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How to Use a G4 Series Book

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Step 1
PREPARE yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually to face your suffering.

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Part One:
Beginning Well

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Part Two:
Labeling Depression-Anxiety: Sin or Suffering?

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Step 2
ACKNOWLEDGE the specific history and realness of my suffering.

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Part One:
Naming Our Struggle

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Part Two:
Seeing Our Struggle in Real Time

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Part Three:
Considering Suffering, Motives, and Depression-Anxiety

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Step 3
UNDERSTAND the impact of my suffering.

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Part One:
Factors That Add to the Impact of Depression-Anxiety

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Part Two:
Changes in Lifestyle That Add to the Impact of Depression-Anxiety

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Part Three:
The Impact of Depression-Anxiety on Your Family and Friends

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Step 4
LEARN MY SUFFERING STORY that I use to make sense of my experience.

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Part One:
How We Narrate Our Lives

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Part Two:
Five Things My Depression-Anxiety Might Be Saying

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Part Three:
Five More Things My Depression-Anxiety Might Be Saying

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Part Four:
How to Articulate Your Suffering Story

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Step 5
MOURN the wrongness of what happened and receive God’s comfort.

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Part One:
What Are You Mourning?

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Part Two:
Differentiating Mourning from Wallowing

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Part Three:
Learning How to Mourn

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Step 6
LEARN MY GOSPEL STORY by which God gives meaning to my experience.

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Part One:
Who Am I Now? Who and Where Is God?

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Part Two:
What Should I Expect from My Friends? If This Is Suffering, What Is Sin?

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Part Three:
Is Hope Worth Disappointment? What Am I Living For?

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Step 7
IDENTIFY GOALS that allow me to combat the impact of my suffering.

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Part One:
Preparing a Short-Term Response Plan

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Part Two:
Preparing a Long-Term Response Plan

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Part Three:
Managing a Balanced Life

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Part Four:
Planning to Pursue Joy

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Part Five:
Strengthening Your Soul

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Step 8
PERSEVERE in the new life and identity to which God has called me.

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Part One:
Spotting Marks of a New, Healthier Normal

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Part Two:
Preparing for Your Transition from G4

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Step 9
STEWARD all of my life for God’s glory.

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Part One:
Nine Questions Toward Stewarding All of My Life for the Glory of God

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Appendix B
Six Steps to Wise Decision-Making About Psychotropic Medications

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Then, Wednesday morning, you get a call from Sophia. She and her husband, Liam, lead the small group that Riley and Gabriel (Gabe) attend. Gabe was sick Tuesday night, and Riley managed to get to small group by herself. It was rare to see Riley without Gabe, but the group was glad she came. During the small talk time Riley asked to speak with Sophia. Riley said Gabe would be upset if she was late getting home, but she had some things she really needed to share with Sophia.

Riley explained that things had been difficult in their home for years. The church-wide emphasis on marriage had only made things worse. Each Sunday, on the way home, Gabe would tell Riley the things she needed to change for their marriage to be more like the pastor’s sermons. On the way to small group the last two weeks, Gabe would drill Riley about the things she shouldn’t say.

As Riley talked, Sophia learned:

• From early in their dating relationship, Gabe had strong opinions about what Riley wore, especially that she did not wear anything that might attract attention from other men.
• Riley had to ask permission for any expenses beyond groceries. Even when getting gasoline for her car, she would get questioned about where she went to have to have “already driven that many miles.”
• When Riley would ask if she could take their two kids, ages 4 (daughter) and 2 (son), to a local fast-food place and spend time with other moms, Gabe would find reasons she shouldn’t go. If Riley persisted that she wanted to go, Gabe called her unsubmissive. From that point forward, any women she mentioned being at these play dates were considered “bad influences” and should be avoided.
• Riley offered to get a part-time job to help with expenses because finances seemed to be so important to Gabe and a reason she couldn’t do things with her friends. This made Gabe furious. He said she was disrespecting him as the provider for their family.
• Conflict in their home did not seem to have a medium range. Things were either peaceful or volatile. To this point, Riley said Gabe had never hit her, but he frequently backed her into corners of a room and had begun squeezing her arms as he pinned her to the wall. Riley showed Sophia several pictures of bruises on her upper arm.
• Gabe regularly monitored Riley’s cell phone and insisted that their social media be joint accounts. It took Riley several minutes to get to the pictures of her bruises because she placed them in a hidden folder so that Gabe wouldn’t find them and become suspicious of who she might show them to.
• Last week their daughter, Anna, became aware enough to say, “Please stop daddy. Mama doesn’t know what you want her to say.” That shook up both Riley and Gabe. Gabe got quiet that night. That’s when Riley realized she needed to reach out for help.

After talking these things over with Liam, they decided that Sophia needed to call you (their pastor). They are concerned for Riley, and they are concerned that Gabe serves in Awana and has recently begun the process of becoming a deacon. For a variety of reasons, they think the church should do something, but they aren’t sure what.

After listening to Sophia describe the conversation, you ask if she could coordinate a time for her and Riley to meet with you. You have a sense that, unless you are careful, you could easily make a bad situation worse. Where do you go from here? (download a PDF of this case study here)

*    *    *    *    *    *    *

Ask yourself a few questions:

• How would you triage the assortment of concerns that emerged in this case study?
• Who inside and outside your church might need to be involved in this situation?
• When and how would you (as a pastor) approach Riley? Gabe?
• How do you support, care for, and utilize peers like Liam, Sophia, and other lay people who serve on care teams for Riley and Gabe?
• In a situation like this, where it is unlikely that everyone will be satisfied with the church’s response, how do you determine if you were successful?

If you think working through a case study like this would be helpful for you and your church leadership, I hope you will join us for PeaceWorks Live 2026 (https://www.chrismoles.org/pwl2026). This is just one of six tracks!

Track Overview: We don’t know when a crisis will emerge. But we do know that crises are coming. In churches filled with broken people who live in a fallen world, crises are an inevitable part of ministry. One of the most difficult, complex, and tragic crises a church faces is domestic violence. In this track, we will provide you with guidance for shepherding crises in the church with skill, intentionality, and integrity. Throughout the track, we will illustrate these principles of crisis management on domestic abuse situations.

Session One
Stewarding Trust and Five Key Qualities of a Pastor Amid Crisis

When a crisis, like domestic abuse, becomes known in your church, you will instinctively strive to steward something. Unless you’ve given forethought to how to respond, it may only be the reputation of your church or liability. In this breakout, we’ll explore the importance of stewarding the trust of your people and describe the five key qualities of a pastor and church leader who navigate these kinds of crises well.

Session Two
Thinking with a Triage Mindset with a Crisis Emerges

When a crisis emerges, where do you start? How do you determine what is most important? If you haven’t given these questions forethought, you will simply start with what is most urgent or focus on the people who are most emotional. That is a recipe for regret. In this breakout, we will provide two triage models for bringing a principled, assessment-based approach to triaging a crisis situation, like domestic abuse.

Session Three
The Pastoral/Church Role within an Interdisciplinary Approach

Hopefully you realize a church cannot effectively respond to domestic violence by itself. We have a host of Romans 13 partners for justice in our community who have an important role: social workers, law enforcement, counselors, etc. In this breakout, we will examine who you need to get to know (before the crisis emerges), how to effectively cooperate with these professionals, and how to respond when various professionals disagree on the best response to the same situation.

Session Four
A Case Study of a High Control Marriage: Part One 

Imagine a wife, we’ll call her Riley, reaches out to her small group leader’s wife. She is not allowed to pick out her own clothes, she’s given an allowance for groceries, her husband tracks the mileage on her car, and if he disapproves of her choices, he locks her in the bedroom for hours to “think about what she’s done.” In this breakout, we will consider the early responses to a situation like this and how, as a pastor and church, to care for Riley and her children.

Session Five
A Case Study of a High Control Marriage: Part Two

Continuing the previous case study, imagine a husband, we’ll call him Gabe. He serves as a leader in your student ministry and is under consideration to become a deacon. As you hear Riley’s experience, you realize you need to address matters with Gabe. In this breakout, we will consider the when, how, and what to say of approaching Gabe. In domestic abuse situations where both spouses are in the church, there are always at least two time tables in play (i.e., husband and wife). We need a principled and strategic way to shape our response to Gabe and Riley.

Session Six
What Is Success in Crisis Management with Q&A

By the time a crisis is over, we’re usually so far behind on other ministry responsibilities that we never reflect on how well we did at managing the crisis. In this breakout, we’ll provide you with seven questions to assess your response to a crisis, like learning of domestic abuse in the family of one of your church members. At the end of this session, there will be more time dedicated to Q&A than in the earlier five sessions.

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This appendix is written for those coming alongside a friend who may be considering self-harm. In a G4 group that is focused on depression-anxiety, it is likely that at some point, a member will begin to despair to a degree that they consider self-harm. We want you to have a plan for responding to that member.

If at any point when you are unsure what to do next, you can call 988. This is the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You will be connected with a trained professional who can talk with you and your friend (if they are willing) to assess the situation and identify possible next steps.[1]

When a friend is considering self-harm, your goal is not to resolve the totality of what is leading them to despair. Your goal is more modest: You merely want to help them navigate the immediacy and intensity of their situation. Usually, if you can help your friend commit to avoiding self-harm over the next one to three days (24 to 72 hours), their sense of despair will have subsided significantly.

As you talk, remain calm, maintain pleasant facial expressions, talk slowly, and ask basic questions. When you remain regulated, it will help your friend begin to regulate their own emotions. As long as your friend is with you or talking to you, they are safe. Allow that awareness to help de-escalate your own emotions.

Start with the following basic questions:

1. Have you thought about harming yourself? If you are unsure of your friend’s answer to this question, ask. Asking won’t prompt an action your friend wasn’t considering, but it may open a conversation they were afraid to broach. That’s a good thing.
2. Do you have a plan? Do you have access to the things necessary to accomplish your plan? If they have a plan, there is more risk than if they do not. The more lethal and accessible their plan, the higher the risk.
3. When are you going to be alone in the coming days/weeks? Do you plan to use drugs/alcohol any time soon? What adds to your despair? Isolation is a near universal prerequisite for suicide. Drugs and alcohol lower judgment and increase impulsivity. Events that add to despair might include fighting with parents, learning that my ex is on a date with someone else, or receiving a failing test grade. This set of questions identifies high risk times.
4. Who in your life can serve as caring support for accountability and encouragement? You don’t want to be the only caring person that knows about your friend’s thoughts of self-harm. You want to encourage your friend to reach out to these people for additional support.
5. What obstacle would you need to overcome for life to be worth living? What has kept you from harming yourself? There are reasons your friend has not followed through on their thoughts of self-harm. It might be, “I couldn’t do that to my children/parents,” or “I still have dreams I want to accomplish.” The obstacle might be, “I need to find a way to stop the foreclosure on my home,” or “I would have to find a way to tell my wife about my affair.”

If your friend pulls away from the conversation, that is a time to call 988 for guidance. If that call is needed, asking questions like these allows you to gain as much information as possible so that you can share with the social worker on the hotline and receive better guidance about what to do next.

If your friend engages in the conversation, you can now help them outline wise decisions for next actions. You can take out a piece of paper and write out what you’ve learned in an informal life agreement. As a friend, family member, pastor, or  G4 facilitator, you don’t need a life agreement that looks and reads like a formal contract. Some people fear liability if this type of document doesn’t look like a legal contract. That fear is not accurate. You are only responsible for taking reasonable steps based on what you know. Typed legalese on a preprinted form doesn’t change your liability. Again, if you’re unsure, call 988.

You might say something like this as you write out the information from your friend’s responses to the questions above, “Can I summarize our conversation and sketch out what I’ve heard you say?”

I am feeling despair because [obstacle from question #5].

I don’t want to act on that despair because [reason for living from question #5].

Because [object from question #2] could tempt me toward self-harm, I need to [ways of removing access to the means of self-harm].

There are people who care about me [list from question #4]. I need to talk with them about how I’m feeling. I will call them today.

In the coming week, [times of danger from question #3] I need to make sure I’m not alone [plan to be with someone who cares about me during these times].

If I start to feel overwhelmed and compelled to hurt myself, I will call 988 or [names from question #4 and number].

I am willing to do these things because [repeat reason for living from question #5].

Even though I feel overwhelmed, I want to live and that’s why these are the steps I need to take.

Hearing this type of summary crafted from their own words is more compelling than a fill-in-the-blank form. Something that is handwritten is more personal than something preprinted. It conveys that you view your friend as a person to be cared for rather than a liability to be managed. That is hope-giving and dignifying.

After walking them through your summary and allowing them to read what you wrote, ask, “Is this something you are willing to commit to? [Listen] Is there anything we left out? [Listen]” Then pray with them.

If you are feeling uncertain, ask, “How would you feel if we had someone else help us think this through? 988 is a lifeline where we could talk with someone together to make sure we aren’t overlooking anything important.”

The reality is you cannot force someone to get help. Law enforcement can involuntarily commit someone, usually for up to 72 hours, if they are an imminent threat to themselves. If someone is alone and you are unsure about their well-being, you can call local law enforcement to do a wellness check.

When you have done these things, you have done the things within your power to care for them. Then remember to pray for them. You can give people an outlet for communication, and you can help them identify wise options. You cannot change their heart. You cannot make the dark lies of their despair unconvincing. That is between them and God.

Most often, the worst-case scenario of a suicide attempt will not be the outcome. Your friend is better off because you are there to talk with them during their despair. Be faithful. Err on the side of caution. Reach out for additional help when you’re uncertain. But do not hold yourself responsible for their choices.

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[1] If you are outside the United States, a list of comparable crisis hotline numbers for other countries can be found at https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ or www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts.

A Historic Event

What stands out most is that this was a historic event. I’ve been in the biblical counseling movement for 25 years now (yeah, I’m old), if you count the time I spent as an MDiv student studying counseling. During that time, I’ve studied the history of our movement. To my knowledge, this was the first time we have openly discussed our differences. Up until this point, any discussion of differences was either done:

1. 1. Privately, between individuals or small groups during an event like a conference, or
   2. Online (social media, blogs, videos, etc.), where concerns are raised with minimal opportunity for direct conversation.

As our movement continues to grow, these types of conversations are more important. It was an honor to be a part of this event, and I appreciate the courage of DBTS to host it.

A Listener’s Guide

If you have not yet had the opportunity to listen, the video of the debate can be found here (https://bradhambrick.com/dbts2026/). It is more than three hours long, so it may be helpful if you listen to the debate in parts. The debate naturally divides into four sections.

• • Brief Introduction – First 5 minutes
  • Segment One – Begins around the 5:40 mark (lasts about 70 minutes)
  • Segment Two – Begins around the 1:15 mark (lasts just over 45 minutes)
  • Segment Three – Begins around the 2:00 mark (lasts just under 45 minutes)
  • Segment Four – Begins around the 2:45 mark (lasts about 30 minutes)

As you watch, it may help you to realize this was both my and Dr. Adkins first time being part of a debate. If you are an experienced debater, you will undoubtedly hear and observe parts of our presentation that demonstrate our inexperience. Please listen with charity. After having been a part of this debate, I have far greater appreciation for the preparation and endurance required for this style of interaction.

A Collection of Responses

Since the debate video was posted online, I have tried to keep up the reviews of the debate. If you are interested in comparing your thoughts with those of others, you can do so by reviewing the links below.

• • Cody Bockelkamp offers his thoughts here. From what I have read of Cody’s work, he does not fully align with either Dr. Adkins or myself and strives to provide an even-handed evaluation.
  • Tim Allchin reviews the debate within the larger context of disagreements within biblical counseling. Dr. Allchin grew up in the ACBC tradition but also strives to provide an even-handed evaluation. You can read his thoughts here.
    • Allchin plans to do a 5-part series reflecting on the debate. Part two is now available. You can follow him to see each of these as they are released.
  • Richard Byrne offers the perspective of someone who attended the live event and favors the ACBC position. You can read his thoughts here.
  • Colin McCulloch reflects on the recent prompt for this debate and the implications of this prompt. I am not sure where Dr. McColloch falls on the ACBC to CIBC spectrum. You can read his thoughts here.
    • Dr. McCulloch wrote a second piece discussing the importance of giving proper weight to the term helpful versus necessary and the implications for both sides of the debate. You can read his thoughts here.
  • Bob Kellemen reflects on the focus within the debate on relief-oriented strategies that frequently recurred. Dr. Kellemen, while not holding the CIBC position, it is my sense that he is closer to that position than an ACBC approach. You can read his thoughts here.
  • Marshall Adkins sat down with Heath Lambert to discuss their perspective on the debate here. Obviously, they prefer the ACBC position.
  • Leroy Hill provided an in-depth discource analysis evaluating the tactics / rhetorical approaches in the debate. You can read his thoughts here.
  • Margy Hill wrote a piece on the debate looking at the common group that exists between Dr. Adkins and myself. You can read her thoughts here.

I am choosing not to link to all the bite-sized comments on social media regarding the debate. But if I missed an article link reflection on the debate, please let me know and I’ll add it to this list.

A Statistical Analysis

I put the manuscript of the DBTS debate into AI and asked it several statistically oriented questions. I thought that might be an effective way to gain some objective analysis. Here is what AI determined.

• • How many references to Scripture did Dr. Adkins and Dr. Hambrick make in their respective presentations?
    • Adkins referred to 23 passages of Scripture.
    • Hambrick referred to 22 passages of Scripture.
  • How much time did Dr. Adkins and Dr. Hambrick spend directly teaching from passages of Scripture and what percentage of their speaking time did this comprise?
    • Adkins spent 6 of his 54 speaking minutes teaching from Scripture (6%).
    • Hambrick spent 11 of his 52 speaking minutes teaching from Scripture (21%).
  • How much of their respective speaking time did Dr. Adkins and Dr. Hambrick spend critiquing the other person’s position? If you subtract that percentage from 100%, how much time each of us spent giving a positive explanation of our approach.
    • Adkins spent 18 of his 54 minutes speaking critique (33%).
    • Hambrick spent 6 of his 52 minutes speaking in critique (15%).
  • How many theologians did Dr. Adkins and Dr. Hambrick cite during their presentation time?
    • Adkins referred to 22 theologians: including David Powlison, Jay Adams, Lou Priolo, and Heath Lambert.
    • Hambrick referred to 26 theologians: including John Frame, Millard Erickson, Louis Berkhof, J.I. Packer; Wayne Grudem, David Powlison, Jay Adams, and Heath Lambert.

Obviously, there are limits to the quality of analysis AI can provide. But I tried to ask questions tailored to the type of assessment AI is best suited to provide. As you listen to the debate, these metrics may help you weigh what you hear.

10 Personal Reflections

With that introduction, I’ll offer my thoughts. I made a list of ten reflections and will provide brief commentary to each.

1. Conversations like this are valuable, should continue, and should be public. I don’t think anyone (me included) expected Dr. Adkins or me to change the other’s views. Conversations like this are primarily for the audience (you) to better understand the areas of overlap and differences that exist within biblical counseling. To do so, you need access to full discourses. For instance, when Ed Welch wrote in his Spring 2025 letter to the editor in the JBSC that he felt misrepresented by Francine Tan regarding what he presented at an ACBC Colloquium, you do not have the information necessary to weigh this concern. A year later, ACBC has only apologized for publishing what Dr. Welch initially meant to be a private letter. No response has been given to the substance of his concerns. If this discourse were public, like the DBTS debate, you could weigh this concern for yourself and not be left waiting.

2. DBTS was gracious and fair host who did not seek to influence the debate at the event. Admittedly, I was a bit worried when in the weeks leading up to the debate, the moderator and ACBC released multiple podcasts discussing why my position (at least how they perceive and portray my position) was wrong and even potentially illegal.

• • Podcast One: “Suffering and Trauma-Informed Counseling”
  • Podcast Two: “Bessel van der Kolk’s Approach to Trauma”
  • Podcast Three: “Complex Trauma”
  • Podcast Four: “Is Informed Therapy Even Legal?”

But the moderator did not influence the debate once it got started. My worries proved unfounded. I was grateful for that. In the end, the ACBC podcasts provided illustrative material for the debate. I include the links to their podcasts so that you can assess whether I represented them fairly in my remarks during the debate.

3. I was glad to publicly affirm many parts of Dr. Adkins’ presentation. I was disappointed, that other than affirming that I am a brother in Christ who has good intentions, Dr. Adkins could not find anything else I said that he could affirm. Unfortunately, I believe this is indicative of the politicization of biblical counseling. I disagree with the notion that the differences within biblical counseling are akin to modern political party divides. They are more like differences between evangelical denominations. But they are not such that we should reject, out of hand, anything the other “party” says or does.

4. I was most surprised and disappointed at response to breathing exercises. The number of times basic calming practices, like controlled breathing, were portrayed as firmly “outside biblical counseling” was shocking. The notion that a counselor should refer a counselee to a medical doctor to gain basic skills for calming their body seems unnecessary and unkind (at best). I did not realize ACBC took this strong of a stance. Historically, I have not found that to be the case, and I fear this is another fruit of “historic biblical counseling” hardening as they take a politicized stance against anything coming from clinically-informed or trauma-informed counselors.

5. Does anyone organization own the term “biblical counseling”? I think this question may be where the primary topics of the debate got muddied. Before the debate, when I heard the claim that I was not a “historic biblical counselor,” I thought they merely meant I was not ACBC (formerly NANC). I am not. I have never claimed to be. However, I don’t think you have to be ACBC to be a biblical counselor. Biblical counseling existed before ACBC. Biblical counseling did not begin in 1970 with the publication of Competent to Counsel. It seems odd to call something “historic” that began at the same time as Nike, Post-It Notes, email, and Rubik’s cubes (all things that originated around 1970).

6. I was disappointed that when I directly asked, “What am I doing that is so dangerous?” and that I got no direct answer. During my presentation, I tried to provide multiple tangible examples for critique. I added more examples in responses to Dr. Adkins’ questions. When I asked, on multiple occasions, what made my examples dangerous, he did not give me a response. You can decide whether these things are dangerous: breathing exercises, having the standing to be an expert witness for Christian parents going through custody battles, using career inventories for students exploring career possibilities, or understanding professional counseling ethics well enough to avoid fines related to counseling LGBTQ matters. These are examples I gave and asked, “How is this dangerous?”

7. I was disappointed that when I directly asked, “How is what I do different from a concrete example from ACBC conference speakers and blog articles?” and I got no answer. For the record, I was not being critical of the primary example I gave regarding the use of the Power and Control wheel and the Duluth model. As I said at the debate, I thought the example was a legitimate use of common grace insights to bring greater pixelation to biblical categories. If my work merits the degree of public rebuke it has received, it seems like there would be an immediately clear difference from work ACBC has affirmed multiple times in multiple locations over a 5-year span (original address in 2020 at ACBC annual conference which was republished manuscript in November 2025 on the ACBC blog).

8. I was disappointed that the example of Jay Adams’ case study regarding a father raping his daughter could not be acknowledged as an unfaithful approach to Scripture and is still being defended by ACBC counselors. This case study is not a stand-alone example. Jay Adams published another case study that largely ignores the reports of physical abuse against a wife, instead focusing on her need to forgive her husband’s affair and acknowledge her contributing faults (The Christian Counselor’s Casebook). Why are breathing exercises dangerous and this counsel okay? Examples like this are not just from the early work of ACBC. The ACBC podcast released just weeks before the debate says multiples times that trauma victims should be called to repent of their night terrors. These examples are representative of why I believe adjectives like trauma-informed or clinically-informed are beneficial. When I say I am a biblical counselor, I want people to know I am not the kind of counselor who would care for people in this way. I believe that counsel is an inaccurate representation of God and Scripture.

9. I was disappointed that sympathetic case studies and confronting false portrayals of my work is viewed as an “emotional” appeal. It is not manipulative to present sympathetic cases sympathetically. Yes, when my work was misrepresented, I read from direct excerpts from my books that refuted Dr. Adkins’ claims, and I made free samples of my books available by dropping them on the table at the front of the podium. It is odd that the manner in which false claims are confronted gets more attention than an ACBC counselor making claims that, if he had read or watched the material he was criticizing, were clearly false. In an academic debate between two men with terminal degrees the falseness of claims should get more attention than the sound a book being dropped on a table.

• • Again, this is why I am glad the debate was public. You can watch (from 2:36 to 2:45, 9 minutes of Dr. Adkins remarks that I believe to be false and my response) and determine the degree of self-control (or lack thereof) demonstrated in my actions. Decide for yourself whether I was sinfully out of control or whether this is another false claim about my work.

10. This debate is a good opportunity to compare scriptural exegesis with personal exegesis; do we as biblical counselors strive to interpret people as accurately as we interpret the Bible? This was a major premise of my argument throughout the debate. I don’t think people like me and Dr. Adkins usually disagree over the interpretation of Scripture. Instead, we disagree over the interpretation of people, their experience, and, therefore, what it looks like to be an ambassador of God’s Word. When I hear of someone having night terrors after trauma, I interpret the person as a sufferer in need of comfort. Evidently, in ACBC, this person is culpable for the lack of faith their fearful dreams demonstrate and needs to repent. Because we interpret the person and their situation differently, we go to different places in Scripture to represent God’s care for them.

Final Question

That brings me to my final question: After listening to the debate, if you had a loved one who suffered intensely, who do you trust more as a counselor? Who do you think would represent God’s care best? Who do you think would utilize God’s Word most skillfully? This is the ultimate question of the debate. I think if you listen to the debate, you will gain what you need to arrive at a conclusion regarding what kind of care you want for your loved ones and, if you are a counselor, what kind of care you would want to offer in God’s name.

1. Sufficiency of Scripture: What is the sufficiency of Scripture and how does it relate to common grace?
2. The Role of Extra-Biblical Resources and Secular Psychology: According to what criteria may we successfully identify and incorporate common grace insights into the counseling task?
3. Trauma-Informed Counseling: How should biblical counselors approach trauma, and does a trauma-informed approach require an extra-biblical framework?

As the recordings of this event become available, I will embed those videos below (or link to where you can access them).  At this time, I am simply making my PowerPoint outline available for those who were at the live event.

• PowerPoint Outline for the Three Questions (download here)

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Links or resources referenced in the debate:

• John Frame article “Biblical Counseling, General Revelation, and the Sufficiency of Scripture“
• Faith Lafayette article “Why the Lack of Transparency in WL Ordinance 31-21?“
• My baseball injury article “My Experience of Trauma after a Recent Baseball Injury“
• Greg Gifford article “Biblical Counseling and Marital Separations“
• David Powlison article “Affirmation & Denials: A Propsed Definition of Biblical Counseling“
• I will add more as I remember articles or resources referenced during the debate.

Once the videos of the debate are available, here is my request of those who listen.

• If you are prone to agree with my position on these questions, find at least 2-3 things you appreciate about or were positively challenged by in Marshall Adkins presentation. * * * Please mention these first if you choose to make any social media comments on this event.
• If you are prone to agree with Dr. Adkins position on these questions, consider giving the corresponding courtesy.

My prayer is that participating in this event contributes to “A Renewed Call to a Positive Vision for Biblical Counseling.”

• Addiction
• Marital Betrayal
• Trauma
• Pornography
• Depression
• Trauma
• Eating disorders
• Divorce
• Grief
• Infertility
• Destructive relationships

The intimidation we feel about this kind of ministry creation can easily lead us to be passive. BUT we must recognize that there are far too few resources in our communities to meet the existing needs. The compelling need of our churches and communities push us to resist doing nothing. AND we want people – both church members and our community – to learn how much and how effectively the gospel speaks to all of life’s struggles. This reinvigorates our resolve to find something we could do to minister to these needs.

IF you have resonated with this tension, watch this 2 minute video.

• An opportunity to learn with other church leaders who are in the same phase of ministry development and have the same heart for community impact.
• An opportunity to learn from The Summit Church that has been fielding testing and refining the G4 model for over a decade.
• A vision and rationale for why group-based counseling is an incredibly good fit for churches.
• An understanding of why an open group model is adaptable for churches of all sizes and is strategic for community outreach.
• An explanation for why group-based counseling can be one of the most liability-wise and relationally-sustainable models of counseling a church can implement.
• A job description for a G4 Director that can either be part of a staff role or fulfilled by a lay volunteer.
• An immersion in a night of G4 with the opportunity to interview G4 leaders from The Summit Church.
• A description of the difference between being a group facilitator and an individual counselor that will make volunteer recruitment more appealing to potential lay leaders.
• A scalable budget outline for common financial costs – both initial and ongoing – that your church would need to consider.
• A launch plan template to think through key actionables in the 6-12 months before your first night of G4.
• Access to ongoing consultation after the workshop, available at an additional cost.

Dates: September 21-22, 2026 (Monday and Tuesday)

Cost: $200 per person

Registration includes five meals during the workshop. Travel, lodging, and meals outside our meeting times are not included. If you do not live within driving distance of RDU, we will provide recommended hotels near the church and a discount code (when available).

In order to effectively accomplish these objectives, we can only accept a limited number of participants in this workshop, so we encourage you to register soon.

• Register Here

In this debate, Marshall Adkins and myself will explore three primary questions:

1. Sufficiency of Scripture: What is the sufficiency of Scripture and how does it relate to common grace? 
2. The Role of Extra-Biblical Resources and Secular Psychology: According to what criteria may we successfully identify and incorporate common grace insights into the counseling task? 
3. Trauma-Informed Counseling: How should biblical counselors approach trauma, and does a trauma-informed approach require an extra-biblical framework?

I am grateful to have been invited to participate in this conversation. I believe it will be a significant event for the biblical counseling movement. That is why I have put together this prayer guide. Anything worth doing should be immersed in prayer. 

I would encourage you to pray in the following four ways.  

1. Pray for Marshall and Myself

• Pray for our preparation, so that what we share will be a clear and accurate reflection of our respective approaches to biblical counseling. 
• Pray that our hearts would be free from rivalry, so that our goal would be to honor God and serve the church well rather than trying to “win” a debate. 
• Pray that our time with family and in ministry would be fruitful before and after this event. Debates feel climactic. Pray that nothing about this event distracts us from the day-in-day-out responsibilities God has entrusted to each of us. 

2. Pray for the In-Person Audience at DBTS

• Pray that this event would serve their academic training. Marshall and I want to serve the students of DBTS and the community. We want what we say and how we say it to equip each attendee to represent God more faithfully because of our time together. 
• Pray that they would have insightful questions. Part of the debate will involve fielding questions from “the counselor in the pew” and the next generation of biblical counselors. Pray that the questions asked foster fruitful and clarifying reflection. 
• Pray that this event would foster their spiritual growth. Pray that the dialogue is as devotional as it is academic. Pray that the equipping of believers to use their Bible to care for people through their local church remains forefront in every question we discuss. 

3. Pray for the Online Audience *

* The debate will not be available live online. But a video recording will be made available afterwards. Once the videos are available, I will post it on my site so you have access to these videos.

• Pray for charitable listening. Being in the same place (i.e., live audience) shapes how we listen. The distance of online discourse often has an unfortunate impact on how we listen. 
  • Pray that those who are prone to prefer my approach listen for what is good in what Marshall shares.
  • Pray that those who are prone to prefer Marshall’s approach listen for what is good in what I share.
  • Pray that whatever needs to be refined in both what I or Marshall share is conveyed with a balance of truth and love.
• Pray for mutually-honoring follow up dialogue. Pray that God would be honored in the follow up dialogue. Pray that the fruit of our debate is more light than heat. 
• Pray for fruitful, personal reflection. Pray that each online listener asks, “Where and how do I need to grow in my approach to counseling?” Pray that Marshall and I would model what it sounds like to engage important questions with this posture. 

4. Pray for the Biblical Counseling Movement 

• Pray that we could openly celebrate where we have common ground. My personal hope is that this debate reveals that while our differences are real, our common ground is greater than the recent discourse would imply. 
• Pray that this time clarifies where there are differences. Where differences exist, there is benefit to naming and articulating those differences. Pray that God would give us accurate, clear, charitable ways to articulate our differences. 
• Pray that we would maintain a steadfast confidence in God’s ability to guide his church. We can all be prone to think the future of the church stands or falls on what is most important to us. God has assured us this is not the case (Matt. 16:18). May this truth give rest to our souls.
• Pray John 17:20-26 would pervade everything the biblical counseling movement does. 

John 17: 20-26, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Thank you for praying!

But there is a big difference between knowing what fasting isn’t (i.e., debunking misconceptions) and knowing how fasting fosters spiritual growth. If we are more prone to the temptation of over-restricting than over-eating, this difference can be a vitally important point of reflection.

Fasting in Its Original Context

Let’s start with a historical observation. When fasting emerged as a spiritual practice, people had a very different relationship with food. The food-related cultural epidemic was famine, not obesity. For most of human history there has been a world-wide caloric deficit, not excess. There were not enough calories (i.e., food) to sustain the human population. People didn’t long to be thin; they hoped to be full. On this point, our era is unique.

Why does that matter? Well, in our day, we tend to associate fasting with dieting. That is logical, but it distorts what fasting, as a spiritual discipline, is about. In an era when there was frequently not enough food for the general population, fasting was a form of trust and sacrifice. 

• Trust: When someone finished fasting there was no promise of a full pantry. The markets were not so bountiful with food that people were selective about the freshest melons and unsmashed bread. 
• Sacrifice: Forgoing a meal meant there would be a meal for others. In an ear of inadequate food supply, food consumption felt more like sports; one person winning (i.e., eating) meant someone else was losing.  

Seeing this allows us to better understand the sin of gluttony as an expression of selfishness, while today we tend to only think of gluttony as contributing to obesity or other health problems. In an era where there was not enough food, over-eating put others at risk. 

Leaving the example about gluttony and returning to the subject of fasting, we begin to see that fasting was about more (not less) than setting aside time that would have been otherwise spent eating a meal for prayer. Fasting was a deep expression of trust in God (i.e., fulfilling the First Great Commandment) and a means of caring for people (i.e., fulfilling the Second Great Commandment). 

From Then to Now

In light of this, let’s return to the modern practice of fasting. Particularly, let’s consider the practice of fasting for individuals for whom abstaining from food would be unhealthy. 

• Question: If I struggle with over-restricting (i.e., anorexia or bulimia) or if abstaining from food has other health risks for me (i.e., pregnancy or diabetes), how does this history of food and fasting impact the way I engage this spiritual discipline? 

We begin to see that being hungry was never the point. The point was to intentionally focus a season of your life on finding ways to deepen your trust in God and sacrifice for others. This is why fasting doesn’t have to be about food. Foregoing food was one way – a way that had high cultural relevance – to practice fasting. 

A Process of Application

I’ll offer a four step process to identifying what God-honoring fasting looks like for you if over-restricting has been more of a struggle in your life than over-eating. 

First, care for your body. God is not against your body. When we over-restrict, it is often because we have a strong dislike for our body. It could be easy to interpret the discipline of fasting as God agreeing with our dislike and calling upon us to further punish ourselves. That is not true. God made your body, said it was good, and wants you to steward the body he entrusted to you with care. 

Second, grow in trust for God. God is good, and God is for you. Therefore, you can trust him and following him will not lead to self-destructive practices. This begs the question, “What are you believing or pursuing that would lead you to engage in harmful practices?” These practices might include: weighing multiple times per day, time calculating calories, excessive exercise, ruminating on your body image, or ruminating on guilt about your eating patterns. Fasting, that deepened your trust in God as being good and for you, would replace these habits (instead of forgoing meals) with prayer. God would be delighted to have you come to him for conversation rather than harm yourself in these ways. 

Third, grow in care for people. God wants to see your relationships with others to be more authentic, vulnerable, and a source of mutual care. Whatever time and emotional bandwidth the second point creates, find ways to invest that in both prayer and caring for others. 

• Did you choose to fast from social media, Pinterest, or other types of media that cause you to idealize particular body images or lifestyles? Invest that time in prayer and calling friends to encourage them.
• Did you choose to fast from shopping to cope with discontentment because appearance or status was too important for you? Invest those funds in ministries to at-risk in your community and ask the leaders of that ministry how you can be praying for them.
• Did you choose to fast from multitasking as a means of performance-based approval seeking? Identify the areas of where contentment is more God-honoring and devote the time you would have spent pursuing enslaving-excellence to pray or encourage others. 

Fourth, allow this type of fasting to become a lifestyle. Once we realize that God’s call to spiritual disciplines is for our growth and good, we begin to realize that a discipline like fasting is meant to be more of a lifestyle than a short-lived New Year’s resolution. Begin to view fasting as a means of God freeing you from the things that Satan would use to enslave you. Find ways to cooperate with that freedom on a regular basis. Grow in your trust for God and care for others as you do.

Begin to view fasting as a means of God freeing you from the things that Satan would use to enslave you. Find ways to cooperate with that freedom on a regular basis.
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This Christmas season the Hambricks are christening a new season of life. What’s that sound? Quiet. What’s in the fridge and pantry? Oddly empty. What’s on the agenda this week? No extracurricular activities. When are the boys getting in? Not for another month!?! Such is the empty nest life.

Rookie’s pitter-patter footsteps like timber drums faithfully following us from room to room is the most consistent sound in the house. As herding dogs, Corgis are excellent at making sure you’re never lonely. Rookie’s friendly snoot-boops remind us it’s always a good time to go outside to play. But even Rookie looks forward to visits with Lawson and Marshall. Life is best then he’s with his brothers. We agree.

Lawson is in his third year at Auburn University (War Eagle!). The longer he is at Auburn, the more he loves it there. He’s on the last stage of pilot training (multi-engine) and is on pace to graduate next December (3.5 years). After that he will have at least a year’s worth of CFI work (training younger flight students) before he can get on with a regional airline. It won’t be long before you can hear Lawson say, “This is your captain speaking.” When you do, you’ll be in good hands.

Marshall graduated from Voyager on a Thursday, played his last baseball game that Saturday (after a great run to the state semifinals), before moving to Greeneville, TN that Tuesday. In 5 short days we covered so many life markers. He’s now living his best country life interning with a vet (on a farm and in a clinic) while attending Walter State Community College (Go Senators!). Don’t worry, he finds plenty of time to fish. Plans toward vet school are in process. If there wasn’t something for Sallie to plan, life would be incomplete.

Sallie got a trip to Germany for our 25^th wedding anniversary. We stayed in Schonburg Castle, which was built in the 12th century, ransacked by Vikings in the 14th century, laid in ruins until it was renovated by an American robber baron at the turn of the 20^th century, before being turned into a hotel. For a history teacher, soaking in that much history while basking in the beauty of the Rhine River Valley was a wonderful way to celebrate 25 years of marriage and a needed distraction from an empty house. Visiting Antwerp and Ghent in Belgium was like time traveling. Every building there is older than the United States and don’t get us started on how good the pastries were at each little bäckerei in every German village.

Brad continued his ministry and writing efforts. His Church-Based Counseling (CBC) series is in process of being translated into Spanish, German (hence the anniversary trip between a couple of teaching events), and Portuguese (other languages also on the horizon). Several international seminaries and church planting networks want to use the CBC series to equip churches to impact their communities. You can follow along as the CBC series reaches more languages at bradhambrick.com/publications.

We hope that regardless of what 2025 brings, you find joy in pursuing the things you are passionate about. Christmas and New Years are a time when we look back, with reflections like this letter, and look ahead. Pray for us as we pray for you that we will be faithful stewards of the opportunities God gives this year.

We are grateful for you, your friendship, and the unique role each of you play in the life of our family. Our prayer is that this Christmas you will experience the power, peace, and joy of Immanuel – God with us (Matthew 1:23) – and multiply that hope by sharing it with others.

Merry Christmas!
The Hambrick Family

STS wants to serve Spanish speaking churches across the world by providing training that is biblically faithful and tailor made for the local church.
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This article introduces you to the STS program by answering three key questions:

1. What Are the Most  Common Challenges for Biblical Counseling Certificate Programs?
2. Practically, What Does the STS Biblical Counseling Certificate Look Like?
3. How Can You and Your Church Participate?

1. What Are the Most Common Challenges for Biblical Counseling Certificate Programs?

First, most lay people who pursue training in biblical counseling have just one or two life struggles they are most passionate to counsel. They begin a certificate program with enthusiasm. But most biblical counseling programs try to train people to counsel anyone (married or single, sin or suffering, old or young, etc.) on anything (addiction, depression, communication, trauma, etc.). This is overwhelming. 

And it leads to the second challenge. 

Second, because of the comprehensive nature of most counseling programs, many lay people start but don’t finish a counseling certificate program. After the initial enthusiasm wears off, they begin to feel discouraged as their course work focuses on so many topics which aren’t their area of passion. 

Third, those who do manage to finish are often confused about what they can do with what they’ve learned. This is because most certificates give education but without models. The graduate, therefore, isn’t sure how to describe to their pastor what it looks like to have a counseling ministry at their church. Why? Because in all of their training, no one has shown them.

The new STS program is specifically designed to address these challenges. It is engineered around two core values:

1. Help you find your passion and allow you to tailor your training around those topics.
2. Provide you with implementable models that allow you to go to your pastor and ask, with confidence, “Can I lead this at our church?”

2. Practically, What Does the STS Biblical Counseling Certificate Look Like?

What does it look like when a biblical counseling certificate is designed with these values? It looks like you making choices that shape your education in every class. 

There are six classes in the STS biblical counseling certificate: 

1. Introduction to Biblical Counseling 
2. Counseling Addiction
3. Counseling Suffering
4. Marriage Counseling 
5. Family Counseling
6. Counseling Ethics

Each class has 10 hours of instruction that give you a practical theology of that subject. Then, in your class reading, you are provided choices that help you tailor your education toward your area of passion. We provide the broad structure, but within each class, you get to choose your focus. And because the STS program intentionally chose books that are written as models, it will be clear how to launch a ministry at your church. 

In addition, if you want to be certified, STS has partnered with the Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC) so that upon graduation you will have completed everything required to be Level I certified with ABC and begin their Level II certification process.

What options are available in each class? Here is a list of the options available in each course. Those marked with (G4) are books that can be used in group-based counseling, but can also be used as an individual counseling plan.

• Introduction to Biblical Counseling 

1. 1. • Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands – if you envision yourself doing formal care with individuals or couples.
      • Transformative Friendships – if you envision yourself providing care through your existing friendships and discipleship groups at church.
      • Facilitating Counseling Groups (G4) – if you envision yourself leading a counseling group focused on a shared life struggle.

• Counseling Addiction

1. 1. • Overcoming Addiction (G4) – if you envision yourself counseling people who struggle with substance abuse.
      • False Love (G4) – if you envision yourself counseling people struggling with pornography or adultery. 
      • Gaining a Healthy Relationship with Food (G4) – if you envision yourself counseling people who struggle with an eating disorder or overeating. 

• Counseling Suffering

1. 1. • Christian Trauma Healing Network (CTHN) – if you want to pursue certification to work with people who have experienced trauma.
      • Grief Share – if you are interested in leading a group to help people in your church process their grief.
      • Growing After Trauma (G4) – if you envision yourself leading a group for people who have experienced trauma.
      • Depression and Anxiety (G4) – if you envision yourself counseling people who struggle with depression or anxiety.

• Marriage Counseling 

1. 1. • Creating a Gospel-Centered Marriage – if you want to help couples with premarital counseling or marriage enrichment.
      • True Betrayal (G4) – if you envision yourself counseling people who are processing the infidelity or sexual sin of their spouse.
      • Navigating Destructive Relationships (G4) – if you envision yourself counseling people who have a loved one struggling with addiction or who is abusive. 

• Family Counseling

1. 1. • Shepherding a Child’s Heart – if you envision yourself counseling parents of young children.
      • Age of Opportunity – if you envision yourself counseling parents of teenagers. 

• Counseling Ethics

1. • Mobilizing Church-Based Counseling – if you want to start a group-based or certificate level counseling ministry at your church. 
   • A professional code of ethics – if you want to understand the differences that emerge between ministry-based counseling and professional counseling.
   • Redeeming Power – if you want to better understand the dynamics that emerge when one person (in this case, counselor) begins to have more influence over another person (in this case a counselee).

As you can see, the STS certificate in biblical counseling allows you to shape your education in ways that equip you to serve your church. 

3. How Can You and Your Church Participate?

STS is kicking off this new certificate program August 21-22, 2026 with a conference. The 2026 Renewed Life Conference will focus on the theme “Mental Health: Living with Renewed Mind” and feature Dr. Miguel Nunez, Ed Welch, Beth Broom, and Brad Hambrick as plenary speakers. 

• If you cannot attend in person, learn more about how your church can simulcast the Renewed Life Conference here. 

Your church can also simulcast each of the STS certificate classes. Mark your church calendar with these dates. The schedule for each class is Thursday evening from 7:00 to 9:30 pm EST, Friday evening from 7:00 to 9:30 pm EST, and Saturday morning from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm EST. If your church or ministry want wants to cohost these classes, learn more about how to simulcast classes here.

1. Introduction to Biblical Counseling with Eliza Huie on [September 3-5, 2026]
2. Counseling Addiction with Brad Hambrick [October 29-31, 2026]
3. Counseling Suffering with Beth Broom [January 7-9, 2026]
4. Marriage Counseling with Nate Brooks [late February 2027 timeframe]
5. Family Counseling with Michael Gembola [April 2027 timeframe]
6. Counseling Ethics with David Weidis [June 2027 timeframe]

To ask questions about how to cohost the Renewed Life Conference or STS counseling classes, please contact:

• STS Counseling Program Coordinator: Matias Isai Casco
• Email: seminarioteologicosantiago@gmail.com
• Phone: 1 (829) 222-0507

STS wants to serve Spanish speaking churches across the world by providing training that is biblically faithful and tailor made for the local church.
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