This is Counseling Month on A Visit to the Pastor’s Study; but, by counseling, I don’t mean just any kind of counseling (there are all kinds of that available), but biblical counseling: Counseling that takes the Bible seriously in diagnosing human problems and providing the help that really works. And doing that in a context that represents Jesus Christ, the Wonderful Counselor.
What many call “the biblical counseling movement” began in 1970 with the publication of the book Competent to Counsel. By Dr. Jay Adams. It challenged the idea that Christian counseling was simply secular counseling with some references to Scripture. True Christian counseling is meant to apply the whole Word of God to the ways in which personal sinfulness and life in a sinful world warp the way we think, feel, and respond to life’s circumstances. True change comes through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and walking in ways of new obedience. That doesn’t make change easy, because a biblical view of the world is honest about the fact that even true believers in Christ are in a constant battle with the unholy trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil. But the Holy Trinity is more powerful than the unholy trinity, and, by the Gospel, true change is possible. No situation is hopeless when you keep people focused on the God of hope.
Since the publication of Competent to Counsel nearly a half-century ago, thousands of men and women have received training in biblical counseling. And these thousands who faithfully demonstrate the grace of God and bring the message of that grace to distressed people are seeing the kinds of changes that Christ really brings through the Gospel – the good news of His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and reign. As a pastor, I’m deeply convinced of the importance of biblical counseling, and I’ve seen the fruits of biblical counseling over my nearly forty years of ministry.
But what excites me today is the way biblical counseling centers are popping up like mushrooms across our nation. Trained men and women have moved biblical counseling from the pastor’s study to medical complexes, business offices, homes, and schools. To begin our Counseling Month, I want you to learn about one biblical counseling center (and two of its counselors – a husband/wife team). I want you to learn a little something about its work, and get excited yourself about having an outreach like this in your community.
And I want to do this under the title Counseling Women. There’s a dual meaning in the title, as you’ll find out in a few minutes.
Hope Counseling Services is centered in Chapel Hill, NC. I love its Mission Statement: Hope Counseling Services exists to create safe places…where people of all ages and stages of life can speak honestly about their struggles, encounter the living Redeemer, and find the hope and lasting change (that) He alone provides through Christ-centered, biblically-based counseling and training. We do this by: 1. Providing biblical counseling for problems in daily living; 2, Training and developing biblical counselors; and 3. Resourcing the church for counseling-related needs. That’s a great model for any biblical counseling center.
Wes Tubel is the Executive Director of Hope Counseling Services, and his wife, Jacklyn, is one of the several counselors on its staff. There’s so much we could discuss about their work, but, because they’re a husband and wife team, I want to focus on Counseling Women. We’ve got a lot to do in the minutes ahead. And if you keep listening, you’ll find out how you can get a free book that will be a help to you as you get into the waters of biblical counseling.
Wes and Jacklyn Tubel, welcome to A Visit to the Pastor’s Study….
Here’s a link to the full program:
Yours in the Wonderful Counselor,
Pastor Bill