Heading to NANC

I’ve attended the NANC (National Association of Nouthetic Counselors) annual conference several times. This year will be the first time I am speaking there.

On Monday night, 7:45-8:45 PM, I’m speaking on Learning from the Heroes of Black Church History: Growing as Culturally-Informed, Comprehensive Biblical Counselors. This presentation comes from my book Beyond the Suffering. 

On Wednesday afternoon, 12:45-1:45 PM, I’m speaking on Equipping Counselors for Your Church: The 4E Ministry Training Strategy. This presentation comes from my latest book by the same name as the session title. 

Throughout the week, I’ll also be representing the Biblical Counseling Coalition. On Tuesday, the BCC’s “Think Tank” will meet from 10:45-11:45 AM for an iron-sharpening-iron discussion of applying God’s Word to our lives and ministries. The week will also be filled with meetings with friends and co-workers, as well as listening to excellent session presentations and plenary sessions by other leaders in biblical counseling.

Join the Conversation 

If you’ve been to a NANC conference in the past, what has impacted you to the most? If you are going to be at this year’s conference, what are you looking forward to the most?

Every Life Has a Story

Dan Cathy is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc. A committed Christian, he’s an inspiring man with an amazing story. That may explain the Chick-fil-A passion statement: Live, Love, and Lead.

Last night, my good friend, Pastor Steve Viars, introduced me to yet another aspect of Dan Cathy’s life. Steve shared a powerful message about how, by God’s grace, Faith Baptist Church is reaching out into the Lafayette community with Christ’s love. Included in Steve’s presentation at the annual conference of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC) was the following training video created by Chick-fil-A.

Dan Cathy introduces the video. “Every life has a story if we only bother to read it. This is a video we created to remind us that everyone we interact with is a chance to create a remarkable experience.”

Watch the following video at your own risk…it may make you cry; it may challenge you to live, love, and lead; it certainly will not leave you the same as you were before you viewed it.

Dan Cathy says, “There are a million opportunities for each of us every day to live, love, and lead.” So, after you’ve viewed the video, ask yourself, “How will I live, love, and lead today?”

©2010 Chick-fil-A 

Every Life Has a Story from Dan T. Cathy on Vimeo.

A Vision for the Entire Church

Where do you turn when you’re hurting? Where do you go when you’re struggle with a besetting sin?

For nearly 2,000 years, the answer was: “I turn to the church, to my pastor, and to my brothers and sisters in Christ.” However, since the advent of modern secular psychology, the answer far too often, even for Christians, has been, “When I’m hurting, I turn to the world of psychology.”

For nearly 40 years, the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC) has been helping to turn back the tide. NANC has led the way in demonstrating that God’s Word is sufficient for dealing with our suffering and our sin.

That passionate focus continues Monday October 4 to Wednesday October 6, 2010 as Faith Baptist Church hosts the NANC Annual Conference. The theme this year is More Than Counseling: A Vision for the Entire Church.

When people think of biblical counseling, they often think only of a pastor in an office in a formal setting with parishioners. But this year’s NANC theme reminds us that biblical is what God calls every believer to do. Ephesians 4:15 tells the story. We are to speak and live Gospel truth in love so that every person matures in Christ—becoming more like Christ by clinging to Him in our suffering and turning to Him for victory over sin.

Conference keynote speakers this year include Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Tim Lane, Executive Director of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation; Nicolas Ellen, Pastor Community of Faith Bible Church; Steve Viars, Sr. Pastor Faith Baptist Church; and Brad Bigney, Sr. Pastor Grace Fellowship Church.

Additionally, over 60 workshop sessions will equip the over 1,200 participants. Conference sessions range from a biblical view of forgiveness, to mood disorders, to counseling children, to the importance of prayer in counseling, to a biblical view of emotions, and much more.

Over two dozen exhibitors will provide participants with access to scores of biblical counseling resources. Among those will be BMH Books with free biblical counseling resources and books such as God’s Healing for Life’s Losses, Soul Physicians, Spiritual Friends, Beyond the Suffering, and Sacred Friendships.

NANC Executive Director, Randy Patten summarizes this week’s focus. “Our speakers will seek to demonstrate how the theological truths that undergird our commitment to biblical counseling should impact every area of a church’s life and ministry.”

For conference updates on Twitter follow #NANC.

Join the Conversation

Where do you turn when you’re struggling with suffering and facing besetting sins?

Note: My good friend, Steve Viars, Sr. Pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, IN, leader of Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries, and President of NANC, graciously wrote the Foreword to God’s Healing for Life’s Losses. Steve knows about relating the riches of Gospel truth to the lives of hurting men and women.

Foreword

Can anyone avoid suffering? 

I have had the privilege of serving as a pastor of the same congregation for over twenty years. On the one hand God has graciously given numerous opportunities to share in the joys and blessings of my parishioners and friends. There have been many births, weddings, spiritual victories, and occasions for laughter and love. Countless days have been filled with far more sweetness than I would have ever imagined.

But the parallel truth is that I have seen first-hand how often men and women suffer. Job losses. Shocking diagnoses. Children gone astray. Abuse. And the caskets…oh too many caskets. I knew the Bible predicted this would occur, but it is different when it happens to members of your church family, your own family, your friends, and to you.

Of course, you know that as well. I have never met a person who has not suffered in some way. That explains why Jesus’ family is instructed to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Life this side of heaven is anything but trouble-free.

That is why I am so glad Dr. Bob Kellemen wrote God’s Healing for Life’s Losses. You cannot choose whether you will face suffering or not, but you can decide where you will turn for help. Here are three reasons why I heartily and joyfully encourage you to carefully read what Bob has written.

It courageously faces the hard questions. You are probably fed up with pat answers and pious platitudes. Plastic smiles do not work, not when you are suffering. Bob writes with the seasoned wisdom of a winsome counselor who has spent many hours compassionately listening to people whose hearts are breaking.

It skillfully takes you to God’s Word. Listening is wonderful and powerful, but it is seldom enough. Bob is a careful student of the Bible. He believes that the living God has direction and answers for every hurting person who will humbly come to Him (Matthew 11:29). I went to college and seminary with Bob—I know that he is a diligent and accomplished student and scholar. Yet this book does not read like a distant theological treatise. It is more like a wise conversation with a mature spiritual friend.

It passionately points you to the Savior. The Bible is less like an encyclopedia and more like a novel. Bob’s goal is not to give us a few verses that we simply memorize and recite when times get rough. He is inviting us to use suffering as an opportunity to grow more in love with the One who suffered supremely for us. That is why there is hope for life’s losses.

I look forward to the day this project goes from the manuscript I currently have in my hand to a book I can read and give to others. My church family needs it. My counselees need it. I need it. And, if you’re suffering a loss or helping someone who is grieving, then you need it.

One more thing. Bob and I grew up a few miles from one another in Gary, IN. I have known him since we were boys running around the neighborhood. I can say this without reservation—Bob is the real thing. He cares deeply about people who are suffering. That is one of his God-given passions. Let this book be a gift to you, from a dear and trusted friend.

Dr. Steve Viars, Sr. Pastor, Faith Baptist Church, Lafayette, Indiana