⁠>> Click HERE to get free visuals, handouts and discussion questions for Conversational Counseling sent straight to your email! <<⁠

We often hear “I’m only human” as an exasperated admission. But what if being human isn’t the problem but the whole point?

Marty Solomon invites us to a theological framework that starts with our belovedness rather than skipping forward to our brokenness. As The BEMA Podcast host shares about his new book, The Gospel of Being Human (NavPress, April 2026), he posited that humanity being made in the image of God is the most real reality about our nature. That sin is real and has real consequences, but that it is not where the story starts. That if we can trust the story and trust the God of the story, we can put our faith into words that are meaningful and that hold the integrity of sound theology.

One of the things our board member and pastor friend, Adam Coppock, calls us to do as we engage ideas and theology, like the concepts in Marty’s new book, is to make sure that we are not just listening to voices from our own specific tradition. So that we can approach discipleship and counseling from a place of curiosity, doing the liberating and hard work of growth and transformation so we can have a bigger view of who God is.

There’s a playfulness that can emerge when we ask questions of God, which can only shine through when we are comfortable in His presence. When we know that where sin abounds, His grace abounds all the more.

Resources:

The Gospel of Being Human by Marty Solomon and Reed Dent

The BEMA Podcast

S3 Bonus: Marty Solomon Conversation

Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

To sign up for free visuals and discussion questions for this season, click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Our theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As Isaac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This podcast is made possible by engineer and producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Selby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, executive producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meleah Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠generous donors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Conversational Counseling⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Kocher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Brenda Payne.

⁠>> Click HERE to get free visuals, handouts and discussion questions for Conversational Counseling sent straight to your email! <<⁠

Is it unloving or selfish to set a boundary? If I forgive someone, does that mean I must restore the relationship and have no boundaries? How do boundaries work with “honor your father and mother”?

In this episode, we dive into some of the most common questions we hear in the counseling room and in daily conversations!

As you are setting boundaries in your own life, just remember. We have to be Spirit-led in every decision. Boundaries bring clarity to both healthy and unhealthy relationships by helping us take a step back to examine the relationship. No relationship will look the same, and neither will your boundaries.

When they’re done wisely and done well, boundaries are not selfish. Instead, they establish a place for trust to be rebuilt and reconciliation to be pursued.

Resources:

Conversational Counseling Season 2: Forgiveness

The Place We Find Ourselves with Adam Young: Episodes 75 and 76

Season 12 of Conversational Counseling is all about “Boundaries.”

To sign up for free visuals and discussion questions for this season, click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Our theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As Isaac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This podcast is made possible by engineer and producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Selby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, executive producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meleah Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠generous donors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Conversational Counseling⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Kocher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Brenda Payne.

⁠>> Click HERE to get free visuals, handouts and discussion questions for Conversational Counseling sent straight to your email! <<⁠

Boundaries can hurt. But that doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong by setting them.

God has placed in all of us dignity, purpose, agency, and limits, and they’re all worth protecting. Setting boundaries to protect each of these can feel selfish, as if our comfort or our opinions matter more than another person’s. So we often let other people run over us.

We might recognize that boundaries make sense, but we don’t want to face the grief boundaries bring because of unmet expectations or the loss of a relationship.

Yet boundaries don’t just serve or benefit us. They honor and reaffirm everyone involved in the conflict as an image bearer. They remind other people that God has something better for them than their destructive choices or behavior.

When we set a boundary, we shouldn’t set it expecting a specific outcome. We should set them to preserve, protect, and honor who we are — and who they are — as image bearers.

Resources:

S12 E5 Worksheet

Season 12 of Conversational Counseling is all about “Boundaries.”

To sign up for free visuals and discussion questions for this season, click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Our theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As Isaac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This podcast is made possible by engineer and producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Selby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, executive producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meleah Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠generous donors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Conversational Counseling⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Kocher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Brenda Payne.