Latest Updates

Dear Supporting Community,

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your continued partnership and support. Your investment in our mission has allowed us to provide free, gospel-centered resources to hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year. While we are encouraged by the impact we’re making, we also want to share an update and a unique challenge we’re facing this year.

Currently, our supporting community consists of 361 faithful donors—less than half of our all-time high of 725 back in 2015, when our content was behind a paywall. Since shifting to a free, publicly accessible model, we have seen our audience expand significantly, but the number of active supporters has declined. This transition has allowed us to reach more people than ever before through our social media channels and digital platforms. In fact, our content is now more popular and widely distributed than it has ever been.

However, most of those who benefit from our resources—99% of them—do not contribute financially, which is why we’re relying on a small group of individuals like you to keep the ministry thriving. We’re grateful that our donations reached a peak last year, but we’re facing an uncertain financial outlook for 2025 due to the passing of our beloved donor, Dave Forbes, who contributed 25% of our total budget. This loss has created a significant gap, and we’re unsure how to make up for it.

Despite these challenges, we’re not discouraged. Our largest contributions have historically come from a few generous donors rather than a large base of small supporters. And while the size of our private community has shrunk, we’re seeing a promising shift toward becoming a leadership training ministry rather than a counselee-focused one. Our Leaders Over Coffee community has grown to 100 members, and we are now supervising 10 ACBC Phase 3 candidates, which is a new and encouraging financial opportunity.

As we enter our Fall Campaign, we’re praying that God will provide the $150,000 needed to match last year’s contributions. Currently, we are projected to fall short by $150,000 if the Lord does not provide. One supporter has already stepped up by asking her church to take up an offering for Life Over Coffee—a fantastic and novel idea. We have no churches that support us monthly or annually, even though thousands of congregations benefit from our resources. Our hope is to encourage more churches to add us to their annual budget.

We are also seeking larger donors, which has been the “financial secret” enabling us to reach hundreds of thousands with our content. It is humbling and stunning to see how a few “pieces of bread and fish” have been multiplied to accomplish so much for God’s glory.

Would you please pray with us for God’s provision and for Him to grow this community with more leaders seeking equipping through Leaders Over Coffee, Mastermind Students, and ACBC Candidates? We also pray for continued growth in our online presence, reaching even more lives with the transformative power of the gospel.

Thank you for standing with us. Together, we are making a difference for God’s Kingdom.

Peace,
Rick

• Donate here.
• Become part of our private community as a supporter here.

At Life Over Coffee, we are cyber-missionaries, daily impacting lives for Christ around the globe. To continue this vital ministry, finding larger donors and local churches willing to support us monthly, annually, or through one-time gifts is critical. Lucia and I are conducting Zoom calls for out-of-town primary donors and personal visits for those in town, updating and appealing to those giving $10K or more annually to continue their invaluable support. As we gear up for our Fall Campaign with a goal to raise $200K, your partnership is essential to sustain and expand our reach, transforming lives with gospel-centered love and biblical principles.

Here is the concept for our new publishing house book covers. Go here.

Clear Design developed this initial concept for the Life Over Coffee Publishing brand that maintains clarity while enhancing brand recognition. Their goal is to avoid adding complexity or introducing another sub-brand. They proposed a two-part approach:

• Full Logo: “Life Over Coffee Publishing” encircling the signature cup icon, ideal for instances where there is ample space, such as wider book spines.
• Compact Logo: “LOC Publishing” positioned above the cup icon, perfect for smaller spines, ensuring brand consistency even in limited spaces.

For the book covers, they suggest a clean, two-tone design that is both easy to replicate and flexible for future use.

Our goal is to have a sample copy ready for review by the first week of October. Once we approve the cover and internal design, we will begin publishing our current books in paperback, no longer offering our free books in the store. We will replace each free book with a paperback, completing our current offerings. The goal will be to publish 12 more next year, bringing our paperback book count to 30+.

We will also reproduce Change Me, Suffering Well, and Get Ready to our new brand specs. Furthermore, the goal will be to publish other authors under the Life Over Coffee Publishing brand, helping solid, practical writers to get their content to the public.

This undertaking will be about $50K, which we hope our donors will assist in this next phase of the Life Over Coffee Ministries. This initiative will be part of our fall campaign. You may give here.

Prayers welcome!
Rick

You may sign up by going to “MY COFFEE” in the upper right of the website, click on it, and scroll down the page to find “Sign up for our next meeting.” Please come prepared with your questions. Rick will interview Jenn in early October, hoping to have that interview up before our Leaders Over Coffee meeting. Here is a fact sheet about that book below.

Dr. Jenn Chen is our guest, discussing her latest book, Biblical Counseling and Mental Disorder Diagnosis. Attendees will be able to ask Dr. Chen questions about her book. Dr. Mark Shaw said about her book:

One of the most thoughtful, clear, and scientific critiques of mental health ideas you will ever find. Dr. Chen connects the reader to the biblical principles and examples to illustrate the superiority of the Scriptures in the study of the soul.

I have created a new video category on our video page found at the “Watch” link in the navigation bar. Go to our video page, scroll down that page to the “chicklets” to find the chicklet called “Politics.” There are 12 new videos. These videos are part of my October 2024 new book, Politics and Culture, which will be available in our Store late September.

We’re excited to offer everyone a free copy of Boasting in Weakness! In this powerful book, we explore how Christ became nothing so that God’s power could transform the world through Him. If you’ve ever wondered why God allows certain struggles in your life, this book invites you to consider that there may be other-worldly reasons at play. Perhaps God is teaching you to rely not on yourself but on Him who raises the dead. Boasting in Weakness will guide you in learning how to magnify Christ, even in the frailty of our human condition. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover how God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. Follow us and grab your free copy today—let’s grow together in the knowledge of His amazing grace!

Our 31-Day Parenting Devotions series is complete! All 31 articles, podcasts, and videos are live on our site, and “just the videos” if you want them. The full free book is available in the Store for download.

The June 2024 Leaders Over Coffee meeting with Elias Ghazal is now available for our Leaders Over Coffee member community. Go to your My Coffee dashboard to find access to all our past meetings. Elias provided an insightful perspective on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, making this an impactful session you won’t want to miss. If you’re not yet a Leader Over Coffee, consider joining today. As a member, you’ll gain access to monthly meetings like this one, Rick’s Daily Messages—over 600 and counting—and our private Leaders Over Coffee community forum. Explore the benefits and become part of this enriching community here.

We are thrilled to announce that we have completed rebuilding and rebranding 33 of our 48 one-hour webinars! Praise God for His grace in this journey. There are just fifteen more to go. Once these are finished, they will form the core content of our topical courses, providing rich, gospel-centered teaching to support your Christian walk. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to enhance our resources for the glory of God.

We received a proposal from the new marketing firm we were vetting, and they said they could not take us on because it was a bigger project than they could handle. Though we are disappointed, I appreciate their integrity. We will continue to look for a firm that can meet our aspirations.

We recently had an initial meeting on Wednesday, August 29, with a new marketing firm to explore how we can better position ourselves to reach more people with the practical message of Christ. We’re anticipating their proposal by Friday. Our goal is to compare their recommendations with those of our current firm, ensuring that we are both cost-efficient and effective in expanding our reach. As we seek to steward our resources wisely, this step is crucial in determining the best path forward to share gospel-centered content with as many people as possible.

On April 9, we embarked on a fresh journey by building new Facebook and Instagram pages from scratch due to promotional restrictions on our former Facebook page, which had 14,000 followers. Despite starting with zero followers, we have been blessed with remarkable growth. As of today, our Facebook page has reached 23,000 followers, gaining over 1,000 followers each week. Praise God for this incredible increase!

Our Instagram following has also seen a positive change, growing by 2,700 followers, which is 300 more than we previously had. However, recognizing Instagram might not be the most effective platform for us, we plan to allocate more resources to YouTube, which we believe will serve as a better medium to share our message. Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we navigate these changes and seek to expand our reach.

We’re excited to share an update on our upcoming book project. Our dedicated publisher contractor, Jim Holmes, is currently crafting a prototype book for our review, which we expect to receive by October 1st. Meanwhile, Clear Design, our trusted branding firm, is hard at work designing the cover. This design will be distinct from our digital downloads, striking a balance between standing out individually on a shelf while maintaining a cohesive family look. Clear Design aims to have the cover ready by September 15th.

Clear Design will also create a unique “mark” for our Life Over Coffee Publishing House, which will go on all our books, and other places where we promote our books. Additionally, the hope is to publish other authors through our unique brand.

As we finalize these details, our next step will be to present this project to our donors, seeking their support to bring it to life. Our ambitious goal is to publish four books each month, with a total of 20 books available online by the start of the new year. We believe these physical books will be a powerful extension of our ministry, reaching more hearts and homes with gospel-centered content.

Rick and Lucia met with Jim Holmes 08.13.24. Here is the video of that meeting. There is a “gear button” in the bottom right of the screen. You may click on it to speed up the video to save you time. Below is a quick overview of the meeting.

Meeting Overview

In this meeting, Jim is advising Rick and his team on enhancing their ministry, “Life Over Coffee,” with a focus on developing a robust publishing wing. Jim emphasizes the importance of continuous improvement and suggests that while the ministry is already successful, there are opportunities to do even better, particularly in the area of publishing.

Jim recounts the history of Rick’s involvement with Day One Publishing in the UK, which led to their collaboration on Rick’s booklet, “Help My Marriage Has Grown Cold.” He notes that although the series faced challenges, it became very successful under Shepherd Press, indicating the potential for Rick’s ministry to achieve similar success in publishing.

Jim praises the ministry’s relevance, branding consistency, and commitment to biblical faithfulness. He suggests expanding their publishing efforts through platforms like Amazon and Ingram Spark, highlighting the benefits of print-on-demand (POD) publishing, which offers global distribution and cost-effective production. He stresses the importance of maintaining control over the content and branding, which traditional publishing might compromise.

The estimated cost per book is $1500, though it could be less due to the quantity of books the LOC publishes. With 30 books ready to go, the estimated cost would be $45K. Our aim would be to raise this during our Fall Campaign, which could also have a “buy-a-book” feature where one donor would give $1500 for the printing of one book.

Jim proposes a pilot project to test the publishing process, starting with a single book. This would allow them to refine their approach before scaling up. He discusses the potential costs and the benefits of finding a rhythm in publishing, perhaps releasing several books initially and then spacing out future releases to maintain engagement without overwhelming their audience.

Rick and his team express interest in this approach, with a focus on delegating the publishing responsibilities to free up Rick to focus on content creation and leadership. They agree to proceed with the pilot project and will coordinate with Jim and their branding firm to ensure the project’s success. The meeting concludes with a plan to move forward with the project, aiming for efficient and effective publishing that supports the ministry’s growth and outreach goals.

We are thrilled to share that our journey toward establishing the Life Over Coffee Publishing House is gaining momentum! In our upcoming second meeting (Tuesday, 08.13.24) with one of our significant donor couples, we’ll discuss our ambitious plans to redesign and republish our three current paperbacks, expand our collection with two new titles, and transform our 17 digital books into beautifully crafted paperbacks and enhanced digital formats. We also envision releasing a new booklet each month, both in paperback and digital, to continue enriching lives with meaningful content. This project will require a $50K investment, and we’re hopeful that our donors will see the tremendous impact this venture can have. Your prayers and support during this crucial time are deeply appreciated.

We are excited to announce the potential launch of Life Over Coffee Publishing House, an extension of our ministry dedicated to amplifying gospel-centered messages. We’ve been in discussion with an experienced publisher who may lead this initiative, guiding us as we expand our reach and impact. This new venture will not only allow us to publish our own insightful 20,000-word books and larger paperbacks in both digital and paper formats but will also open the door for other authors to share their biblically grounded wisdom. This endeavor sets the stage for a lasting legacy, ensuring that the transformative power of gospel-centered love and practical biblical advice will resonate for generations to come.

Here is this year’s publishing calendar:

1. Jan: Local Church: Love It, Leave It, Change It (Complete)
2. Feb: Loving Me: The Hidden Agenda of Self-esteem (Complete)
3. Mar: Sex, Temptation, and Modesty: A Biblical View of Intimacy (Complete)
4. Apr: The Talk: Leading Your Children Into the Rest of Their Lives (Complete)
5. May: We Are One: A 31-Day Marriage Devotional (Complete)
6. Jun: Centering Your Marriage on Christ (Complete)
7. Jul: You Decide: A Primer on Decision-making (Complete)
8. Aug:Complete Marriage: Coequal Hierarchy (Complete)
9. Sep: Parenting from Zero to Adulthood (Complete)
10. Oct: Politics and Culture: A Christian Perspective
11. Nov: Identity Crisis: Finding Your Identity in Christ Alone, by Mark Grant
12. Dec: Your Health: A Practical Plan According to the Gospel

Rick has completed his Introduction to Biblical Counseling Workbook—a comprehensive, 400-page guide crafted to deepen your understanding of biblical counseling principles. Initially developed for our—hopeful, future—ministry in India, this invaluable resource is planned to be available as a paperback, where folks can dive into its rich content, designed to equip Christians with practical, gospel-centered approaches to counseling. To enhance your learning experience, Rick has completed the ten accompanying one-hour webinars, each meticulously prepared. You may watch those webinars in our video section of the site. This workbook is an essential tool for anyone committed to fostering transformative, God-centered change through the power of biblical counseling. Stay tuned.

Our Grace Fellowship Church, Cumming, GA parenting conference is set. Here are the session titles. If you want more information about this conference, please go here.

Event Schedule Overview:

Friday:
7:10 PM – 8:15 PM: Session 1 – Keynote Address by Rick Thomas
Topic: Parenting Well: Biblical Marriage & God-Centered Home

Saturday:
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Session 2 with Rick Thomas
Topic: Parenting Our Children from Zero to Adulthood

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM: Session 3 with Rick Thomas
Topic: When Parents’ Anger Complicates the Life of the Child

12:40 PM – 1:40 PM: Session 4 with Rick Thomas
Topic: Parenting: The Important Role of Fathers

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Session 5 with Rick Thomas
Topic: Four Excellent Parenting Tips You Can Implement Today

Join us at Grace Fellowship Church in Cumming, GA, for the Parenting with Purpose Conference on October 18 and 19, featuring our esteemed speaker, Rick Thomas. This event is designed to equip parents with biblical principles and practical tools to nurture their families in God’s love and wisdom. Rick’s engaging and transformative teachings will inspire and guide you on your parenting journey. For more details about the conference, visit our speaking page. If you’d like Rick to speak at your church, please reach out to us or encourage your church leaders to extend an invitation. Don’t miss this opportunity to grow in your role as a parent with purpose!

Rick Thomas will be leading a powerful men’s conference at Bayou City Fellowship Church in Katy, TX. Though this is a private event for the men of this congregation, we covet your prayers for a time of deep spiritual growth and transformation. Rick’s teachings will focus on biblical manhood, equipping attendees to lead their families and communities with integrity and faithfulness.

If you’re interested in having Rick speak at your church or event, please visit our speaking page for more details. We encourage you to appeal to your church leaders to invite Rick for an impactful experience rooted in God’s Word.

We’re looking for a dynamic, strategic, and mission-driven individual to join our team as the Community Expansion & Operations Executive. This role is pivotal in expanding our reach and fostering deeper engagement with our community. The ideal candidate is a seasoned leader with 7-10 years of experience in marketing and operations, including at least 5 years in a leadership role, and a strong understanding of digital marketing. They should be a strategic thinker with a practical approach to execution, capable of leading teams and optimizing resources to maximize impact.

A deep commitment to our mission and values, a strong Christian faith, and experience in the non-profit sector, particularly within a Christian organization, are essential. This role requires exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, creativity, and a passion for continuous improvement. If you’re passionate about making a real difference and have the skills to drive our mission forward, we’d love to hear from you. See Job Description

At Life Over Coffee, we are committed to providing you with a seamless online experience as you engage with our rich content. Recognizing the importance of site speed, Jonathon, our diligent web developer, has recommended switching to Cloudflare, an advanced platform renowned for its ability to enhance website performance. Effective August 6, 2024, this transition aims to significantly reduce page latency and boost loading speeds, ensuring you can access our resources swiftly and effortlessly. We hope this improvement enhances your browsing experience, and we invite you to share any feedback or issues you encounter.

Clear Design, our trusted branding firm, is currently reconfiguring our navigation bar to enhance user experience and eliminate confusion. At present, there’s ambiguity between the “Donate” and “Join” buttons. Many who wish to support us and access premium content mistakenly click “Donate,” thinking it grants them access behind the paywall. In reality, donations are intended for individuals who want to contribute to our ministry out of love or for the 501(c)(3) tax benefits, without the desire for additional content. The “Join” button, on the other hand, is for those who wish to support us and gain access to exclusive resources. Clear Design is diligently working to clarify these distinctions, ensuring that our supporters can easily navigate and choose the option that best fits their intentions.

We’re excited to announce the launch of My Coffee, a new dashboard for all our members. You’ll find My Coffee in the upper right corner of the navigation bar on every page of our website. With just a click, you’ll enter your personalized space where you can add your photo, track your latest stats, view your recent forum posts, and explore our course offerings.

Experience the joy of gamification as you engage with our community. My Coffee keeps you updated and motivated, making it easier than ever to stay connected and grow in your journey. Check it out today and see how you can enhance your Life Over Coffee experience!

We have reached out to Clear Design, our branding firm, to create an exclusive offering: personalized consultations with Rick Thomas. Due to the high demand for one-on-one sessions with Rick, we’ve recognized the need to create a streamlined pathway for those seeking his wisdom and guidance. However, we encourage individuals to first seek support within their local churches and explore the extensive resources available on our website. For those who wish to engage further, becoming a Life Over Coffee supporter is another great option.

Our goal is to provide clear and simple options for accessing Rick’s expertise without overburdening his schedule. That’s why we are developing a paid feature, facilitated by Clear Design, to ensure these consultations are meaningful and manageable. More details on this offering will be shared soon. Stay tuned for updates!

Exciting news! We are thrilled to announce that Life Over Coffee is in the process of creating coffee subscriptions. Soon, you’ll be able to enjoy our specially roasted coffee delivered to your door on a recurring basis. Our expert roaster in Florida will handle all the roasting and shipping, so you can simply sit back and savor each cup. We’re working on setting up the subscription page on our site, and once it’s ready, we will send each of you a couple of packets to try out our coffee. Please note that there may be some shipping restrictions outside the States, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Stay tuned for more updates!

We are thrilled to announce the completion of our template for topical courses! Our flagship course, “No More Fear,” has been perfected and will serve as the model for all future topical courses. This course features 15 meticulously produced videos and 15 insightful podcasts, along with a newly rewritten “No More Fear” book that complements the course material.

Building on this success, we are excited to introduce our next course, “Overcoming Self-reliance,” which has already been outlined. With the momentum we’ve gained, we aim to produce new course regularly.

In addition to these topical courses, our LMS (Learning Management System) contractor is diligently working on the Supervised Mastermind Course. Following its completion, we will launch an unsupervised version, allowing participants to take our Mastermind Course at their own pace, without requiring our oversight.

Stay tuned for these transformative resources designed to help you grow in your faith and overcome life’s challenges with gospel-centered love and wisdom.

Rick has embarked on a crucial role as a supervisor for ACBC Phase 3 candidates, guiding them through the final stages of their certification. These candidates, nearing the culmination of their rigorous training, require the oversight of a seasoned Fellow to complete their 50 counseling cases. Rick’s supervision involves a comprehensive approach, including five audio session reviews and ten Zoom meetings per candidate. Currently mentoring six candidates, Rick plans to expand his supervision to ten candidates at a time, with the intention of reassessing his capacity for additional supervision. This commitment underscores Rick’s dedication to nurturing the next generation of biblical counselors, ensuring they are thoroughly equipped to offer gospel-centered guidance.