Speak The Truth

Michael hosts first-time guests Joe Keller and Rush Witt to discuss their book Shepherding Time (New Growth Press). Rush shares his context as a Columbus, Ohio church planter and pastor, married nearly 26 years with five kids, and explains how he and Joe—friends from different church contexts—came to write about applying a shepherd’s heart to time rather than pursuing mere productivity. They address pastoral challenges like constant “more is better” pressure, time guilt, distractions, and schedule “morphing” into crisis care, and recommend proactive rhythms such as clustering themed days, time blocking, and prioritizing rest. They ground stewardship of time in theology, Jesus’ intentionality, and worship as the measure of a “successful” day, and point listeners to shepherdingtime.com and a forthcoming short-form podcast and resources.00:00 Conference Cold Open00:41 Meet Joe and Rush01:31 Rush Background and Ministry02:53 Why Shepherding Time04:09 How the Book Began07:16 Weekly Rhythms and Time Blocking09:11 Time Morphing in Ministry13:12 Time Guilt and Expectations15:50 Stewardship Over Efficiency17:14 Jesus Model for Time21:09 Work as Worship Reframed22:56 Daily Weekly Rhythm Takeaway23:19 Prayerful Retreats23:41 Book Vision and Impact25:00 Why Shepherding Time25:37 Deferred Dominion Framework27:32 Beyond Time Management28:41 Tracking Reader Outcomes29:30 Resources and Podcast Plans31:20 Practical Pastor Next Steps33:34 Seminary Gaps and Distractions34:56 Most Interesting Person Project36:40 Final Thanks and WrapEpisode MentionsBuy Shepherding Time - Rush Witt & Joe Keller Engage on their Shepherding Time Site 

Michael interviews Brad Hambrick and Matias Casco discussing ABC initiatives to expand Spanish-language biblical counseling training. Casco, a Honduran living in the Dominican Republic and serving at Santiago Theological Seminary, explains that a 2022 church survey revealed most churches lacked counseling ministries, prompting a one-year, six-module program on key topics like family, marriage, addictions, suffering, and ethics, graduating about 250 students from multiple countries. The seminary is now partnering with ABC to translate Equip to Counsel and related resources into Spanish and provide certification, scholarships, and digital access worldwide, supported by a $100,000 fundraising goal. They announce an August 21–22 kickoff conference in Santo Domingo at Pastor Miguel Núñez’s church on “mental health/living with a renewed mind,” featuring Ed Welch, Hambrick, Beth Broome, and Núñez, available for virtual co-hosting.00:00 Conference Wrap Up01:17 Meet Matias Casco02:00 Counseling Needs in DR03:38 How Brad Connected06:02 Designing Church Training08:52 Digital Access Expansion11:31 Funding the Vision13:49 August Conference Launch17:02 How to Register17:59 Final Thanks and AppealEpisode MentionsHelp us translate ETC into Spanish - Donate Oasis Conference Matais talked about - Register Seminario Teologico de Santiago - Seminary information 

Michael interviews David and Krista Dunham about their book, Power with Purpose: God’s Design for Power Dynamics in a Marriage. They share their backgrounds in pastoral ministry, counseling, and ABC resource development, and explain they wrote the book as a constructive, “pre-abuse” resource after seeing power issues damage marriages and recognizing a lack of practical guidance. Walking through the book’s structure, they discuss understanding power as God-given and meant for good, developing a shared family vision, and how husbands and wives should use power biblically, including headship that empowers and a wife’s influence expressed through strengthening, sustaining, and sharpening, with submission defined as purposeful yielding of a wife’s power. They emphasize mutuality, collaboration, and one-another commands, and note the book includes reflection questions for ongoing application. 00:00 Conference Intro and Guests01:01 Meet Dave and Krista02:16 Why They Wrote It04:20 Book Roadmap Overview04:37 Understanding Power06:39 Power Purpose and Jesus08:17 Shared Family Vision12:59 Husbands Use of Power15:41 Wives Use of Power19:47 Mutuality and Collaboration24:29 Final Encouragement and WrapEpisode MentionsPower with Purpose Book  

Michael interviews new exhibitor Dr. Jeffrey M. Kelly, a full-time biblical counselor and former church planter, and David Driskill, a veteran software developer and Care Assist Pro’s CTO, about their platform (careassist-pro.com). They explain that Care Assist Pro was built to address the shortage of soul care in local churches by reducing counseling roadblocks and increasing counselor confidence through secure, HIPAA-compliant tools such as note organization, encrypted communication, built-in video conferencing with transcripts, summaries, and AI-driven feedback on counseling skills over time. They emphasize AI is never the counselor but a tool with biblical guardrails, using a curated RAG knowledge base of about 800 documents (e.g., ACBC, CCF, ABC, Counseling Coalition) and features like notebooks, multilingual outputs, and training “personas” for seminary practicums and skill development.00:00 Conference Introduction01:02 Meet the Guests01:16 Dr Kelly Background01:48 David Driskill Tech Story03:09 How Care Assist Began05:49 Redemptive Use of AI08:31 AI Training Practicum11:19 Notebooks Language Features15:30 Guardrails Not Replacement19:58 Counselor Growth Analytics23:57 Who Its For Pricing26:50 Final Encouragement WrapEpisode MentionsCheck out Care Assist Pro 

Michael is joined with first-time guest Nathan “Jogging” Scroggins, who also highlights Soul Care Consulting International as an “operating system” for local-church discipleship along an intentional-to-intensive discipleship continuum. Nathan explains why Colossians is vital for resisting empty deceit and worldly philosophies and focuses on Colossians 3:15–4:6 about living a Christ-ruled life. Using a case study of Frank, a stressed 42-year-old project manager, husband, and father drifting into irritability and prayerlessness, they discuss counseling applications: letting Christ’s peace govern the heart, letting the Word of Christ dwell richly, cultivating thankfulness, restoring prayerful dependence, rebuilding Christlike relational patterns, and refining witness through speech.00:00 Conference Welcome00:55 Soul Care Consulting03:22 Why Colossians Matters05:12 Reading The Passage07:31 Meet Frank Case Study09:07 Peace Rules The Heart20:01 Word Dwells Richly25:51 Thankfulness And Practice28:02 Counseling Frank Summary33:25 Final Thanks And WrapEpisode MentionsSoul Care Consulting 

Michael interviews Bob from Biblicare about a church-focused counseling platform that supports the full counseling workflow from intake forms, scheduling, session notes, and homework to analysis, reporting, and ministry oversight. Bob shares his ministry and programming background, including work with a missions agency, and explains Biblicare’s origin after a seminary friend with a large church needed a system beyond spreadsheets to prevent counselees from slipping through the cracks. They discuss how Biblicare helps churches create structure, improve administration, and give pastors visibility into counseling activity, trends, and aggregate data for training and budgeting, while also providing ongoing onboarding, coaching, and proactive support as a family-run company.00:00 Conference Intro00:43 Meet Bob01:51 Origin Story03:39 Church Need Emerges05:49 Family Built Company07:29 Kingdom Infrastructure Vision09:31 What Biblicare Does10:55 Onboarding and Process Design13:01 Oversight and Reporting17:23 Crisis Support and Coaching22:24 Cookie Factory Care25:45 Final Advice and Contact29:15 Wrap UpEpisode MentionsBiblicare Software 

Michael interviews biblical counselor Shannon McCoy, who shares her current counseling season in South Carolina and her new role hosting shepherdpresspodcast.com. They discuss her emotions-track session on recognizing bitterness, defined as settled resentment formed when pain is rehearsed and judgment is retained rather than entrusted to God, drawing from Hebrews 12:15, Deuteronomy 29:18, James 3:14–15, and Acts 8:23. McCoy outlines a progression from pain to interpretation, judgment, and resentment, noting bitterness is often camouflaged as irritability and can defile individuals and communities. They emphasize a missing step between bitterness and forgiveness: lament, which includes honest complaint to God, repentance, and surrendering justice to Him, leading to peace, joy, and fruit-of-the-Spirit living even amid unresolved conflict.00:00 Conference Welcome00:58 Meet Shannon McCoy01:22 New Season in Ministry01:49 Podcast Hosting Adventures02:54 Emotions Track Highlights04:04 Why Bitterness Matters04:48 Defining Bitterness Biblically05:42 Calling Out Bitterness07:05 From Bitterness to Forgiveness08:10 Lament and Repentance11:16 Bitterness Toward God13:02 Surrendering Justice to God13:32 Joy Versus Bitterness14:29 Roots of Bitterness15:32 Pain to Resentment Cycle17:13 Family Estrangement Example18:50 Bitterness Defiles the Heart20:58 When Bitterness Turns Toxic24:39 Flesh Versus Spirit Choice26:34 Wrap Up and Next StepsEpisode MentionsShepherd Press Podcast W/Shannon 

Michael interviews Tim St. John about his “Freedom in Christ” session, “Building Churches that Honor and Protect,” concluding a hidden abuse track focused on identifying abuse in churches and then rebuilding healthy culture. Using a termite-damage metaphor, St. John explains that removing abuse isn’t enough; churches must reinstall “beams” like sound theology of suffering and identity in Christ to promote healing and exalt Christ. He defines church hurt as unrepentant sin normalized or protected by leadership and describes three waves of pain: the direct wound, failure to address it, and loss of community. Discussing his book After Church Hurt, he addresses both sheep hurt and shepherd hurt, urges looking to Christ as the Good Shepherd, and offers practical steps including diagnosing what happened, seeking legal counsel when crimes are involved, finding experienced counseling, easing back into church, planning conversations, and evaluating church accountability and culture.00:00 Conference Intro00:41 Meet Tim St John01:24 Workshop Overview03:11 Church Hurt Defined06:11 Three Waves of Pain08:16 After Church Hurt Book08:34 Sheep and Shepherd Hurt11:30 Hope in the Good Shepherd14:53 Practical Steps Forward18:11 Closing and ResourcesEpisode ResourcesAfter Church Hurt - Tim St. John 

Michael interviews Kevin Dau, pastor for discipleship and counseling at Hespeler Baptist Church in Cambridge, Ontario, and a practicum instructor for Heritage College and Seminary’s master’s level biblical counseling certificate. Dau contrasts professional counseling with pastoral counseling, where caring becomes more personal and multifaceted because counselees are also part of church life, increasing stress and highlighting human limits. Using Galatians 6:1–3, Exodus 18, and themes from Psalms, they discuss bearing one another’s burdens while watching for temptation, pride, and burnout, and the need for accountability, peer support, and sometimes personal counseling for counselors. They emphasize proactive self-care, ordinary means of grace, recognizing stress signals (affect and effectiveness), building a church culture of vulnerability, and regularly asking trusted observers what they see and acting on it.00:00 Podcast intro and guest00:59 Kevin ministry roles02:10 Training counselors at Heritage03:38 Pastoral burdens and stress07:24 Needing care and counseling12:00 Accountability for shepherds18:12 Asking for help early20:34 Stress and means of grace24:55 Galatians warnings and humility26:28 Practical steps and closing

Mike welcomes Jeemin Moon to discuss an eschatological perspective on mental health, trauma, and resurrection hope. Moon shares updates about directing the biblical care and counseling studies program at Heritage College and Seminary, implementing ABC Level One (Equip to Counsel) for fourth-year students, and completing PhD comprehensive exams at Southern Seminary while writing a dissertation on a biblical theology of shame and God’s covering. He explains why he taught on resurrection for a forthcoming book project, then reads Hebrews 2:5–18 and connects it to trauma, distinguishing traumatic events from being “traumatized,” and emphasizing Jesus’ resurrection ministry to sufferers. They encourage trauma sufferers to interpret painful narratives through Scripture’s meta-story, citing Isaiah 43 and Psalm 84 about God redeeming wilderness and valleys of tears into springs.00:00 Podcast Welcome00:22 Meet Jeemin Moon01:26 PhD Work on Shame03:01 Training Counselors at Heritage05:07 Why Focus on Resurrection06:06 Reading Hebrews Two08:40 Trauma Defined Light and Darkness11:40 Traumatic Events vs Traumatized14:46 Resurrection Hope in the Valley17:15 Redeeming the Past Story19:56 Host Reflection and Encouragement22:41 Final Thanks and Sendoff