1,013 books
—
656 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change” as Want to Read:
Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change
by
Paul Tripp helps us discover where change is needed in our own lives and the lives of others. Following the example of Jesus, Tripp reveals how to get to know people at a deeper level, and how to lovingly speak truth to them without breaking fellowship.
Get A Copy
Paperback, 360 pages
Published
October 22nd 2002
by P & R Publishing
(first published 2002)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change

This book is about Biblical counseling and explains the process for helping people to see themselves and their issues as God sees them in the light of Scripture. I can see how it can be useful and the author obviously has a wealth of personal experience in this area which he is now using to instruct others through his writing. It is a helpful resource.
The author rightly explains that the root of all problem behaviour is sin in the heart. However, he doesn't allow for medical/neurological problem ...more
The author rightly explains that the root of all problem behaviour is sin in the heart. However, he doesn't allow for medical/neurological problem ...more

This is a fantastic book!
Often times illustrations or stories in a book detract from the overall quality in the book; they are usually comprised of fluff, intended only to add pages to the book. Thankfully, Tripp’s book does not do that. Every illustration powerfully or clearly brought a point or truth home. His illustrations and stories obviously stem from many years of his own personal sanctification journey and also his own ministry to others.
Tripp throughout the book emphasizes the role of ...more
Often times illustrations or stories in a book detract from the overall quality in the book; they are usually comprised of fluff, intended only to add pages to the book. Thankfully, Tripp’s book does not do that. Every illustration powerfully or clearly brought a point or truth home. His illustrations and stories obviously stem from many years of his own personal sanctification journey and also his own ministry to others.
Tripp throughout the book emphasizes the role of ...more

I highly recommend it. The author, Paul David Tripp, has a humble attitude, realizing that we are all broken vessels and we need each other for our sanctification. He gets to the root of our human problem by asserting that we are all worshipers - if not of God then of something in His place. We can see how personal trouble and relational disorders come from wrongly-directed worship.
Tripp definitely keeps God at the center of his attempts to help others in need, and does not add to the message of ...more
Tripp definitely keeps God at the center of his attempts to help others in need, and does not add to the message of ...more

May 31, 2012
John
is currently reading it
Quotes that sturck me as I read:
Ch. 1: THE BEST NEWS: A REASON TO GET UP IN THE MORNING
"We must not offer people a system of redemption, a set of insights and principles. We offer people a Redeemer. In his power, we find the hope and help we need to defeat the most powerful enemies. Hope rests in the grace of the Redeemer, the only real means of lasting change." (pg. 8)
"In rejecting a biblical view of people, the world eliminates any hope of answering the 'what is wrong?' question accurately." ( ...more
Ch. 1: THE BEST NEWS: A REASON TO GET UP IN THE MORNING
"We must not offer people a system of redemption, a set of insights and principles. We offer people a Redeemer. In his power, we find the hope and help we need to defeat the most powerful enemies. Hope rests in the grace of the Redeemer, the only real means of lasting change." (pg. 8)
"In rejecting a biblical view of people, the world eliminates any hope of answering the 'what is wrong?' question accurately." ( ...more

Tripp presents a compelling, biblical vision for Christian ministry - each member of the local body being used by God to change each other more and more into the image of their Redeemer. Every church member should read this book.
Here are just a few quotes from the book's Preface which summarize the main point well:
* "Many of us would be relieved if God had placed our sanctification in the hands of trained and paid professionals, but that simply is not the biblical model. God’s plan is that throu ...more
Here are just a few quotes from the book's Preface which summarize the main point well:
* "Many of us would be relieved if God had placed our sanctification in the hands of trained and paid professionals, but that simply is not the biblical model. God’s plan is that throu ...more

I LOVED this book. I think almost every page has highlighting or notes of some sort. This book is for everyone, truly life-changing, and I especially found it helpful as a parent. Tripp is so full of grace, and you can't help but feel his passion for his subject and his compassion for his readers.
...more

Every bit of good news must stem from a bad state or situation. News cannot be good if it is not relative to a state that is not good, or at the least, not as good. Humans strive and seek for better marriage, more money, greater happiness; all of these seekings, then, are for improvements in an initial condition. Tripp implicitly acknowledges this when he begins his treatment of the redemptive work in and through humans with an extended discussion of sin.
The gospel saves and redeems people. That ...more
The gospel saves and redeems people. That ...more

I am actually re-reading this book and am learning just as much this time through as I did the first time through. Any believer, counselor or not, who is personally involved with other believers would benefit from what this book has to say. Paul Tripp repeatedly drives home the theme that we are called to be involved in each other's lives for the glory of God. I especially appreciate the humble attitude Tripp uses when giving examples from his life. It makes him seem so much more real, and makes
...more

A good book with great insights, but written more like a textbook or a manual than an easy to access read (as I find typical of most of Tripp's writings). This book provided some great insights into the role of our hearts in relational conflicts, as well as what it means to be instruments in God's hands for His work in other's lives. Tripp does a great job of providing a grace centered approach to ministering to others. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book is the way that Tripp takes passages
...more

A 5 star book on applying the gospel to everyday ministry to individuals. Paul Tripp combines a thoroughly gospel-centred approach (many of the main points are made via extended exgesis of biblical passages) with the strengths of a 'personal counselling' approach. Probably the most practical / real life book about the gospel that I've ever read, and certainly the most biblical, gospel-centred book on counselling I ever read. I'll re-read this one a few more times in the next few years! 1. Love p
...more

A valuable, theological, edifying, practical book on Biblical personal ministry. Where we can tend to have vague feelings, trite fixes, and faulty insight into relational difficulties, Tripp provides Biblical categories and hope for the most challenging, messy situations. I appreciated his emphasis on the heart being the root issue of all struggles, while not dismissing the reality of suffering and being sinned against. If you are a Christian, you are someone who is being changed and someone who
...more

Loved this one. Hard to read and then put away in a bookshelf, though. This is a book that needs to be revisited many times.

Perhaps what I am about to say needs to be qualified: this is the third Paul Tripp book I've read this year.
I appreciate Tripp's ministry and I know many speak of how this book and many others have been beneficial, however I seem to struggle to connect with him as an author/reader. I find him particularly wordy and disconnected in his presentation. It's more a stylistic critique than anything.
This book is helpful at times, a few chapters and sections were educational, though for the most part ...more
I appreciate Tripp's ministry and I know many speak of how this book and many others have been beneficial, however I seem to struggle to connect with him as an author/reader. I find him particularly wordy and disconnected in his presentation. It's more a stylistic critique than anything.
This book is helpful at times, a few chapters and sections were educational, though for the most part ...more

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year! All Christians are in the ministry of people. We all need help in our own ways and God has placed us here to be instruments of change in each other’s lives. This books lays a great biblical foundation for why we need change and where it comes from. It then dives into how we can actively take part in God’s plan for change in each other’s lives.
My review probably doesn’t do the book justice. READ IT!
My review probably doesn’t do the book justice. READ IT!

Many people call this a counseling book and I get that from the examples that are used throughout, but really this is a book about how to change the culture of the church (starting with yourself) to reflect a community of believers who help each other change through informal ministry, a "covenantal model" rather than the typical "bandaid Scripture verses method." There are many practical suggestions and good illustrations in this book to work through this process. . . . "This is not just an aspe
...more

2.5 stars. I liked it. He had a lot of good things to say. I just wish I could have read the abridged version of the abridged version. After some chapters I'd close the book and think "now what was he actually try to say?"....I guess I wish he didn't go on and on sometimes, not really with the theme to his chapter...none that I could find anyways. I hope my disappointment with the book doesn't have anything to do with a subconscious unwillingness to change :-)
...more

this is seriously one of my favorite books I have ever read & will recommend it to anyone! i honestly see it as a guidebook for both formal ministry & personal ministry in our everyday relationships with people, with logical & tangible ways to be vessels of truth and love to people around us. highly recommend!

This was the second time I read this book. I love the subtitle - People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change. That's what God calls each of us to be and do, and this books is a helpful guide in learning to do it better.
...more

One of the best ministry "how to" books I've ever read! If ministry is your jam, read this book!!
...more

Jul 15, 2018
Chad Warner
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
Christians
Recommended to Chad by:
Kelly Warner
Shelves:
christian,
non-fiction
Fantastic resource for biblical counseling, providing both principles and practices. It brings Scriptural principles to the problems of life, showing how to bring about personal change. There are plenty of specific examples showing how to apply the concepts. It's written for every Christian, not only pastors and other formal counselors.
Tripp says biblical counseling (AKA biblical personal ministry) is, in a nutshell, "speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into … Christ" (Eph ...more
Tripp says biblical counseling (AKA biblical personal ministry) is, in a nutshell, "speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into … Christ" (Eph ...more

Before I say anything negative, I want to stress that this book is a great resource for Christian counseling, and for relationships in general. It contains a ton of really awesome quotes and helpful illustrations. It is, no doubt, full of well-thought-out biblical truths from a man who has spent a lot of time dealing with people and reflecting on God's word. Man, this book nails it some times, and for that I really liked it.
But man, it is wordy. It is an absolute chore to read at times. Paul Dav ...more
But man, it is wordy. It is an absolute chore to read at times. Paul Dav ...more

Sooo many extra words...
I want to say up front, I like books with a lot of words, if the author says something. Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands is a fine book, in that the content is ok, but Tripp just seemed to go on and on and not say much. Long, irrelevant illustrations, extended scripture quotations as filler, and sentences that seemed to be a thousand Twitter quotes in a row rather than coherent thoughts made this book extremely cumbersome to read. I've read it twice now, and I don't ev ...more
I want to say up front, I like books with a lot of words, if the author says something. Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands is a fine book, in that the content is ok, but Tripp just seemed to go on and on and not say much. Long, irrelevant illustrations, extended scripture quotations as filler, and sentences that seemed to be a thousand Twitter quotes in a row rather than coherent thoughts made this book extremely cumbersome to read. I've read it twice now, and I don't ev ...more

A great handbook with insights & principles for biblical counseling. Tripp does an excellent job looking at how we can be used a instruments of change in others' lives as we listen to them, understand them, confront & care for them, and then support & teach them to apply the truths they've learned. Illustrated with plenty of examples (without real names) from Tripp's personal counseling experiences over his many years of counseling. A good reference handbook to refer back to--I have lots of note
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bethel Church Otley: Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands | 1 | 7 | Sep 19, 2017 08:35AM |
Paul was born in Toledo, Ohio to Bob and Fae Tripp on November 12, 1950. Paul spent all of his growing years in Toledo until his college years when his parents moved to Southern California.
At Columbia Bible College from 1968-1972, (now Columbia International University) Paul majored in Bible and Christian Education. Although he had planned to be there for only two years and then to study journalis ...more
At Columbia Bible College from 1968-1972, (now Columbia International University) Paul majored in Bible and Christian Education. Although he had planned to be there for only two years and then to study journalis ...more
News & Interviews
As dedicated readers already know, some of the best and most innovative stories on the shelves come from the constantly evolving realm of...
10 likes · 4 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Foolishness is more than being stupid, that deadly combination of arrogance and ignorance.”
—
89 likes
“We forget that God's primary goal ia not changing our situations or relationships so that we can be happy, but changing us through our situations and relationships so that we will be holy.”
—
70 likes
More quotes…