On this website we provide an overview of the salvation-based, biblically-derived Faith Therapy methodology, a bookstore listing what we believe are the best Christian counseling resources, biblical answers by topic for many of life's difficult problems, a comprehensive video counseling training curriculum, and links to the Word of Life Counseling Training Institute website where we offer free video training courses, low cost certifications, and College Degrees in Christian counseling.    

Faith Therapy is a new methodology for in-depth Christian Counseling and life coaching derived directly from the Bible and based on the process of salvation by faith.  Please watch the slide show and videos below on the many aspects of Faith Therapy.

     The numbers of dysfunctional and emotionally hurting people in our society and churches with complex and difficult problems are rapidly increasing. The church today desperately needs Bible-based resources to meet these needs, in-depth biblical answers for these complex problems, and Christian counseling training easily available to everyone. 

The statistics of tragedy, dysfunction and emotional trauma within our society began to increase significantly around 1950 and reached epidemic proportions in the 1980s. The trend has continued since that time. Currently, over one-half of our marriages are ending in divorce. One-half of those who are married are reported to have had at least one affair. One-third of the women in America have been sexually abused and one-sixth have suffered incest. Domestic violence occurs repeatedly in at least 25 per cent of our homes and at least once in two-thirds of marriages. Approximately 20 per cent of men abuse alcohol, 10 per cent are dependent on it and 6 per cent use illicit drugs. Even though most of us would like to believe that these statistics do not apply in our churches, studies have indicated that there is little difference concerning psychological and abuse problems within Christian churches in comparison to the United States' society as a whole.

A national survey of pastors conducted by the Task Force on the Family for the National Association of Evangelicals as early as 1984 concluded by saying that the "problems of today's Christian families compared to those of non-Christian families are more similar than different." The Barna Research Group in Ventura, California reported that the number of persons divorced among evangelical Christians, especially Baptists and non-denominationals, exceeded those of agnostics and atheists, and of our society as a whole. Six to seven percent of Christians are problem drinkers or alcoholics. Battered spouses and children seemed to be more prevalent inside than outside the church. Sexual abuse was estimated to be at least as high in Christian as non-Christian homes. In fact, both incest and physical abuse have been more highly associated with those holding religious values than those who do not. Archibald Hart, in his book, The Sexual Man, reported that approximately 12 to 30 percent of ministers have had some inappropriate sexual contact while in the ministry.

Some churches seem to be in denial of these facts and have even challenged the need for counseling within the church at all. Many other churches have taken the approach that if preaching, repentance and spiritual warfare are not enough, it is the person's fault because the person lacks faith or is not willing to be helped. We, as pastors, have to admit that many times we have given shallow and simplistic advice for complex problems that we did not fully understand, with meager results.  

For many Christians the statistics that I have cited concerning the problems within the church seem almost unbelievable. This is because the modern church has a long history of attempting to deny, hide, or refer rather than admit these problems and effectively deal with them. We have attempted superficial solutions by giving shallow advice and commanding repentance. Although most pastors have a good general understanding of Bible principles, they lack a deeper understanding of how to address most of the more difficult psychological, addiction, and abuse problems. The survey of pastors cited above went on to say that pastors as a whole lack sufficient training to meet these challenges effectively. As an example, pastors in most fundamental churches have a notoriously bad record of sending battered women back into abusive relationships without help. With the lack of comprehensive biblical answers, it is not surprising that the most usual response of a pastor facing problems like abuse or addictions is to refer them to an "expert" outside of the church.