From Tim

AN OLD CHINESE PROVERB STATES: may you live in interesting times. Well, these times are very interesting. Conservative pundit and former psychiatrist, Charles Krauthammer, believes that the present day may be one of the most significant transition periods in world history. What is confusing, even fearful to so many across the Earth, is that there seems to be as much evidence of a downward transition as there is evidence of upward trends.

Life has changed. The threat of terror has made a home inside the United States for the first time in our history as a nation. The U.S. satisfaction index—a marker of our citizens’ general satisfaction with living—not long ago hit at its lowest point in many years. The world is flooded with distresses like divorce, father absence, sexual abuse, drug addiction, violence, mindless consumerism, disease and poverty on a scale never known before. The AIDS crisis alone is transforming sub-Saharan Africa into a wasteland.

ixated exclusively on the growing darkness, that the world is falling apart. It would be easy to seek escape by living in denial or ‘cocooning’ ourselves behind walled fortresses and electrified fences. Yet when the darkness envelops, a verse we highlighted in The Soul Care Bible should become our anthem: “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9. Furthermore, Paul revealed that times of darkness have a higher purpose—to reveal the light of life and its wonderful power. For “the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ… [so that] the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” This light—this supernatural power living in us, gives witness to Christ and stands against any kind of dark defeat, for although we “are hard-pressed on every side, [we are] not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” 2 Cor. 4:6-10.

Think about what Paul is telling us—times of darkness, rightly responded to, transform our faith from something weak and tepid into something strong and powerful, full of light and grace and truth. Dying, painful and tragic though it is, always yields new life in the Lord.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 82% of Americans are searching for a more intimate relationship with God. Gallup also found that 50% of folks have recently gone out of their way to help others for religious and spiritual reasons. George Barna believes that the key to healthy churches is the people of God doing the work of God. That is why I believe so strongly in what we are doing to equip, train, and educate people in Christian counseling and pastoral care. We are working feverishly to understand AACC, its members such as yourself, and its future in a rapidly changing world—especially a rapidly changing Christian ministry world. Much of this change has been prompted by our exceptional growth these past five years.

For such a time as this. When asked what their most crucial need was as a counselor, three-quarters of Christian counselors surveyed in 2001 replied, “Affiliation, a place to belong.” In a secularized world of ever-increasing “alternative counseling strategies and ever-shifting boundaries,” counselors who are committed to both clinical excellence and Biblical integrity find themselves more and more isolated from their colleagues.

AACC is also positioned to provide its members with Biblically sound and psychologically accurate resources and services to help make them more effective caregivers. We are committed to provide quality member services, continuing education, graduate-level training, and clinical and consulting services and benefits for professional and pastoral caregivers in both traditional and distance formats. We are also committed to train and equip lay caregivers in the body of Christ to effectively help hurting people. It is our vision to impact the church-at-large, the world-at-large, as disciples of Christ, and to teach Christians to care.

Serving the ‘community of care.’ In preparation for 2004-05—which I believe will be our best years ever—our staff has mulled over these and many other ideas about our future. We are moved by the hunger for answers to these overwhelming problems. It is our intention to articulate who we are, where we are going, and how we plan to get there. We believe that God has given us favor to strategically minister to counselors and pastors everywhere—to the “community of care” within Christendom.

I wholeheartedly agree with AACC Board Chair, Diane Langberg, that the “community of care,”—the counselors and clinicians, pastors and pastoral counselors, and lay helpers—are crucial elements of the body of Christ today. Those who dare to care offer light in the darkness—helping others taste the life they have always yearned for. There is no greater calling than to be agents of hope and change—ready to offer the love of God in everything.

Hopeful in our common future,

Tim Clinton, AACC President