It’s More Than a Model of Biblical Counseling

Biblical Soul Care as part of the discipleship continuum of a Biblical Ministry.

Intentional Discipleship is really a model of discipleship that is proactive and models intentionality. It involves a good book at a coffee shop or Small Group involvement, events at church that have direction and purpose. 

Directive Discipleship is a model of discipleship that is set to give authoritative instruction leading to a specific outcome in a suggested order.

Corrective Discipleship is a model of discipleship that has targeted a specific worship disorder and gives counsel that will give counsel leading toward specific worship reorder. At some level, because it is corrective and somewhat behavioral due to things necessary to put off and put on will be remedial in nature. 

Intensive Discipleship is a model of discipleship most refer to as counseling. This is where most Biblical Counseling takes place in a formal setting. The counselor offering Biblical Counseling or spiritual wisdom, advice, and exhortations from Scripture will require forms, homework, and obedience to continue through the counseling process. 

Biblical Soul Care is more than a model of biblical counseling. It is intentional and intensive discipleship and deep, authentic fellowship. It is something we all should do at the level we are equipped with. It is not a new idea. It is living out the one another commands in the Scriptures. It has been practiced since the early church (Acts 2). It can be found in the Puritan community of the 16th and 17th centuries. It is our mission to restore soul care to the church.

Biblical Soul Care In Community

While all good biblical counseling content is the same (it is based on the authority and sufficiency of the Bible), how and where counseling happens differs. We believe the context is more about community than privacy. While we hold strongly to confidentiality and discretion, we believe in counseling in the community. That can look like inviting friends into formal counseling or doing informal counseling in a small group format.

In other words, Biblical Soul Care is not just for pastors or biblical counselors but it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer. It can take many forms like mentoring, coaching, and advocacy.

Vision: It’s our vision to return soul care to the local church. No more “refer & defer” but carefully stewarding and caring for the people entrusted to the body of Christ.

Mission: Glorify God by making disciples through the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

Passion: Ministering to the hurting in full dependence on the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the Community of God to experience transforming life change.

Core Values:

  1. Christ-Centered (Colossians 1:15-20) – The person of Christ, his preeminence, the gift of his life given to us
  2. Biblically Grounded with Truth & Grace (John 1:14) – We get principles for life and godliness from the Bible and we want to give counsel that is a blend of both truth and grace.
  3. Spirit-led (John 6:63) – The real counselor is God who meets us through his Spirit. We want to be careful to give heed to his guidance and not simply let our experience dominate the direction for our counsel.
  4. Prayer Saturated (Colossians 4:2) – Humility and dependence on God are shown most clearly through prayer. We want to practice and model both humility and dependence throughout the counseling process.
  5. Community-Based (Hebrews 10:24-25) – God calls us to live life in the context of his people. Care, encouragement, exhortation, and healing happen most fruitfully in the church community.

“…to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”  (Colossians 1:25-28)