Author: Robert Kellemen

Subtitle:

An Equipping Guide for Pastors and Counselors

You can help hurting couples restore love, trust, and harmony

When a marriage is in crisis, couples need practical help that acknowledges the realities of modern life without neglecting biblical principles. This user-friendly how-to manual provides that, enabling pastors and biblical counselors to competently and compassionately relate God's Word to specific situations in marriage counseling sessions.

About the author:

Robert W. Kellemen, PhD, served as the founding executive director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and has pastored four churches. He is the author of over twenty books, including Grief: Walking with Jesus; Gospel-Centered Counseling; Gospel Conversations; Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling; and Gospel-Centered Family Counseling.

Endorsements:

"The beauty of Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling is that it weds sound theology with practical explanations and applications to the actual counseling process. Dr. Kellemen is both a trained theologian and an experienced biblical counselor. In reading this book, you will be listening to words that are saturated with the gospel and characterized by case-specific wisdom. This will feel less like reading a book and more like watching an experienced biblical counselor in action, and then practicing the principles yourself under the direction of an experienced coach. Every pastor and biblical counselor should add this important work to their library."  ~Dr. Steve Viars, senior pastor, Faith Church, Lafayette, IN; author of Loving Your Community

"Having served as a pastor and counselor for over thirty years now, I read marriage and counseling books like other people devour the sports page. So I can say with confidence that Dr. Kellemen has given us a book that addresses what has been missing for so long: a biblical, practical, and seasoned step-by-step way forward. As I read Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling, I said, 'Finally! This what we've needed.' Bob has done the church and the biblical counseling world an enormous service in putting real feet on what marriage counseling looks like. He frames it up with hope and the gospel, and then provides clear and specific step-by-step guidance on how to do effective and biblical marriage counseling. If you've lost heart and felt overwhelmed at the prospect of marriage counseling, this is the book for you! Buy it. Read it. Tell others about it."  ~Brad Bigney, lead pastor of Grace Fellowship (EFCA); author of Gospel Treason: Betraying the Gospel with Hidden Idols

"Marriage counseling presents some of the toughest situations that can be found. In Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling, biblical counselors who desire to grow in their ability to provide help for marital issues will find what they have been searching for. This is not just another book on marriage counseling; it is a training manual. Bob's writing is practical and biblical; he provides a step-by-step process, built firmly upon the gospel of grace, for learning how to help struggling marriages. I am so excited for this book to be published! It will be valuable for novice and seasoned biblical counselors alike. I highly recommend everyone get a copy and begin to put these soul-u-tions into practice!"  ~Dr. Julie Ganschow, author of Living Beyond the Heart of Betrayal; coauthor of A Biblical Counselor's Approach to Marital Abuse

"If you are looking to be equipped in a discipleship-focused approach to marriage counseling, Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling is what you're looking for. Few people have the heart, mind, and experience to write a book on marriage counseling for pastors and lay leaders as Dr. Bob Kellemen has done. I have long admired Bob's balanced emphasis on the need to address both sin and suffering in counseling. In Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling, you will find a practical theology to address the hard things a couple faces (suffering) and the bad things a couple does (sin) with the hope of the gospel."  ~Brad Hambrick, ThM, EdD, pastor of counseling at The Summit Church, Durham, NC; author of Romantic Conflict and Self-Centered Spouse

"There are many excellent biblical books about marriage, but Dr. Bob Kellemen makes a unique contribution as he goes beyond teaching about marriage to equipping counselors to do marriage counseling. Reading this book is like sitting in and watching an experienced master biblical counselor apply the gospel to broken marriages. Bob includes many instructive counseling dialogues (or 'trialogues') that serve as a model for counselors who want to get to root problems and then apply gospel truth. The strengths of Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling include its faithful practical exposition of Scripture, a God-centered perspective on marriage, and a practical training manual for marriage counseling."  ~Dr. Jim Newheiser, director of the Christian counseling program and associate professor of pastoral theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC; executive director of IBCD

"I have to be honest, when I heard that another book on marriage was coming out, I had my doubts that it would add anything new to what currently exists. What a pleasant surprise Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling turned out to be. Not only is the book easy to digest and implement in my counseling ministry, it is one of a kind, aimed at training pastors, counselors, students, and interns to become effective marriage counselors faithful to God's Word. Claiming that Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling is a game-changing resource might sound cliché, but for those engaged in the practice of marriage counseling, as well as those training in the classroom, this resource does indeed offer what other marriage books simply cannot--comprehensive, practical, hands-on equipping."  ~Dr. Ben Marshall, pastor of counseling at Canyon Hills Community Church; board president of The Damascus House