The Book Of James

Director of Men’s Ministry at Lighthouse on the Rock Fellowship 

Active in Counseling at Lighthouse

Bio: Pastor Kevin Kirby was certified with NANC in 1996 and has transitioned to A.C.B.C. 

He received his B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Houston, Houston, Texas, his M.A. in Christian Education from Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas, his M.A. in Biblical Counseling from The Masters University, Santa Clarita, California, his Doctorate of Ministry with a concentration in Biblical Counseling from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky and his PH.D in Biblical Counseling from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.

 Dr. Ellen is a certified Biblical Counselor with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC), a Fellow with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) and travels nationwide with the organization teaching biblical counseling principles. Dr. Ellen and his wife Dr. Venessa Ellen have two children and four grandchildren.

 Daniel is also an adjunct professor at several Universities and seminaries-including serving as the director of a post-grad degree at SEBI (Brasilia, Brazil) in Biblical Counseling, which is specifically focused on understanding the construct of mental illness from a biblical perspective and establishing a biblical phenomenology for mindsets, emotions, and behaviors claimed to be abnormal within secular thinking. He also teaches adjunctly at Strengthening Ministries Training Institute (SMTI) in South Africa.

Bio:

FBC Board Member

In 1999, the Lord awoke me and saved me from my depraved, unwilling mindset toward His Spirit and His Word.  He redeemed me from my rebellious lifestyle and  bondage to addiction.  Through His unfailing love, He chastised me and drew me near to Himself as His child (Hebrews 12:5, 6).  His precious promises in I Corinthians 6:9-11 became my own testimony, “….and such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  As I sought to walk out my new identity as a passionate follower of Christ, I met my wife, Melanie and we were married later that year.  Together, we were burdened to share with others who were struggling the hope that we had found in Christ and His sufficient Word alone.  We began studying biblical counseling and were eventually certified with four counseling organizations (ACBC, IABC, FBC and TAC).  I was also ordained and have continued to own my own car dealership as a primary means of support.  The Lord has blessed with eight children and nine grandchildren (to date). 

In 2003, we founded C.H.O.I.C.E.S. Biblical Counseling Ministry.  Over the years, C.H.O.I.C.E.S. has grown to include biblical counseling and counselor training, a pregnancy resource center, an after school teen program, jail ministry, crisis housing for women, and other means of discipleship and outreach in our community and churches. In 2021, I was called to reopen Freedom Baptist Church in Freedom, NY as senior pastor.

We are excited about the ministry and future of FBC in equipping laymen in our local churches to confidently minister with the sufficiency of God’s Word as they walk alongside the lost and hopeless.   There is a great need to make this training accessible and available to common believers.  Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”.  We are honored to serve the ministry of FBC as it is committed to equipping believers who are willing to be conduits of the Holy Spirit’s truth and power.