Biblical Counseling Center - Jenison Michigan

Biblical Counseling Center - Jenison Michigan    

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What kinds of problems do you work with?

    We have yet to find a problem or life situation that the Scriptures do not address.  We are not saying that Biblical Counseling is always the whole answer.  Sometimes there are health issues involved that require the services of a medical doctor.  We have also used financial planners, debt counselors and lawyers to help address various problems.  And of course the faithful ministry of elders, deacons and pastors is essential.  But the Lord Himself is always at the center of every situation. 

     

    There is not a happy ending to every problem.  Some sicknesses are not healed.  Some marriages do fail and some people do have to face financial ruin.  Yet even in these situations there is hope, strength, comfort and forgiveness in Christ.  The truths of God’s love and wisdom in Christ need to be made clear especially when life is hard.  The Bible teaches that most of our problems are actually the result of sin, our own and other's.  Our desire is to view problems as Christ sees our problems, knowing that He has an answer for every situation we face.  Any marriage can be restored, any relationship healed, every sin overcome in Jesus Christ.  Certainly the change does not come instantly: it requires a lot of work from the counselor and the counselee.  However, the real strength and wisdom come from the Lord Himself.

     

    Here is a list of common problems we address:

      Marriage Problems

      Worry

      Parent/Child Problems

      Fear/Anxiety

      Alcohol/Drug Abuse 

      Pornography

      Anger Problems 

      Sexual Sins

      Financial Problems

      Eating Disorders

      Care for Aged Parents 

      Communication Problems

       Depression

      Sin/Salvation

    There are many other issues we have faced over the years; these are some common ones.  Normally there is a mixture of problems.  Often as counselors we are aware that our wisdom and power are not sufficient, so we pray and God is always faithful.  As we study His Word and humbly seek His aid He is faithful to minister to His people and bring glory to Himself!

     

     

  2. What is unique about your ministry?

    God has called us to a unique ministry in West Michigan.  We stand out for the following reasons:

    -  We function as a ministry, not a business.  We ask our counselees for donations but do not require payment.  This allows us to minister to all who need our services.  And since we are a Biblical ministry we do not believe it is right to “charge” people for the Word of God any more than a Church would charge someone to attend a worship service.

    - We consciously put Christ first.  We are evangelistic; seeking to lead our counselees to Christ if they do not already know Him as their Savior.

    - We rely upon the Bible and its eternal truths rather than the constantly changing values and ideas of man popular in secular counseling.

    - We require that our counselors have more training in the Bible than in secular counseling training.

    -  We seek to bring honor to God, even if that is difficult for the counselee.  We view painful situations as being ordained by a loving God and as opportunities to grow and change.  Therefore we teach our counselees to rely on God and His resources rather than giving solutions that simply offer relief or make them happy.

    -  We have hope in every situation.  Many situations in life are beyond our ability to understand or to cope with.  God is able to strengthen us by His Spirit and to give us wisdom beyond our own.  He even gives us a peace that passes understanding.  No matter how bad things may be there is always hope and comfort in Christ!

    -  We seek to honor the church as God’s approved authority over His people.  We do not try to replace the Pastor and Elders, but desire to assist them.  We work with the church not against it.  We talk with the spiritual authorities of our counselees when necessary. seeking to avoid conflicting advice.

     

     

  3. What is Nouthetic Counseling?

    We use the term “Nouthetic” to describe the kind of Biblical counseling we do.  It is a term coined by Dr. Jay Adams.  On a popular level we often simply refer to ourselves as Biblical Counselors, but there are many who make such a claim and mean something different by it.  So we use the term Nouthetic to distinguish ourselves and identify our philosophy of counseling.

     

    Nouthetic is a Greek word we have brought into English which is why most people are not familiar with the word.  It is the term used in passages such as Romans 15:14; “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to instruct one another.”  Here the term Nouthetic is used to indicate that God wants us to be directive in our ministry with each other (instruct).  Counseling is not to be just “hand holding”, feeling sorry for the counselee, but using the Word of God to direct people in how to live.  Another place in Scripture where the term is used is in Colossians 1:28; “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”   Here the Greek word is translated “admonishing” stressing the authority that resides in God’s Word and our obligation to live by God’s commandments.  We could look at other Scripture passages to further explain why we have chosen to identify ourselves by this term.  But for the sake of brevity we simply want to say that the kind of counseling we do grows out of the Bible. Our Bibles are open as we counsel because it is THE source of our wisdom and authority.  We seek to be loving, kind and gentle while standing firm for the truths of God’s Word.  We seek to shepherd people into a greater understanding of and obedience to the Bible. We do not think the ideas of secular theories of counseling are to be adapted to the Bible. In counseling we must rely on the Lord, not the changing ideas of man.

     

    Nouthetic counseling relies upon the Lord and in love seeks to help God’s people bring glory to Him in their lives.  When we live for the glory of God we find peace and comfort for our souls.

      

     

     

  4. Do you have a statement of faith?

    We affirm:

    1. that the Bible is the inspired, the only infallible and authoritative Word of God;

    2. that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit;

    3. the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in power and glory;

    4. that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential;

    5. that a person becomes justified by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;

    6. the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life;

    7. the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; that they are saved unto the resurrection of life, and that they are lost unto the resurrection of damnation;

    8. the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and His church.

     

  5. What is the vision of your ministry?

    Our Purpose

         The reason for our existence is to minister the Word of God to those in need of direction and change in their lives, to present the sufficiency of Christ as a practical answer to the daily problems of life and to train others how to minister God’s Word in a counseling setting (2 Timothy 2:1-2).

     

    Our Power

         Our strength is not in ourselves or our wisdom.  We gladly confess that our sufficiency comes from our loving savior, Jesus Christ.  We believe that “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).  We accept the Bible as being inspired by God and profitable... that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Jesus himself claims the title of “Wonderful Counselor”.  He works through His Word and Spirit to change, comfort, and strengthen His people (Romans 8:1-2; 4-5; 9-11; 13-17; 23; 26-27).

     

    Our Pleasure

         We see ourselves as tools in His hand, intended to bring glory to God rather than ourselves.  Our success and our pleasure lies in helping people draw close to God through Jesus Christ.  We “have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4).

     

     

  6. Which Churches support the ministry of the Biblical Counseling Center?

    The following churches support the Biblical Counseling Center in various ways.  All have referred their members to us for counseling.  Some have included us in their budgets and others receive special offerings for us on a regular basis. (Not a complete list)

    Bethany United Reformed Church    Grand Rapids MI, 49509                            

    Beaverdam Christian Reformed Church    Hudsonville MI, 49426

    Calvary Baptist Church     Greenville MI, 48838                                  

    Covenant Presbyterian Church    Holland MI, 49423

    Cornerstone United Reformed Church    Hudsonville MI,49426                               

    Messiah’s Independent Reformed Church   Holland MI, 49423

    Harvest Baptist Church      Hudsonville MI,49428                               

    Byron Center Bible Church      Byron Center MI, 49315

    Spencer Mills Orthodox Presbyterian Church Gowen MI, 49326                                        

    Whitneyville Bible Church      Alto MI 49302

    New Life Fellowship      Zeeland MI, 49464                                      

    Redeemer Presbyterian Church      Ada MI, 49301

    Rockford Springs Community Church      Rockford MI, 49341                                    

    Grace Community Church     Hudsonville MI, 49426

    Faith Baptist Church        Muskegon MI, 49445                                  

    Faith United Reformed Church     West Olive MI, 49460

    Hudsonville Alliance Church       Hudsonville MI,49426                               

    Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church     Hudsonville MI, 49426

    Maple Grove Bible Church    South Haven MI,49090                             

    Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church     Hudsonville MI, 49426

    EastmanvilleUnited Reformed Church     Coopersville MI,49404                              

    LittleFarms Chapel     Marne MI, 49438

    Georgetown Grace Church       Hudsonville MI, 49428                                

    Nortonville Gospel Chapel     Spring Lake MI49456

    Huggard Bible Church        Sand Lake MI,49343                                   

    Jenison Bible Church      Jenison MI, 49428

    Trinity Christian Reformed Church     Sparta MI, 49345                                          

    Heritage Christian Reformed Church     Byron Center MI, 49315

    Reformed Heritage Community      Holland MI, 49424                                        

    Reformed Baptist Church of GR     Grand Rapids MI, 49506

    Netherlands Reformed Church     Grand Rapids MI, 49504                             

    West Cannon Baptist Church     Belmont MI, 49306

    Southwest Protestant Reformed Church    Grand Rapids MI, 49518                             

    Bethel United Reformed Church     Jenison MI, 49428

    Harvest Orthodox Presbyterian Church      Wyoming MI 49506                              

    Dutton United Reformed Church     Caledonia MI, 49316

    Meadow Springs Community Church     Kentwood MI, 49508                                    

    Byron Center Protestant Reformed Church    Byron Center MI, 49315

    New Richmond Bible Church      Fennville MI, 49408                                     

    Ottawa Center Chapel     Coopersville MI, 49404

    Trinity Reformed Church      Grand Haven MI, 49417                              

    Zion Chapel     Holland MI, 49423

    True Light Baptist Church       Grand Rapids MI, 49506                             

    Southlawn Church of God     Wyoming MI, 49548

     


     


     

  7. What are the church backgrounds of those you counsel?

    Most of our counselees come by word of mouth. Our former counselees recommend us to a friend, or the extended familyof someone we ministered to will recommend us. Therefore our counselee’s church backgrounds can be very widespread.  Here is a sample list of some ofthe church background our counselees have.

     

    Baptist Churches

         Independent Churches

         General Conference Baptist Churches

         General Association of Regular Baptist Churches

         National Convention of America Baptist Churches

         Southern Baptist Churches

         Conservative Baptist Churches

    Bible Churches

    Brethren Churches                                                              

    Charismatic Churches

    Christian & Missionary Alliance Churches

    Christian Reformed Churches

    Church of Christ Churches

    Church of God in Christ Churches

    Evangelical Free Churches

    Evangelical Lutheran Churches

    Free Methodist Churches

    Grace Brethren Churches

    Independent Fundamental (IFCA) Churches                                                      

    Independent Reformed Churches

    Methodist Churches

    Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches

    Nazarene Churches                                                                        

    Netherlands Reformed Churches

    Nondenominational Churches

    Orthodox Presbyterian Churches

    Pentecostal Churches                                    

    Presbyterian Church in America                                                                     

    Protestant Reformed Churches

    Reformed Baptist Churches

    Reformed Church in America

    Roman Catholic Churches

    Seventh Day Adventist                                                                    

    United Methodist Churches

    United Reformed Churches

    Wesleyan Churches                                                                     

    Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Churches

    We also minister to people with no church background who are not believers.  In these cases evangelism is an important part of our counseling.  We also recognize that church membership does not automatically mean that a person has saving faith in Jesus Christ.  Because a relationship with Christ is foundational for life we address this question with all our counselees.

     

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