them in the faith and in an intimate relationship with God. He effectively combines humor with biblical teaching. Titles: Can I Be a Christian Without Being Weird?; Children Demand a Verdict (w/ Josh McDowell); Could Someone Wake Me Up Before I Drool on the Desk?; Cross Train; Does Anybody Know What Planet My Parents Are From?; Find Your Fit; Pray Hard; Was That a Balloon or Did Your Head Just Pop?; What's with the Dudes at the Door? (w/ James White); What's with the Mutant in the Microscope? (w/ James White); Where Ya Gonna Go?; and the Early Teen Discipleship series. Not to be confused with Catholic author Kevin Orlin Johnson.
Jerry Johnston (b. 1959) - dispensational evangelical pastor of the First Family Church of Kansas City, a seeker-sensitivite, multi-cultural church that holds the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) as its statment of faith. For about twenty years, Johnston has spoken to churches and schools on the issue of teen suicide. His hard-hitting presentation often includes actual tapes and letters left by suicide victims. Titles: The Edge of Evil; Inspire Your Kids to Greatness; It's Killing Our Kids; The Last Days of Planet Earth; Who's Listening; Why Suicide?; Why They Die: Curing the Death Wish in Our Kids.
Dawson McAllister (b. 1946) - dispensational evangelical humorist, youth speaker, evangelist, and radio host. His primary ministry is to troubled teens, and he urges his listeners to keep their eyes on heaven. Titles: The Great War: God, Satan, and You; How to Know If You're Really in Love; Making Peace at Home (w/ Clark Albright); Pack Your Bags, Jesus Is Coming; Please Don't Tell My Parents; Saving the Millennial Generation; A Walk with Christ to the Cross; Who Are You, God?; Who Are You, Jesus?. Not to be confused with apologist Josh McDowell.
Jay Strack (b. 1953) - conservative evangelical founder of Student Leadership University, and Baptist motivational speaker who specializes in relationships and communication. Strack served on President George Bush's drug task force. Most of his books are addressed to teens. Titles: Above and Beyond; Aim High: A Challenge for Life; Dad, Do You Love Mom?; Do the Work of an Evangelist; Drugs and Drinking: What Every Christian Parent Should Know; Everything Worth Knowing I Learned Growing Up in Florida; Good Kids Who Do Bad Things; The New Testament Way to Revival; Shake Off the Dust; Until You Say "I Do". He also helped produce the Transformer Student Bible and the True Love Waits BibleIt is common for today's Christian writers to cross over into this area in one or two books. It seems just about everyone has a book on grief, for example. Refer to the main index to find a specific author.
For a statement of my beliefs, see my Declaration of Faith.
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