When life feels difficult, you need care that takes both your struggles and your faith seriously. You may be looking for someone who will listen patiently, help you understand what you are facing, and offer direction you can trust. At Theopneustos Ministries, our biblical counselling begins with this conviction: to understand ourselves rightly, we must listen to the God who made us.
Our approach is shaped by the Reformed conviction expressed in Cornelius Van Til’s emphasis on “thinking God’s thoughts after him”: human understanding should follow God’s revelation rather than claim independence from it 1. Applied to counselling, this means more than adding biblical language to a conversation. It means allowing Scripture to shape how we understand people, respond to suffering, address sin, and pursue growth in Jesus Christ.
What does “thinking God’s thoughts after him” mean?
In his explanation of Van Til, John Frame identifies two truths held together: our thinking should agree with what God has revealed, yet it must never be confused with God’s own unlimited knowledge 1. We are creatures, not the Creator; our knowledge can be true without being exhaustive 1.
For our ministry, that calls for both confidence and humility. We can trust what God has made known, while recognizing that our understanding of a particular person or situation may be incomplete. A counsellor’s impression is not God’s verdict, and a counsellor’s interpretation must remain open to correction.
This article applies that theological posture to counselling; it does not present Van Til as the author of a counselling method. David Powlison and John MacArthur provide more direct accounts of biblical counselling, emphasizing God’s central place in understanding people and Scripture’s role in spiritual care 2, pp. 3–6 3.
The difference is the starting point, not merely the label
When we distinguish biblical counselling from an integrationist approach to “Christian counselling,” we are asking what governs the care being offered. Does Scripture shape the understanding of the person and the goal of change, or are Christian beliefs and practices being added to an explanatory framework whose basic assumptions were established elsewhere?
MacArthur’s criticism targets the practice of using secular theories to address spiritual problems while adding biblical references, rather than allowing Scripture to govern the work 3. Powlison cautions that every approach must be examined, including those that describe themselves as biblical 2, p. 6.
We therefore do not ask you to trust a label alone, including ours. We encourage you to ask what a counsellor believes, how those convictions shape their care, and whether their actual practice reflects the approach they profess.
Scripture shapes how we understand your life
We believe Scripture is God’s Word, sufficient to guide us in knowing him and living faithfully before him. It is not simply a source of reassurance after the important decisions have already been made. It shapes the questions at the heart of our care: Who are we? What has gone wrong? Where is our hope? What does faithful change look like?
Powlison asks whether God and the person’s relationship with him are integral to the counsel being offered 2, pp. 3–4. MacArthur likewise connects the application of Scripture with the Holy Spirit’s work of making believers like Christ 3.
In practice, we seek to listen carefully before offering direction. We want to understand what has happened, what you are carrying, and how you are responding. Thinking in submission to Scripture does not mean knowing your story before you tell it or having a ready-made answer for every difficulty.
Your suffering matters, and so does your heart
Our care seeks to distinguish the wrongs you have suffered from the responses for which you are responsible. Being harmed by someone else is not the same as choosing to harm someone. Grief calls for compassion; wrongdoing calls for honest repentance; a difficult season may involve both sorrow and a need for change.
Powlison holds together the transformation of sin and the consolation of sorrow, while taking bodily and social circumstances seriously 2, pp. 4–5. His account also examines what a person loves, trusts, serves, and fears, treating the relationship with God as central to understanding the heart 2, p. 4.
For example, if you are grieving a betrayal, we would not begin by assuming that your pain reveals a failure of faith. We would seek to understand the wrong committed against you, your safety, your grief, and the support you need. We would also consider how to bring that anguish before God and take faithful next steps without making you responsible for another person’s wrongdoing.
Change means growing in Christ
Relief from distress matters, as do practical steps and restored responsibilities. But the spiritual aim of our counselling extends beyond managing a difficult moment. We seek growth in trust, love, wisdom, repentance, and faithful obedience, even when circumstances remain painful.
MacArthur distinguishes behaviour modification from sanctification, the process of becoming more like Christ 3. Powlison likewise places the help offered through counselling within a person’s relationship with Christ and the ministry of his grace and truth 2, pp. 5–6.
Thinking God’s thoughts after him, as we apply it to our care, is therefore not merely an intellectual exercise. It involves learning to see our circumstances in light of God’s truth and to respond with growing faithfulness. We do not promise quick fixes, freedom from every painful feeling, or immediate resolution of every struggle.
Confidence in Scripture includes humility about our limits
Dependence on God’s revelation does not require refusing to learn about the world he made. Frame’s account of Van Til emphasizes the relationship between God’s revelation in creation and in Scripture, with Scripture governing the interpretation of what people learn 1. The question for our ministry is not whether careful observation or medical knowledge can be useful, but what holds final authority over our understanding of God, ourselves, and faithful living.
Theopneustos Ministries offers non-clinical biblical counselling, discipleship, spiritual guidance, and coaching. We do not provide psychotherapy, psychiatric diagnosis, or medical treatment. Our care is not a replacement for appropriate professional assessment or treatment.
Even within his strong critique of integration, MacArthur acknowledges a place for medical help, assistance with trauma, and circumstances in which medication may be needed 3. Our commitment is to recognize needs beyond our competence or ministry scope and encourage appropriate professional care.
Questions about prescribed medication should be addressed with the prescribing clinician. If you are in immediate danger or experiencing a mental-health emergency, seek emergency help rather than waiting for a ministry response. These boundaries belong alongside, not in opposition to, our commitment to faithful spiritual care.
Begin a conversation
You do not need to have everything worked out before reaching out. If you are seeking Scripture-centred help with a personal struggle, relationship difficulty, or challenging season, we invite you to begin a conversation with Theopneustos Ministries.
Our aim is to listen carefully, open God’s Word faithfully, and help you consider your next steps before him. Tell us briefly what kind of support you are seeking, and we can discuss whether our biblical counselling and coaching pathway is an appropriate fit.
Source notes
1. Frame, J. M. (2012, June 7). Van Til: The theologian. Frame-Poythress.org.
2. Powlison, D. (2014). Vive la différence! Journal of Biblical Counseling, 28(1), 2–7.
Numbered notes use APA-style reference entries. Page references accompanying note 2 refer to the printed pages of Powlison’s article. This discussion follows John Frame’s explanation, which draws on Van Til's works entitled, A Christian Theory of Knowledge, An Introduction to Systematic Theology and more which can be found in the article.