God is in the reconciliation business therefore we must also be. The consequences of failure to reconcile are severe but the results of true reconciliation bring peace and joy. This workshop teaches the road to reconciliation through humble confrontation and forgiveness.
Longing to be noticed is really about your heart. Immodesty and sensuality are manifestations of sinful inner thoughts and desires. This workshop discusses how we should long to please God and be modest and discrete, and ends with practical tips on how.
We have all been created within the context of relationship: relationships with one another and relationship with God. But sin entered our world, damaging and even breaking relationships. The goal of this workshop is putting our relationships back into proper perspective.
Family and friends of a homosexual loved-one need biblical answers for how to think about and respond to this trial. This session showcases the centrality of the gospel and the sufficiency of Scripture to provide compassionate and uncompromising counsel.
From the moment Eve chose to go her own way, women have sought out a myriad of identities, continuing to weave fig leaf cover-ups that fail to satisfy. Where can women find a lasting identity that will satisfy the deep need for relationship with a loving, welcoming Father?
The U.S. Supreme Court’s attempt to redefine the institute of marriage has intensified the cultural chaos. This workshop will help pastors and biblical counselors understand the rapidly changing legal landscape so they can effectively minister God’s truth to a broken world.
Counseling sexually abused women can seem too daunting an endeavor for everyone involved. Part 1 of this workshop unfolds a biblical description of common issues and highlights typical needs in working towards the freedom, usefulness, and joy God intends.
In this world of fear, trials and loneliness counselees often feel adrift, like they’re searching for a place where they can truly make themselves at home. This session explores heaven, the afterlife and the comfort that can be found in knowing our true final destination.
Counseling sexually abused women can seem too daunting an endeavor for everyone involved. Part 2 of this workshop offers specific resources for counseling women plagued or hindered by past sexual abuse. This session will give you some effective tools for your counseling toolbox.
There are many religious and social elements behind the current culture’s confusion about gender. This workshop gives a biblical view of gender and lays out the way out of this morass for individuals, families, churches and the culture. Implications for counseling are emphasized.
How can we do evangelism in the context of counseling those who have suffered sexually? Counselors are needed to engage in these situations but they present dangerous pitfalls. This session discusses how true godliness is the key to avoiding the trap of sexualized relationships.
When husbands struggle with pornography their wives need help too. This workshop discusses giving hope and practical direction to the wife, teaching her Biblical resources that God has given to protect her and helping her take her thoughts captive.
What is love and what does love have to do with marriage? Just as no one has the power to bless and encourage you like your spouse, no one else can provoke and hurt you deeply like they can. This session explores the concepts of love and marriage as described in Song of Songs.
Pornography is not just a problem for men. This workshop majors on how to biblically counsel a woman caught up in pornography. It discusses four phases that women must work through and concludes with a review of popular resources.
Behind sexual sins and temptations are often subtle but distorted views of ourselves, the nature of sex, and the character of God. This workshop examines some of these lies and shows how the gospel breaks through them to reveal that the truth is better than we may think.
A real Adam, a real Eve and a real garden give the paradigm for godly male leadership. This workshop goes back to the beginning to point you to a Christ-like manhood, teach leadership without oppression and discuss implications for counseling.
There are many Christians wrestling with same-sex attraction in our churches. How can we best support, encourage and help them? This session discusses some of the vital steps to helping them flourish in Christ, as well as some common mistakes to avoid.
Disordered sexual desires are ultimately a problem of worship. We seek ultimate satisfaction from earthly things, which become our idols. This session shows how the gospel forgives our idolatries and adulteries and transforms us into worshipers whose greatest delight is in God.
Audio note: Due to some technical difficulties the first 20 minutes of this audio recording is poor quality. We are looking into ways make this content available with a better quality recording.
It is the job of pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Individual mentoring and discipleship are key. This session discusses how to address the head, heart, hands and home of newer believers as you disciple them to Christian maturity.
Are you or your counselee stuck in frustrating and sinful communication patterns? How can you honor God in your communication? This workshop teaches the Communication Skills Wheel as a method for accurate and purposeful communication that builds up both individuals.
Only the gospel transforms lives. The problem is we don’t really believe it. We must come to believe all that’s promised in the gospel and the power that’s present in the gospel. This session unpacks Matthew 5:38-48 and how the gospel enables us to love our enemies.
Food and fitness idolatry are big issues in our culture. How can those stuck in sinful patterns change? This session discusses the unique change that is sought by Christians as they make it their aim not to please or impress people but to glorify God in their body.
Discovering and dealing with a spouse’s same-sex attraction can bring much grief and emotional devastation. But there is grace for the journey. This session discusses typical relational indicators when a spouse is hiding same-sex attraction and what to do when it comes to light.
Burnout in Christian ministry is incredibly common. How can you avoid it? This session unpacks four guardrails to help you keep the main thing main and serve joyfully for a lifetime.
Idolatry is misplaced worship and it can happen to anyone. It is not so much wanting the wrong thing, but even wanting good things too much. This second of a two part series will give you clues and diagnostic questions to help you track down idols of your own heart.
Why should I be concerned about idols of the heart? Because the Bible is! This first of a two part series examines the concept of idolatry, explains how even good things can become idols and shows the devastating spiritual ramifications of harboring idols of the heart.
Counseling is about helping people to change, but the change we as biblical counselors seek is unique. This session shows how change that will bear God glorifying fruit requires effort on our part and is firmly rooted in the gospel.
There are many categories of abuse and the gospel speaks truth to them all. This session will identify common temptations that abuse victims face and teach you to help them learn to combat these by looking to God and His resources.
The light of God’s face must illuminate the darkness of the hoarding heart and house. This session will teach you how to address the reality of hoarding and its problems with confidence in God, His word and His body.
Domination by the devil, disobedience, desire, death and demographic differences are at the root of our peace-breaking. This session shows how Christ’s cross and His Spirit address these issues as we counsel in humility, gentleness, patience and love.
A traumatic crisis is overwhelming, life-dominating and life-changing. This session will define critical incident stress and its phases, discuss its relation to PTSD and help you to apply the Scriptures to those struggling with stress from a traumatic event.
The living know they must die, but why must they die? What do people facing death fear? This session takes a comprehensive look at what the Scriptures have to say about death and discusses how to offer comfort to those for whom death is imminent.
Sin creates family strife but the gospel produces a culture of reconciliation in the home. Children will learn to respond to conflict either sinfully or in a godly way. This workshop examines 8 tools of peacemaking to help parents train young peacemakers.
You may have always expected your job as a parent to be done once your children reached adulthood but you never stop being a parent! This session discusses how to handle many of the unique challenges that arise for parents of young adult children.
Joseph’s treatment of his brothers in Genesis 45 provides an excellent model of biblical peacemaking and reconciliation. This session looks at what we can learn from Joseph’s example to help us in our own efforts toward peacemaking.
Biblical counselors face different situations that call for balanced skillful finesse. Paul gives clear instruction on gentleness to all “men of God.” This session discusses the mandate in Scripture to counsel and correct with gentleness.
God intends for husbands and wives to be united in intimacy but some women struggle greatly in this area. This workshop discusses sex in marriage as an adventure of devotion, delight and dependence on the Lord for grace, generosity and desire to find joy in pleasing your spouse.
What is your self-image, how do you see yourself and why should you care? This workshop contrasts the lies the world whispers to us about ourselves with how our Savior wants us to see ourselves.
The First Amendment provides important protection to biblical counselors who live in a culture where lawsuits are legion. This workshop covers general legal principles for those who are seeking to honor God by faithfully counseling from the Scriptures.
What makes Christian parenting Christian? We all want to parent well and long for our children to love God as we do. This workshop discusses the need for the gospel to inform all that we do with our children in both principle and practice.
The intense emotions following a romantic breakup can bring temptation to sin. This workshop discusses many of the common emotions provoked by the ending of a relationship and seeks to identify the heart issues and sinful patterns associated with them.
How can husbands lead if their wives don’t want to follow? In this session Lou Priolo, author of The Complete Husband, gives 8 guidelines for helping husbands understand the nature and scope of their biblical authority and how to lovingly lead a reluctant wife.
Crisis can be an opportunity for evangelism and discipleship. But how do we get from the presenting problem to the gospel? This session seeks to help biblical counselors work towards lasting change in their counselees by applying the whole gospel to the whole man.
How would giving your children grace change the way you parent? Do see your own need for grace? Is there room in your parenting paradigm for weakness and failure? This is part 4 of a four-part series based on Elyse and Jessica’s book Give them Grace.
Do you believe that your children’s salvation is not all up to you? Parents can rest in the fact that God can use their successes, failures and sins to draw their children to himself. This is part 3 of a four-part series based on Elyse and Jessica’s book Give them Grace.
What is the purpose of giving children rules? Is it to make them good? Is the goal of Christian parenting to produce obedient children or is there something more? This is part 2 of a four-part series based on Elyse and Jessica’s book Give them Grace.
The gospel is good news for us as parents and for our children! How do the truths of the gospel inform your parenting? How often do you remember them and share them with your children? This is part 1 of a four-part series based on Elyse and Jessica’s book Give them Grace.
Where do our feelings come from, what do they tell us about ourselves and what can we do about them? Part 2 of this two-part seminar shows how emotions are a good-gift from the Lord when they are rightly directed toward Him.
Where do our feelings come from, what do they tell us about ourselves and what can we do about them? Part 1 of this two-part seminar examines how our core beliefs, faith, thoughts and actions impact our emotional makeup.
Hormones from things like PMS, Pregnancy and Menopause can leave women feeling like they are on a mood-swing merry-go-round. This session discusses how women can learn to manage their emotions during these challenging times in a way that honors God.
“Hospitality fleshes out love in a uniquely personal and sacrificial way.” This session will explore the command to all believers to show hospitality, examine several examples from the Scriptures and discuss how it opens up opportunities to share the gospel.
Which is more important, the local church or the family? This session discuss the relationship between the God-ordained institutions of the nuclear family and the local church, the responsibilities of each, and how they should operate in relation to one another.
For effective counseling it is absolutely necessary to help counselees to hope in God. How can we help them to have hope in times of suffering? This session will serve as a model of how to use, understand and apply wisdom from 1 Peter 1:1-2:12 in counseling.
How do we understand the dynamics of eating disorders and how do we interpret them as caused by both sin and suffering? This session wiil seek to answer these questions from a biblical perspective and discuss how the gospel offers hope and help in the midst of the struggle.
The sin of gossip is easily overlooked or minimized but affects relationships and is destructive within the church. This workshop will cover the dangers of this particular sin of the tongue and discuss examples the Bible gives as well as the hope it offers.
Biblical counseling is really about sanctification and growth in the Christian life. How much transformation can we expect? This session will use the New Testament pattern of the already and the not yet to help frame our expectations in counseling.
How can we really have joy in the midst of trials? In this workshop we will examine how God uses losses in this life for great gain, and how that enables us to find joy in the midst of our own suffering, and to help others do the same.
Many passages of Scripture direct as to “what to do,” but do not give the “how to do” of biblical counseling. This two-part class teaches the Eight I’s of the biblical counseling model which provides the essential elements of counseling.
Bitterness can easily take root in the heart when we’ve been hurt or offended or we believe something has happened to us that is unfair or unjust. This message will examine evidences of bitterness, ruling motives, and practical steps to rooting it out for the glory of God.
What is the role of the church in a biblical counseling ministry? From the Biblical mandate for ministry under the church’s authority, to the nuts and bolts of daily ministry, Darrell and Janet will share insight gleaned from 23 years in the church counseling ministry.
Many passages of Scripture direct as to “what to do,” but do not give the “how to do” of biblical counseling. This two-part class teaches the Eight I’s of the biblical counseling model which provides the essential elements of counseling.
There are numerous similarities between a number of different sexual struggles, and the gospel offers hope and help in the midst of each of them. In this workshop we will focus on equipping you to minister to those who struggle in these areas.
Our teens seem totally distracted by their smart phones and video games. People of all ages are talking about how hard it is to put down their devices. This message examines how gospel promises as well as gospel threatenings can set us free of life dominating habits.
The New Testament has a shocking view of singleness. This workshop examines the blessings and challenges of a single life and gives practical suggestions for helping singles see the grace of God at work in them and through them and how the church can better minister to them.
How can biblical principles guide you in preparing your heart for marriage and making a wise choice in who to marry? This two-part session is perfect both for those considering a relationship and those who disciple others in relationship choices (parents, pastors, counselors).
How do we counsel people who can’t make ends meet, have lost their jobs, or are overwhelmed with debt? This session will seek to answer some of the most common questions about finances and money management from a biblical perspective.
One of the great delights in biblical counseling is the opportunity to explain the gospel to someone who has never heard. This session will discuss strategies to move from initial presentation problems to appropriate discussions about personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
How do we teach counselees to seek God’s help under pressure? Jesus provides us the perfect example to follow. This session will serve as a model of how to use, understand and apply wisdom from 1 Peter 2:13-3:22.
If God is sovereign why do certain things happen the way they do? This message from Ecclesiastes expounds the truth of God’s sovereignty, the validity of wanting to know why, and God’s remedy for His children in this life.
The past for many women includes hard, life-changing experiences. Life in the aftermath can leave them feeling that they are less than they once were. This workshop will explore God’s purposeful and loving use of these experiences to show His power and love.
How can biblical principles guide you in preparing your heart for marriage and making a wise choice in who to marry? This two-part session is perfect both for those considering a relationship and those who disciple others in relationship choices (parents, pastors, counselors).
Counselors sometimes have the privilege of serving parents who have been blessed with children with special needs. This session will review a seminal passage of Scripture on this subject along with an account from the Viars’ journey with their special needs son Andrew.
Sometimes in life we face situations that seem overwhelmingly hopeless. 1 Peter 4:1-5:14 reminds us that Christians should not be surprised when they face such situations and that they can have hope because God is at work.
Are you aware what serial relationships can do to your chances for a permanent relationship? It is even possible to overcome your past trauma? Are feelings never to be trusted? This workshop teaches some vital concepts for enduring relationships.
This workshop offers practical tips for working with a counselee and their doctor as they come off an antidepressant. It also includes a section that explains the theory of chemical imbalance and why psychiatrists are now saying it is not true.
Many people live with unresloved conflict. The process of reconciliation can be challenging and tumultuous. This seminar will examine how the gospel serves as the foundation for reconciliation and empowers those who are struggling to be reconciled to one another.
Biblical marriage counseling must be built on God’s narrative of the ultimate purpose of marriage. This session will look at typical problems that result when we do not define marriage base upon God and will discuss four pillars for building onenes in marriage.
Emotions, though extremely powerful, do not need to control us. In this session we will explore Scriptural examples of how truth is used to control and even sanctify the emotions. This is the follow-up session to Does God Care About How I Feel?
Is your hyper thinking and wildly acting loved one a worse sinner than those calm family members; or is there something organic and biological contributing something to this? Or could it be both? This message seeks to give balanced answers to questions about ADHD.
Many married women feel alone and isolated from their spouse. How can we help women who find themselves in this situation? What does the Bible have to say about the intimacy we should have in marriage, and what should we do when we find our expectations are not being met?
The Book of Esther is the story God’s work “hidden” in the midst of great suffering. This workshop will help counselors learn to use this important book with their suffering counselees and will remind us all that God is at work, even when we don’t see His hand.
God calls us to peace with others, but in this life it is impossible to completely avoid conflict. This session will examine how to understand conflict from a biblical perspective and practical ways to humbly pursue peace with others when conflict does arise.
Believers often function in daily life without the gospel to sustain them, growing weary and even spiritually depressed. This session will discuss the physical and spiritual symptoms, causes, and cure for depression, including the centrality of the gospel.
Marriage requires lifelong maintenance to keep it healthy and strong. It takes a lot of effort to guard and grow your marriage but the reward is more than worth it. This session will discuss many practical ways to preserve and strengthen your marriage.
What does the Bible have to say about sex? Through this two-part message you will learn how the grace of God in the gospel powerfully changes how we view our own sexuality and gives us the power to once again put this blessing in its proper place.
It is so much easier to be critical of others than to affirm them. Even when we want to build others up we often find ourselves tearing them down instead. This session will discuss how to help people grow in their ability to affirm others well.
Dr. Charles Hodges, MD., examines the role that hope plays in dealing with depression, the difficulty of finding an accurate diagnosis, the role sadness plays in what is often labeled depression, and how the bipolar and repression diagnoses overlap.
Dr. Charles Hodges, MD. examines the nuances of bipolar diagnoses, the key components of the current diagnostic procedure, and explores how medicine and biblical counsel play a role in helping those who struggle with bipolar disorder.
God’s sufficient word speaks to our financial issues. This session examines some common money myths and lays out a biblical view of wealth as a blessing that can also be very dangerous. This talk calls us to examine our true spiritual condition behind our financial situation.
What does grace have to do with sex? In this workshop, for women only, you will learn how the grace God has given in Christ can and should overflow into a gracious and healthy physical relationship between husband and wife.
How can sex be graceless? This workshop, for women only, will explore the sinful attitudes and actions that many women fall in to, that can stifle or even completely kill the physical relationship between husband and wife.
What does the Bible have to say about sex? Many people have unanswered questions about this aspect of life. In this Question and Answer session you will hear a panel of counselors discussing biblical answers to common questions Christians have about sex.
What does the Bible have to say about sex? Through this 2-part message you will learn how the grace of God in the gospel powerfully changes how we view our own sexuality and gives us the power to once again put this blessing in its proper place.
In our society it is almost taken for granted that we have to borrow for many things. This session lays out a biblical view of debt and how Christians can think through the multifaceted motivations and options with borrowing money in today’s economy.