Tony Reinke, over at his Miscellanies blog, tells about a recent conversation he and C. J. Mahaney had with the godfather of modern biblical counseling, Dr. David Powlison.  Reinke had sat in on a class Dr. Powlison taught earlier in the day and, in response to something he heard him say, used this conversation as an opportunity to ask Dr. Powlison about, “The value of literature for pastors as they seek to discover and better understand the chaos and messiness of the human experience.”

Here’s part of what was said:

Theology, Powlison says, is the compass that points to true north as the storm of life swirls around us. Studying theology is essential, but we cannot neglect studying the realities of human experience of this world. You can tell Powlison has a burden for pastors to become familiar with the storm of everyday life for the purpose of informing pastoral labors and helping connect biblical promises to the contours of life. Scripture makes sense of the chaos.

Read the rest of this conversation here.

More information on Dr. David Powlison is available at the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) website.  Dr. Powlison is a counselor and faculty member with CCEF.  He has also served as editor for their publication, The Journal of Biblical Counseling.