Speak The Truth

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

Recording on the road at the Canadian Biblical Counseling Coalition in Oakville, Ontario, Michael interviews biblical counselor Alysia Whiteside of Deep Roots Biblical Counseling. Whiteside shares her conversion in 2018, her interrupted plans to pursue medicine amid severe ulcerative colitis, multiple surgeries, and a permanent ileostomy, and how God redirected her into biblical counseling training and certifications. Her breakout topic, “Held But Not Yet Healed: Christ in the Midst of Physical and Mental Suffering,” frames chronic illness as “embodied suffering” that integrates physical, mental, and spiritual burdens and raises the question of who God is when healing does not come. Using Psalm 13, she explains a lament framework—turn, complain, ask, trust—leading to praise, emphasizing the “already but not yet” tension of hope amid suffering and encouraging sufferers and caregivers to write their own laments to rehearse God’s character and respond faithfully.00:00 Welcome and Road Update01:30 Meet Alysia Whiteside02:26 Her Health Journey and Calling04:30 Training and Narsegesis06:14 Held But Not Yet Healed06:34 Reading Psalm 1308:29 Embodied Suffering and Hope12:18 Lament Framework Explained14:57 Trust and Gods Hesed19:05 Counseling the Stuck20:57 Write Your Own Lament23:26 Singing Joy in Suffering26:12 Encouragement for Chronic Pain27:16 Final Thanks and Wrap UpEpisode MentionsDeep Roots Biblical Counseling 

On the Speak the Truth podcast recorded at the Canadian Biblical Counseling Coalition conference, Michael interviews Matt King about his ministry Broomtree and his conference session on mental health in the church. King explains Broomtree’s growth, including increasing requests for counseling, conferences, and free online resources on topics like anxiety, marriage, and thought life, with a podcast launching soon. They discuss why Christians should lead mental health conversations, noting an estimated $280 billion spent annually in the U.S., and ground the topic in Genesis: God’s good creation, the Imago Dei, and how the fall fractured relationships with God, self, others, and creation. They highlight God’s pursuit in Genesis 3, the covering of animal skins as foreshadowing Christ’s atoning blood, and encourage believers who feel inadequate to engage with hope through the Spirit and adoption as God’s children.00:00 Welcome and Setup01:29 Broomtree Update02:41 Conference Banter03:02 Why Mental Health Matters04:01 Genesis and Goodness07:16 The Fall and Fracture11:34 Covering and Atonement15:06 Church on the Front Lines16:25 Hope for the Wounded18:00 Chick-fil-A Stories19:11 Final ThanksEpisode MentionsBroom Tree EP. 173 Finding Light in the Darkness W/ Matt King 

Michael welcomes CCEF faculty member and counselor Mike Emlet, who has served at CCEF since 2001 and previously trained and worked in family medicine before attending Westminster Seminary. Emlet and the Michael discuss how mental health concerns have grown in prominence in the church, influenced by factors like the pandemic and social media, and why a biblical approach must be holistic, recognizing humans as embodied souls affected by the fall in both body and heart. They warn against extremes of over-spiritualizing mental illness or reducing it to biology, and they challenge the church’s tendency to abdicate care to outside experts while affirming the need for professional help in severe cases. Emlet commends a hopeful yet humble posture, careful listening beyond diagnostic labels, and using the “saint, sufferer, sinner” framework to move toward and care for people.00:00 Podcast Welcome01:00 Meet Mike Emlet02:55 Mental Health Landscape05:46 Embodied Souls Balance08:42 Church Role in Care10:46 Hopeful Humble Posture12:57 Saint Sufferer Sinner14:34 Why He Wrote It16:44 Meeting Suffering First19:41 Listen and Move Toward21:22 Closing ThanksEpisode MentionsCCEF Saints, Sufferers, Sinners: Loving Others as God Loves Us