Three Testimonies: The Acknowledgements for Equipping Counselors for Your Church

Who has impacted your life and ministry for Christ? What testimony would you share about them and their impact? What story would you tell?

In the Acknowledgements page for Equipping Counselors for Your Church, I enjoyed telling the story of three men who have impacted my ministry. I hope you enjoy reading their stories.

The year was 1973 and I was fourteen. My older brother, Rick, began dating a Baptist girl, and if you date a Baptist girl you attend a Baptist church. Rick, being the older brother, informed me that if he had to go to church each week, then so did I. That, from the human side of the equation, was how God sovereignly arranged for me to begin attending Grace Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana. Within a year, I surrendered my life to Christ as my Savior.

Pastor Bill Goode

During my high school years at Grace Baptist, my life intertwined with three individuals, without whom, this book would never have been written. The first was Sr. Pastor Bill Goode (who is now home with Christ). Though I didn’t know it at the time, it was during these very years that Pastor Goode was instrumental in the launch and early development of what now has become known as the modern nouthetic biblical counseling movement. Pastor Goode’s commitment to equipping counselors for the local church has stayed with me these forty-years.

Pastor Ron Allchin

It was at Grace Baptist that I also met and was discipled by our Youth Pastor, Ron Allchin. Pastor Ron not only ministered to me, but reached out to my family in many ways. Though the Lord led Pastor Ron to another church during my high school years, we always stayed in contact. Today, Dr. Ron Allchin equips biblical counselors around the nation and the world. He was a model for me as a youth; he remains an example for me now.

Pastor Steve Viars

A third influential person from Grace Baptist was Steve Viars. Steve and I had actually met years earlier in the neighborhood when I was in second grade and he was in first grade. So our paths go way back, to say the least. Steve grew up, just as I did (though some might question that about each of us), and we journeyed together to Baptist Bible College and to Grace Theological Seminary. Steve is now the Sr. Pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana—one of the premier churches in the world where you can be equipped as a biblical counselor. Steve’s real-life, best-practice approach to equipping counselors has richly influenced my own ministry.

Who, other than God, would have thought that Rick dating a Baptist girl would lead to Bob writing Equipping Counselors for Your Church? All I know is that this book would not be in your hands without the shaping influence of Bill Goode, Ron Allchin, and Steve Viars. It is with gratefulness to Christ that I dedicate Equipping Counselors for Your Church to Bill, Ron, and Steve.

Join the Conversation

Who do you want to “acknowledge” as having impacted your life and ministry for Christ? What testimony would you shared about how God used them in your life?