Wayne Oates, one of America's leading pastoral counselors, draws on psychological insights to describe in everyday language several common personality disorders that make human interaction so difficult. He examines the reasons why individuals develop as they do and illuminates how personality disorders can result in destructive relgious behavior. Proposing pastoral care approaches that combine understanding with empathy and firmness, Oates discusses how the resources of the Christian faith can unmask these disorders so the real person can emerge. He concludes with a sixfold agenda for the...

A standard work in seminaries and a reliable guide for clergy in many denominations for over thirty years, The Christian Pastor has been revised to include up-to-date research on the role of pastors in contemporary life. In examining today's changing ministry, Wayne Oats makes use of recent psychological interpretations, and at the same time preserves the biblical and theological emphases of earlier editions.

In the contemporary church, pastors take on many roles. One of the most important roles a pastor must play is that of counselor. However, this isn't always a natural fit for every pastor. In this creative and readable book, Wayne Oates offers a definitive argument for the history and future necessity of pastoral counseling.

In this book, Wayne Oates defines luck as a secular faith, examining the ways in which the idea of our experiences being based on luck dominates much of our thinking about how and why our lives develop as they do. According to Oates, this secular "faith in luck" is unhealthy and should be countered with faith in God.