A Blog from a Counselor for the Church: Re-Launched!

I appreciate the patience of my readers as I took a break to invest in family, some missions travel, and focus on some much-needed redesign elements to my site. I am excited to be back in the blogosphere and to announce some of the upgrades to the site.

But first, I thought this might be an opportune time to explain the title of my blog: “A Blog from a Counselor for the Church.” This title is not meant to imply that I propose to be the church’s therapist. The church already has a Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6).

Rather, I am a counselor who is pro-church. I want the ministry I do to strengthen the ability of individual members to serve one another and God’s mission through the church. I believe you will find this emphasis in many of the updates to my site.

First, the redesign was meant to make my site more readable. The font size, color contrasts, and simplified design concept are meant to create far fewer distractions from the content.

Second, the redesign is more smart-phone-friendly. The church, at least from the Reformation forward, has always wanted Scripture, and as many ministry tools as possible, in the hands of church members. What began with the printing press currently expresses itself in the devices we hold in our hands.

Third, and continuing in the ease-of-use vein, the new “Index of Resources” found on every page, makes it easier to find content on your subjects of interest. The primary emphasis in this re-design was to convert my site from a blog with lots of resources to a resource hub that has a blog.

Fourth, specific pages were developed to help the four audiences of my blog – personal benefit, friends supporting friends, pastors, and professional counselors – to know how to use the resources on my site. Each audience brings unique needs, skill sets, and opportunities. I want you, in whatever role you fill, to know the different ways you can benefit from the resources here.

Fifth, specific pages were developed for each of the programmatic ministries churches can run with the resources on my site – marriage mentoring, addiction recovery groups, support groups for various emotional struggles, and SEBTS’s soon-to-be-launched certificate in biblical counseling. A primary focus on my ministry since I’ve been as Summit is to create ministries that are replicable at churches of all sizes and for a wide variety of needs.

Sixth, a podcast feature was added to make the resources formerly available only in video or written format also available in an easy-to-access audio format. The new podcast has four channels: marriage, addictions, emotions, and general resources. No longer do you need to be tied to a computer to benefit from these resources. You can listen on your morning jog or commute to-from work.

I am excited about these changes and pray they allow the resources here to be a part of God’s work in the life of more individuals, families, and churches.