Brothers and sisters,

It was such a joy to see so many of you at our Supercluster this past Thursday. Thank you for making the effort to be there and for participating in our discussions. Thank you to all who worked hard to make this event a success. Here is a summary of what we talked about:

Just as the answer to bad authority isn’t no authority, so the answer to poor associations isn’t no association. It is good associations, based on shared theology and practice, which allow for the autonomy of the local church and lean toward inter-dependence between partners as we share resources and encouragement, so God’s name is praised, He is glorified, and much good is accomplished.

In our Fellowship Atlantic emails, we sometimes have original material made by one of us, sometimes we have a quote that is meant to encourage you, and sometimes we link to an article that seems to have bearing on what we do and how we minister. I hope that it is a blessing to you to have this regular update. If you have something you have written that you would like to submit for our consideration, please do so!

Today we turn our attention to the responsibility we have as spiritual leaders to give biblical and wise counsel. If we are honest, often we have questions where we simply don’t have ready answers to give. Wonderfully, we have the word of God and the Holy Spirit to guide us in His wisdom. Cry out to Him for that.

We also have brothers and sisters who have thought through issues for us and give their input. Our joyful responsibility is not only to respond carefully in times of crises but also to prepare for them by sharpening our minds prior to emergencies by reading and processing available resources. With that in mind, I would like to introduce you to Bob Kellemen, who has written 23 books and has a wonderful webpage full of free materials. He has written a sixteen-word summary of what it means to be biblical counselors.

As biblical counselors we seek to be:

Gospel-Centered, Theologically-Saturated, Relationship-Focused, Church History-Informed, Research-Aware Soul Physicians of Embodied-Souls 

Here is a short summary of each of those points along with relevant passages of Scripture. I encourage you to read through and think on each. I encourage you to also look through the hundreds of free resources he offers.

May God bless you and keep you.