We believe that everyone has a story of wounding that has kept them from experiencing these two crucial promises God makes.  It’s through the application of mental health counseling and spiritual tools and gifts that we enable others to find freedom and life.  We must be clear though: Only Jesus can free and heal a person’s life.  We consider ourselves the “middle men (or women)” in this process.  It’s too easy for ministers and counselors alike to see themselves as the healer, and we remain vigilant against this pride on our own lives.  We want to be the tools ourselves that God uses, and our individual walks with God reflect that desire.  It’s vitally important that our “inside matches our outside” and we live what we preach, so to speak.

In our effort to live out our callings with His Spirit, we have each individually been led to professional counseling.  While it is not uncommon to find spiritually-minded Christians who distrust or even outright reject clinical psychology, we prefer not to enter into that debate.  Instead we walk with God as He leads, and He has lead us to degrees, programs, and experience as professional counselors.  Within that career, we frequently evaluate therapies and psychological research in light of God’s vision.  Some of those secular efforts we leave alone, and others we find have applicable value.  We do our best to let God lead this process.  

Spiritually, we believe the Bible can be trusted, and that includes the gifting of the Holy Spirit.  We could share many hundreds of stories of the Holy Spirit showing up in a counseling session to provide insight, revelation, and direct healing.  But we actually do not want to be known by our gifts.  We prefer to be known by our fruit in the lives of those we reach.  One thing is clear: If we allow God to do all He has promised to do, He shows up to do just that.  We consider the development of spiritual gifting to be just as important, if not more so, than developing clinical tools.