That’s Some Title! 

Why in the world would I entitle today’s post, Can You Be A Christian If You Are Not an ACBC-Approved Biblical Counselor? What a wild question! 

Pastor Omri Miles, an ACBC certified counselor, motivated today’s title.

“If They Do Inherit the Kingdom”

On December 11, 2025, on his Twitter/X account and on his personal Facebook page, Pastor Omri publicly called into question the salvation of trauma-informed biblical counselors. Below, I’ve pasted, word-for-word, Omri’s post. There’s much throughout his post to take issue with biblically. However, I want you to focused on the highlighted words below: “…if they do inherit the kingdom…”

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 “and my word and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

The New Integrationism poisoning biblical counseling currently makes perfect sense to secular psychological professionals – combine the best of your preferred belief system, ‘your truth’, with whatever is currently hailed as credible, cutting-edge, research-based secular methods for mental health improvement.

It’s because this makes sense to the world that Christians ought to know it cannot be of God. Ministry done God’s way is scorned by the world and mocked as foolishness (cf. John 6; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31). New Integrationists want the glory of the cross without the reproach of the cross; the credibility of the world without the rejection of the world’s methods.

What’s so sad is that, in the end, God will vindicate his sufficient word, and so many going the way of trauma-informed [un]biblical counseling, if they do inherit the kingdom, will have done so missing glorious rewards and irreparably harming others in the process.”

Pastor Omri is speaking of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. He is speaking of fellow biblical counselors. He is speaking of people who call themselves trauma-informed biblical counselors. ACBC Certified Counselor Omri Miles says, “if they do inherit the kingdom.”

He calls their salvation into question. He questions their Christian faith.

Several people have asked Pastor Miles to reconsider his post. I did, saying the following to Omri on Twitter/X:

I would ask you, brother Omri, to prayerfully reconsider the wording of this public post. Your statement, “…if they do inherit the kingdom…”, calls into question the Christianity and salvation of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Their righteousness is in Christ. They stand before Father, Son, and Spirit; not before you.

Pastor Omri Miles: A Recognized and Platformed ACBC Leader 

Omri Miles is not just any old person with a Twitter/X account. He’s the Lead Pastor at Grace Bible Church NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana).

Pastor Omri is also an ACBC Certified Counselor. More than that, Miles has been significantly platformed by ACBC. In a quick, basic search on the ACBC site, I found twenty-four links to Omri. Omri has blogged multiple times for ACBC. He has been interviewed multiple times for ACBC by their Executive Director, Dale Johnson. He’s spoken at ACBC Conferences. Omri has even been a Plenary Speaker at the ACBC Conference.

Pastor Omri Miles has been significantly platformed by ACBC as a recognized ACBC leader.

Pastor Omri Miles is publicly calling into question the salvation of fellow Christians. 

Mr. Peabody, Sherman, and the Wayback Machine 

If you’re in my age bracket, or if you like vintage cartoons, then you’re familiar with The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. The “and friends” part includes Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

Each episode of the cartoon series includes a short segment, “Peabody’s Improbable History,” in which Mr. Peabody and Sherman used the Wayback Machine to travel back in time to visit important historical events.

The Biblical Counseling Wayback Machine

I’d like us to use the Wayback Machine to take us on a biblical counseling history trip back to 2016. The Wayback Machine will drop us into a plenary conference presentation in which Heath Lambert publicly questions the Christian character (and perhaps even the Christian faith) of Dr. Eric Johnson (a faithful Christian who, at that time, was a professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). (You can view the video and read a transcript here.)

Using our Wayback Machine, sadly, we will hear Lambert make mischaracterizations about Dr. Johnson like these:

• Foreshadowing his evaluation of Johnson’s theology, Lambert wonders whether Jesus agrees with Johnson’s theology or thinks he’s a liar. He ponders whether people like Johnson have “unfaithful, unbiblical, unchristian, worthless theology.” (Immediately after this comment/question, Lambert says, “I want to give you an example of how this works in the bad way.” Lambert then reads from Dr. Johnson’s book, Foundations of Soul Care.)
• Lambert calls Johnson and people like him, “the most articulate and the most dangerous integrationists and Christian psychologists. I want to deal with the folks that I believe are the most dangerous.”
• Reading sections out of context, Lambert says of Johnson’s writings, “Now I think that is total and utter mockery of God’s Word.”
• Lambert says, “I think that’s slander. Honest, I do” (regarding Johnson’s mischaracterized position).
• Lambert then publicly mocks and mischaracterizes Johnson. “This is a man who wrote these words, who is wrong. The reason that he is wrong, the reason that his counseling advice is bad is because he has not been faithful to the teaching. He has not been faithful to the Word. He is a horrible theologian. He doesn’t understand the theology of Ps 94.”
• Then Lambert lambasts Johnson in the most disgraceful way. “This isn’t just a demonstration of faithless teaching. It is a demonstration, is it not, of 1 Tim. 4:16 of faithless living? It broke my heart when I realized that. This is a man, who denigrates Ps 94 because he’s never experienced the consolations of Ps 94. He can’t teach Ps 94 because Ps 94 never got into his bloodstream. He is a bad theologian because he doesn’t understand the teaching and the teaching never changed his life and so he is a very bad counselor…. If we refuse to allow the Word of God to take root in our heart and change us then the overflow of that unchanged heart to broken people will be just as corrupt as this guy I quoted.”

I hate repeating these words…but they are out there in the public domain. I love and respect my friend Dr. Eric Johnson. What Lambert said about Eric is not true.

So, why do I bring up this past issue regarding Heath Lambert’s public comments about Eric Johnson? I bring this up because I wish Omri Miles would do what Heath Lambert eventually did…

Lambert’s Public Repentance 

To Heath Lambert’s credit, on September 11, 2017, he shared a public confession: Clarifying and Confessing: A Letter from Heath Lambert. In his letter, Heath includes these words of public repentance:

“Soon after my talk that night I received a letter from Dr. Johnson’s elders. They rebuked me in very strong terms for the language I used against their friend. They were right to point out my sin. After receiving that letter, Dr. Johnson and I met together with a faithful brother in Christ where I confessed my sin to him, and he forgave me. I also responded with a letter of repentance to Eric’s elders on March 10 of last year.”

“I want to address anyone who was shocked and offended by the unkind and unloving way I spoke about Dr. Johnson. What I did was sinful, and I have no excuse. I am sorry.”

I am pleased that Heath Lambert both privately and publicly repented and asked forgiveness for the ways he questions Dr. Eric Johnson’s faithfulness as a Christian.

And What About Pastor Omri Miles? 

My prayer would be that Pastor Omri Miles would do what Heath Lambert did.

Miles has not named any particular trauma-informed biblical counselors (TIBC), nor any particular clinically-informed biblical counselors (CIBC). Lambert originally did not name any particular Christian psychologist. Still, it is public knowledge which biblical counselors describe themselves as trauma-informed or clinically-inform.

Reread the transcript of Omri’s post. Detect what Omri is saying about brothers and sisters in Christ:

• First, Omri is mischaracterizing and mislabeling them as “new integrationists.” In numerous documents, TIBC and CIBC leaders have carefully and theologically distinguished themselves from Christian integrative counseling. Many modern biblical counselors request that they be described not as “nouthetic counselors” but as “biblical counselors.” Omri should at least give TIBC and CIBC leaders the same respect and call them by their self-designation.
• Second, Omri accuses them of “poisoning biblical counseling.” TIBC and CIBC leaders consistently offer to engage in face-to-face, iron-sharpening-iron conversations about their views. There is no need to use the mischaracterizing and unwholesome language of “poisoning” (Ephesians 4:29). While I do not choose to use the descriptors TIBC or CIBC, I do deeply respect TIBC/CIBC leaders as brothers and sisters in Christ.
• Third, Omri falsely claims that these TIBC and CIBC brothers and sisters in Christ, “want the glory of the cross without the reproach of the cross; the credibility of the world without the rejection of the world’s methods.” Where has a single TIBC/CIBC leader ever written or said or hinted or implied any of this? Where have they ever hinted that they want the “credibility of the world.” Where have they ever implied that they reject “the reproach of the cross”? It is especially ironic that Omri would question CIBC leaders’ commitment to the cross, since some of them also describe their approach as Redemptive Counseling. TIBC/CIBC leaders share the same initial commitments that Omri highlights, such as affirming the sufficiency, authority, relevancy, and power of God’s Word. TIBC/CIBC leaders share the same initial concerns that Omri lists, such as warning against the uncritical accommodation of secular frameworks that redefine human nature, sin, suffering, or hope apart from God and His Word. TIBC/CIBC leaders agree that the cross is offensive to the world and considered foolishness by the world, and that Christian ministry should not aim to remove that offense in order to gain cultural credibility. To learn first-hand about CIBC biblical convictions, see, 15 Resources About Clinically-Informed Biblical Counseling (CIBC).
• Fourth, Omri pejoratively labels TIBC/CIBC brothers and sisters as doing “[un]biblical counseling.” Read what these TIBC/CIBC leaders write—and see how scripturally-saturated their counseling is. See how they, time after time, commit to the sufficiency and authority of Scripture—including how they use God’s Word to assess and evaluate any possible extra-biblical information. Read the writings of TIBC/CIBC leaders about being informed, and compare their views to how Jay Adams, John Bettler, and David Powlison were informed biblical counselors. Would Miles also question the salvation of Adams, Bettler, and Powlison?

Powlison on Biblical Counseling and Secular Psychotherapy: Informed Biblical Counseling

David Powlison on Common Grace, Biblical Counseling, and Secular Psychology

 Jay Adams on Embodied-Souls, Trauma, Neuroscience, Sanctification, and Physical Interventions 

6 Words Describing What Jay Adams and Nouthetic Counseling Do with Secular Psychology     

Jay Adams, Nouthetic Counseling, and Neuroscience         

Meet the Man Who Influenced the Early Nouthetic Counseling Movement: O. Hobart Mowrer 

• Fifth, Omri publicly pronounces that TIBC/CIBC brothers and sisters irreparably harm others. Consider how Omri could have chosen to take a pastoral tone and expressed his concerns in a prophetic-shepherding manner. “I believe certain contemporary counseling frameworks borrow categories that subtly reshape how we understand suffering, sin, and sanctification. I fear these approaches risk minimizing Scripture’s sufficiency and the centrality of Christ. I urge caution, discernment, and ongoing reform. I invite iron-sharpening dialogue where we could humbly learn from one another.” Sadly, Pastor Omri chose a very different tactic.
• Sixth, Omri usurps the role of God the Ultimate Judge of eternal rewards (1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 1 Corinthians 4:4-5; 2 Corinthians 5:10) by publicly pronouncing that TIBC/CIBC brothers and sisters will miss the God’s “glorious rewards.”
• Seventh, and most egregious, Omri usurps the role of God the Ultimate Judge (John 5:22; Acts 17:31; Romans 14:4; Romans 14:10-13; Hebrews 9:27; Hebrews 12:23; James 4:11-12) by publicly questioning the salvation/Christianity of TIBC/CIBC brothers and sisters in Christ by writing, “if they do inherit the kingdom.” Omri frames disagreements among biblical counselors as potentially indicative of spiritual compromise or even indicative of apostasy—expressing doubts about the salvation/genuine Christianity of Christians who disagree with his philosophy of counseling.

Perhaps as Pastor Miles hears feedback he’ll respond humbly the way Heath Lambert did after he heard loving, nouthetically confrontive feedback…

Contacting ACBC 

Because Omri is significantly platformed by ACBC as an ACBC certified counselor, ACBC blogger, ACBC podcast presenter, ACBC conference speaker, and ACBC plenary speaker, this is an ACBC issue. Because ACBC has written Standards of Conduct for their certified counselors that include integrity and reconciliation, this is an ACBC issue.

If you are an ACBC certified counselor, and if Pastor Miles’s post concerns you, then you are free to contact the following ACBC leaders to share your concerns:

You can contact Dr. Dale Johnson, ACBC Executive Director, at: [email protected]

You can contact Dr. Stuart Scott, ACBC Director of Member Care, at: [email protected]

You can contact Samuel Stephens, Director of Membership and Certification, at: [email protected]

The Answer: Yes! 

The question was: “Can you be a Christian if you are not an ACBC-approved biblical counselor?”

The answer is, “Of course you can be a Christian if you are not an ACBC-approved biblical counselor!”

Salvation is not by affirmation of ACBC practices. Salvation is not through Omri Miles. Salvation is not by alignment with the modern biblical counseling movement. Salvation is not grounded in one’s counseling taxonomy.

Salvation is in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone.

We can have our disagreements with brothers and sisters about the essence of what makes biblical counseling truly biblical. However, questioning the salvation of fellow brothers and sisters who are committed to Christ should not be a part of those conversations.