Resources

Our desire at Impact is to be a resource for the body of Christ. On this page you’ll find links  and short descriptions of articles, books, blogs, podcasts, or anything we have found helpful as we work to consider life through the lens of Scripture. We hope you find it helpful and would welcome any suggestions for topics you’d like to know more about.

This page is in progress. Check back soon for more resources.

Topic Index:

Abuse (Domestic)

  • Entitlement: When Expectations Go Toxic by Darby Strickland. This is a great resource that details how entitlement works in a marriage. I appreciate it because it gives a different lens, a biblical lens, for understanding abuse in marriage.
  • Identifying Oppression in Marriage by Darby Strickland. This article will give you the basics on abusive marriages. Darby lays out the characteristics of oppression in marriage and gives you key things to look for in understanding the dynamics in the marriage.

Abuse (Sexual)

  • On the Threshold of Hope by Diane Langberg. This is a good book to give to someone beginning to work through past childhood abuse. It’s accessible, gently written, and does a good job introducing the various areas that childhood abuse might affect. Sometimes people know they need to work through things in their past but couldn’t tell you exactly what they need to work through, this is a great book for them to start.

Anxiety

Biblical Counseling

  • The Gospel Makes a DifferenceInterpersonal ministry is part of our calling as believers.  Paul tells us in Galatians 6 that we are to “bear one another’s burdens” and that is at the heart of interpersonal ministry. Here is an article published in New Horizons about how we can help one another as we go through various crises.
  • The Theology of Biblical CounselingAn article by Steve Green that briefly explains the theology of counseling particularly in a crisis moment.
  • 15 Definitions of Biblical Counseling. Here’s a link to a blog post from RPM Ministries. It’s a collection of brief descriptions from the varied corners of the biblical counseling world. At Impact we’d probably most closely associate with the definitions given by Tim Lane with CCEF, Depak Reju of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, and Shawn Doud.

Communication

Depression

Discontentment

  • The Greener Grass Conspiracy by Stephen Altrogge
  • The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs
  • Ordinary by Michael Horton. This one is a different take on discontentment and may not be for everyone but here’s why I like it. Sometimes discontentment comes because we feel like we should be doing much grander things than we are. We look at the regular rhythms of our lives and the normal rhythms of life within the body of Christ and it’s boring. Horton does a good job emphasizing the goodness of the ordinary life lived before the Lord.

Marriage

Parenting

  • Raising Teens in a Hyper Sexualized World:Help For Parents by Eliza Huie. In Eliza’s words: “This book explores how to respond to your teen when you are faced with the reality that they may know more than you thought and possibly be engaging in more than you hoped. The pages contain situations and stories that come from many years of counseling parents who desperately want to respond well to their teens. Leaning on the wisdom of Scripture as well as faithful authors who have more extensive experience than myself helped me to compile what I hope will be helpful tips for parents of teens.They are tips to help keep the conversations going.”
  • The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch.  In this book, Andy encourages us to ask ourselves what we want out of life and then helps us think through how our technology usage is helping and/or hindering those goals. Somehow he conveys the brevity of life and casts a vision for keeping our priorities aligned in an entirely grace-filled way. Families will be challenged, inspired, and given much to ponder in this little book. The depth with which he talks about life, death, and the crucial nature of building relationships is profoundly moving. A must read for anyone struggling to navigate wisely in our tech-saturated culture
  • Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by Sarah Mae & Sally Clarkson. This book offers hope, solidarity, and gospel encouragement to mothers of young children who find themselves exhausted, overwhelmed, and in over their heads.

Relationships

  • “Boundaries in Relationships” by Ed Welch. This article gives some biblical guidelines for approaching the concept of boundaries that has become a popular theme in our culture. Welch looks at the metaphor through a biblical lens considering its limitations as a ruling metaphor and giving practical ways to apply this concept in relationship.

Sexual Sin

  • Harvest USA  Harvest is a great resource for the church regarding sexuality. Their spending the time thinking through difficult topics in our world and culture through a biblical lens. I appreciate that they consistently point to Christ and an interaction with him in the midst of these struggle.
  • Sexual Sanity for Women by Ellen Dykas. This is a great resource for pastors and women’s ministry leaders. It’s structured as a small group study and therefore not the kind of thing you’d hand to someone in the midst of the struggle. Here’s what I like about it: Ellen consisently points to our need for grace, she answers questions like “How could I do this?”, she avoids some of the cliche fixes that the church can sometimes offer.

Shame

  • Unshamed: Healing Our Brokenness and Finding Freedom from Shame by Heather Nelson Davis.
  • You Feel Ashamed – But Christ is the Lifter Your Head by Kristin Silva. Here’s an article on how to use Psalm 3 in the context of shame.
  • Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection by Ed Welch. I appreciate the biblical depth of this book. It reaches across Scripture to present a biblical view of shame – what it is, where it comes from, and most importantly God’s answer to it in Christ. I find it best suited for people whose experience of shame intensely, who use language like filthy or worthless to describe themselves. This book beautifully ties that experience into the glorious message of the Bible but can be a bit off-putting for someone whose experience of shame is more “ordinary”.

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