Loving Wayward Souls

Some biblical counselors don’t even think about saying “No” to the expectations of counselees; other counselors may struggle with the fear of disapproval this may bring. Counselors are to be committed, sacrificial, and long-suffering; but not without lots of wisdom.

The task of counseling is inherently a God-ward task, with a God-ward focus. In order for us to truly be helpful to people, we must bring them to an accurate understanding of God through His word. In understanding God, Scripture says they are transformed from one level of glory to another. This session will help demonstrate for you why this is true, and how to go about this in the counseling process.

Sexual trauma always brings guilt—guilt toward God and man. This session will help both the sinner and sinned against understand their response in the aftermath of sexual trauma by demonstrating the biblical types of guilt that one can incur, and the biblical responses for each.

Regardless of the nature of the disability, its impact will be far-reaching. The disabled person is clearly affected, but so are those who have a relationship with that person, and they need the loving support of others. This session will encourage people to consider how the network of relationships in community, particularly in the church, can minister to the family affected by disability.

Trauma is a life issue, not a military issue. However, there are particularities with the types of trauma experienced in combat. Come learn how to minister to the men and women who have faced the horrors of war in service to their nation.

This workshop will give you practical tools for keeping your grip on Christ while your children reject what you cherish the most. It also contains instruction on how to design daily truth statements to steady your mind when fear for your child’s eternal destiny overwhelms you.

The mother of a prodigal often feels helpless and despairing as she watches her child choose folly over faith. This can lead to a spiritual turmoil in the heart of the parent. This workshop will look at the role of prayer and fasting in strengthening the mother's spiritual life. Personal stories and practical tips will be included.

Oftentimes, when it comes to the salvation of their children, we find that our counselees hope was based on one of two things; their performance as parents or their child’s response to their competency. Imagine then the immense guilt they feel when their children reject the Lord. Their grief wavering between having failed miserably as a parent and the eternal destruction that seemingly awaits their child. Both of those self-centered hopes can bring about fear, deep pain, and profound regret for the counselee. This session will examine where things go awry and the truths we must rest our hope on as parents.

For so many of us, the strange stories and bloody rituals of the Old Testament seem completely unrelated to our Christian faith…and yet, Jesus said that all the Old Testament was actually about him. In addition, frequently women feel like the Bible is biased against them and they wonder whether God is still a little irritated about that whole Garden of Eden thing. In this session, Elyse will explain what Jesus taught his disciples about the meaning of the OT and we’ll look at examples that will testify about God’s ongoing love for women.

The perseverance of the saints is a community effort at finishing the race together. What happens when one stops running? The church community is called to action, to rescue the wandering, to “save the saints.” In this session Brian Borgman uses James 5:19-20 to show us how eternally important it is that we go after wandering prodigals.