
About The Upward Call
Biblical Counseling
Who We Are
The Upward Call Biblical Counseling is a ministry that is Christ exalting, gospel driven, and biblically based.

Christ Exalting
We are made in the image of God, through Christ, to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever. All of our counseling is focused on the supremacy of Christ, elevating Him over ourselves in all we say, think, and do.

Gospel Driven
Foundational to and the lifeblood of our counseling is the gospel. Everything must proceed from faith in God, knowing who we are in Christ, and the power He gives to those who belong to Him through the Holy Spirit.

Biblically Based
Our counseling is centered around the supremacy of the Holy Bible as sufficient for the wisdom and hope needed to walk in victory over sin through Christ. Everything we teach is derived from what is taught in Scripture.
What We Practice
Statements and Beliefs
THE GOSPEL
All have sinned and deserve punishment by God (Rom. 1:18, 3:23). Yet God, in His great love (Rom. 5:8), gave Jesus, His Son (John 1:1) to fulfill the righteous requirements of the Law as an offering for sin (Rom. 8:3-4), Who shed His blood on the cross (Acts 20:28), appeasing the wrath of God (1 John 2:2), and was raised from the dead, declared to be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), so that all who repent of their sins and put their faith in Him would receive His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) and eternal life (John 3:16).


THE BIBLE
The word of God is perfect (Psa. 19:7), without error, infallible (2 Tim. 3:16), and sufficient for all of life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). It is only through his word (Heb. 4:12) by the working of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) that man can receive lasting and permanent change from the problems (despair, anxiety, enslavement, etc.) they face.
THE SUFFICIENCY OF BIBLICAL COUNSELING
Every man and woman has been made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) The sin of man has marred every aspect of our being, both the inner (heart, soul, and mind) and outer man (physical body). Anxiety, depression, and all other forms of inner-man problems are the result of sin.
There is no one Who understands man and what they need more than God, Himself, Who has revealed every thing we need for life and godliness through His word. Not only does His word promise us complete forgiveness of all our sin (Col. 2:13-14), but freedom from the dominion of sin (Rom. 6:14). Those who are in Christ no longer live under the bondage of such sin, but in the freedom Jesus gave at the cross (Gal. 5:1).
How, then, is biblical counseling sufficient to answer what secular psychology deems irreversible?
There is a stark contrast between biblical and secular based counseling. While many secular psychologists and integrationists are, no doubt, sincere in their desire to help people, they, nonetheless, prescribe therapies which do nothing to address the root of the problem that people struggling with such issues are experiencing. One can compare the effectiveness of modern psychotherapy to the effectiveness of Tylenol for an infection. While Tylenol may help, though for a short while, in mitigating the effects of the infection, namely, fever and pain, it does nothing to treat the root of the infection, itself. Strong antibiotics, cleaning, and even removal of the affected area is what is necessary to cure the person in need.
As Tylenol cannot cure an infection, but only mitigates some of its effects, neither can psychotherapy (CBT, 12-step programs, ECT, psychotropics, etc.) cure the outworking effects of fear, condemnation, and enslavement that people experience. This is due in whole, that fear, condemnation, and the need for control are not superficial, materialized problems, they are inner man heart problems.
HEART PROBLEMS REQUIRE HEART SOLUTIONS
Through faith in Christ Jesus, we are given new hearts and a new spirit (Deut. 30:6; Ezek. 36:26-27; Rom. 10:9-10). We are freed from sin (Col. 2:13-14) and are now slaves to righteousness (Rom. 6:18). We are forever in Christ through the day He returns (Eph 1-3). Until then, we continue to wrestle with the effects of sin (Rom. 7; Eph. 6:12). We learn to walk by the Spirit and to put the deeds of the flesh to death (Gal. 5:16-26), as we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18).
What this world calls a mental health illness and disorder, God calls the effects and dominion of sin. It is only by faith in the Son of God that we have freedom from sin and the newness of life (Rom 6:4; Gal. 5:1). The beauty of this promise is that God did not leave us, but sent His Holy Spirit to help us and to sanctify us (John 14:26), through the precious word of God that we may be complete and equipped for every good work (John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 4:12).
Friend, brother, sister, God sympathizes with you (Heb 4:15-16). He cares and loves you so deeply (John 3:16). There are no victims in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:37). Christ Jesus came that we may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Today is the day of salvation.
Meet the Counselor
Samuel Torres

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Samuel Torres earned both his Master of Arts in Theological Studies and his Bachelor of Arts in Religion: Christian Ministries through Liberty University. He has been serving in varying ministry roles, including teaching, preaching, and counseling, for over eight years.
CERTIFICATION
Samuel Torres is a Level 2 certified Biblical Counselor through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. He has also been ordained through the Southern Baptist Convention.




