Living through Crises Leader's Guide

By Dale Taliaferro

To help small groups leaders guide the discussion on the book Living through Crises this Leader's guide has been developed. It contains over two hundred questions with their answers to make sure each person understands how to apply the principles and the concepts discussed in the book to his or her own life. There are indicators on the questions to alert the leader which questions the group should have already answered using their own Study Guide. The rest of the questions are also prioritized so the leader knows which ones are the most important and which ones should help his group the most. This guide has been praised by professional Christian counselors for its insight and Biblical wisdom. If the questions given in the Study Guide are answered by each member of the group, and the leader compares the answers that are given to those given in the Leader's Guide on the same questions, each person will have to come face to face with his trial and the debilitating emotions that are being occasioned by it. The book, accompanied by the Study Guide which each person in the group should have and fill out and the Leader's Guide which equipped the facilitator to be confident about the answers the author is seeking from each member and the follow up questions to extend and deepen the discussion and make the desired applications readily apparent. It will also be helpful if the leader/facilitator has the printed books since the page numbers listed in them will be different from the ebook formats.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dale Taliaferro
• Release date: Mar 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370802203

Dale Taliaferro

Dale Taliaferro has been teaching the Bible in churches, on university campuses, in business conference rooms, and in homes - both in the U.S. and overseas - since 1970. In addition he served as senior pastor in a Bible Church in Dallas for seven years. He is the founder of Equipped for Life Ministries, an organization dedicated to teaching Christians how to live in light of the resources they have in Jesus. He studied at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon and at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He holds a doctorate of ministry as well as two master degrees in theology and ministry. He and his wife, Waunee, live in Dallas, Texas, and have two grown children who love the Lord.

Book preview

FIRMLY PLANTED PUBLICATIONS

an imprint of Equipped for Life Ministries, Dallas, Texas

~Living Through Crises ~

LEADER’S GUIDE

B. Dale Taliaferro

LIVING THROUGH CRISES LEADER’S GUIDE

published by Firmly Planted Publications

an imprint of Equipped for Life Ministries

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright © 2007 by B. Dale Taliaferro

International Standard Book Number: 978-0-9764305-1-3

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation (www.Lockman.org). Used by permission.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

For information:

Equipped for Life Ministries

P.O. Box 12013

Dallas, Texas 75225

U.S.A.

www.e-l-m.org

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007908994

First Edition | First Printing | December 2007

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

This Leader’s Guide would not have been published if it had not been for my loving family. Thank you for your tireless work.

PRINCIPLE ONE

Our most pressing need is not more time to work through our trials; our most pressing need is a new life to handle our trials!

PRINCIPLE TWO

God will lead us into trials, situations that we do not want to experience, in order to sensitize us to our continuing, natural resistance to His will and to uncover our false pride.

PRINCIPLE THREE

God may send us into situations in which we feel estranged from Him, when in fact, He is ever watching over us.

PRINCIPLE FOUR

God will repeat His tests so that we can learn His lessons from them.

PRINCIPLE FIVE

Being weary physically and frightened emotionally may hinder our spiritual responsiveness.

PRINCIPLE SIX

Because of our sinfulness, we will be frightened even at the solution that God sends for our troubles.

PRINCIPLE SEVEN

Our present reliance on Jesus always will manifest itself in present obedience.

PRINCIPLE EIGHT

When we respond to God in the midst of our trials, regardless of the severity of our emotional state, we can begin to have immediate spiritual victory.

PRINCIPLE NINE

The same fears and distresses which paralyzed us once will return if we take our eyes off Jesus.

PRINCIPLE TEN

If we do not respond properly to the trial facing us now, we may not be ready for the next trial, which is already on its way toward us.

Table of Contents

How to Use This Guide

Study Questions and Answers

Introduction

Background to Our Passage

PRINCIPLE ONE

PRINCIPLE TWO

PRINCIPLE THREE

PRINCIPLE FOUR

PRINCIPLE FIVE

PRINCIPLE SIX

PRINCIPLE SEVEN

PRINCIPLE EIGHT

PRINCIPLE NINE

PRINCIPLE TEN

About the Author

How to Use This Guide

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Dear Reader,

This guide is a collection of study questions and suggested answers that accompany the book Living through Crises. I call this guide a Leader’s Guide because I write many answers as if for the leader of a group, but this guide is every bit as much for individuals studying on their own. My goal is for readers of all types to apply the truths in Living through Crises. Truth learned but not applied is ineffective: it will not deliver in the day of trial. To be applied, a truth must become an abiding conviction of the heart. Fostering abiding convictions is the purpose of the study questions and answers in this book.

This guide employs different fonts to identify answers to questions and instructions to group leaders. Answers are written in a Roman face, like the kind you are reading now. Instructions to leaders and additional questions to ask group members (or to contemplate yourself, if you are studying this guide alone) are written in an Italic face. If you are leading a group and you would like to distribute copies of study questions to your members, a set of questions is available at www.e-l-m.org/ltcquestions.pdf .

Remember that not every question in this book needs to be discussed or considered. The goal is to help readers apply principles in their lives. Once readers understand the application, there is no need for continued discussion, only for accountability to encourage continued application. To aid in navigating the questions, I have designated what I believe are the most helpful with a special mark: >. These questions might prompt thoughtful individual reflection before a group meeting, for example.

May God bless your study of His marvelous work in your life.

Sincerely,

B. Dale Taliaferro

Study Questions and Answers

Introduction

1. On despairing thoughts, pp. 13-14

1.1 List and describe the emotional changes that the author experiences from the time of his sonogram to the time that his doctor explains the necessary surgery. Include those that the author describes explicitly, as well as any that you would imagine he experienced.

Disbelief -- This can’t be happening to me!

Helplessness -- What can I do about it?

Abandonment -- There was no one to help.

Loneliness -- He was physically alone in the doctor’s office.

Fear, anxiety, and worry -- What was going to happen now?

Bewilderment -- He just didn’t understand.

Despair -- He saw no hope of getting through this crisis.

> 1.2 What kind of emotions have you experienced during your trial?

Encourage group members to be as specific as possible as they verbalize their own destructive emotions. The goal of this study is to help each person move past his or her emotions, so help each person be specific. Express compassion and empathy without condoning what they are feeling.

Ask, Do you want to move past these debilitating emotions? Some people do not want to move past their emotions. Those that do can be delivered from these emotions completely.

1.3 Have you been able to control your emotions? Do you experience peace and hope consistently?

By peace we mean the opposite of fear, anxiety, and worry. By hope we mean the expectation of support and deliverance. Someone who answers yes to this question probably is handling his trial in the way God has ordained. Remember that suppressing negative emotions is not the same thing as dispelling them. No one on his own can control his emotions, any more than he can control the beating of his own heart. Emotions are involuntary; they are responses to one’s circumstances. While negative emotions arise spontaneously from the trials of life, they can be kept from settling in, determining the emotional state of a person, and destroying the peace and hope he desires. Dwelling upon God’s character, His compassion and care for us, and His promises dispels destructive emotions and replaces them with positive ones. A persuaded heart is a peaceful heart; a doubting heart is a tumultuous heart.

God is worthy of our trust, and our trust is guaranteed His blessing. Jesus said that when we become persuaded of His truth, experiencing it as a way of life, we will be set free.[1] The new birth does not set us free from indwelling sin; rather, abiding in the truth from a persuaded heart sets us free from indwelling sin’s emotional tyranny. Abiding is simply a synonym for walking by faith.

> 1.4 What role do your emotions play in your life? How do they affect your life?

Encourage general analysis of broad patterns in group members’ lives. For example, group members might say,

• "Generally I am an emotional person. I react quickly to the circumstances that come into my life."

• "Often, after I’ve had a chance to rethink an issue, I change my response dramatically," e.g., from fear to trust, from anger to love, from exasperation to encouragement, from frustration to sympathy, from despair to hope, from disturbed to peaceful, etc.

• "My emotions usually determine the response I give in most situations."

Help each person understand how he responds to life and how large a role his emotions play. We want to uncover how our emotions often determine our responses when they shouldn’t be given this kind of authority.

> 1.5 Why is it true that emotional responses are usually contrary to Biblical principles?

Many Biblical principles run opposite our natural inclinations. For example, to be great one must become a servant to all.[2] We are to rejoice when we are persecuted for the sake of Christ.[3] We are to count it all joy when we encounter various trials.[4] We are to love our enemies.[5] We are to forgive seventy times seven.[6] We are not to fear man or what he can do to us.[7] These are not the natural responses we give. Hence, living emotionally leads us away from God and His care and protection and blessings.

We cannot be angry[8] and loving at the same time. We cannot be despairing and be hopeful in the same instance. We cannot be fearful and be at peace. We cannot doubt and depend upon the Lord at the same moment about the same thing.

Ask, How have your emotions separated you from a sense of God’s presence, care and protection during your trial?

1.6 How would you distinguish between God’s peace and the world’s peace? John 14:27

The Greek word for peace comes from a root that denotes harmony. God’s peace comes to the person who is in harmony with Him. In other words, the mind and will must be aligned with the mind and will of God for our emotions to be a reflection of God’s desires for us. Hence, no one who is rebelling against God, either actively or passively, can ever have God’s peace. No one who refuses to think God’s thoughts about his situation can have God’s peace. Our minds and our behavior must be pleasing to God for Him to grant us His peace. God does not grant peace arbitrarily or randomly.

A lack of peace then is an indication that we are not responding in our trial as we ought. When we lack peace, we ought to ask God for wisdom to uncover our poor responses so that we can give, by God’s strength, a response that pleases Him. By focusing upon God and His revealed will, we can experience peace in the midst of our trials.

Isaiah 26:3 illustrates these ideas. Andre Krouch’s chorus is also helpful:

I will keep him in perfect peace,

He who has his mind stayed on Me.

Contrast God’s peace with the world’s peace. The world’s peace is a temporary relief, whereas God’s peace is a cure. The world’s peace depends upon changing our situation to make it more agreeable to us. God’s peace depends upon God changing our hearts toward Him, His will and our circumstances, so that we can become content in the midst of our trials.

> 1.7 The important question is: To whom are we going to listen? If we listen to the wrong person, we will not end up with the peace that we seek. Are we willing to make