The Biblical Counseling Coalition Interviews RPM Ministries 

Note: The following blog was first posted at the Biblical Counseling Coalition’s Grace & Truth blog site. You can also read it there: The Weekend Interview Series: RPM Ministries. 

RPM Ministries

As part of our BCC vision, we want to point you to the best of the best in robust, relational biblical counseling. Each week we’re posting (and then making available as an ongoing resource) interviews with churches, para-church groups, and individuals committed to biblical counseling.

This week we highlight RPM Ministries out of Crown Point, Indiana. To learn more about their biblical counseling equipping ministry, we interviewed their Executive Director, Dr. Bob Kellemen.

BCC: “Bob, please tell our readers about your biblical counseling ministry’s mission and vision.”

RPM: “RPM Ministries exists to equip God’s people to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth through writing, speaking, and consulting on Christ-centered, church-based, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed biblical counseling. We equip pastors, lay people, educators, students, and biblical counselors in the personal ministry of the Word to disciple hurting and hardened people to become more like Christ by speaking the truth in love. RPM is our acrostic for Resurrection Power Multipliers. We based this concept on Paul’s prayer in Philippians 3:10: ‘I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.’ As believers in Christ, we have within us the same power that raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:15-23). God calls us to communion with Christ and connection to one another in the Body of Christ, and thus to tap into Christ’s resurrection power to glorify God.”

BCC: “What is the history of your ministry? Tell us your story.”

RPM: “In my three pastoral ministries and during my fifteen years as a seminary professor, I came to see that most Christians care deeply, but struggle to speak the truth in love. I’ve also found that many Christians find it difficult to obtain relevant biblical training that helps them to care like Christ by bringing hope to the hurting. So in 2004, my associates and I launched RPM Ministries to speak, write, and consult to empower the church and para-church to care like Christ. We long to see God’s people enter deeply into one another’s lives and make a significant difference in the lives of hurting and hardened people. We want to present a comprehensive approach to biblical counseling that focuses both on the evils we have suffered as well as on the sins we have committed—helping people to find grace to help them to grow more like Christ in every life situation.”

BCC: “What is your succinct definition of biblical counseling?”

RPM: “Christ-centered, church-based, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed biblical counseling depends upon the Holy Spirit to relate God’s inspired truth about people, problems, and solutions to human suffering (through the Christian soul care arts of sustaining and healing) and sin (through the Christian spiritual direction arts of reconciling and guiding) to empower people to exalt and enjoy God and to love others (Matthew 22:35-40) by cultivating conformity to Christ and communion with Christ and the Body of Christ.”

BCC: “What resources can people find at your site and through your ministry?”

RPM: “Part of the vision or RPM Ministries is to provide an ever-growing list of free resources. At the Free Resources portion of our website, visitors can download free articles, book reviews, charts, counseling forms, videos, teaching outlines, and comprehensive PowerPoint presentations on biblical counseling and Christian living. At the Writings portion of our site, visitors can download free sample chapters from each of my books: Soul Physicians, Spiritual Friends, Beyond the Suffering, Sacred Friendships, God’s Healing for Life’s Losses, and Equipping Counselors for Your Church. Also, on our Home Page visitors have access to our daily blog posts called Changing Lives.”

BCC: “What upcoming conferences, seminars, classes, and other training opportunities are you offering?”

RPM: “On our Schedule page we maintain an up-to-date calendar of events for all our conferences and seminars. On our Speaking page, we list the seminars that we regularly present across the country. Three of these include our Changing Lives Seminar: How to Care Like Christ which empowers participants to use the Bible wisely, effectively, powerfully, and lovingly. We also present our God’s Healing for Life’s Losses Seminar which helps grieving people to find hope when they’re hurting and equips participants to help others to face their suffering face-to-face with Christ. A third seminar that we frequently share is our Heroes of the Black Church Seminar. Christians of all races are equipped by the heroes of the Black Church to learn how to bring healing hope to one another.”

BCC: “Bob, how can people be praying for you and your ministry?”

RPM: “First, that my associates and I would be living out what we teach—that we’d be practicing what we preach, walking the talk. Second, that I would have wisdom to prioritize where I focus my ministry time and energy. In addition to my leadership of RPM Ministries, I work with the Biblical Counseling Coalition, with the Association of Biblical Counselors, with Capital Bible Seminary (as an adjunct professor), and with Moody Theological Seminary (as an adjunct professor). Plus, I always have another book project in the works. So I need your prayers for prioritizing my time.”

BCC: “Bob, how can people connect with you and contact you?”

RPM: “People can connect with us through email at rpm.ministries@gmail.com, by phone at 219-662-8138, and by snail mail at RPM Ministries, PO Box 270, Crown Point, IN 46308. In addition, they can follow our blogs and updates at our website, through our Facebook page, through our Twitter account, and via our YouTube channel.”

BCC: “Bob, thank you for helping our readers to learn more about biblical counseling and the ministry of equipping that you provide.”

What’s RPM?

This week the Biblical Counseling Coalition (BCC) features RPM Ministries in their Weekend Interview Series. Read the beginning of their interview below. To finally find out what RPM stands for, you have to read the rest of the original interview at The Weekend Interview Series: RPM Ministries. 

The BCC Weekend Interview Series

As part of our BCC vision, we want to point you to the best of the best in robust, relational biblical counseling. Each week we’re posting (and then making available as an ongoing resource) interviews with churches, para-church groups, and individuals committed to biblical counseling. 

RPM Ministries

This week we highlight RPM Ministries out of Crown Point, Indiana. To learn more about their biblical counseling equipping ministry, we interviewed their Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Bob Kellemen.

BCC: “Bob, please tell our readers about your biblical counseling ministry’s mission and vision.”

RPM: “RPM Ministries exists to equip God’s people to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth through writing, speaking, and consulting on Christ-centered, church-based, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed biblical counseling. We equip pastors, lay people, educators, students, and biblical counselors in the personal ministry of the Word to disciple hurting and hardened people to become more like Christ by speaking the truth in love. RPM is our acrostic for…”

Read the Rest of the Interview at the BCC.

Join the Conversation

Do you know what RPM stands for?

What About Bob? What About RPM? 

In less than two minutes, learn about the mission and vision of RPM Ministries, and find out the answer to that age-old question, “What about Bob?”

View the video on YouTube

Learn How to Change Lives

Equipping Lay People, Pastors, and Christian Counselors

As a lay person, what do you do after the hug? A friend shares a personal struggle, you hug, or, if you’re a guy, you grunt and say, “I’ll pray for ya’ man.” Now what? How do you help?

As a pastor, how do you speak the truth in love? When parishioners share deep struggles, how do you discern root causes, care deeply, and wisely share robust biblical counsel?

As a professional Christian counselor, how do you move beyond being a Christian who counsels to offering Christian counseling? How do you move beyond solution-focused-therapy to SOUL-u-tion-focused-Christian-counseling?

How to Care Like Christ

If you’re a lay person, a pastor, or a professional Christian counselor, learn how to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth. Learn what to do after the hug by learning how to care like Christ.

For lay people, this seminar helps you to help your friends.

For pastors, this seminar is the remedy for “Take two verses and call me in the morning.”

For Christian counselors, this seminar is the remedy for secular psychology.

Join me on April 24, 2010, from 9 AM to 12:30 PM at First Assembly of God Church, 1400 W. Washington Center Rd., Fort Wayne, IN.

In this interactive training seminar, you’ll learn how to use God’s Word to develop a Christ-centered, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed biblical model of counseling that truly values the sufficiency and relevancy of Scripture. You will be able to:

• Find God’s Answers to Life’s Seven Ultimate Questions: Learn how to relate Christ’s changeless truth to our changing times.

• Understand People Biblically: Discover how God designed us to live, love, and relate—who are we?

• Diagnose Problems Scripturally: Uncover why we do the things we do—what went wrong?

• Prescribe God’s Solutions Effectively: Apply Christ’s answers for our daily life issues—how do people change?

• CEU’s Available: 4.5 CE Hours have been approved.

Cost

Your cost includes the seminar, seminar notes, continental breakfast, and lunch. The cost is $65 for counselors, $45 for clergy, $45 for lay people, and $35 for students.

You’ll also enjoy a panel discussion after lunch with pastors, Christian counselors, and me discussing how to minister with truth and love.

Registration

Register before April 13th, to receive the early registration discount! To make it easy for you, we are offering many options for Registration:

• Online at http://www.fellowshipofchristiancounselors.com

• Send check or use a charge/debit via PayPal. Gret Machlan, Fellowship of Christian Counselors, PO Box 12963, Fort Wayne, IN 46866

• Pay at the door (higher rates apply)

• Call Gret Machlan 432-0066 x309 and we can work out the best fit for you.

Join the Conversation

How are you being equipped to care like Christ?

He Is Risen! Are You?

You likely shared in the traditional Easter greeting a few times this past week.

“He is risen.”

“He’s risen indeed.”

The Bible suggests that Christians add another greeting.

“He is risen.”

“I’m risen, too!”

Resurrected with Christ

The Apostle Paul says it plainly. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above” (Colossians 3:1).

In Ephesians, Paul goes even further in applying Christ’s resurrection to the Christian. He prays that we might know, “his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him the dead” (Ephesians 1:19-20).

The same power that resurrected Christ is in every Christian.

Tapping into Our RPMs

Of course, any honest Christians has to ask, “If I’m raised with Christ, if I have the same power implanted in me that raised Christ, then why don’t I live like I’m dead to sin?”

The answer is simple, yet profound. Instead of living victoriously in Christ, we live defeated lives because we try to live in our own power.

Paul tried the same futile approach before he became a Christian—placing his confidence in his own strength (Philippians 3:1-6). That’s why as a believer his focus was laser-like. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). Paul understood what we must understand—we have to tap into Christ’s resurrection power. We have to avail ourselves of and apply the strength that’s already in us.

We don’t do that alone. In Ephesians 3, Paul prays that we “may have power together with all the saints” to know Christ’s love, to be filled with God’s fullness, and to experience the immeasurable power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:17-21).

We need “RPMs.” No, not Revolutions Per Minute. But Resurrection Power Multipliers. (Which explains why I call my ministry “RPM Ministries.”) As we commune with Christ and connect with Christians we tap into Christ’s resurrection power. As we cling to Christ the Vine, His power flows into our lives so that we can produce fruit to His glory.

Knowing Our Identity in Christ

One of the most powerful ways we can “tap into Christ’s resurrection power” is through knowing, memorizing, meditating upon, and applying the truth of our new identity in Christ. We are co-crucified with Christ and we are co-resurrected with Christ. We are more than conquerors in Christ. We are saints with a new nature and sons and daughters with new power.

With that in mind, here’s a free five-page resource Who I Am In Christ (excerpted from Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction) that has over 150 verses about your new identity in Christ. Applying these truths to your life will help you to personalize the reality that, “He is risen. So am I!”

Join the Conversation

What spiritual disciplines assist you to tap into Christ’s resurrection power?

Want to Change Lives?

Do you care deeply, but sometimes struggle to know how to care like Christ?

Then join Dr. Bob Kellemen and RPM Ministries in their next How to Care Like Christ seminar.

*Learn How to Care Like Christ

*Discover How to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth

*Be Equipped to Bring Christ’s Healing to Hurting People

*Find Biblical Answers to Life’s Seven Ultimate Questions

Date, Time, Place, and Cost

*Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010

*Time: 9:00-4:00 (Registration and Continental Breakfast Begins at 8:30)

*Place: Douglas Memorial Community Church, 1325 Madison Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217, www.douglaschurch.org, info@douglschurhc.org, 410-523-1700

*Cost: $25.00. Cost includes continental breakfast, snacks, lunch, complete set of seminar notes, and full-day seminar.

To Register

You have several registration and payment options:

1. Register online and pay by credit card here.

2. Call Douglas Memorial Community Church at 410-523-1700 to register and pay by check.

3. Mail a check to the church address (see above).

4. Contact Minister Vivian Ferebee at: vferebee@douglaschurch.org, 410-523-1700, ext. 17.

5. Pay by cash in person the day of the seminar.

Space is limited, please be sure to register early.

Be Equipped for One Another Ministry

*Find God’s Answers to Life’s Seven Ultimate Questions: Learn how to relate Christ’s changeless truth to our changing times.

*Learn how to understand people biblically: Discover how God designed us to live, love, and relate.

*Learn how to diagnose problems scripturally: Uncover what went wrong—why do we do the things we do?

*Learn how to prescribe God’s solutions effectively: Apply Christ’s answers for our daily life problems.

*Learn how to weep with those who weep: Offer sustaining care for discouraged people—empathize with people.

*Learn how to give hope to the hurting: Offer healing comfort for suffering people—encourage people as you relate God’s truth to daily life.

*Learn how to be a dispenser of grace: Offer reconciling care-fronting for sinning people—enlighten people as you speak the truth in love.

*Learn how to disciple, coach, and mentor: Offer guiding counsel for growing people—empower people to tap into Christ’s resurrection power.

More Information

Visit the church web site for additional information.  

Soul Physicians