Brazil Mission Trip

Each year, BCI Faculty Member Pastor Larry Creamer, leads a group of evangelistic missionaries into Brazil. Each time, he returns with a powerful testimony of God’s activities and His impact in the river communities of the Amazon Basin. Here is Pastor Creamer’s report of the 2011 trip…

Preparing People to Meet Jesus in Manaquiri and Barro Alto

A pastor goes back to his hometown to visit family. He sees a sight that breaks his heart, a Baptist church building locked and empty. Although life is much more convenient in the capital city of Manaus, he and his wife move back to the smaller river community of Manaquiri to open the doors of this church once again. He knows this community and the need for a strong witness to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As he prays for God’s help, teams are making commitments to work on the river through the ministry of Amazon Vision Ministries. As Charles Stafford consults with the area leadership they request a team to go to Manaquiri to help this pastor reach his community. Charles assigned the team sponsored by the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention led by Larry Creamer to work with Pastor Edison.

That is how we found our team consisting of people from Wisconsin, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama, Illinois and Florida in this town of 13,000 people on February 25, 2011. God allowed us to go to this building which people walked by every day and saw little or no activity and hold a medical clinic serving hundreds of people over the next few days. At this clinic we saw the physical needs of people met in a town where a small medical clinic was understaffed and overwhelmed. But at this clinic not only were the people touched with the love of God physically but also it became a birthing center for the kingdom of God as many people prayed to receive Christ as our team faithfully shared the gospel with those who were waiting.

A Review of 2010…Looking Ahead to 2011

This past year has been one of excitement and challenge, filled with the grace and faithfulness of God. BCI continues to expand its capacity to reach more people with the message of biblical sufficiency in the counseling task. Over the last twelve months, we have witnessed God working in the lives of pastors, vocational ministers, church leaders, and laity as the Body of Christ is reoriented to Scripture as the single source of transformational power in the Christian life.

In Review:

• 2010 produced over 200 new graduates of the Certificate Program in Biblical Counseling. Another 300 students have attended seminars and distance learning opportunities. This has been accomplished through training groups in Florida, Alabama, Texas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and now, through Distance Education.
• BCI faculty have presented training in regional and national conferences in biblical counseling including the Midwest Regional Conference in Biblical Counseling and Discipleship and the Annual Biblical Counseling Conference held each year at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
• Pastor Larry Creamer has joined our faculty and is serving a key role in BCI’s development in the Midwest.
• The ministry has created new training sites which allow students to gain hands-on counseling experience as part of their supervised training. New sites were established in: Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, and Gulf Breeze, FL along with our midwestern training site in Appleton, WI. These combined with our existing training sites in Fairhope and Mobile, AL and Fort Worth, TX, give BCI a strong presence in the Midwest, Southwest, and Southeast regions of the U.S. For more information on our upcoming seminars and training groups, visit the BCI website: http://bcinstitute.com/CertProgram/schedule.html
• BCI has further expanded our outreach through the development of Distance Learning for those unable to attend our regional seminars. It is now possible to complete the entire Certificate Program via the Internet. For information regarding the BCI Distance Learning Program, visit our website at: http://bcinstitute.com/CertProgram/Distance_Learning/index.html
• Finally, we have increase our capacity to provide Continuing Education to our graduates and former students through a Web-based membership on the BCI website. This membership allows students and graduates unlimited access to articles, audio/video files,and podcasts, created to enhance and further one’s study of biblical counseling. For membership information and access to continuing education, visit the BCI website: http://bcinstitute.com/ContinuingEd/index.html

Looking Ahead…

• BCI continues to provide its Certificate Program in Biblical Counseling through our various training locations in Florida, Alabama, Texas, and Wisconsin.
• We continue to create new training location through churches and ministries throughout the U.S., providing live seminars and case supervision for our students.
• With the expansion of Distance Learning, we now have student groups attending the BCI Certificate Program in Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Croatia, Russia, Australia, and Nova Scotia along with distant locations within the U.S. without access to our training sites.
• We now are providing online biblical counseling, case supervision, and consultation available through out website: http://bcinstitute.com/Counseling/index.html
• Soon, we will provide a national data back of certified counselors on the BCI website as a referral resource for those seeking biblical counseling.

We at BCI, are grateful for your ongoing support of our ministry…but especially for your support of the message of scriptural sufficiency. Scripture is fully sufficient for the counseling task and superior to any secular resource available. Thank you for advancing a biblical worldview and for calling the Body of Christ to reclaim this critical area of ministry. May God bless you richly in the coming year!

Your Servant,

Ab Abercrombie

The Impact of Biblical Counseling

Valley Baptist Church

Biblical counseling is having a significant impact toward fulfilling our purpose of “Preparing People to Meet Jesus” here at Valley Baptist Church.  This is taking place on three distinct levels.

First, we now have about 16 people who either have completed or are working toward certification in biblical counseling in a congregation of about 200 in average attendance.  In October of 2009 we began the ValleyConneX Biblical Counseling Center staffed with our counselors on Thursday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Other appointments are made during the week as the counselors and people coming for help are available.  From about a month after we began this ministry we have had a steady and sometimes almost overwhelming stream of people coming for counseling.  The counseling center ministers to people from both the church and the community.

Second, people in the church are approaching the people who have been through the certification process for help.  Since we have a wide variety of people who have been trained as biblical counselors, it is not hard to find someone with whom they have a natural connection.  I have realized that many or even most of these people would not have come to the pastor or made an appointment at the counseling center. So rather than having people hurting to the point of desperation before seeking help, they are approaching these counselors in a time of need but before the situation becomes critical.

Third, people in the church who have no formal training in biblical counseling are becoming more sensitive to assignments God is placing before them.  They are realizing that a believer, filled with God’s Spirit and armed with God’s Word, can effectively minister to others.  They also realize their need for accountability and instruction, so they are seeking out our trained biblical counselors to guide and mentor them through their ministry to others.

The story of Jeff and Mary Ann provides a snapshot of what God is doing.  They came to the counseling center at a time of desperation in their marriage.  Here is their story in their own words:

Biblical Counseling through the BCI institute saved our twenty five year marriage. It really helped us do a 180 degree turnaround from where we were.

We had tried other Counselors, including “Christian Counselors” and we knew that we would be on a five year plan with them. We really needed help now and didn’t think a drawn out process of talk therapy was going to work.

A friend who had been through the BCI program told me over lunch to go see Pastor Larry Creamer and the next day my husband called and set up an appointment. I figured, what could it hurt? I (Mary Ann) had been planning a new life after our last child left for college.

My husband Jeff had been withdrawn and had anger issues that he wasn’t able to resolve. Pastor was able to biblically show him truths about anger and discuss repentance and Godly sorrow with him. We had been Christians for many years and had not understood the difference between asking for forgiveness and true repentance.We believe because he is the spiritual leader in the home that as he changed, I was able to see my sin and heart issues.

We are now both focusing our lives on Jesus Christ and have renewed our commitment to each other based on God’s word and principles.

This type of counseling was direct, truthful, honest, and powerful. It was presented in a spirit of love and genuine concern.

Jeff and Mary Ann

The rest of that story is that Jeff and Mary Ann are now a part of the Valley church family and are working toward certification in biblical counseling.

Dr. David Penley defines biblical counseling as intense discipleship.  The church is the natural setting for discipleship.  Our goal is to move people from intense discipleship to ongoing discipleship for the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  The biblical counseling training has been a vital part of reaching this goal here at Valley.

Larry Creamer

Senior Pastor, Valley Baptist Church

Director, ValleyConneX Biblical Counseling Center

Pastor Larry Creamer joins the BCI Faculty…

It is our pleasure to announce Pastor Larry Creamer is the newest member of the BCI faculty. He will be a key member of our Certificate Program in Biblical Counseling, teaching classes throughout the Midwest Region and through our New Distance Learning Program. With years of experience as a pastor, teacher, and discipleship leader, Pastor Creamer will bring depth and variety to our faulty offerings.

Pastor Creamer has served as pastor since 1978 in churches in Florida, Texas and Wisconsin.  He has been the Senior Pastor of Valley Baptist Church in Appleton, Wisconsin since 2000.  Additionally, Pastor Creamer has been involved in partnership missions to Brazil since 1988, leading mission teams for the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention since 1996, and is the former president of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.

Pastor Creamer earned the Bachelor of Theology Degree from what is now the Baptist College of Florida and the Master of Divinity Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  After completing certification in biblical counseling through the Biblical Counseling Institute, he sensed God leading Valley Baptist Church to establish the ValleyConneX Biblical Counseling Center.  Pastor Creamer serves as director of the counseling center.

A dozen people at Valley Baptist Church have achieved certification through the Biblical Counseling Institute with more currently in the program.  Pastor Creamer also leads monthly classes which began as continuing education for the ValleyConneX counselors but is now open to all people interested in biblical counseling in northeast Wisconsin.

Larry has been married to his wife, Pam for 37 years.  They have two sons, Kent and Aaron.

Review of “Wonderful Counselor: A Return to Truth”

The following is a critical and academic review of our primary textbook: Wonderful Counselor: A Return to Truth by Dr. Ab Abercrombie and Rev. Kerry Skinner. The review is authored by Dr. Paul Martin Henebury, President of Veritas School of Theology in Granbury, Texas (www.inquiroveritas.com). We are grateful indeed to receive such a powerful and positive endorsement.

I think this is one of the very best introductions to Biblical Counseling one can buy.

This book by two experienced biblical counselors seeks to provide believers with a reliable guide dealing with life’s problems.  In ten chapters the authors skillfully explain the rudiments of a Christ-centered approach to counseling.

The first chapter, “Foundations for Biblical Counseling” lays down a solid theological underpinning for the method which follows.  To begin with a definition of biblical counseling is given which focuses attention on the will of God and divine assistance for individuals (13), instead of how one professional can help a counselee.  There is much in this chapter to commend, including its examination of the faulty methodology of secular models of therapy (17-19, 21-24), and the identification and ‘ownership’ of personal sin and worldly ways of thinking (28, 30, 32-36).

Chapter Two examines the spiritual tools for change, the sin-focus that is essential to use them, and the need for us to give up our sinful autonomy and live a Spirit-controlled life (see esp. 50-52).  Then a very helpful section on “The Preparation of the Biblical Counselor” makes wise use of 2 Tim. 2:24-26.

Chapter Three reminds the reader what biblical counseling is and is not.  Christians are to rely upon the wholly sufficient Word of God (76-77), and this includes the personal commitment of the counselor (80-86).  What is impressive here is how the authors use theology to draw out the functions of the biblical counselor from his/her spiritual characteristics (86-95).  This is a Bible study in itself and provides excellent teaching on the connection between personal sanctification and practical ministry.

The next chapter completes what might be called the methodological foundations in the book.  An admonition about listening to the client is given before providing four Case Studies.  These example cases are given to show how the counselor can move the counselee toward giving answers which require a biblical response (see 100-101).  This greatly aids the counselor in identifying where a person is spiritually and what steps need to be made for them to come into line with God’s Word.  This process is illustrated in the last part of the chapter.

Picking out one of these chapters for comment we see that in Chapter 7 Abercrombie and Skinner warn the reader not to be diverted from seeking a spiritual solution by the things they may meet with or any suspicions they may have ((167-170).  The section on “Divide and Conquer” is an excellent discussion of the way a particular person in a family can be “opened-up” away from the critical glare of the other family members (e.g. 171).  Three cases are included to show the effectiveness of this approach in certain situations.  However, when all members of the family profess Christ the counselor has an opportunity to disciple them while addressing the problems and applying actions leading to solutions (187-202).  Good use is made of Romans 12 at the start of this section.  The Case Study with Tim and Belinda (189-192) and their children is outstanding.  One can almost feel the tension in the air!  Noteworthy is the way the counselor repeatedly brings this Christian family back to their responsibilities as God’s children towards each other.  The aim, as in every counseling scenario, is repentance.

In summary, Wonderful Counselor makes a great contribution to the literature on truly biblical counseling.  It demonstrates the healing role of the body of Christ in subordination to the Person of Christ and His Word.  It was a most practical and edifying read.

Purchase Wonderful Counselor: A Return to Truth

Repentance and Forgiveness in the Family

By: Dr. Ab Abercrombie

Actions and behaviors are damaging. Things said and done between people often provoke emotions that are hurtful, even destructive, over time. Often, it is the root of bitterness and unforgiveness that lies at the core of unresolved issues and without attention, can deceive and destroy the peace of our relationships. Unforgiveness undermines:

• Our relationship with God and places us in a state of disobedience.
• Our communication with loved ones and provokes a state of disharmony.
• Our self-awareness building instead a response of righteous indignation that becomes impenetrable and condemning over time.
• Our willingness to reconcile, resting instead in our “right” to feel as we do, justifying the return of sin for sin, reviling for reviling, and evil for evil.

The Bible is clear concerning this topic…the heart condition of unforgiveness is unacceptable to the LORD who calls believers to display His character and standards toward others. Jesus said:

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matt. 6:14-15).

The Waterfront Rescue Mission

Greetings!

On January 8, 2010, I was blessed to award Certificates in Biblical Counseling to 30 Chaplains and Counselors who completed our training program through the Waterfront Rescue Mission…What a wonderful group of men and women, truly devoted to serving the Lord Jesus and ministering to His people.

The Waterfront Rescue Mission is based in Mobile, AL, Pensacola, Gulf Breeze, and Ft. Walton Beach, FL, serving the homeless through the provision of short-term shelter and long-term programs of rehabilitation. Many of their residents remain in their program for two or more years, as they overcome drug and alcohol abuse, mental and emotional challenges, along with vocational and educational deficits.

The Mission asked BCI to provide training for their staff out of a desire to have uniformity in the counseling approach throughout the ministry and to make certain their counsel was Biblical in its design and application. Now, several of the ministry leaders are being trained to teach the BCI curriculum to future staff members as they join the agency…thus the duplication of the message of biblical sufficiency goes on.

It has been my honor and privilege to be in the midst of these genuine disciples of Christ, learning with them and from them about our mandate to care for the “least of these, my brethren…” (Matt. 25:40).

Congratulations to the following graduates:

Bob Rogers, Paul Meredeth, Sam Bradley, Dave Clarke, Jason Grizzard, Larry McGrudder, Fred Kirkland, Brian Ekedahl, Bill Painter, Connie Painter, Darlene Walters, Rob Willmann, Billy McQurter, Joe Pileggi, Tuck Bowen, Jody Shoop, Charles McLean, Willie Dennis, Harvey Adams, Steve Lee, Lancy Colaco, George McCaulley, George Clyde, Venece Wright, Louie Carlton, Cathy Lewis, Dorotha McGuire, Neil Bryant, E.J. Wales, and Mark Kendrick.

For information on the Waterfront Rescue Mission, and to support their ministry efforts, visit their website:  www.waterfrontmission.org

God bless you!

Ab Abercrombie, Ph.D.

Marriage God’s Way II

 

By: Dr. Ab and Karen Abercrombie

Excerpt taken from: CHRISTIAN SHRINKS Answer ALL Your Questions…(No Couch Required), Xulon Press, 2005.

THE WOMAN’S CALL

What does the Bible say about the wife’s role in the marriage and home?

God’s Word tells us that the wife is indeed unique, created in a manner unlike any other creature.  Do you realize that God spoke the world and all its creatures into existence?  He made man from the dust of the earth brought to life by His very breath.  But, God created woman from the rib of man.  God didn’t do this because he needed a spare part!   We see this as the ultimate expression of intimacy between a man and woman, and it reflects the Creator’s plan for oneness in the marital bond (Gen 2:1-25).

 

God could have created woman through any means, but He chose this rendering of life so that man and woman were forever to be “one flesh” (Gen 2:24).  This reality does away with the idea that husbands and wives are to be independent of one another.  Instead we are to relate in an interdependent way.  Each is different, yet each bears gifts and strengths central to the union.  Remove the idea from your mind that dependency is bad.  God requires our dependency on Him and has joined husband and wife in just such a manner.  Early in Genesis, God describes the primary role of woman: 

“…I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Gen 2:18b)

Relief in the Midst of Remedy

By: Pastor Larry Creamer

I recently spoke at the Lawrence Christian Fellowship on the Lawrence University campus in Appleton, Wisconsin.  The students in the fellowship have a theme of service this year and gave me the assignment of speaking from Exodus 16.

The chapter gives the account of the Israelites a month and a half after leaving Egypt.  God has answered their cries for deliverance from oppressive slavery in a foreign land.  Moses and Aaron are leading them through a desolate wilderness.  They are somewhere between Egypt and Mount Sinai.

Food is running short.  Here is their response. “Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”’

Exodus 16:2-3 (NKJV)

As I studied this chapter two things became apparent.  First, God was providing a remedy for the Israelites.  They were God’s people suffering in slavery.  They had for years called out to God for deliverance and He was in the process of bringing that deliverance.  Yet, the Israelites found as many people find today that in the midst of God’s powerful, magnificent deliverance, life can be hard.

God’s ministry to His people here is instructive.  He tells Moses and Aaron that He will provide bread from heaven and cause a great number of quail to descend on the camp at evening.  The bread from heaven, manna, will come each morning and does so throughout the wilderness journey.  Notice how God brought relief to His people without compromising remedy.

God certainly did not grant their wistful plea to return to Egypt.  Often people, in the midst of experiencing God’s remedy for their lives will want to turn back.  But think about it.  They could not go back to Egypt.  The very place which had been the point of misery now seemed to them desirable even preferable to their current situation.  It will often appear so as people begin to experience God’s remedy.  We will do well to follow God’s example by ministry to them in the mist of these difficulties but never at the expense of remedy.

Larry Creamer is the Senior Pastor at Valley Baptist Church in Appleton, Wisconsin and a graduate of the Biblical Counseling Institute. Pastor Creamer graduated from the Baptist College of Florida, in Graceville, Florida, and completed his graduate studies at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Ethics in Ministry and Counseling

By: Dr. David Penley, Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and BCI Faculty Member.

The link below will take you to a recent Webinar presented by Dr. Penley on the topic of Ministerial Ethics. It is a presentation relevant to all areas of ministry and specifically to the ministry of biblical counseling.

http://vimeo.com/7332724