May | 2014 | J. Lee Jagers, PhD, ThM, LPC

Credentials, Experience and a Heart – All in One Person!

May 2, 2014

Image a person who could easily boast about her credentials, with degrees in law, theology and psychology, but she doesn’t. She could have become depressed over her losses, having lost a husband through cancer and having breast cancer herself, but she didn’t. She trusted Jesus for her salvation through reading the Hebrew Bible. She could have become cynical after leaving her Jewish roots in New York and being left with only Jesus as a support system. But she realized that having the Lord was all she really needed. The Lord is now blessing her, as she is “able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which [she herself has been] comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:4). A professional of such character is worthy of your trust. Read her testimony below and if you need help with your counseling needs, consider her.

(Call her at 214-531-7624).

Dr. Katherine Pang – Testimony

It is so interesting to see how the Lord works in our life to change, mold, shape, and grow us. When I have the opportunity to share at retreats and conferences I would usually open with “What is a Jewish girl from Manhattan (not Kansas, New York City) doing in cowboy boots in a church in Texas?” The only answer is, “watch out when you say ‘Yes,’ to Jesus. As I reflect back over the last 25 years of my life in Christ (I was saved at the age of 30, so that also tells you how old I am) I see His fingerprints through so many disparate yet uniquely God-chosen, God-woven, God-provided circumstances. I have to laugh that a Jewish, New Yorker, lawyer would find her way to Jesus through the Old Testament (wait, that was Paul, too) but that is how the Lord drew me to Himself, through the reading of the Hebrew Bible at a time of frustration and emptiness with all the successes of the world, as He revealed His amazing love and the simple truth that apart from Christ there was no way to God. In a hotel room in Houston, Texas (I really do enjoy the Texas irony in all of this) very much like Paul on the road to Damascus; Jesus became my truth and my way to a personal relationship with God. As I called upon the name of Jesus to be saved and asked Him to have His way in my life, He said’ thank you, Kate, now hold on tight!’

My journey with Jesus began in that hotel room in the fall of 1990 and it has been quite a ride and continues to be quite a ride. As I grew in my knowledge of Him through the reading of the Word, strong expository Bible teaching, and fellowship and mentorship with mature believers He began to strip away the attachments of the world, my self, and rearrange my life so that my hope, dependence, and confidence would be in Him and not in the credentials of this world or my own strength. As He called me to seminary to pursue a Master of Divinity at Talbot Theological Seminary six months after I was saved, and then to a Master of Theology at Talbot and then a PhD in New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, which was never completed because the month after I completed my coursework and was to begin preparing for comprehensive exams my husband-at-the-time died after a six month battle with liver cancer after removing me from my entire support structure at a very large church as a Women’s Bible study teacher to over 1,000 women on a Friday morning in Southern California into a corporate lawyer missionary role in Dallas Texas with no support structure – save the Lord! He and a woman paralegal (an ‘angel’ from the Lord) journeyed with me as I watched my husband-at-the-time unexpectedly diagnosed one day after he came with the moving truck and our Golden Retriever to Dallas, with terminal liver cancer. The six-month cancer roller coaster (those who have made this journey understand the roller coaster image) came with three seats, one for me, one for Jesus, and one for His human support in a friend in Christ. As the Lord grew me in faith, prayer, and trust while the world lost its color and friends from the West were beckoning me back and family from the East was beckoning me forward I would not be moved unless the pillar of cloud and fire moved me so I stayed in Dallas and walked hand-in-hand, sat in the lap of, and cried out to Jesus while I watched God work in ways that there is not ample room to describe to you. Five years later, when I was not looking, God brought a Christian man into my life, who too had been through his trials, and told him that I was to be his wife (He did not tell me until almost 6 months later). We were married in 2004 and in 2006, two years into our marriage I was diagnosed with breast cancer and the BRCA2 Gene. I had three surgeries in 2006 while pursuing a PhD in Psychology, which I was able to complete in 2008. My passion for transformative change and equipping others to overcome the trials of their life was continually rekindled as I walked this path hand-in-hand with my Savior and my husband. In 2009, the Lord opened the doors once again for Women’s ministry and I became the Director of Women’s ministry at our church equipping women to be overcomers through the victory in Christ teaching Bible studies, leading small groups, speaking at retreats and conferences. In 2011 I was licensed as a provisionally licensed psychologist and last month the Lord opened the door to complete my training for full licensure with Dr. Michael Leach at 3500 Oak Law in Dallas (Uptown). My husband is in the ThM program at Dallas Theological Seminary and I am praising Him daily for His miraculous work and fingerprints in our lives. I am excited to build a counseling/psychology practice for adults and adolescents focusing in many areas including loss, cancer, health issues, life issues, anxiety, fear and phobia, and so much more. I am excited to provide psychological testing and to come alongside other therapists and mental health providers by providing psychological testing reports and diagnostic information. I am excited to have opportunities to teach, share, encourage, and equip so that all may “taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in the Lord” (Psalm 34:8)