Timothy S. Lane, M.Div., D. Min. is Executive Director and faculty member at CCEF and has been counseling for more than 25 years. He has previous experience in both campus and pastoral ministry, including serving as a pastor for ten years. He is the author of several mini-books including Forgiving Others, Sex Before Marriage, and Freedom From Guilt. He also co-authored the books How People Change and Relationships - A Mess Worth Making.
“The goal of my relationship with this person is that I might become more like Christ in this relationship, and that they might be more like Christ as a result of this relationship . . . . That changes everything.” - Tim Lane
One strength and weakness of CCEF is our name! In fact, we have had many discussions over the years about whether to change our name. Those discussions always end where they began, and our name remains unchanged. Surprisingly, the strengths and weaknesses of our name are due to the word counseling. Our debate is always about how the “c-word” both communicates and miscommunicates the vision of our ministry.
The word “discipline” is not popular. It often evokes feelings of shame and guilt. That is also the case with church discipline, especially in cultural contexts where shame is something to be avoided at all costs. 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 says, If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. Hebrews 12 reminds us that God disciplines those he loves.
The coming of the Kingdom of God is inaugurated by Jesus in his first coming. It will be fully realized in his second coming. The Great Reversal has begun and God has initiated his plan to cleanse and heal all things. How does this present and future reality and hope express itself now within the body of Christ and individual local churches?
I would like to thank everyone who supported CCEF this past year by praying, volunteering time, and giving your resources. Our fiscal year ended in August and we finished with a 10% increase in overall donations. This is amazing given the economy, and we are grateful for God's provision. Over the past year, your gifts have enabled us to:
Churches can and should minister to people caught in addictions. Tim Lane’s “Godly Intoxication” sets forth a vision. He cogently summarizes the dynamics of addiction, the dynamics of change, and the dynamics of the love of God. These core understandings feed directly into how vibrantly functioning church communities can offer exactly the sort of help an addict most needs.
Content creation is an integral part of CCEF’s development of the biblical counseling movement. One of the primary ways CCEF advances our mission is by publishing the Journal of Biblical Counseling (JBC). This spring, we took a bold step when we re-launched the JBC and made each current issue free on our website. Were we crazy to do this? Take a look at some of these stats:
Timothy Lane was inaugurated as the new CCEF Executive Director on May 7, 2007. John Bettler, former CCEF executive director, spoke about servant leadership and the need for the servant to keep his eyes on the Master and cry for mercy. Other friends and work associates spoke of the significance of the inauguration vows: to love as Christ loved, to serve as Christ served. Craig Higgins offered the charge: to lead CCEF with self-giving love as modeled by Christ Himself. Tim Lane accepted the charge to lead CCEF and reminded everyone of CCEF’s
When a counselor works with a couple in a seemingly hopelessly broken marriage, it seems to be an impossible task. How should a counselor respond? This article provides a model (based on Jeremiah 17:5-10) for life change that counselors can use. Using a case study, Lane and Tripp show how to analyze the presenting situation in terms of the heat (the situation) and the fruit in the situation (sinful reactions). The model then shows how change takes place through Christ. With critical heart change, Christ brings new identity to a struggler’s life.
