Resources: Courage: Fighting Fear With Fear by Joshua Mack and Wayne Mack

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About the Book

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible tells us to fear God, but our lives show where our true fears lie. Sinful, controlling fear cripples us spiritually: we’re afraid to obey or trust God, and we worry more about what others think of us than what God thinks.

Throw off the covers and embrace the fear that is good for you—the fear of God that will give you true courage in every situation.

This book can be used for individual growth and development, for group study, or for homework assignments for those in counseling.

About the Author

Wayne Mack lives in Pretoria, South Africa, where he serves as a pastor-elder with his son-in-law and teaches biblical counseling at Strengthening Ministries Training Institute to pastors and aspiring pastors in the region. He also spends about six weeks in the USA teaching at various churches. He and his wife, Carol, have four adult children and numerous grandchildren.

Joshua Mack (M.A. in biblical counseling, The Master’s College; M.Div., The Master’s Seminary; D.Min., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is pastor-teacher of Living Hope Church in Pretoria, South Africa, and Executive Director of 1Hope Ministries International. He and his wife, Marda, have five daughters as well as two boys and one girl in permanent foster care. He is the co-author of Courage and God’s Solution to Life’s Problems. You can read more of Joshua Mack’s writings at joshnmarda.wordpress dot com

Book Review

“As a biblical counselor, I love Wayne and Joshua Mack’s Courage: Fighting Fear with Fear. I have used it over and over again with folks who struggle with fear. However, the folks I counsel are not the only ones who have benefitted from this book; as a person who can easily be overpowered by fear, I have been the first to benefit. I have been blessed as I have reminded myself repeatedly of the principles this book teaches. The Mack’s work stands out among a number of good resources on the subject. I would encourage you to use it first to bless your own life and then use it to bless the lives of everyone you know who might experience the emotion of fear (wouldn t that be all of us?).”
—Amy Baker, Counselor, Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries

“Tragically, fear grips many, many Christians in their daily walk. I say ‘tragically’ because, while this reality of ongoing fear should not be such a debilitating part of any believer’s life, it nevertheless continues to plague countless beleaguered souls. But what to do about it? The answer, of course, is to avail yourself of large doses of God s inerrant Word, out of which, crippling fear—whatever kind of fear it may be—can be victoriously overcome. And this is simply but marvelously what Wayne Mack’s book, Courage attempts to do, Taking Holy Scripture and applying it to the fearful person’s woes. If you are one of those professing Christians whose most significant struggle is fear, you’ve now found in this book a treasure trove of biblical teaching which can wonderfully liberate you from your fear factor.”
—Lance Quinn, Pastor of Grace Advance at Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California

“Dr. Mack and his son, Josh, have been dear friends and mentors to me for over twenty years now. They practice what they preach! They have both personally helped me fight my fears biblically, and they will do the same for you through this super book. Dive in!”
—Tim Cantrell, Pastor-Teacher at Antioch Bible Church, Johannesburg, South Africa

Courage tops the list of books that I regularly recommend for discipleship and counseling. There are few books written that are as helpful a resource to nearly every counselee that walks through my door. Though the subject matter seems broad, it is presented in a biblically sound and comprehensive way that speaks into the lives of hurting people, teaching them to live in the fear of the Lord.”
—John Street, The Master s College & Seminary

“Every one of us knows what it is like to be gripped by fear and doubt. Wayne and Josh Mack have served Christ’s church well with their new book on how to develop biblical courage. You can always be sure of two things whenever the Macks write a book: it will be filled with helpful truth from Scripture and be extremely relevant to the challenges we are facing today. This book will be a helpful resource to study personally and to give to others in need.”
—Steve Viars, Faith Baptist Church, Lafayette IN

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Simple fear journal

Fear dominates so many people today. When people struggle with fear, they find themselves struggling to think clearly. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Self-control could also be translated as a sound mind. It is a disciplined and self-controlled, and rightly prioritized mind. This simple journal will help you to write out your fears and biblically reframe your thinking and behaving to deal with your fears.

Gratitude journal

When was the last time someone said thank you to you? When was the last time you said thank you to someone else? So many people today struggle with a lack of thankfulness and ingratitude. This leads to struggles with complaining, criticizing, and comparing. Gratitude and thankfulness provide a powerful remedy for these problems. This gratitude journal helps us to identify what we should be grateful for and what we do as a result of seeing life as a gift.

God's grace prayer journal

Do you struggle with applying the truth that you learn during your study of God’s word? This God’s grace prayer journal will allow you to focus on gratitude and live in contentment in life. The journal pages encourage you to observe what you are learning from the Bible text, evaluate how you have failed to live according to the truths stated, seek forgiveness, and develop godly plans for change.

Giving hope

Do you struggle with the lack of hope? Do you find yourself struggling with doubt and insecurity during times of great challenge? During those times, you need to find your rest and assurance in pondering, personalizing, praying, and practicing what God’s Word says. In the short devotional, spend time meditating and studying each of these passages. Write down whatever comes to mind in the spaces below. And let God speak to you.

Discovering Godly patterns

One of the keys to growing in Christlikeness in our lives is to unearth and discover, and biblically evaluate our thinking patterns, speaking, and acting. This worksheet will help you be honest and specific about areas in your life that are not meeting biblical standards in thinking, speaking, and acting.

Counseling review journal

The God who began a good work in you will continue it through your lifetime and will finish it when we meet him face-to-face. God works for us, and God works in us. He enables us to become more like Christ every single day. This work is progressive and continual in this life. This worksheet helps us review and evaluate gains made during counseling and discipleship, show gratitude to God for what he has done, and develop plans for future growth and change.

Conflict review worksheet

There probably is not a day that goes by that we do not have some level of conflict with others. This worksheet helps us focus on the problem and not the person. It helps us evaluate how we have handled a dispute and how we should deal with it moving forward.

Bible study notes sheet

Do you ever struggle with doing a Bible study or journaling the key ideas from your reading? This Bible Study Note Sheet will encourage you to ponder and meditate on Scripture. Also, God’s Word is meant for you, so this worksheet will help you personalize what you are learning. It will also guide you in learning to pray God’s Word, and finally, it will encourage you to put into practice the principles and promises you find in reading the Word of God.

Anger journal

Anger is a significant issue for so many people. People often stuff or spew their anger, but very few learn to study their anger. This journal assignment will help you to do just that. It will help you understand, evaluate, and respond to your anger in better ways.

4 Steps to rethinking a problem

Do you ever find yourself getting overwhelmed with problems? Do you find yourself struggling with thinking clearly during a challenging situation? This four-step approach to rethinking a problem will help.

4P problem-solving approach worksheet

Problems can seem overwhelming. When we are in the midst of a significant crisis, many of us struggle with defining the problem and implementing helpful solutions. This worksheet helps us to identify three unbiblical and unproductive ways of handling problems. It also encourages us to destroy problems, not people, as we deal with issues in a biblical and God-honoring way.