Ministry Prayer Request 

I’d appreciate your prayers for my ministry this coming week. 

I’ll be speaking six times at the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship (IBCD) Conference—Churches Equipped to Care. The conference runs from Thursday to Saturday, June 27-29. 

I’d appreciate your prayers for: 

1. The Lord’s strength as I speak. 

2. Clarity as I present. 

3. That those who attend the conference will be equipped to equip others. 

4. That many will learn more about the Biblical Counseling Coalition as I will be representing the coalition at our BCC Booth during the conference. 

I will be speaking on: 

1. Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling: Radical Ministry in a Darkened World—Philippians 2:1-18 

How are we to become churches not only with biblical counseling, but churches of biblical counseling where relating God’s Word to broken lives saturates everything we do as the Body of Christ? For this godly vision to grow in our churches, Christ-centered counseling must first grow in the heart of the biblical counselor. We must live worthy of the gospel by living through Christ, like Christ, and for Christ—as Paul models and encourages us in Philippians 2:1-18. 

2. Sharing Scripture and Soul: Five Biblical Portraits of the Biblical Counselor—1 Thessalonians 2 

We all know that God calls us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), to make our love abound in knowledge and depth of insight (Philippians 1:9-11), and to share not only the Gospel but our very own souls (1 Thessalonians 2:8). Yet…sometimes biblical counselors are stereotyped as unloving truth tellers. In 1 Thessalonians 2, the Apostle Paul paints for us five biblical portraits of biblical counselors who share both Scripture and soul. Embedding these five biblical images into our relationships with those to whom we minister will not only change how people perceive biblical counseling, but more importantly, will help our churches to become places where relating God’s Word to broken lives saturates everything we do as the Body of Christ. 

3. The Résumé of a Biblical Counselor: A Four-Dimensional Model of Christ-Centered Equipping 

Imagine that you’re forwarding your résumé to the Divine Counselor. What characteristics would you highlight to demonstrate your qualifications to be a biblical counselor? This session develops and illustrates a four-dimensional, Christ-centered equipping model that unites Christ-like character (heart/being), biblical content (head/knowing), counseling competence (hands/doing), and Christian community (home/connecting). The session equips you to equip others as biblical counselors. 

4. Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling: Four Pillars for Glorifying God through Oneness in Marriage 

Every pastor and biblical counselor wants to help couples to enjoy a God-honoring, mutually-meaningful marriage. And many have taught the “leave, cleave, weave, and receive” biblical marriage blueprint. So why are so many Christian marriages struggling? In this session, you’ll learn how to use the four pillars (leaving, weaving, cleaving, and receiving) for building oneness in marriage to address heart motivation. Rather than practicing “solution-focused marriage counseling,” you’ll be equipped to offer “SOUL-u-tion focused Gospel-centered marriage discipleship.” 

5. Biblical Counseling Panel: Q & A on Biblical Counseling Ministry 

Four keynote speakers will interact about five questions related to their ministry of biblical counseling. 

6. Your Place in the Biblical Counseling World: The BCC, Biblical Counseling, and You 

The biblical counseling world is a large and growing network of people, churches, para-church organizations, and schools. The Biblical Counseling Coalition is one part of that larger BC world. What is the role of the BCC in promoting BC? More importantly, this session addresses the question, “How can each of us find our place in God’s vision for promoting personal change centered on the Person of Christ through the personal ministry of the Word?” 

Join the Conversation 

If you have attended an IBCD event, how have you been ministered to in the past?

RPM Ministries: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth