(For now, I am the first and only Biblical counselor at PeaceBrooke. But as you may have discerned, there are plans to add other Biblical counselors to the PeaceBrooke family as we grow. - Rusty Entrekin, Founder & Owner.)
Rusty Entrekin
Marshall Entrekin (nicknamed "Rusty") was born in 1958. But he was born again at the age of eight when He first trusted in Jesus as his Savior. Like a newborn baby desires milk, after his new birth he enjoyed reading God's Word, and so despite his very young age, he began reading the Bible on his own. He has had a love of the the scriptures ever since.
During his high school years, his family moved to Tehran Iran, joining the community of about 50,000 Americans working in Tehran during the reign of the Shah. In high school he also developed a love of apologetics (the defense of the Christian faith). He lettered in track and cross country, and was awarded a partial athletic scholarship in track to attend Mississippi College.
While attending Mississippi College, he worked part-time as a DJ at WHJT and started the first contemporary Christian music radio program in the Jackson MS area. At the beginning of his junior year, however, he suffered a severe attack of OCD and as a result had to temporarily drop out of college. In the ensuing months, in gracious answer to the prayers of family and friends, Rusty was healed of OCD entirely through God's word. However, after he was healed, his father could no longer afford to send him back to college to complete his degree.
Rusty then worked as a newspaper photographer and reporter in Slidell, Louisiana. While attending First Baptist Church of Slidell, he sensed a call into the ministry. The pastor and the members of the congregation affirmed that they sensed this call, too.
After being licensed as a minister, he served as the founding pastor of River Gardens Mission church. Once the church had been started, since after living on his own he was able to qualify for financial aid, he transferred to Louisiana College to get his ministerial education. He received a degree in Biblical Studies with a concentration in theology. While there he took courses in psychology, pastoral counseling, and clinical pastoral counseling.
At Louisiana College he served on the BSU preaching team, preaching at many churches. He also spent two summers serving as a Christian camp counselor. During those two summers, he had the privilege of leading many children to Christ. He worked another summer as a Baptist Student Union missionary, reaching out to foreign students at the University of Chicago.
After graduating, he served as an assistant pastor and youth pastor at Church of Faith in Slidell, LA. At Church of Faith, he met his future wife Julie. They married, and now have seven children: four boys and three girls. They also have five grandchildren. This fall they will be celebrating their 33rd anniversary.
Desiring to start churches that followed the patterns of the early church, Rusty began working as a church planter-pastor, starting churches that held 1 Corinthians 14-style participatory meetings. For his "tent-making" profession, he also started what became a successful IT consulting business. One of his customers, a Christian organization called Teach Every Nation, asked him to come to work for them full-time, so he served as their Systems Administrator for three years, before recently sensing a call to begin working full-time as a Biblical counselor. During his time at TEN, he took a break from church planting and pastoring, attending Cobb Vineyard church in Kennesaw GA.
About 10 years ago, Rusty wrote a web article sharing the Biblical principles that God used to heal him of OCD, to help others suffering from it. The last time he checked, that article was receiving 14,000 visits a month! After reading it, many people have written to him sharing how the article has helped them, and many others have written requesting help with OCD. He has been providing Biblical counsel to people suffering from OCD ever since.
He is also a Christian apologist and author. He is the author of Bringing First Century Church Life into the Twentieth Century (currently out of print but soon to be republished) and God vs. Chance, as well as numerous web articles. A new apologetics book has recently been completed and will soon be published, too.
As a licensed minister, Rusty practices Biblical counseling under the provisions of Georgia 43-10A-7 (11), which allows “persons engaged in the practice of a specialty in accordance with Biblical doctrine in public or nonprofit agencies or entities or in private practice” to provide counseling without state licensure. Most Christian ministers, in fact, provide Biblical counseling without state licensure in the course of their ministries.
Although his love and knowledge of the Scriptures, degree in Biblical studies, decades of licensed Christian ministry experience, pastoral counseling experience, 33 years of marriage, raising seven children up in the faith, faithfulness to God and his wife, and years of helping people with OCD have qualified him to provide Biblical counsel, he is currently enhancing his counseling skills by studying for certification with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.