Life Over Coffee

Shows Main Idea – Question: Our leadership and pastoral staff have identified a need to support those in our midst who experience challenges with living in this world. If you were to launch a local biblical counseling ministry, what training or resources would you recommend? It would be most ideal to have curricula that could be completed in a group setting. Any tips or suggestions are welcome.

Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-560-nine-tips-for-launching-a-counseling-ministry-at-your-church/

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Mable sought counseling with a specific request: under no circumstances should her pastor find out. Her insistence on anonymity is common among Christians today.

Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/case-study-dont-tell-anyone-im-in-counseling/

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Mable is a perfectionist driven by an anxious need to be right. She holds herself and others to impossible standards, striving to present a carefully edited image she believes will earn acceptance, significance, and admiration. Mable’s fear of being wrong fuels a pattern of self-righteous criticism, blame-shifting, and rationalization. These behaviors help her deflect attention from her shortcomings and maintain control over how others perceive her.

Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/case-study-she-has-an-anxious-need-to-be-right/

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Shows Main Idea – In this episode, Rick Thomas talks with Pastor Joby Martin about his book Stand Firm and Act Like Men and the urgent need for Biblical masculinity in today’s culture. Far from cultural stereotypes of passivity or toxic aggression, Joby explains how Scripture calls men to live as providers, protectors, prophets, priests, and servant kings—all under the lordship of Christ. Together, Rick and Joby unpack the traps that ensnare men—pride, anxiety, laziness, isolation, and lust—and the crucial role of accountability through what Joby calls “mat carriers.” They also address how women can encourage rather than correct, why technology is one of the greatest threats to family life, and how the Church must avoid softening or distorting masculinity. This conversation calls men to bend the knee to Jesus before they can stand firm in strength and love.

Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-559-joby-martin-stand-firm-and-act-like-men/

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Biff and Mable have been married for 17 years, but their covenant relationship has been fraught with challenges for much of that time. They have two teenage sons who are nearing adulthood, and the prospect of an empty nest leaves Mable filled with dread. As she considers her future, she realizes she knows very little about Biff, and what she does know discourages her.

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Mable is consumed with her appearance, weight, and food choices. She frequently fasts, not out of a heartfelt desire to glorify God with her body or soul, but as a means to control her image and find approval. Contradictions mark her conversations—she often projects self-righteousness in her discipline yet also reveals deep insecurity through her comparisons to others.

Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/case-study-when-thin-is-in/

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Shows Main Idea – An anxious heart is not merely a soul issue to manage, but a discipleship opportunity to shepherd the heart—guiding our children (and ourselves) to trust in the steadfast love of God rather than the shifting sands of circumstance.

Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-558-giving-hope-to-anxious-hearts/

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Biff is an angry man whose temper has caused significant issues in his marriage. Two weeks ago, Mable gave him an ultimatum: seek help or face the end of their marriage. In response, Biff reluctantly attended church with Mable last Sunday—the first time in over 11 years.

Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/case-study-when-prayer-kills-a-church/

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Mable presented herself as an ideal counselee: open, honest, and seemingly eager for change. In your first session, she shared her struggles with remarkable transparency, leaving no detail uncovered. Her vulnerability moved you, and her apparent willingness to receive correction quickly filled you with hope for genuine transformation.

Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/case-study-counseling-the-un-counsel-able/

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Mable picked up the phone and started calling people at random. Somehow, she ended up with your number. Mable confessed she didn’t know why she was calling you but felt an inexplicable urge to do so. She began to share her sordid story: she was at the end of a complicated and frustrating life and felt hopeless.

Read, Watch, Listen: https://lifeovercoffee.com/case-study-suicide/

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