Does Freud or Skinner offer more help than the apostle Paul?

Why go to school to learn psychological theories from men who hated God like Freud, Skinner, and Jung? Why not go to seminary? Better yet, why not read and study the Bible at a very young age?

Do these fathers of psychology offer us more help than the apostle Paul’s writings that were inspired by God in the Bible?

No!

Counseling helps people to change their thinking. The Bible calls a change in thinking leading to a change in acting as “repentance”.

I want to know more of the Bible…not more of man’s ideas. I need God’s wisdom – not man’s!

-Mark (in awe of how powerful the Bible is – on a daily basis)

Shout out to all of my Biblical Counseling buddies!

Thank you all for standing with us for the Bible as sufficient to help us change into the image of Christ!

What is counseling but an opportunity to offer people an evaluation of their thinking, speaking, and acting in order to bring about change? That’s simply what counseling is!

What book is better for a counselor to utilize than God’s Word to help Christians to conform their thinking, speaking, and acting to God’s standards and His BEST for their living? Why do we need secular people who hate God to tell us their man-centered opinion on how we need to think, speak, and act?

I want to know what pleases God and the only place I’ll find it is in the pages of Scripture! I’m glad that we have Christian biblical counselors filled with the Holy Spirit and knowledgeable about the Word of God who can speak the truth in love to me and our counselees!

-Mark (thankful for those of you who stand with us for the sufficiency of Scripture)

3 Lies of Satan

From Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 when Satan tempted Adam & Eve (who failed) and Jesus (who succeeded!):

1) You can do anything you feel like doing! Obey your appetites!

2) You will not have any consequences for your selfish choices!

3) You are your own god and you do not have to answer to anyone!

Thankfully, Jesus answered each temptation with the Word of God and did not fail like Adam and Eve.

If Jesus combatted Satan with the Word of God, how much more do we need to know and use God’s Word to overcome the enemy?

-Mark (learning the Word of God so I can overcome the enemy)

the Holy Spirit of God!

Let this encourage you: Saving souls is not about you alone. Your job is to spread the seed of the Gospel and watch the Holy Spirit move in hearts to cause them to turn to Christ as Savior.

I think sometimes we get caught up in the “extras” and forget that it is simply the Holy Spirit that changes hearts! It’s not in the “slickness” of our Gospel presentation or whether or not our behavior is offensive to others, etc. Those things are secondary to the Holy Spirit.

It’s about God. He changes hearts and He’s still in that business. Our responsibility is to proclaim His truth by “speaking the truth in love” to everyone we meet. Our responsibility is to study His Word, to learn and grow, and to tear down the lies of Satan with the Word of God.

This is why I am so passionate about the Bible and utilizing it PRIMARILY in a counseling session because the Holy Spirit works in conjunction with His Word of truth – and it is the only thing that sets the captive free.

In John 3:14-15, Jesus talked about his death: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” He was talking about being lifted up on the cross and by implication, I know my responsibility is to lift Him up with my life.

What about you – will you scatter the seed of the Word of God with me in the arena of counseling?

-Mark (those psychological theories that promote man-centered ideas are NOT seeds we need to be scattering; let’s use good seed from the pure Word of God because they are Christ-centered truths)

The Importance of Language – Psychology vs. Bible

Many do NOT see the importance of language. Words point us in a direction. They are NOT neutral. For biblical counselors, we are constantly redefining and renaming psychological observations and descriptions with biblical words for the heart issues behind the behaviors (like using the word “habitual” rather than “compulsive” and calling something a “sin” rather than a “disease”).

For example, the label OCD offers no hope to a counselee. While it is a valid observation of someone caught in the HABITUAL behaviors stemming from the heart issues of the love of control OR inordinate fear, OCD is a hopeless diagnosis. The only hope for OCD in the worldly sense, is medication because it is a supposed lifelong “disease” and “disorder” – Christ is NOT an answer of hope for the worldly psychologist treating this problem.

Not so for a biblical counselor. We see OCD (that is non-organic, and most cases are!) as a sin issue of the heart. A Christian counselee must confess their thoughts as sin against a holy God – sins of loving control, focusing upon self more than Christ (idolatry), sins of action stemming from inordinate fear, etc. Some think this is harsh but it is life-giving to those who know Christ because He died for our sins and enables us to have the power to overcome our sins!!!

In fact, the Bible offers practical help to overcome thoughts that lead to the description of OCD so that a believer who wants to fight it, can do so by the power of the Holy Spirit. Eph. 4:22-24 gives us one tool to overcome the description of OCD.

Biblical counselors agree with the description of OCD – same behavioral problems and problematic thought patterns are described.

However, biblical counselors DISAGREE with the prescription for OCD – proponents of psychology can only offer medications that have numerous side effects and only slow down the problem. Truly biblical counselors work with the heart and thoughts of those who struggle with OCD and watch Christ bring real hope and help to the struggling person.

OCD is a real description for hurting souls. The real prescription is found in the person of Christ and His infallible Word of Truth: the Bible. You have to use biblical words to address the problem in a hopeful way – or else there is no hope.

-Mark (thankful to the many who are battling OCD and overcoming it without medications and to the glory of God)

A Saturday Bible study?

We had a great family day this past Saturday. I want to share it with you.

After b’fast, I read Psalm 51 to my wife and children. I taught them by using a handout given to me by a man who encourages fathers to teach their children the Word of God. Then, we listened to 2 songs about that psalm that accentuated different parts of the psalm. With an infinite God, there could be an infinite number of songs written about psalm 51. These 2 songs were powerful and brought out the psalm even more.

As we listened to the songs, we held up the verse number on our hand. Everyone had a Bible. When each person found the verse being sung, they held up the number that corresponded to it. For example, when he sang about verse four, we each held up 4 fingers. We kept changing as the song and verse changed. It was really fun and made us all stay on our toes.

I love teaching my children the Word of God because it will last forever. It’s not just something that is taught on Sundays. This past Saturday was a special day to all of us.

I encourage you to spend creative time in the study and meditation of God’s Word. There’s no better “high”!!!

-Mark (thankful to God for giving me an excellent wife and 4 children)

Hope or cope? (part 3)

Colossians 2:8 states: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

The idea that “mental illness” and “addiction” are diseases to be coped with is a worldly idea – and not biblical – though many claim ”biblical roots” for these worldly ideas.

Nowhere in the Bible does God call these problems a “disease.” It is a man-made concept and is really a PHILOSOPHY for living as mentioned in Col. 2:8 above. The originators of the idea of the “disease concept” of “addiction” devised a philosophical idea based upon the symptoms they observed for those who struggle in overcoming alcohol and drug abuse. They have no explanation for the heart of the problem other than it is a “disease” because they believe mankind is born “good.”

Biblically, the problem is a sin nature issue of the heart of man who becomes enslaved to the physical power of the addictive substance. God gave it the general name of ”idolatry” and the specific name of “drunkenness.”

Though God’s words to describe the problem are far more convicting than mankind’s words, God’s prescription for fixing the problem through the power of Christ is far more gracious and hopeful than the world’s ideas to cope with the problem for the remainder of your life. God offers answers but only in Christ.

**The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., Col 2:8 (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001).

-Mark (reading the Word of Truth not the “best” ideas of mankind)