CCEF Podcast: Where Life & Scripture Meet

Our bodies, relationships, culture, suffering, work, spiritual battles, and life experiences all shape us in significant ways. Yet none of these influences alone defines who we are. As image bearers created by God, we are embodied souls who live before him, responding to both blessings and hardships in a world full of competing influences.

In this episode, Mike Emlet, Jonathan Holmes, and Gunner Gundersen continue CCEF's series on our seven distinctives by exploring the third distinctive:

We are embodied souls shaped by a world of influences.

Together they discuss:
Why our bodies matter for faithful care
How relationships, culture, and suffering shape our lives
Why spiritual warfare remains an important reality in counseling
The danger of reducing people to a single explanation or diagnosis
How slowing down helps us care for people more wisely
Why the local church is uniquely equipped to know, love, and walk alongside people in all their complexity
This conversation invites us to see people more fully—and to reflect the patient, compassionate care of Christ as we walk with them.

Mentioned in this episode:

- Download three free talks on anger at ccef.org/free-audio-for-anger
- Learn more about our beliefs and distinctives at ccef.org/about
- Descriptions and Prescriptions | Book by Dr. Mike Emlet

CCEF's second distinctive states: "Scripture comes from the mouth of God." But what does that mean for everyday ministry, counseling, and relationships?
In this episode, Gunner Gundersen is joined by Jonathan Holmes and Aaron Sironi to discuss how God's Word does more than provide answers—it shapes the way we listen, care, pray, discern, and walk alongside others. Together they explore how Scripture forms our priorities in counseling, helps us understand people, and serves as the lens through which we interpret both life and the world around us.
The conversation also considers the richness of Scripture's many genres—from the Psalms and Wisdom Literature to the Gospels and Song of Songs—and how each uniquely equips us to care for others. Along the way, they reflect on parenting, marriage counseling, personal devotional life, and the indispensable role of Scripture in the life of the local church.
Mentioned in this episode:
Register for our conference at ccef.org/nc26

Learn more about our video series that equips churches to wisely handle domestic abuse: ccef.org/becoming-a-refuge

Learn more about CCEF's Seven Distinctives

Listen to Part 1: "The Personal God Gets Personal with Us"

In this first episode of a new seven-part series on CCEF's distinctives, Gunner Gundersen sits down with Ed Welch and Jonathan Holmes to discuss the first distinctive: "The personal God gets personal with us."

Together, they reflect on how Scripture presents a God who draws near to his people: from the garden of Eden to the incarnation of Christ to the promised future where God will dwell with his people forever. The conversation explores how the Trinity shapes our understanding of relationships, counseling, church life, and personal ministry. These truths help churches to embody a "culture of pursuit" with warmth and hospitality as natural overflows of a real relationship with God.

The episode also introduces CCEF's broader distinctives and explains why these priorities continue to shape the ministry's counseling, teaching, and care for the church.

Mentioned in this episode:
Our latest episode of the JBC: ccef.org/jbc
Our distinctives: ccef.org/about/#distinctives

Related resource:
The Personal God | Article by David Powlison

Some of the most formative marriage counsel isn't found in a book, a technique, or a counseling session, but rather it comes from watching another couple walk faithfully with Jesus over time. 
In part two of this conversation, CCEF's Gunner Gundersen and Aaron Sironi explore Paul's surprising strategy in Philippians: imitation. Paul doesn't point to marriage principles but instead insists we keep our eyes on people who imitate Christ. 
Aaron also shares the rest of his story: how an honest "I don't know" in a conversation with a church elder launched him into biblical counseling, and what he's learned since about the deeper longings underneath many struggling marriages: Do I matter to you? Will you be there?
Listen to a rich conversation about slow formation, counter-images, and what it looks like to have a marriage worthy of the gospel.
Mentioned in this episode: Register now at ccef.org/2026 for our CCEF Annual Conference before the price increases after June 16.
Related resources:
Dynamics of Biblical Change | Online course taught by David Powlison
Speaking Truth in Marital Conflict | Blog by Lauren Whitman
On Marriage Counseling | JBC Must Reads by Aaron Sironi, Lauren Whitman, Winston Smith

What if some of the most important biblical passages for your marriage don't explicitly talk about husbands and wives?

In this episode, Gunner Gundersen and Aaron Sironi explore how the book of Philippians offers a powerful framework for navigating conflict and cultivating unity in marriage. They uncover how the gospel itself shapes the way husbands and wives relate to one another.

Aaron shares how lasting change in marriage doesn't come primarily through techniques but through adopting the mind of Christ: a posture of humility, sacrificial love, and deep attentiveness to one another's burdens.

They'll cover why conflict in marriage is inevitable and how it can become redemptive, what it looks like to "re-do" conflict in a gospel-shaped way, and how Philippians 2 reframes how we approach our spouse's struggles.

Whether you're married, counseling others, or simply seeking to grow in Christlike relationships, this conversation offers a hopeful and deeply practical vision for change.

Mentioned in this episode: Please consider giving to CCEF to help bring more counseling resources and training to the church. You can give at ccef.org/donate.

- I Don't Feel Like I have Enough Support from My Husband | Video by Lauren Whitman
- Good Cop Bad Cop in the Home | Blog by Ed Welch