Following the publication of Competent to Counsel in 1970, Jay Adams' life became a whirlwind of travel, writing, Seminary teaching, and lecturing. By 1976, he concluded he needed to slow down so he moved his family to rural Georgia where he could devote more time to writing. There he was able to gather the notes he had been collecting on scores of topics he had wanted to write about and questions he had been asked. Because he desired to get help for counselors and pastors into print as quickly as possible, he published a short volume titled Matters of Concern for Christian Counselors in 1977. As more issues and questions came to his attention, he followed up with two volumes titled Update on Christian Counseling (1979 and 1981).

These three volumes are a smorgasbord of help and thought-provoking instruction for Biblical counselors, even 50 years after their original publication. Especially important are the articles The Practicality of the Sermon on the Mount, The Use of 1 Corinthians 13 in Counseling, Counseling the Disabled, Common Grace and Counseling, and the twin articles Flexibility in Counseling and Adaptability in Counseling.