OUR MISSION AND VISION
Ministry leaders around the world need to experience biblical HOPE, CARE, AND RENEWAL just like the people they are shepherding.
MEET OUR TEAM
CHRIS AND DAWN PHILIPS
Founders
Chris and Dawn were married in 1989; they have been blessed with four children and seven grands. Their journey in full-time Christian ministry has taken them from Georgia to South Carolina, Costa Rica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Through the ministry opportunities God has given them over the past thirty-five years, their passion has been to see souls saved, solid churches established, encourage church leaders, see marriages restored, parent-teen relationships healed, child-rearing methods improved, and generations impacted by solid, biblical counseling of the fundamental truths of God’s Word. Chris and Dawn are graduates of Pensacola Christian College where Chris also received his MS in Education. Their passion for Biblical counseling led them to pursue certification through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC), and Chris is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Biblical Counseling. They are in awe of God’s blessings on Selah International Counseling Ministries, and count it a great privilege to have the opportunity to speak into the lives of God’s servants and advance the Kingdom of Christ. ~ ” Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Eph. 3:20-21)
TIM BRYANT
Board Member
Tim is the Executive Director of Lowcountry Biblical Counseling Center, which was founded in 2003. Before LCBCC, he served as a pastor for ten years. Tim and his wife Erin, have four children, one precious daughter-in-law, one cat, and one dog. Tim’s compassion for others and focus on Christ’s humility are often used by God to inspire change in those he helps. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) His counseling and speaking ministry help many couples and families struggling with intense interpersonal conflict find peace through the wisdom of humility. Many individuals seeking to overcome personal problems such as depression, anxiety, anger, bitterness, addiction, eating disorders and guilt have found Tim’s biblical passion and perspectives to be a means of grace and transformation. He holds his Master’s in Biblical Counseling from the Master’s University in Santa Clarita, California, certification by the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and is a Biblical Counseling Center Fellow-in-training.
DAVID GOFORTH
Board Member
David is Senior Pastor at Grace Baptist Church of West Columbia, SC. He and his precious wife, Daye, both grew up in Christian homes and were both saved at an early age. They met while attending Pensacola Christian College, and they entered the ministry together just two weeks after their wedding in 1993. David holds a MA in Ministry from Bob Jones University. The Goforths served over fourteen years in youth ministry at Grace Baptist Church in SC before God called them to serve in Riverview, FL at Providence Baptist. After pastoring almost eleven years there, God placed them back at Grace Baptist in SC. David has a passion for dynamic preaching and making disciples for the glory of His Savior. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Galatians 6:14) God has blessed the Goforths with five beautiful daughters who are serving the Lord.
JAMES AND DEB FLOWERS
Board Members
James and Deb have been married since 2009 and are parents to 3 young children. After 17 years of pastoral ministry (both in assistant and lead roles), James and Deb began serving on staff with Selah International. James holds a BA in Humanities and an MA in Pastoral Studies from Bob Jones University (BJU). Deb holds a BS in Pre-Medicine from BJU, an MS in Biomedical Sciences from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and an MSPAS from Medical University of South Carolina. She has experience in Genetics research and is a certified Physician Assistant. Deb speaks to and writes devotionals for women and children. Because they are convinced of the fact that God has provided man with all things that that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue (2 Peter 1:3), both James and Deb are currently pursuing certification through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) and are en route to serving as lead counselors with Selah.
MICHAEL FREE
Board Member
Michael Free is the pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Candor, NC. He and his lovely wife, Sherri have been serving at TBC since 1991. Michael received a Bachelor’s degree from Pensacola Christian College in 1989 in Youth Ministries and a Master’s degree in 1991 in Bible Exposition. Sherri’s father planted the church in 1976 and Michael became the assistant pastor in 1991. In 2002, Michael became the senior pastor. Sherri has been the church pianist for more than thirty-five years and has now stepped into the role of Music Director. Michael is also the director of Living Water Christian Camp and Retreat Center, a camping outreach ministry of TBC. Living Water conducts a full slate of summer camp weeks and also some spring and fall events. Michael’s life verse is Psalm 84:11, “The Lord God is a sun and shield; He will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Michael and Sherri have three adult children serving in Christian ministry, Jonathan, Jessica, and Jordyn.
EDWARD EARWOOD
Board Member
Edward and his wife Debbie were married in 1978. After serving in Christian schools and pastoring a church for nine years, Edward became and continues to be the executive director of South Carolina Association of Christian Schools (SCACS). This position with SCACS has expanded his role with American Association of Christian Schools, national accreditation groups, Exceptional SC, and Fortify Foundation. He has served in Christian education and church ministry for 45 years. They have ministered together in Christian education and church ministry since 1979. Edward holds a B.A. in Bible and Social Studies Education from Bob Jones University, a M.S. in Educational Administration from Pensacola Christian College, an Ed.S. from Bob Jones University, and completed doctoral work at Columbia International University. He currently lives in West Columbia, SC and attends Grace Baptist Church where God has allowed him and Debbie to serve for the past eighteen years. Edward and Debbie have three adult daughters who are serving the Lord—Dennae, Aimee, and Emily—and nine grandchildren. “Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” (1 Cor. 4:2)
Chris
Executive Director/Counselor
Toni
Design/Social Media Manager
Ron and Sherry
Associate Counselors
Dawn
Executive Assistant/Counselor
Deb
Associate Counselor
Kim
Associate Counselor
Colby
Financial Manager/Representative
James
Associate Counselor
Gretchen
Associate Counselor
Jessica
Admin Assistant/Counselor
David
Associate Counselor
Daniel
IT Consultant
SELAH INAUGURAL BOARD MEETING AND DEDICATORY PRAYER
FEBRUARY 21, 2023
“Our hearts are full of gratitude to each of you who made it possible to purchase this property. May the Lord abundantly bless you for your sacrifice and investment in the lives of pastors and missionaries around the world.” – The Selah Team
OUR STORY
Dawn and I have been in full-time Christian ministry since we married in 1989. I served as a high school administrator before we sensed a specific call from the Lord to become church planters on the foreign mission field. The Lord allowed us to minister in Costa Rica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. We praise the Lord for the fruit that He continues to produce in those ministries where we were privileged to serve.
In 2006, we left the DR and landed in a mission house of a local church in Charleston, SC. My wife was extremely sick with an autoimmune disease and we were emotionally, physically, and spiritually depleted. She received immediate treatment at MUSC in Charleston and we began to regain our bearings and begin again. As full-time missionaries, we were accustomed to serving 24/7 and we did not maintain a healthy balance of self-care and ministry, nor did I “tune in” to the warning signs of burnout and emotional and spiritual depletion. Honestly, most of the “breaks” that we had taken during the brief furloughs through the years were centered around a packed traveling schedule that involved speaking in many churches. We praise the Lord that He got our attention before it was too late, and we were able to regain our footing and continue in ministry. He has not only provided our every need, but He also allowed us to establish La Iglesia Bautista Victoria in Charleston. The Lord has poured out His mercy and grace on our marriage, our ministry, and in the lives of our children…Only by His grace.
The direction of our marriage, our personal lives and our ministry was transformed by biblical counseling during those crucial times in our story. Our experiences have directly shaped the passion we have for the ministry of Selah International. Dawn and I are convinced that it is time to help ministry leaders, churches, and Christian families normalize biblical counseling as a good thing, as a necessary part of ministry life…not just what one does when everything falls apart. So often counseling is viewed as the remedy for extreme crisis situations, but every believer, including church leaders, needs someone to speak truth into his or her life and encourage them along the way. Our greatest joy is to see the “weak hands and feeble knees strengthened and the limbs that are out of joint healed.” (Heb. 12:12-13).
Over the fifteen years serving here in the U.S. following our return to the States, God providentially fused our mission of planting a Hispanic church on American soil with this great need for solid biblical counseling. This fusion produced a stable foundation, maturity in the believers, and a burning desire to influence others for Christ. One tremendous opportunity which truly transformed the spiritual growth within our membership was the honor given us to pilot the translation of the Spanish Biblical Counseling Certification Program for BCC (biblicalcounselingcenter.org). Twenty-two of our church members completed the two-year lay-certification process. This experience not only impacted the culture of our church but ignited in our hearts the seeds for the future ministry of Selah International.
Through the ministry opportunities God has given Dawn and I over the past 35 years, our passion has been to see souls saved, solid churches established, to encourage church leaders, see marriages restored, parent-teen relationships healed, child-rearing methods improved, and generations impacted by solid, biblical counseling…Only by His grace.
STAY UPDATED
OUR BELIEFS
SCRIPTURE
We believe that the 66 books of the Bible in the Old and New Testaments constitute the completed Word of God. God the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of Scripture so that they wrote the exact words that he desired them to write. The words in Scripture, penned by human authors, are thus the very words of God himself. As inspired by God the Bible is completely free from error, and serves as the inerrant, infallible, and final rule for life and faith. The Bible speaks with complete authority about every matter it addresses. The words of Scripture concern issues of life and faith before God, and because counseling issues are matters of life and faith, the Bible is a sufficient resource to define and direct all counseling ministry.
Acts 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:1-17; 2 Peter 1:3-21; 2 Peter 3:15-16
THE TRUE GOD
We believe in the one eternal God, the Creator of all things; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, identical in essence and equal in power and glory.
Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 46:9; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Exodus 20:2, 3; Matthew 3:16, 17; Deuteronomy 4:35, 6:4; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:8
GOD THE FATHER
We believe that God the Father is holy and loving. Unlimited in time, space, knowledge, and power, the Father has purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself. In His sovereignty, He is neither author nor approver of sin, nor does He negate the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures. Although distinct from His creation, He is active and working in it, intervening as He chooses.
Psalm 103:19; Ephesians 1:4; James 1:13; Habakkuk 1:12, 13; John 8:38, 47; 1 Peter 1:17; Psalm 139: 1-16; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 5:17
JESUS CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the second member of the Trinity. He exists as one person with two distinct natures, fully divine, and fully human without any mixture of the two. He was born of a virgin. He lived his entire life on earth without transgressing the law of God. He suffered a violent death on the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world. He rose miraculously from the grave on the third day as Lord and Savior, demonstrating his victory over sin, death, and the devil. He ascended bodily into heaven where he reigns over all creation, and actively upholds and intercedes for the believers as his bride, the church, awaits his glorious return.
Matthew 1:18-25; John 17:6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Ephesians 1:21-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 4:14-15; 7:25
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the promised Comforter sent by the Father and the Son, possessing full personality and deity. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is the agent of the new birth, at which time He baptizes believers into the body of Christ, and His work among believers is that He seals, indwells, fills, guides, and teaches. The sign gifts of prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles and healing were powerful indicators in New Testament times whereby the authenticity of the gospel was established on Earth, but these gifts are not standard today.
John 7:39; 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-11; 1 Corinthians 12:8-13, 28-31; 13:8-12; Hebrews 2:1-4, 9:14; Acts 1:4,5; Revelation 22:18-19; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:7-11
SALVATION
We believe that grace is God’s generous decision in providing salvation for any person by taking all the initiative in providing atonement, in freely offering the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in uniting the believer to Christ through the Holy Spirit by faith. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus Christ provided salvation to all those who will believe. The sinner must be born again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit and thereby receiving a new nature. The believer who has exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is justified and in possession of a salvation which is eternally secure. A result of salvation is a life of obedience to God producing good works.
John 3:3-6, 16; 10:28, 29; 2 Corinthians 7:9, 10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:8; Acts 13:39, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Peter 3:18, Romans 3:24, 27-28; 5:6, 8, 15-21, I Timothy 2:5, 6; 2 Peter 1:4