In the early 1990s, one of Jon’s friends was struggling with a crack cocaine habit and began attending a local substance abuse program. After attending numerous meetings with his friend, Jon grew frustrated with the absence of hope for real and lasting change through that program. Then, in late 1993, Shepherd’s Gate, a shelter for women and families and a subsidiary of Miracle Hill Ministries, contacted Jon and asked if he would start a Bible-based program to serve those who wanted out of the drinking and drugging culture. Jon launched the program and stayed involved there for nearly two years.
During his work at Shepherd’s Gate, God began growing a burden in Jon’s heart to enlarge his circle of care. Jon wrote a proposal and submitted it to his church leaders. After reviewing the proposal and making some recommendations, the proposal was accepted and Grace Harbor was birthed January 1, 1995.
Jon’s work at Grace Harbor quickly expanded, and his work encompasses a broad range of counsel. Nearly half of those who come to Grace Harbor for counsel are seeking help with marriage problems, while the other half involve everything from problems with anger, depression, and anxiety to eating disorders and self-injury and sexual abuse. Jon’s work and influence have spread to such divergent places as the isolated back-country of Haiti to thriving urban centers such as John Piper’s Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN.
Jon was born in 1962 and married Tamarah in 1990 (they met on a tennis court in 1986, and still love competing against each other–sometimes pretty intensely–to this day!). The Lord has favored the Hagen family with two sons. From tennis to biking to basketball, it’s not unusual to find the Hagen clan doing something outdoors (along with their yellow lab, ‘Zona). When they can’t be outside, the Hagen’s love having people into their home, reading, listening to music, playing cards and engaged in heated games of ping pong. The Hagen’s are active members at Heritage Bible Church.
Educationally, Jon earned his doctoral degree from Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC, completing his studies there with a dissertation on equipping local churches to create lay-driven soul care ministries. Prior to that, Jon earned his Bachelor’s, Graduate, and Seminary degrees from Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. Jon’s focus throughout his studies was the intersection of theology and psychology, with a bias that all psychological theories are subordinate to God’s Word and must be filtered through the Scriptures. Grace Harbor wholeheartedly subcribes to the sufficiency of God’s Word in both describing life and its purpose as well as the remedy for our problems; at the same time, we believe that non-believers can make valid observations on behavior and the human condition, even though their thoughts are not authoritative and often in opposition to God.
Under the direction of Grace Harbor’s board of directors, Jon continues to pursue further training in counseling. That includes instruction from the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) in Philadelphia, PA in which Jon is trained to use their course materials. Jon is also trained and certified by Crown Financial Ministries to offer Money Map coaching.
What comes to your mind when you think of Christian counseling? What are some of the biblical priorities that come to mind when you think of someone receiving biblical counseling? For Grace Harbor Counseling Ministries, there are many words that come to mind–but maybe none more important than teamwork.
Solid biblical counseling always takes place in the context of a team. The most important member of that team is Jesus Christ! He is both the Example to whom the counselor points as the living illustration for counselees to follow, and He is the Source of life in whom the Christian lives in vital union (John 15:1-11). In addition, Christ is the one we seek to please and bring glory to during the counseling process (Colossians 1:9-12, 28-29).
Equal to Christ is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is the real Counselor, the real Agent of change in Christian Counseling. Only the Spirit can penetrate the heart where real transformation must take place if external behaviors are going to change. Only the Spirit can empower a person to change. Only the Spirit can illuminate the mind of a person to understand and apply God’s Word to their situational or relational difficulty.
Then there is the body of Christ, the local church. Here is the God-ordained context in which real life change takes place. This is where the community of faith spurs one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). The other two team members are the counselor and the one being counseled. Counselees should be encouraged: the whole team is designed and held together by God the Father (Romans 11:36). It is a wonderful plan and kindness of God to extend such grace to His people. We couldn’t think of a better team of which to be a part, and if this team can serve you then we would love to do that. Please let us know!
