The Biblical Counseling Movement largely recovered by Jay Adams and his prophetic book, Competent to Counsel is wide open for publications. By God’s grace, this critical ministry is really taking root in seminaries and local churches all over the world as pastors and ministry leaders realize that counseling is the church’s birthright. Counseling is a theological ministry for the local church by the local church. Because counseling should take place primarily in the context of the local church, we need books geared toward helping people in that context which is why Rush Witt’s new book Diehard Sins: How to Fight Wisely against Destructive Daily Habits is so needed.
In the book, Witt aims to address those acceptable sins tolerated in the lives of Christians. These are the types of sins often ignored in the pulpit and certainly in the pew. When’s the last time you listened to a sermon on overcoming the vice of perfectionism? When is the last time you heard a biblical strategy for overcoming gluttony? Or ‘foot-in-mouth syndrome’? The sins in Witt’s crosshairs are those pesky undetected sins that we often tolerate or even ignore. These are the sins we don’t notice when compared to those ‘bigger’ sins in our lives and the lives of others. These are the sins that are desensitizing us, and we don’t even know it. They are dangerous. They are deadly.
This book, much like other Biblical Counseling literature published recently is highly practical and very Christo-centric. Witt divides ten chapters up into three sections. His three sections are;
- Enter with Joy into Your Struggle against Daily Sin
- Understand the True Needs of Your Heart
- Bring Christ and His Provisions to Your Fight
This is a very tangible, grace-filled field manual on how to mortify sins. Allow me to spend a brief time on the Appendix to help illustrate the book’s value. After completing the third section of the book (Bring Christ and His Provisions to Your Fight), Witt takes you by the hand and shows you exactly how to do that. He isn’t interested in theoretical advice. He assumes no knowledge. Witt is a shepherd, and he shepherds you through his advice. For example, when he discusses the importance of focusing on God as your provision through meditating, he challenges you to think on God’s attributes. If you have trouble, no problem! He gives recommended readings like J.I. Packer’s, Knowing God and Sproul’s The Holiness of God to help you expand your knowledge of God so that you may develop this area of your walk with God. The book is full of this type of practical help.
Who is this book for? It is for you. It is for me. I read it. I am applying it. I am buying it and handing it out to folks I counsel. I am getting it as stocking stuffers for Christmas. Every Christian will benefit from reading this book. Diehard Sins is a welcomed addition to the growing number of Biblical Counseling helps.
Joey Tomlinson (DMin, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a husband, father, and pastor at a local church in Newport News, Virginia. He blogs regularly on broadoakpiety.org and hosts a weekly podcast called The Broad Oak Piety Podcast with another local pastor in the community.
