Psychotheraphanity-(Psychotheraphy-Christianity)
What is psychotheraphanity? It is the modern brand of the mixture of psychotherapy
and Christianity void of Bible based faith. We find it on all the Christian
radio stations and on many talk shows and in numerous magazines. It has
become popular the last ten to twenty years in the media and among many
pastors. But very few ever disect it's doctrine and test it's precepts
to see how it measures up to the Bible. Here I will do just that.
It all started with Dr. Jung of Freud fame. Having been approached by an
alcoholic, he is reported to have disclosed the IDEA of a PSYCH CHANGE
or SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE resulting in a change of the psych mental nature
of a person. From this idea was formed the 12 step programs and the precepts
of Godless faith. Let me Explain.
When Alcoholics Anonymous was first begun, a man was helped by a member
of a fellowship known as The Oxford Group, for it's town Oxford, Ohio.
It was a Bible based, Protestant in doctrine, non- denominational group
of worshippers that taught that one should help another with the same experience
in life to find victory over the problem through faith and fellowship with
like minded saved people. When the two co-founders of AA Dr. Bob and Bill
W. found each other they then went to a Catholic nun who was quick to inform
the Vatican of this Protestant movement and work to move it to a less effective
threat to the church. You see, if these two men were successful void of
catholic doctrine, a Protestant revival might result and draw people out
of Catholic churches. So the ideas of a relationship with The Son of God
must be replaced with the concepts of the Catholic doctrine of works for
salvation rather than that of a life changing introduction to the Saviour.
Through this directed influence AA moved out of the oxford group and into
the precepts of this scripture: "having a form of Godliness, denying the
power thereof".
Today it has become the sacramental form of modern Christian psychotherapy
and sold to sinful Christians as a cure for what ills their soul may be
under. 'Call Now' we hear on the radio commercial and the talk abounds
about ADD ( attention deficit Disorder) and other new made up illnesses
of the brain to prescribe new medicine for. Where in the Bible do we read
of the Messiah ever teaching such garbage? We Don't !
Lets look at the New Life Clinic/ 12 step form of Christ following and
compare it to the Bible.
Step One: Admitted we were powerless over alcohol (or what ever sin you
want to call a disease) and that our lives have become unmanageable.
FIRST, THE HOLY BIBLE SAYS: " I CAN (NOT POWERLESS BUT POWER) DO ALL THINGS
THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH"
This is far from the doctrine of uselessness taught by new life AA brand
of godliness. The Master and creator want you to know that you are made
in His image to be empowered with the Holy Spirit and OVERCOME THE WORLD.
Next let us see about this idea of SIN as a disease. Alcoholism is caused
by DRINKING. I am not born an alcoholic in need of a drink and doomed to
go into DT's if I don't have one. No. Sin is the absence of moral commitment
to do the right things. If those RIGHT THINGS be guided by civil law or
the LAW of the Bible has little difference. The point here is that the
Bible gives a definition of SIN: "SIN IS BREAKING THE LAW". The law of
my body teaches me that to drink to excess will cause me to pass out, puke,
or suffer a loss of memory. THAT HAPPENS TO EVERY HUMAN IF THEY DRINK ENOUGH
OF TO MUCH ! This is not disease, it is the nature of our existence that
when we defy laws, even biological ones, we are bound to have problems.
Lets call sin SIN and stop the psycho- babble excuses that deny responsibility
for ones actions. These psychologists claim to bring a person out of denial
when in fact a new crutch of denial is created by calling sin disease.
That is the way it always works with Satan. He replaces the truth with
error and when error stops working to deceive you he gives you a new improved
error.
When I drank to excess and abused pills, IT WAS SIN ! When the Messiah
Yahshua came into my life in full force by my repenting to KEEP THE LAW
of the ten commandments, then I found victory over sin. I don't go to bars
anymore not because I have a disease, but because I have a new heart that
draws me to do other things that the saviour wants me to do.
Step Two: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore
us to sanity. Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives
over to the care of God, AS WE UNDERSTOOD HIM.
I will take these two steps together because they are really the same form
of denial. The phrase 'A POWER GREATER' or ' Higher Power' is a wonderful
concept to the Godless pagan or theological intellectual. But to real people
it has little meaning other than just what it says. It is something undefined
and greater but not quite GOD ! You see it could be electricity, some AA
members explain, "I don't understand electric, but I turn on the lights
when I go into a dark room" you can hear them say. But if I have cancer
and need healing, do I go to electricity? Even Satan is called "the god
of this world" in the Bible and Satan worshipers believe he is a power
greater. This form of Yahweh Godless teaching only leads to complex misunderstandings
of the TRUTH of the existence of ONE TRUE GOD ALMIGHTY YAH. It is what
Paul called "a form of Godliness" that denies the power of the creator
to deliver you form SIN. That is what I call LACK OF FAITH ! You see, FAITH
says I know it will be before it happens and TRUSTS for the right outcome.
As for the "AS WE UNDERSTOOD HIM" phrase they clearly don't. That is because
they do not study the Bible and seek to understand HIM ! If they did then
victory over sin and the presence of the Holy spirit would bring Joy and
Life abundant and thereby set them free from intellectualizing over the
matter and accept the truth.
As for the "MADE A DECISION" part, I made a decision to go to the store,
then I didn't. The difference here is in DOING. ACTION is what makes the
difference in the life of a man. The whole precept of what is taught here
is WATERED DOWN WITH THE DOCTRINE OF DEMONS ! It believes, but then continues
to have the problem, as the AA member is taught to say: "I'LL BE ALCOHOLIC
UNTIL I DIE". My saviour gave me FREEDOM ! "He who the SON sets free, shall
be FREE INDEED" ! Even Bill Wilson carried his BIBLE with him to every
AA meeting he ever went to. Just ask anyone in Akron Ohio that knew him
at the old schoolhouse group. That is because Bill knew the author of his
salvation was not sobriety in AA or it's fellowship, but TRUST IN THE ONE
TRUE GOD.
Now these three steps as they are called are the foundation of Psycho-Christian
Therapy and the new SCIENCE OF THE MIND justified with lack of Bible knowledge
Christianity. The Bible says that People parish (or die) because of lack
of knowledge. The problem with Alcohol, drugs, and other such 'disorders'
as they call them is that it is SIN. I know of one girl who was ready to
marry a man she loved and was rushed off to a state rehab by a social worker
to undergo treatment for 'Alcoholism' only to arrive at a women's shelter
and be subjected to abuse which included the 12 step member social worker
who brought her into this Godless troop. You see the SIN was still in her
heart. Just not drinking and having a concept of a god does not change
the heart of a person, only a born again experience that REPENTS, turns
form sin, and starts to follow a moral code such as the ten commandments
can.
The very nature of therapy and sponsorship in AA and 12 step hospitals
is one of submission to an abstract concept of undefined religion. These
men and women have formed a new religion and called it medicine. With a
defined mental disease such as those causing chemical imbalance in the
brain, we can at least define it in scientific measurements. With this
media hype sales pitch psychotherapy form of Christianity, you never quite
get the definition let alone know what the cure is. YES I SAID CURE !
You see the Bible faith teaches deliverance from Satan's demonic possession,
decease, and sickness. Modern psychology uses religions like yoga to treat
stress, as if stress was a decease, and yoga was a pill for the ill. That
is not the answer for a true Bible trusting, reading, praying, follower
of Messiah.
"What fellowship has darkness with light"? You can not have it both ways.
Yahshua (Jesus) taught that you love the one and hate the other. Psychology
has no cures for alcohol abuse. Nor is the 12 step new life clinic brand
of Christianity what the Messiah taught. SIN IS SIN. Victory over sin comes
with prayer and fasting, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and a new heart
toward keeping the ten commandments.
This is not to say that there are not times when medication is needed.
The true believer in the faith of the Bible knows that one must balance
life according to the measure of faith one has.
SIN: You see that there is a problem we must address and you want to know
why you are not having victory over sin. The answer is simple. YOUR NOT
FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS ! For example: The fourth commandment instructs
us to REST on the 7th day. Do no servile work therein ! That means to REST.
So you are a Sunday worshiper? what's wrong with resting on Saturday. I
MEAN REAL REST ! don't go to the store, cut the grass, wash the dishes,
or anything but rest. Most Messianic Jews do this from sundown Friday to
sundown Saturday according to the fourth commandment. REMEMBER THE 7TH
DAY the 4th commandment says. I talked to one man about this and he said
to me Sunday is my Sabbath. So I asked him to explain his Sabbath to me.
He listed ten or twenty things he did before, during , and after church.
Things like going to K-mart and mowing the lawn and fixing things around
the house. THIS IS NOT SABBATH. The word Sabbath means REST. If we could
begin to define words with the true meaning again there would be less misunderstandings
in the world. When Yah Veh God said rest he meant REST. Why? Because he
told you to. And if that is not good enough then consider this. Most Doctors
say that our ills in the present day are because we DON'T SLOW DOWN. Heart
attacks, strokes, and ulcers are just a few examples of overwork related
diseases. My example here is not to tell you that you should keep the sabbath,
even though you should, But to teach you about victory. If you repent form
overwork, to rest, the problem of stress will be solved. Many of the answers
to sin are found the same way, IN THE BIBLE which is THE DIRECTIONS. Try
reading it.
Is drinking a sin? No. Drinking to excess is a sin. Should I go to a treatment
center? If you honestly have been drinking daily, and get shakes in the
morning or see things, ask your doctor. If you feel you might have a problem
then you do. See your Doctor before you stop drinking on a regular basis.
Many have jumped the gun in swearing off and ended up dead from DTs ( alcohol
induced delusions) or other complications. You may need medial care to
slowly reduce the alcohol in your system and allow your body to adjust.
In these cases it is best to stop drinking through treatment.
What about other things like adultery? Stop it. It is sin and you can not
serve two masters. It is like two dogs inside you, the one you feed gets
stronger. If you feed FAITH then FAITH will make you whole again.
Does sin cause decease? Yes, some can. AIDS, and other diseases can be
a result of sin. But disease is never a sin. Having AIDS is not always
a result of sin and even if it is in the case Yah Veh God puts before you
it is your duty to the Saviour to be loving and help the sick.
Only when the body of Messiah (Christ) takes it's rightful place as over
comers can the power of the Holy Spirit change lives both in and out of
the Body of Messiah. Messiah said "I was hungry, and you did not feed me"
and we can list all the others such as in prison, sick, lonely, naked and
even lost and you did not show me the way. Victory and success comes form
doing the right things. There is no better cure than just following the
proven path of Righteousness. To do that you must overcome the idea that
grace is a license to sin. Grace is mercy and forgiveness for past sin.
Once you know the truth you must follow the directions truth gives. To
many in Christianity today think that you can sin after salvation and just
pray it away. DON'T BE FOOLED BY THIS LIE. Once you know the Messiah it
is your part to follow his commandments. Repent from sin toward doing the
right things.
When I was a pastor of a small congregation a women came to me to get some
counseling. She was divorced after her husband found her with another man.
She wanted prayer to know she was forgiven. I and my wife read some scriptures
with her and prayed. Then she proceeded to go back to the pastor of her
old church and continue in an affair with him. She had not solved her problem
or found victory. She had not repented from anything, she was asking grace
to continue in sin. That is a very Catholic concept that pervades Christianity
today. Go to confession on Saturday night, take communion on Sunday morning,
then live like hell Monday through Friday. No CHANGE occurs.
The cure for sin is HOLINESS. That comes from following the directions
on how to be HOLY, found in the BIBLE. The 12 steps and psychotherapy is
nothing more than another religion that teaches mans doctrine. The Doctrine
of Yah Veh God is in the Bible and it won't cost you $10,000 in a two week
stay to understand it. Start reading at the beginning in Genesis and look
up each word you don't understand in a Bible dictionary. When you understand
the Old by having read it, then you can understand the true meaning of
the NEW, and the teaching of the Messiah that he came to CURE our sickness
and give us VICTORY over sin.
Yahshua said: "Why do you break the commandment of Yah Veh God by your
traditions ?.... you have made the commandment of Yah veh ineffective by
your tradition. You hypocrites, well did Eilyah prophesy of you when he
said, These people draw close to me with their mouth, and honor me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me, IN VAIN THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING
FOR DOCTRINE THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN." Matt. Ch. 15
This is not much like the words of these 12 type pastors of modern Christian
religion. You see Yahshua wanted you to understand something simple that
these scribes and religious leaders in his day did not see. BREAKING THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS IS MAKING THE POWER OF YAH VEH GOD INEFFECTIVE IN YOUR
LIFE ! Keeping the commandments brings the power to overcome sin and life's
problems making Yah Veh God effective in your life. The idea of the saviour's
sacrifice of blood, death, and resurrection was one of keeping the law
of sacrifice given in the Old Testament to overcome sin. By His death he
put sin to death. Not so you could bring it alive again by continuing in
sin, but by being empowered by the Holy Spirit to STOP SINNING !
This is a simple concept. Most Christians don't get it. It has become more
popular to believe that the law is done away and we have some new idea
that God created after Yahshua came. The truth is that we are set free
from the results of sin to grow into a HOLY sinless people. The Bible puts
it well in IJohn Ch 2: "Here is how we know that we know Messiah, If we
keep His commandments". The ultimate ends of this psychotherapy form of
Christianity is to be free from the commandments and somehow be exempt
from the results of sin this concept creates. Bible Faith teaches that
Faith In Action is doing the will of the Father Yah Veh God in heaven.
Successful problem solving is to find an answer that puts an end to the
problem. The solution for sin is to know repentance, turn your heart around,
and go forward by keeping the ten commandments by the power of the Holy
Spirit which is given to empower you to overcome SIN.
As with the sabbath question most religious leaders in Christianity don't
even know the question let alone the answer. They say we should worship
every day so why be 'Under Bondage' of the law of sabbath. First of all
they miss the point. The 4th commandment to sabbath in the old testament
has a very simple precept and lesson. REST OR DIE. Sabbath means rest.
Now if the 'LAW' is not in effect by Christ's sacrifice as many claim then
why are men still dying from heart attacks from overwork? The number one
cause of death world wide is heart failure. That is a FACT. Heart failure
comes from to much work. Now take a look at the other side of this 'LAW'
of rest. Rest and be blessed. Exodus 31 says just that. Now which is bondage,
to rest and live longer or work all the time and die of heart failure.
The 4th commandment issue was never one of worship but one of obedience.
Yah Veh wants His people to rest one day a week. The Old testament law
is simple and has guides written with it to tell you just how to rest:
REST- don't serve another, change money (buy & sell), and think on
the things of Yah Veh God rather than your own pleasures. It only makes
since that if you do these things you will avoid work one day a week and
truly REST.
What about the meal thing? You mean the story where Yahshua and his followers
were gathering wheat nuts from a field and the religious leaders asked
him why his disciples were working on the sabbath? If you look at the scripture
it is clear that the question of these religious leaders was not that they
worked, but that they did not wash their hands SEVEN TIMES IN SUCCESSION
ACCORDING TO THE RELIGION OF THE JEWS ! Eating on the sabbath according
to the Old Testament law is not work unless you are serving another. The
Bible never said you must wash your hands seven times before eating. This
was an ADDED law from men, not from Yah Veh God. As for the question of
which day you worship on that is best answered by example. Here is my challenge,
I'll give everything I own, and will own, to you if you can prove to me
that the Messiah Yahshua (Jesus) at anytime broke the Sabbath. He went
to the temple and synagogue on the Sabbaths and feast days according to
the commandments. No historical or biblical account states otherwise.
Why do I bring this question up with this subject? Because it teaches one
simple point of modern Christianity. That is this: Christianity teaches
that the kingdom of God comes through lawlessness. Let me explain. We don't
have to keep the law any more they say. Then they tell us we must be Holy.
The Bible teaches that Holiness is keeping the law. So what are they teaching?
Success by lawlessness? So when the New Life clinic man comes on the radio
and says you can come to the hospital and have a new life he is really
saying you can come feel comfortable with out changing anything. The law
is not required so you repent to remain lawless. With this concept it is
little wonder that these people drink to excess, use drugs, have sexual
problems, and the like. No need for a solution just get over your conscience
and think like everyone else. The Bible on the other hand says you will
be "A NEW CREATION, OLD THINGS PASS AWAY, BEHOLD ALL THINGS BECOME NEW".
And that is a major difference from the idea that the 'LAW' was nailed
to the tree. The real truth of what the Bible was teaching was that our
ineffectiveness in keeping the law was nailed to the tree. That now through
Messiah, and his power, we can keep the law! Isaiah the prophet wrote that
Yah Vah said "I WILL WRITE MY LAWS UPON THERE HEARTS" not I will put my
laws to an end.
That is the root and branch of the problem with 12 step Christianity, it
has no victory because it has nothing to gage it's victories by. You don't
get saved and then go out and continue killing if you are a murderer (THOU
SHALT NOT KILL). You can pick any of the big ten commandments and see if
one is taught exempted then the power to overcome sin is made ineffective.
The truth is that the Messiah said we are under the law and that law is
now written in our hearts and made holy (SINLESS) first by the blood washed
sacrifice of his death, then by the power of the Holy Spirit to follow
the directions and do Yah Vah God's will, which is keeping the law. That
does not mean to condemn you for falling short of the goal, but give you
strength to get up and keep running the race. The law of the ten commandments
is a gage to set your life compass by and find victory.