Welcome to the Center for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship

 
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Welcome to the Center for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship (CBCD) website.  CBCD exists to equip believers in the rich resources of the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to minister to people struggling with life problems.

Who We Are

CBCD is a ministry of Grace Bible Church, in Granbury, Texas.  Grace has been training biblical counselors and disciplers since 2008 and providing free biblical counseling services to the community since 2009.  Grace is a certified training center with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).

What We Believe

Biblical counseling is a uniquely Christian approach to counseling which derives from the Bible.  As a ministry, CBCD affirms three basic truths about counseling:

  • The sufficiency, authority, and relevancy of the Bible for counseling – The Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). As God’s perfect and complete revelation, the Bible is the only sufficient and authoritative source for life and faith. Since counseling issues concern matters of life and faith, the Bible is sufficient to inform and direct all counseling ministry (2 Pet. 1:3-21).

  • The centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ for counseling – Humanity’s greatest need is for a Savior who alone can save them from sin, judgment, and the alienation that sin creates between people and the God who created them (Rom. 3:21-26, 2 Cor. 5:17-21). As sinful people living in a fallen world full of sin and suffering, all life problems are really symptoms of mankind’s fundamental problem which is resolved only in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, all true counseling must point people to Jesus and His work of salvation and sanctification as the only true hope and help for life problems (Romans 6).

  • The priority of the local church for counseling – God designed the church to be a united group of believers who minister to one another toward Christlikeness and change (Eph. 4:11-16). Pastors and elders have primary responsibility to both shepherd and counsel believers entrusted to their care (1 Pet. 5:1-3, Heb. 13:17) as well as to equip and train believers to counsel and disciple one another (Eph. 4:11-16, Col. 1:28-29). Therefore, the local church is the proper context for counseling and discipleship to occur as believers minister to one another and reach out to the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19-20).

What We Do

  • We provide resources for biblical counselors & disciplers – The CBCD website contains dozens of audio resources and articles to help biblical counselors minster to others struggling with life problems.

  • We provide training in biblical counseling & discipleship – CBCD sponsors three main training opportunities:

  • The annual Biblical Counseling & Discipleship Conference (BCDC) – This conference provides over 30 hours of training in biblical counseling and discipleship. The event takes place over three weekends each fall. The training offered through this event is certified by the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) and can be used toward ACBC certification.

  • Weekly classes in biblical counseling – Every week, CBCD hosts a free, advanced training class in biblical counseling for those who have already completed a basic course. Many of the students in this class are actively working on biblical counseling certification with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). This class provides advanced training in biblical counseling and specific help and assistance in becoming ACBC certified.

  • Observation and internship opportunities – CBCD provides opportunities for qualified students to observe live counseling and to interact with experienced biblical counselors ministering in the local church. Furthermore, a select group of highly qualified students can apply for short-term internship positions in the counseling ministry.

  • We provide support to pastors in local churches – We desire to help pastors and local churches re-discover the biblical mandate of discipleship and counseling. We hope to come alongside and help ministry leaders learn how to counsel and how to train believers in their congregations to minister to one another. We accomplish this goal by inviting staff pastors to attend our BCDC conference free of charge and by providing personal support and guidance for developing and implementing discipleship and counseling in their own churches.

  • We provide free counseling to our community – Our church is committed to minister to our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the sufficient resources found in the Scriptures. We desire to be a blessing and help to our neighbors by providing free counseling. We also help connect hurting people in need of counseling to other likeminded churches who provide discipleship and counseling.

Our Partners in Ministry

CBCD works in partnership with three other likeminded churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area:

  • Calvary Bible Church, Ft. Worth, Texas

  • Living Hope Bible Church, Mansfield, Texas

  • Grace Community Church, Glen Rose, Texas

The pastors and ministry leaders at these churches provide the resource content for the CBCD website and serve as the main speakers at the Biblical Counseling & Discipleship Conference and other training events.

  • Pastor Keith Christensen, Calvary Bible Church, Fort Worth, TX

  • Pastor Terry Enns, Grace Bible Church, Granbury, TX

  • Pastor Bryan Gaines, Grace Community Church, Glen Rose, TX

  • Dr. Dale Johnson, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX

  • Pastor Dan Kirk, Calvary Bible Church, Fort Worth, TX

  • Mr. Jason Kruis, Calvary Bible Church, Fort Worth, TX

  • Pastor Brent Osterberg, Living Hope Bible Church, Mansfield, TX

  • Dr. Keith Palmer, Grace Bible Church, Granbury, TX

  • Dr. Stephen Yuille, Grace Community Church, Glen Rose, TX

Our Vision

We hope that the ministry of the Center for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship will be a blessing to pastors, local churches, and individual believers through the training, resources, and counseling that we offer.  And we pray that the Lord would use our efforts to strengthen His church and build up His people for continued gospel ministry for His glory.

In Christ,

Dr. Keith Palmer
Director, Center for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship

 
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