How People Change Study Guide

Timothy S. Lane, MDiv, DMin, is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) with over 30 years of experience in pastoral ministry, counseling, teaching, and executive leadership. He is the author of several minibooks and the coauthor of the books How People Change and Relationships: A Mess Worth Making and the curricula Change and Your Relationships, and Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. Tim speaks internationally, consults with churches, and writes about the importance of pastoral care.

Paul David Tripp, MDiv, DMin, is the president of Paul Tripp Ministries, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Paul is a best-selling author of many books on Christian living, including New Morning Mercies, New Morning Mercies for Teens, 12 Truths Every Teen Can Trust, How People Change, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, A Quest for More, Relationships: A Mess Worth Making, Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family, and the minibook A Teen’s Guide to Peer Pressure. Paul and his wife, Luella, live in Philadelphia and have four grown children.

The Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) has been teaching people how to understand the wisdom and depth of the Bible and apply its grace-centered message to the problems of daily living since 1968. A biblical counseling and educational ministry located in suburban Philadelphia, CCEF operates a robust biblical counseling ministry in their home office as well as on-site training for others with a heart for discipleship. CCEF also teaches several accredited counseling programs both on-site and through distance learning in conjunction with Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. As an extension of the local church, CCEF accomplishes its mission through a unique synergy of counseling, training, publications, and conferences.

"This book is applied theology. It's about heat, thorns, the cross, and fruit. It's about present grace. In sixteen short and well-illustrated chapters, the wonderful prospect of change for the good is held out for the reader. We are called to consider our circumstances and our responses to them, and beneath that to examine our hearts' desires and to turn afresh to Christ's cross."

Mark Dever, Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

"It's encouraging to know that, in God's hands, the winds of adversity that batter our lives are also agents of fruitful change in us. Paul Tripp and Tim Lane have done us all a favor by leading us down that path of change and teaching us how to embrace God's transforming work in our hearts."

Carolyn Custis James, Author of When Life and Beliefs Collide

"Change doesn't happen overnight for the Christian. It's a lifelong journey. Paul Tripp and Tim Lane masterfully guide us along the biblical path that points us to the cross and a lifestyle of faith and repentance. I recommend this book to all Christians who desire to grow in their relationship with God."

Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

"Governments and agencies can legislate for people, resource people, teach people, but they can't change people. Jesus Christ can! It's that people-changing gospel that these study guides apply clearly, deeply, and perceptively to the relationships that Christians have with friends, neighbors, and families. London City Mission uses this material for training our entire team of 120 who are engaged in patient, sensitive, personal evangelism. These guides are an excellent—even an essential—preparation for that great work."

John Nicholls, DMin, Former Chief Executive, London City Mission, UK

"There are very few resources I find more useful than CCEF's study guides. God changes people by conforming their hearts into his likeness, and How People Change will help your laypeople to understand this more clearly. If you want to know why people do the things they do, this resource is for you!"

Deepak Reju, Associate Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist, Washington, DC