TIL is spiritually successful because the Lord has given us abundant grace. All glory belongs to God!
But what’s the TIL “secret ingredient”? Like Coca-cola, TIL has a secret ingredient and is hugely successful. (it’s revealed at the end of this blog)
So why is God blessing this ministry so greatly? One reason is that we are all about His glory in fulfilling His great commission in Matthew 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Mt 28:18-20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
What is this commission all about? Going? No, not hardly! It’s about MAKING DISCIPLES of CHRIST which is what TIL is all about – only we do it through the context of biblical counseling and soul care.
It’s simple really. We counsel in teams of 2 so that disciples are replicated. We want new counselors to learn from older counselors. We want the new ones to become leaders to disciple/train other biblical counselors one day, too.
For this reason, I believe God has made TIL successful. We are primarily concerned with the replication of leaders and committed followers of Christ who use God’s own Word by the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives in Birmingham and around the world.
As we embark on more training this year than ever before, I encourage you to get involved in this ministry with us. Our training classes (locations and dates) will be announced soon and I hope you will be a part of them – as well as our in-session training when you sit in with a biblical counselor who will mentor, train, and disciple you. That in-session training as a co-counselor is our TIL “secret ingredient.” Shhh – don’t tell anyone our secret ingredient! (just kidding, tell the whole world!)
When people sit in with a co-counselor, they grow in Christ (Eph. 4:15) rapidly. That’s the secret. Secret’s out now. The classes we teach are great but the secret ingredient is the HANDS-ON doing of discipleship that actually occurs for BOTH the counselor and the counselees! Everyone in the body of Christ grows in this model of discipleship patterned after Matt. 28:18-20.
-Mark (thankful God gave me a part to play in this ministry and more importantly, in the body of Christ)