To get us thinking about direction, consider this: I hope you can laugh at this scenario, maybe you’ve heard it before! A new teen driver was driving down the freeway when his mother called his cell phone. “Harry, I just heard on the news that there’s a car going the wrong way on Route 280. Please be careful!” “It’s not … Read More
When Your Church Disappoints You
Far too often lately, our counselors at BCC have found ourselves in counseling with those who are questioning the church. Some now consider their church or pastor a “fraud” after seeing him written up in the news or an internet blog. Others in smaller church contexts might have gotten the latest juicy gossip and it sound like their pastor has … Read More
Behind the Scenes look at Contemporary Issues Live Event
Recap Nearly 60 people gathered on Saturday, July 14th to grow in their ability to have conversations that encourage and comfort the hurting in their church and community. Over the past 29 years, BCC has helped churches all over the United States and internationally grasp how the practicality of God’s word can meet people in their darkest moments of need. Our Contemporary … Read More
Being a Friend to Those With Mental Struggles
Have you ever been the person who got asked to help in these types of situations? Or have you seen something similar happen from a distance? People running into the auditorium asking for assistance to help a man clearly having some sort of mental breakdown, curled up in a ball in the church lobby. People walking by and looking but … Read More
Moving Your Church in the Right Direction with Biblical Counseling
At the bottom of this post is a free resource called 5 Mistakes Churches Make When Starting a Counseling Ministry. In previous posts, we’ve asserted that: Biblical counseling is an opportunity to shepherd the church well Churches should embrace equipping one another to care for the body in creative and unique ways I don’t believe you can fulfill the whole … Read More
Scripture and Stickball: Why You Might Be a Better Biblical Counselor Than You Think
This post has a free resource at the bottom regarding “4 Reasons Why Lay Counseling Is Effective“. Right after I finished college, I was asked to meet with two middle school aged boys whose father had recently taken his life. I was a young single man and I was nervous that I would say the wrong thing. These boys had … Read More
Stop Ignoring Your Neighbors: Why Biblical Counseling Must Be Part of Every Healthy Church
This post has a free resource at the bottom regarding “5 Things Your Church Needs to Launch An Effective Biblical Counseling Team“. Growing up, I lived for nearly 10 years on a cul-de-sac in a Chicago suburb, but never physically saw my neighbor. They had a car with tinted windows and they pulled directly into their garage, shut the door, … Read More
A P.L.A.N. to Engage a Suicidal Person Wisely
If someone trusts you enough to reach out for help, or you pick up on something that concerns you and makes you wonder if another person has intentions of suicide, what do you do next? It feels like a great weight of responsibility and it is. We use a simple acrostic when training churches on how to engage those with suicidal intentions … Read More
A Christian Response to Suicide or Suicidal Thoughts (Part 2)
This post is part two in a series on suicide prevention and how to think through this issue carefully and biblically. Find part one here. Part 3 presents a simple plan for engaging with those who are suicidal or who have suffered the loss of someone close to them. The phone rang in the middle of my seventh birthday party. … Read More
