We may not think of ourselves as theologians, but the truth is, anytime we think about a teaching of Scripture and seek to understand it, we are engaging in theology, which refers to the study of God. In this book, Dr. Sproul surveys the basic truths of the Christian faith, explaining what God is like and what He has done for His people. This introduction to systematic theology includes sections on the doctrines of Christology (Christ), pneumatology (the Holy Spirit), soteriology (salvation), ecclesiology (the church), and eschatology (last things).

No event in our lives could be more significant than our conversion to Christ. But what happens next, after we become Christians? What do we need to know, and how do we grow in grace? The following resources, curated by the Ligonier editorial team, can assist new Christians in learning the Bible and Christian doctrine so that they might live a life of love for God and others.
Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R.C. Sproul
In this book, Dr. Sproul explains more than one hundred major Christian doctrines, providing an accessible yet thorough understanding of the Christian faith as revealed in Scripture. Topics covered include divine revelation, the attributes of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, the church, end times, and much more. Analogies and illustrations from everyday life make this an interesting and informative tool for those who are new to the Bible or theology.
The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson
What is a Christian? What does it mean to belong to a church? And how can we grow in grace?
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Written by Christine M. Chappell |
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Taking the time to connect a depressed mother to lament is an act of patient compassion (1 Thess. 5:14). She needs reassurance that “spiritual power and growth feel like weakness, as if we just barely make it through the day.”[3] Indeed, there’s a special kind of strength God gives when we are free to feel weak (2 Cor. 12:9-10). But just as we help her to take comfort in the realism of lament, we explain that these God-given prayers mean to serve a redemptive purpose in her life: the deepening of her dependence on the Lord and the purification of her faith in Him (1 Pet. 1:6-7).

Are you counseling a mother who feels depressed, discouraged, and desperate to feel better again? Those are common sentiments to hear from a woman wPreview (opens in a new tab)ho feels imprisoned by the darkness she’s in. Maybe she yearns to be strong and stable, but she can’t shake the sense that she’s failing at life. She’s not “rising to the occasion” as she hoped. She’s frustrated with herself for not “suffering well.”Among all the other mental, physical, relational, financial, and circumstantial loads she carries, she also feels crushed by a burden to perform—as if faithfulness means faking her way through her feelings.
It’s hard for a mom to be a pillar of strength for her family when she feels like she’s falling apart.
As we seek to better understand a depressed mother’s experience (and the hurt and confusion that go with it), we may find that she doesn’t feel free to feel weak—to feel any other way but “fine.” So how can we counsel the weary woman who thinks she should always feel strong and steady? How might we begin to lift the burden of performance off her back? To be sure, we could escort her to many places in the Scriptures. But connecting her with the realism and redemption of biblical lament is a conversation that ought not be overlooked.
The Realism of Biblical Lament
When a melancholy mother thinks she ought to feel better than she actually is, we, as biblical counselors, have a tremendous opportunity before us. Namely, we get to meet her in the midst of her weakness—just like Jesus does (Heb. 4:15; 1 Thess. 5:14). We invite her to hear the laments of afflicted Psalmists and sit with her in the tension of those desperate prayers for a while (Ps. 88, 102). We explain that to groan our way to glory is not only human,“[it’s] Christian, for now.”[1] We let the official songbook of God’s chosen people debunk the “myth that faith is always smiling.”[2] Then, together, we ask the Spirit to steady her as He gives voice to her distress through His Word (Ps. 77).
Real life is really hard for God’s people—we hurt ourselves when we think it shouldn’t be (Matt. 7:14).
Another way to connect her to the realism of biblical lament is to lead her to hear Christ’s own cries. We revisit the realities of His miseries (Isa. 53:2-6; Matt. 27:27-31). We see that Jesus wasn’t always strong and smiling (Matt. 26:37-38; John 11:35); His human nature needed strengthening and steadying, too (Matt. 4:11; Luke 22:41-44).
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Belz, as much as anyone in his life, exemplified a key aspect of Reformed heritage: the interwoven strands of doctrine, piety, and witness. “It’s tempting for those three strands to become unraveled. Some people seem to be all about doctrine, or all about the spiritual life, or all about cultural engagement,” Niel Nielsen said. “Belz held those together. So for the church, the denomination, and especially the Covenant community, he represented the best of Reformed faith and life and faithfulness.”

Joel Belz, founder of WORLD News Group, died Sunday at his home in Asheville, N.C., from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 82.
Those who knew Belz esteemed him as an exemplary son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, elder, teacher, journalist, and publisher. He saw himself as nothing more than a great sinner who had received great mercy.
“Just as it is for every sinner, mine is a story of what God has done for me—not what I have done for Him,” Belz wrote in 2021 in his WORLD Magazine column.
Belz was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1941, the second of eight children of Max and Jean Belz. His parents prioritized Christian education for their children.
“Daily reading and Bible classes were assumed,” Belz wrote of his childhood. “We took notes on the sermons we heard. And we memorized Scripture—so that all these years later, 20 or more entire Psalms are still stashed away in my increasingly Parkinson’s-wobbly memory.”
Belz’s father was a third-generation grain, lumber, and coal dealer in central Iowa, though he later attended seminary and became a Presbyterian pastor. As a child, Belz joined his dad at annual meetings of the Bible Presbyterian Church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. Belz attended Cono Christian School, which his father helped found, and later graduated from Covenant College with a degree in English. He earned a master’s degree in mass communications and journalism from the University of Iowa. In between, he did research and traveled internationally for the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation.
Belz taught logic and English at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., briefly before helping to found Lookout Mountain Christian School across the border in Tennessee, which still operates today as Chattanooga Christian School. For decades, Belz served as a board member of Covenant College. Niel Nielson spent 10 years at Covenant as president and worked closely with Belz. Nielson said Belz, as much as anyone in his life, exemplified a key aspect of Reformed heritage: the interwoven strands of doctrine, piety, and witness.
“It’s tempting for those three strands to become unraveled. Some people seem to be all about doctrine, or all about the spiritual life, or all about cultural engagement,” Nielsen said. “Belz held those together. So for the church, the denomination, and especially the Covenant community, he represented the best of Reformed faith and life and faithfulness.”
In 1975, Belz married Carol Esther Jackson, and the couple raised five daughters. In 1977, Belz moved his family to Asheville to work for The Presbyterian Journal, a publication for theologically conservative Presbyterians where he later became interim editor.
Belz believed Christian education was a key to the believer’s life. His involvement at Asheville Christian Academy lasted beyond his youngest child’s graduation. Evidence stands two stories tall at the center of the campus, a building that now houses a reception area, cafeteria, and offices. Head of School Bill George says Belz’s foresight saved the day years ago when other decision-makers wanted to drop plans to construct the space. Belz insisted they finish the outer structure but leave the completion of the interior and the fundraising to the next generation. It sat vacant for years, but now George sees the wisdom in Belz’s determination to forge ahead. He describes Belz, who also served as an elder at his church, as a great counselor and older brother type, one who kept his head on straight even as his accomplishments grew. “There wasn’t a saccharine sort of fakeness with Belz,” George said. “He was the same whether he was in front of an audience of a thousand or just sitting across the table having a cup of coffee with you.”
In 1981, Belz, as he continued to work for The Presbyterian Journal, combined his journalistic experience with his background in education to launch It’s God’s World, a newspaper for middle school students. He later added papers for other age groups. After the student publications received a warm welcome from many families and Christian schools, he received requests for an adult version covering news and current events. Belz then oversaw WORLD Magazine’s launch in March 1986.
“For the next five years, the goal was survival,” Belz wrote in a 1997 WORLD column. “Could we publish one more edition? Could we pay one more week’s postage bills? Could we meet salaries one more time? Yet, during a period when 80–90 percent of all periodicals flunk the test of durability, God let WORLD survive.”
But Belz didn’t know, during those first few months, if the magazine would last. With only 5,000 subscribers, The Presbyterian Journals’ board canceled the new publication in June 1986 after only 13 issues.
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