Counseling and Church Life

The second term of 2018 is well under way. While every term we seek to equip men for the ministry of the word, the line from life and study is particularly clear this term. I'm teaching three courses this term: Methods in Writing, Counseling, and Church Life. Perhaps I'll take some time in another post to highlight Methods in Writing, but for now I wanted to tell a little about Counseling and Church Life.
We have been talking in counseling class how biblical counselors are shaped by the Bible in at least two fundamental ways. First in the area of authority, the biblical counselor must have his thinking shaped by the gospel as revealed in the Scriptures. The Scriptures are our sufficient and authoritative guide on this narrow path to glory. They show us both the means and the end. To the extent that we're guided by the wisdom of this age in these matters we will fail to see our road and destination clearly. Second with respect to goals, the counselor is not seeking merely to address the problems of the one who has come for counsel. Those difficulties such as choices about the future or marital strife are important issues to handle, but more fundamental and lasting is the person's relationship with God—an area where we as counselors need grace just as much as those being counseled. This reminder is one way my time in the classroom is equipping me for ministry in my local church.
Another class is Church Life. We're excited about this course in practical ecclesiology because we believe it's one of the most important and useful that we offer at EABST. Here we're working to shape current and future churches in line with Scripture. The Bible sets out for us clearly the roles and responsibilities of pastors, deacons, and church members. It establishes the church's identity and sets the church's agenda. Unfortunately in all of these areas we're so prone to substitute our own ideas, so it's a privilege to dive down deep into the Word for reminders and correctives.
Please keep praying for us as we seek to be and equip men who love the church for the sake of Christ's name among the nations.

2018 Proclaim: To the Ends of the Earth

After the term ended and grading was complete, we quickly switched our focus to getting ready for the fast approaching Proclaim Conference. Our sending church pastor, Dave Doran, was the keynote speaker. We centered on the theme of the Great Commission, especially emphasizing the central role that local churches have to play in that mission and how establishing local churches is the goal of the mission itself. It was exciting to have an opportunity to speak to this essential topic. The Lord brought nearly 500 church leaders, members, and others our way. Please pray with us that the Lord will continue to grant a sense of responsibility for the mission and a sense of confidence that Christ's presence with us is sufficient for this great cause.

Intro to Biblical Theology

I’m going to try to get out several brief updates over the next couple of weeks to catch everyone up on recent events. My last update was before the school term ended.

This term I taught Introduction to Biblical Theology. This class helps students begin the process of dealing with the Bible as a whole. Its two main projects (1)  trace the storyline of the Scriptures through God’s major covenants with humans and (2) summarize the basic message of the Scriptures. These two perspectives are useful as we seek to see the Bible’s unity. One shows the line, the cord, so to speak through how the Bible’s most significant characters frame its narrative. The other shows a cross-section of that cord showing how the Bible’s main themes interrelate in a consistent way. We’re praying that this class provides a foundation for helping students place themselves in the proper part in the story—between Christ’s first and second comings, a time when believers are called strangers and pilgrims who await a lasting city, a better country. Please pray that theologies that promote living a prosperous life now over investing in eternity would be undermined as our students engage in biblical church ministry.

I was able to complete exams and assessments (aka grading) for this term mid-May. I am thankful for God’s help in getting that done in preparation for Proclaim at the end of last month. But that’s for next update.

Meeting

In addition to the normal classwork and discipling within the local church context, the last few weeks have been full of meetings. The meetings deal with three basic areas.
First, I've been meeting with my coworker here, Jonathan Moore, to develop curriculum. We're working on several projects together at the moment from a systematic theology course for the school, to a study guide for pastors in rural areas, to a discipling course to help married couples mentor younger married couples. I also met recently with Pastor Ken, lead pastor at Emmanuel Baptist, to develop a couple of classes for the church's adult education hour (held during Sunday school). It's such a privilege to be able to craft these tools alongside faithful men in order to train and equip church leaders and members to follow Christ more wisely and consistently.
Second, a large crew of volunteer coordinators has been meeting to set things in order for our annual Proclaim conference. It's been such a joy (and a relief) to see the way this conference has been owned by members of our local church. I'm excited about how they are giving of themselves to see other churches in Nairobi and beyond equipped through sound biblical preaching and teaching. This year we have the special privilege of hosting my sending church pastor, David Doran, as a keynote speaker.
Third, we have been meeting to work under the hood at EABST. We're continually seeking ways to be more effective in helping churches entrust the Word to faithful men. The faculty is benefiting richly from the wise input of local leaders who share our vision for biblical ministry.
Please keep us in your prayers as we partner with you in our work for the sake of Christ's name.