Skills for Living (BC105) is a course on creating a bridge for sharing the Gospel through secular versions of BWGI Ministries materials. Course Description: Skills for Living is a secular version of a Christian mental health program based on biblical principles. This was originally designed to train non-Christian counselors in the 60 mental health centers of the universities of Beijing. Skills for Living serves as an introduction to mental health principles, and secondly, to create a bridge for sharing the Gospel. The workbook was approved by the Communist Committee for Propaganda and Information of Beijing, the Ministry of Education, and the Association of Counseling and Research of Beijing.

We live in a world where masses of people do not know what it means to be human, or male or female, or what is emotional health, or healthy relationships. Skills For Living answers those questions. Successfully used in China, Skills For Living addressed those issues and created a platform for sharing the Gospel.

In the eight sections of the Skills For Living manual, we will show how each section can be used as a bridge to the Gospel or also to teach Christian mental health principles to Christians. A special section of six lectures is presented on addiction, compulsion & temptation. This course is particularly helpful to counselors, pastors and church leaders who want to integrate biblical mental health principles into their ministry and outreach.

Author Biography: Our content is the life work by David Eckman, Ph.D. who has spent over 40 years in Biblical research. He is an instructor in the disciplines of spiritual life formation, and he has spent countless hours counseling and discipling individuals. The result is a uniquely gifted individual who effectively communicates God’s truths to a hurting world. David grew up in a dysfunctional family. He found emotional freedom when he finally experienced how God truly loved him.

At Western Seminary, he has been involved in extensive teaching, discipling, and counseling for over 40 years. On October 15, 1997 he founded BWGI Ministries, which fosters spiritual transformation through helping people understand who they are in Christ.

Dr. David Eckman has been a pastor for 16 years followed by 7 years as a Dean and Executive Vice President for Western Seminary in San Jose and Portland. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Master of Theology, Master of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy in Hebrew Studies and the Old Testament. He studied at Oxford University in England from 1982 to 1986 to work on his doctorate, and received his Ph.D. in Old Testament and Hebrew from Golden Gate Seminary. Dr. Eckman is a member of the National Association of Hebrew Professors and was supervised by Professor James Barr at Oxford University. James Barr is widely acknowledged as the leading Hebrew scholar of the English speaking world.

Dr. David Eckman is an author of numerous books and an international speaker and educator. He is also a contributor to others books such as the New King James Study Bible, Micah through Malachi: Commentary on the Minor Prophets, and Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?: An Investigation into the Ministry of the Spirit of God Today.

Making an impact… During his over 25 year career at Western Seminary he was responsible for the training in the spiritual life for a minimum of 3000 students as a teacher, dean, and vice president. Those he has trained have taken that training to many tens of thousands of others. Meanwhile, he was involved in community evangelism involving thousands of participants, as well as, active ministry in North America and Asia where many thousands have heard him teach on the spiritual life. Many more have read his books on the spiritual life in English and other languages.