REVIEW: Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling

The Basics

Title: Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling
Author: Robert W. Kellemen, PhD
Genre: Christian/Pastoral Counseling
Release Date: September 15, 2020

Book Synopsis

Pastors and counselors regularly minister to people whose marriages or families are in crisis. Tempers run high and feelings are brought low when a marriage is hurting or a family is in disarray. Pastors and counselors need practical, biblical help in order to connect their theological training to the reality of modern messy relationships. These how-to training manuals provide relevant, user-friendly equipping for pastors, counselors, lay leaders, educators, and students, enabling them to competently and compassionately relate God’s Word to marriage and family life.

My Two Cents

Are you a pastor or counselor? Do you regularly counsel couples whose marriages are in need of serious help? Do you feel inadequate to help a couple walk through their marriage issues? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, this book is for you!

A quick online search will net hundreds of books on marriage, so you may be reticent to purchase yet another one. The libraries of most pastors and counselors I know include numerous books on marriage. However, this is not your regular “run of the mill” book on marriage. Keep reading to find out more.

The first part of the book is “A Theological Primer for Biblical Marriage Counseling.” Using relatable descriptions of marriage counseling situations, Dr. Kellemen lays out the biblical/theological groundwork necessary to undergird the counseling that helps counselees begin to ask the correct questions to diagnose the problems they are having and then moving to apply the biblical truths to their lives individually and as a couple.

After each portion of the information is taught and presented, you will find a section of questions entitled “Maturing as a Biblical Marriage Counselor: Solution” that lead you to interact with the biblical truths and the principles about which you just read and learned. The questions use real-life counseling situations as they lead you to apply these biblical truths and principles.

The next part of the book is “How to Develop 22 Marriage Counseling Relational Competencies.” Each of these chapters follows the same basic format as is contained in the first part of the book. The focus here is developing key marriage counseling relational competencies. This also is done through teaching and presenting practical ways to apply the theology you learn in part 1 to marriage counseling situations.

Dr. Kellemen’s writing style combined with the layout of the book provides a great format for learning and processing the biblical truths and principles and their application.

Now that I’ve done a straight-through read, I need to go back and really soak up and work through this book.

I highly recommend Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling to pastors, church staff, biblical counselors, and, well all Christ-followers. Even if you aren’t a pastor or counselor, your marriage will be strengthened as you learn, apply, and practice what you learn in this book. If you are not married, this book will provide wonderful information that will enable you to help your friends who are struggling with their marriages.

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NOTE: I received a copy of Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling from Dr. Robert W. Kellemen for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. 

Get your copy here.

About the Author

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Robert W. Kellemen, ThM, PhD is vice president of strategic development, academic dean, and professor at Faith Bible Seminary in Lafayette, Indiana. He is the Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries. Through RPM, he speaks, writes, and consults on Christ-centered, church-based, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed biblical counseling and equipping.

Kellemen also served as the founding Executive Director of The Biblical Counseling Coalition through which we provide robust resources and collaborative relationships for all those who are committed to biblical counseling. He is an ordained minister who has pastored several churches.

Kellemen earned a BA in Pastoral Studies at Baptist Bible College, a ThM in Theology and Biblical Counseling at Grace Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Counselor Education at Kent State University.

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Kellemen and his wife of 38 years, Shirley, have two adult children and three grandchildren.

Note from Shirley Crowder: I absolutely love this picture of Shirley and Bob. What beautiful smiles!

Follow Robert Kellemen at:
RPM Ministries, Twitter, Facebook