Rare is the day when one dies and literally thousands of people reflect on how personal the death feels to them. In fact, I do not know any person in my life’s experience that when he or she died, so many thousand would say, “He was my friend.” In life, this alone would be a lifetime achievement. But that is far from the only achievement in David Powlison’s life.

No doubt many will pen beautiful words and eulogies for our dear friend. I sit down this day on the occasion of his death to write some of my own personal thoughts. Long story short, David Powlison was the first biblical counselor I ever met. Twenty years later, his life and ministry forged one of the deepest and most meaningful impacts in my life related to my counseling theology and practice.

As the Bible Says…

A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1).

A good name is to be chosen rather than great wealth,
good favor more than silver or gold (Proverbs 22:1).

The memory of the righteous is a blessing,
but the reputation of the wicked will rot (Proverbs 10:7).

Why is the day of one’s death better than the day of one’s birth? Because when one is born, there is a lifetime of uncertainty ahead in relationship to one’s character. Every day is another opportunity to ruin your good name. David was born on December 14, 1949 in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of Peter and Dora Powlison. Over the past sixty-nine years, David faced 25,377 days of chance – opportunities to ruin his name and the name of Christ. However, on the day of his death, those of us who mourn all testify that he left this earth for heaven with a good name. His memory is a blessing. For those who knew him as a friend, our gratitude toward God beyond measure.

God’s Unique Gifting

None of us could be David Powlison. God granted him a unique background, call to salvation, formative years in Christ, and gifting that makes him one of a kind. For the story of his life, check out Justin Taylor’s article on the Gospel Coalition. In the video below, you can hear David tell his story in his own voice of how he came to Christ.

I especially appreciate fellow board member John Henderson of the Biblical Counseling Coalition summarized God’s unique gifting of our friend David. Here are his words from an email he send earlier today.

The Father saw fit to gift him with a unique and beautiful kind of wisdom, a way of seeing everything, a way of talking, a way of writing, always framed by Scripture, always tethered to the Savior, always sensitive to human frailty, honest about human sin, desperate for mercy. He followed Jesus. He modeled Jesus. He brought Jesus into every human trouble with profound relevance. You have been blessed by this. I certainly have. The Word that David imparted to us was not an idle word. It is life. The gospel he counseled is the power of God for salvation in the most comprehensive sense, while always attuned to the need of the moment. It was full of grace and truth. He was faithful in this work to the very end. I hope this encourages each of us to be faithful until the very end.

Certainly words escape me to explain the uniqueness of God’s gifting to David any better than that.

God’s Perfect Timing

David’s life and mine go back twenty years. It was 1999. Our first born daughter was sick when I first heard of David; when I met him just a few months later, she had just died. David took a special interest in an independent Baptist, blonde-haired, green-behind-the-ears country boy barely old enough to enter into a doctoral program. By God’s providence and not my own wisdom or plans, I was a brand new student at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania, following the opportunities that God placed before us – all the while Kelly and I were hurting so deeply. I am not sure if it was my age and inexperience, our deep hurt as a couple, the opportunities in me for greater impact of biblical counseling with the independent Baptist, or just simply his love that made our connection so deep. I’m sure it was some kind of combination of those things. But in those days, he graciously and lovingly served me and her in ways that were beyond your own comprehension.

For me, his care, smile, genuine love, and gracious mannerisms won me over to biblical counseling. I did not understand it at all initially. I had never even heard of Jay Adams. But in those initial days, Dave treated me with respect and convinced me I would make a valuable contribution to the biblical counseling field at some point. He made me immediately feel like a friend. Twenty years later, he never treated me any different.
In fact, I was won over to biblical counseling by a person who loved and served like Christ far before I understood the nuances of what he was trying to teach. I had theologically rejected counseling integration earlier in my seminary career, but had no idea what to call what I really believed and practiced. He helped me put it all together. In the process, Dave taught me balance, love of the one who disagrees, and a desire to reach people as Christ with gentle care at the heart level. He taught me to counsel Christ over principles. He gave me my first systematic understanding of biblical counseling.

…Imparted Your Own Life

As I have considered David’s ministry to so many of us, I keep coming back to two particular verses. First, when the Apostle Paul described his ministry to the Thessalonians, he wrote:

Like a nursing mother caring for her own children, with such affection for you we were happy to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us (1 Thessalonians 2:7b-8).

I think David understood Paul’s ministry model. In the way David lived, he carefully nuanced what it means to live deeply with people. At the expense of his own health often, he would serve. No matter who the person was, if someone asked to speak with him and he had the availability to do so, David was all in. He focused intently. Listened carefully. Spoke winsomely. Prayed earnestly.

If any person were talking to David, he would blinker out everything around him. All the force of his ministry would focus on this one person, in this person’s personal situation, as fleshed out in this one conversation. His ability to care so deeply and personally in the moment of any one conversation no doubt provides so many today the sense of great sorrow as having lost a friend.

Teach faithful men who will teach faithful other men

The Apostle Paul’s advice to Timothy also aptly applies to David’s life. He encouraged Timothy:

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:1-3).

Now that Dave is in heaven, eventually, he will learn of his impact on so many for the cause of Christ. He fulfilled the words of 2 Timothy 2:1-3 in this life.
  • David learned from Jay Adams, John Bettler, Wayne Mack, Howard Eyrich, and others.
  • He embraced and expanded what he had learned and committed those teachings to so many more faithful men and women like myself.
  • We – the thousands – have shared what we learned with so many more.
  • Our students are in churches, counseling centers, and on mission fields all over the world teaching and counseling others.
  • Their students will do the same.
  • In the meantime, David endured hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
I stand on David Powlison’s shoulders. He helped place me and so many others there. Jesus sustains me and us while we try to serve there. David Powlison’s ministry goes on even as he has already left this earthly tent for a heavenly one.

Gratitude for Personal Time and Prayer

I wish there was room to share some of the coolest personal stories from over the years. I’ll never forget so many of the personal times of ministry. His impact is global but yet so personal as well. Those stories will need to wait. They warmly fill my heart though as I take this opportunity to publicly thank God for the memory of my friend – our friend.

May God grant me the same insight to discern truth, distill it down, and help people learn.

Even greater, may God grant me the wisdom to love deeply, focus intently, care gently, and smile often.

To conclude, I have inserted a selfie video we took just over one year ago. He asked if we could take a picture and make a short video. It is rough because we were just playing around. I didn’t get it turned on as quick as what he started. But in this, you can see just seconds of his sweet spirit and fun nature.

KevinCarson.com | Walking together through life as friends in Christ sharing wisdom along the journey

© 2019 KEVINCARSON.COM