ABC exists to enlist, equip, enrich, and encourage all believers everywhere to live and counsel the Word, applying the Gospel to the whole experience of life.

• ABC seeks to ENLIST believers with a heart to grow in their knowledge of Scripture as it practically applies to the myriad of issues related to counseling.

• ABC seeks to EQUIP the church and community by providing training and certification in the work of biblical counseling and discipleship.

• ABC seeks to ENRICH members by offering ongoing resources with a robust biblical worldview of people and their problems while promoting Scripture as the supreme source wherein healing truth may be found.

• ABC seeks to ENCOURAGE followers of Jesus Christ to know, cherish, and honor Him as they minister His Word to one another while supporting each other. We have a fellowship of believers committed to life transformation through the Living Word.

Our Beliefs

Good theological training and doctrinal purity, we believe, are important to helping others learn and grow in biblical counseling ministry. In other words, we want Training Leaders to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, know the Scripture well, develop theology from the Scripture, and lead others according to the truth.

While we appreciate and accept differences of opinion on various doctrines, we believe the Foundation Documents of the Gospel Coalition along with the confessional and doctrinal statement set forth by the Biblical Counseling Coalition capture the essential core of theology we want our Biblical Counselors, Training Centers and Training Leaders to affirm. Documents may be accessed using the following links:

• The Gospel Coalition Foundation Documents – http://thegospelcoalition.org/about/foundation-documents

• BCC Doctrinal Statement – http://biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/about/doctrinal-statement/

• BCC Confessional Statement – http://biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/about/confessional-statement/

The official position of the Association of Biblical Counselors on the ministry of counseling is that the Bible possesses supreme authority as it regards mankind, human nature and motivation, the purpose and process of change, and man’s relationship to God. We recognize that secular attempts to answer the ultimate questions of psychology and counseling (i.e., Who is man? Why do people do what they do? How do people change? Why should a person change?) fall short in their answers since they do not acknowledge the reality of a personal God in whose presence mankind is always functioning and developing. The Bible is sufficient in constructing a comprehensive model of biblical counseling. The work of biblical counseling is an endeavor in which all believers should participate, and that it is a work to be shared by the entire body of Christ.

God Rules the Universe: God is creator and sustainer of all creation. He is the one true God revealed in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Our Biggest Enemy is the Enemy Within: Mankind is naturally a slave to sin, and can by no means of his own power obtain salvation from God. Since the law of sin is perpetually at work within him, his attempts to obtain salvation by works or good deeds are futile.

Grace is Sweet beyond Measure: Since mankind is bound by the law of sin and therefore helpless to satisfy the righteous requirements of the Law, God, who is full of mercy and love, sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty of sin for all who, by faith, believe upon Him.

God Gloriously Transforms Lives: God continues His redemptive work in the life of the believer by progressively transforming him or her into the image of Jesus Christ. The Christian is instructed by Scripture to pursue holiness in God, and should seek to do so, however, the ultimate hope of the believer in transformation and persevering in the faith rests in the hands of the eternal God who assures completion of the work He alone initiated.

Love is Key: All the Bible’s teachings may ultimately be summed up in two phrases according to Jesus: love God, and love your neighbor. This is the highest call to all who believe on the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

God’s Word is Life: The Bible is inerrant and inspired by the living God. It is a fountain of living water that flows from the very heart of God. It consumes the barren soil of self-reliance, and promotes a harvest rooted in the worship of God eternal. It is from these ever-flowing waters that the River of Life, found in the person of Jesus Christ, is revealed. Sufficient for the most parched of souls, Christ alone is the Truth that sets us free.

The Gospel of the Cross Alone Brings Peace: The Biblical message of sin, depravity, repentance, forgiveness and sanctification is built upon the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and His glorious resurrection. Faith in Christ alone brings freedom from both the penalty and power of sin. Man is unable to find freedom or peace by himself or in himself. It is only in Christ that man can draw near to God, have his sins forgiven, receive the hope of eternal life and experience the protecting power of God in the midst of sin and the trials of life.

• A believer in Jesus Christ who has a good practical working knowledge of the Word and is committed to doctrinal soundness and a life that reflects the Gospel.

• This person also believes that God equips believers through his Word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit to help others with the issues of life.

• Secular psychotherapy is needs-based. The needs for self-esteem, love and acceptance, and significance tend to dominate. If these needs are met, it is believed, people will be happy, kind, and moral; if these needs are unmet, people will be miserable, hateful, and immoral. Biblical counseling teaches that true satisfaction and happiness can only be found in a relationship with God and a pursuit of godliness.

• Secular psychology is based on the theories and subsequent teachings of psychoanalysts. These include Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Carl Rogers and more recently ideas of post-modernism. In stark contrast, Biblical counseling is based on the revealed Word of God and subsequently on God’s theories and teachings for humankind.

• Secular psychology promotes mankind as the highest standard of truth and morality and rejects faith, the supernatural, and the Bible. Biblical counseling sees God as the highest standard of truth and morality and that Scripture is sufficient to address the impact on humankind due to fallen human conditions (Genesis 3) as well as equip the child of God for every good work (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:4).

• Secular psychology is based on the ideas that man is basically good and that the answer to his problems lies within himself. The Bible states that humans are much worse than they think, but also loved so much more than they can imagine. Humans are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), and the unregenerate heart is “deceitful and beyond all cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, the biblical counselor takes a drastically different approach: rather than seeking solutions to spiritual problems within one’s own mind, he seeks to confront sin, obtain wisdom from above (James 3:17), and apply the Word of God to the situation.

• In general, what is usually called “Christian counseling” is different from “biblical counseling” in that Christian counseling often uses secular psychology while viewing the client and their situation from a Christian worldview. Depending on the counselor, they may or may not use the Bible or even pray in the sessions. This is not to say that a Christian counselor is not also a biblical counselor, but often, Christian counselors are Christians who integrate secular psychology into their counseling. Biblical counselors counsel from Biblical theories and principles.

• Biblical counseling is committed to letting God speak for Himself through His Word. Biblical counseling seeks to minister the love of the true and living God, a love that deals with sin and produces obedience.

• Anyone interested in better understanding themselves and others.

• Licensed and professional counselors who are committed to Biblical counseling and seeking a deeper specialization in applying the Bible in your practice.

• Pastors, elders, and leaders in ministry who are interested in providing Biblical counsel.

• Growth-group and small-group leaders, lay counselors, and mature believers in churches.

• All believers who are committed to sound counsel from the Word in their own lives and as they minister to others.

• Pastors and elders seeking to connect your theological understanding in your role as shepherd and counselor.

• Third party credentialing of a working Biblical counseling training curriculum.

• Recognized certification by a respected association

• Provides intentional process for those who want to mature in Biblical counseling

• Community of committed Biblical counselors

General

The cohort will span 12 months, featuring two classes each month. Allelon will provide the cohort through multiple formats to accommodate your schedule, including online, in-person, and one-on-one sessions as needed. Below is an overview of the assignments for the upcoming year:

• Nine Modules with Various Lessons

• Equipped to Counsel Book: 2 Exams and a Personal Story Paper

• Journal of Biblical Counseling Articles: 2 Process Papers

• Mini-Practicum: Case Study Paper and Counseling Journals

Once accepted, a fee of $500 will be required, which covers your textbook (we can provide them at a discounted rate to help you save money).

Rather than imposing a cohort fee of $1,000, we invite participants to support our ministry through monthly contributions based on what you feel led to give (2 Corinthians 9:7).