What is the difference between religion and biblical Christianity? One is about works. It’s about constantly working to acquire or maintain a right relationship with God. The other is a gift of grace. Which one describes your relationship with God?
Also, our reading in Proverbs says, “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” It goes on, “What the wicked fears will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.” What kind of riches can a believer in Christ expect, and how does the fear of the wicked come back upon him?
In our Old Testament reading, we’ll see God’s patience come to an end with the Northern Kingdom when He allowed Israel to be taken into captivity by the Assyrians. The Assyrians brought in settlers from other areas to till the land and live there. But when God sent lions to kill them, they decided they needed to learn something about the “god of that land.” Not so they could truly worship Him. They just wanted to tack on a little Jewishness to what they were doing to pacify him. What about us … have we tried to add a little Jesus to our lives … put a Christian veneer over a heart that’s still worshiping other things?
May is Mental Health Awareness month and there is much being written on the subject. In this and the two previous posts I want to compare psychology and biblical counseling. In the process, I hope to answer two questions:
Has psychology, as we know it today, affected the spread of the gospel?
And has it hindered spiritual growth in believers?
In the first post, I laid some groundwork about the roots of modern psychology. In the second post, I discussed ten presuppositions of modern psychology and some of the problems with them. And today, we’ll look at the presuppositions of biblical counseling and theology, the differences between the two, and how I believe the answer to both of my questions is “yes.”
May is Mental Health Awareness month and there is much being written on the subject. But I would like to pose a couple of questions that I believe need to be asked as we think about people’s mental and spiritual well-being. Has psychology, as we know it today, affected the spread of the gospel? And has it hindered spiritual growth in believers?
When I speak of psychology, I’m referring to it in the counseling or therapeutic sense. This has to do with diagnosing problems and seeking to change a person’s behavior, thinking, attitudes, values, and beliefs in an effort to solve those problems.
I don’t mean to imply in any of my comments that counselors of all kinds don’t want to help people. But as followers of Christ, we need to hold everything up to the light of God’s Word. I hope to do that in this post.
May is Mental Health Awareness month and there is much being written on the subject. But I would like to pose a couple of questions that I believe need to be asked as we think about people’s mental and spiritual well-being. Has psychology, as we know it today, affected the spread of the gospel? And has it hindered spiritual growth in believers?
When I speak of psychology, I’m referring to it in the counseling or therapeutic sense. This has to do with diagnosing problems and seeking to change a person’s behavior, thinking, attitudes, values, and beliefs in an effort to solve those problems.
I don’t mean to imply in any of my comments that counselors of all kinds don’t want to help people. But as followers of Christ, we need to hold everything up to the light of God’s Word. I hope to do that in this post.
Today’s Featured Post is one I hope everyone will read and consider prayerfully. In it I ask the question, “Are we as committed to our faith and it’s spread as our Muslim Neighbors?”
