November 15, 2007 · 9:07 am

State Board Meeting


On Tuesday I got a an up-close-and-personal look at how one of our state’s boards work. I and my program coordinator attended the meeting to answer questions about being a seminary providing an professional counseling masters program. Were we just providing religious education (we do teach bible and theology to our counselors!) or did we actually teach professional counseling. The Board members asked me many questions about theology, epistemology, diversity and whether we were paying enough attention to issues such as classism, sexism, sexual identity, race, immigration, etc. They wanted to know why we were teaching theology to them. They wanted to know what books we were using in our cultural diversity classes and in our human development. Because we mention that we teach these classes from a Christian perspective, I guess that made us suspicious.

I’m happy to say that they voted to approve us “as a program in professional counseling”. But, it was interesting to see the thinking and decision-making processes on the board. A bit of the blind leading the blind. I must say they were all respectful even if suspicious.

And I’m happy I don’t have to go back!

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November 13, 2007 · 5:45 am

Biblical slap therapy?


I once saw a cartoon about 1 session treatment (due to managed care) that consisted of the therapist slapping the client and saying, “Get over it!” This past weekend I had our counseling students look at the book of James. There are 50 some exhortation in just over 100 verses. And though he is writing to fellow believers he sometimes calls them brothers and others times calls them names.

What’s his beef? Empty words. Christians who talk the talk but do not engage in mercy; those who talk the talk but listen to the wisdom of the world about self-promotion. Why does he do this? He wants us to be discontent with the status quo. He wants to wake us from a slumber. While he does remind his readers that the Word is powerful and its implantation in them saves them, he wants them not to be content with being like the world.

James asks us whether we really do love mercy first. It will show if we do. If we don’t, then how we handle conflict with also reveal what we love.

Its good to sit with passages such as these that do not bring immediate comfort. They cause us to consider what the Lord might be saying to us. As a counselor, it is important to allow clients to consider hard truths in a loving environment–without providing a quick, “there, there, its all right.” However, we must also make sure that we love mercy when we sit with our client in difficult areas. Otherwise, we will be in danger of letting our own tongues start fires.

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November 12, 2007 · 12:57 pm

A story of healing?


I don’t know about you but I’m usually suspicious of the stories of healing told in the media. Its not that I believe God doesn’t heal–I do. I get suspicious of the reasons why the person is telling it to the media. But, here’s one I heard recently on Terry Gross’s Fresh Air. This one sounds authentic because it doesn’t fit the “happily ever after” story we like to write. Listen here to her interview with Reynolds Price. 

Mr. Price (70 something) is an author of many books including a recent one called, Letters to a Godchild. Terry asked him about a vision he had of Jesus healing him. Mr. Price puts the following story in this context: he reports having only 2 experiences of visions and 1 auditory word from God. In short here is the story of a vision he had in 1984.  He had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumor in his spine and given about 18 months to live. He was losing the use of his legs and the radiation treatments he was to undergo would likely make him a paraplegic (which it did). Just prior to his radiation treatment he had a vision that he was resting beside the Sea of Galilee. He was wearing normal clothes but there were men lounging around him in “Jesus suits.” One came over and he recognized him as Jesus. Jesus beckoned him to come into the water, which he did. Then Jesus cupped water and poured it over the scar or spot where the tumor was. Jesus spoke these words to him: “Your sins are forgiven.” Mr. Price reports that wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear so he asked Jesus, “Will I be healed too.” Jesus says something like, “that too.” And that ended the vision. He went on with the treatment, did lose the use of his legs and the next year was touch and go. 

Terry asked Mr. Price what he thought about the healing vision since he wasn’t really healed. Mr. Price seems to think otherwise.

This sounds so much like a true vision. God heals in his own way but it may not be what we would expect. And true to form in the New Testament, God is more concerned with healing our sinful nature first. His vision is so much more believable than the “everything worked out just as I wanted it to” version that is popularly told.

One other story. In the darkest hour of his cancer, Mr. Price remembers wondering out loud how much more he had to endure. He heard an audible, “More.” And indeed, he suffered much more before getting healthy again.

Again, sounds authentic.  We have fantasies about God removing our suffering. Instead, he often sustains us and is with us through that dark hour. For some, he does remove them from the disease. Others, he does not. But, he is with them.

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November 12, 2007 · 12:40 pm

Drinking in color


It’s mid-November and the leaves here in Philadelphia are about the best I’ve ever seen. Late for sure, but quite good. This past weekend I got to walk on a quiet country road just south of Peace Valley Park. Its about the closest I can get to Vermont scene I grew up with. Despite the rain, the leaves were just about perfect–Maples with red-tipped leaves and hints of orange and green. The dark sky and tree trunks enhanced the brightness of the leaves.

A feast for my eyes.

Despite the 35 degrees, the color warmed me. While I do like the vistas to see many trees at one time, looking at a single colorful tree in a dark wood is even more appealing. And then my thoughts turned to God’s creative genius to create hardwoods that turn these colors for the purpose of giving me joy (Not too egocentric, huh?).

Did you ever think of that? What things has God placed around you that are there for the only purpose of giving you pleasure? A dog or cat? A tree? A fast moving brook?

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November 9, 2007 · 9:58 am

Stymied


If you have ever met with a couple in conflict (either together or separate), you immediately realize how difficult it is to know the truth about what happened and who did what first. Come to think of it, that is true with sibling fights as well. Each party has their own opinion of what they did and did not do. They also have a very strong opinion as to how the conflict began and why their spouse is the bigger problem. It can drive you crazy if you try to sort out who did what.

This problem exists with conflicting people groups as well. Case in point: Rwanda. We’re all familiar that a genocide tgook place there in 1994. The minority Tutsis and the majority Hutus. We’d like to say one side was the victim and the other the offender. But it is not that clear, especially since both parties have a history of aggressing against the other.

Yesterday, I read a commentary by Paul Rusesabagina (the man portrayed in Hotel Rwanda) who charges the Tutsi led government, led by President Paul Kagame, with systematic destruction of the Hutu people by imprisoning them as genocide suspects–without care for the truth. On the other side, the government charges Rusesabagina with stirring up ethnic hatred.

Who do you believe?

When you are stymied (because you aren’t there to see for yourself) what happens to you? For me, the temptation is to turn my back and throw my hands up in the air–to give up and ignore the problem, laying blame at both feet.

How do we overcome being stymied? As a therapist I attempt to get both parties to look only at themselves. But that goes against our nature, whether we are 5 or 55 years old. 

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November 7, 2007 · 4:37 pm

Upcoming social networking and conversation spot for Christians


Yesterday, our faculty listened to a presentation by Lance Ford, founder and director of www.shapevine.com. This organization provides opportunities to study and dialog with a number of missional authors (e.g., Reggie McNeal, Ed Stetzer, Leonard Sweet, Alan Hirsch, Sally Morganthaler, etc.) in small groups. Using flash technology and webcams, they have created a site where one can read and/or watch authors discuss their material and then engage in threaded discussion and live video conferencing. They haven’t quite gone public but have been in beta-testing for the last 6 months and are ready to go in just a few weeks.

Lance started us off with a Dallas Willard quote: The failure to make disciples is the elephant in the church. (or something like that) He noted that church leaders sometimes want to build the church, and then make disciples. He thinks this is backwards. If you make disciples, they will evolve into a church. But if you do it in reverse, you create consumers who do not look much different than non-Christians. Transformation may not take place.

Further, preaching doesn’t make disciples. Rather, we need 1:1, or close to it if we are going to build disciples ready to make more disciples.

I can see the value of this sort of site for those isolated and unable to find local connections. Imagine using this technology to connect overworked church planters, missionaries, and lay folk around the world.  

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November 7, 2007 · 9:33 am

Do we really know what makes us happy?


My wife raised this question after listening to a local radio talk show. In the show, there was a discussion about a family with a severely developmentally disabled child. The parents would never choose to have a disabled child but talked about how their disabled child had greatly enriched the entire family, including the other siblings. They wouldn’t have it any other way at this point.

Some friends of mine told me recently that their grown child complimented them on not giving them all the toys (cell phones, cars, clothes, etc.) their peers had. In their son’s eyes, he knew something about life and about being happy that his peers knew nothing of.

What do you imagine would make you happy? Did you ever get it and did it last? Consider the lottery winners who end up destroying relationships and even end up broke. Better to be poor and content…

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November 6, 2007 · 2:43 pm

Good summaries of CCEF’s conference on anxiety


For those unable to attend this conference but still wanting to know what was said there, check out Jason’s blog here for excellent summaries of the main sessions and electives (with more promised). Jason directs a counseling center in NC and he and his wife are transracial adoptive parents. Together they represented Legacy Child at the conference.

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November 6, 2007 · 1:17 pm

Running Scared: the book


As a final comment on this past weekend’s CCEF conference, I want to briefly mention Ed Welch’s new book, Running Scared: Fear, worry, and the God of Rest (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007). All conference attendees got a free copy. Here are a couple of my observations about the book:

1. It is 30 chapters. You don’t have to read them in a linear fashion although they do build on each other. They have a meditative/reflective nature to them.
2. The book is really about worry. If you struggle with panic attacks, you won’t find helpful solutions. In fact, he does a brief put down of the cognitive-behavioral techniques. On the one hand, he is right that these don’t ultimately give us peace, on the other hand–sometimes they help us get through a moment.
3. He does a nice job surveying the kinds of worries that overtake us and the common responses (control, perfectionism, anger, stress, depression, overprotection, etc.)
4. What does your fear say? Ed considers a few of the common messages (e.g., I am in danger, I am vulnerable, I need and might not get…). He also points to the overemphasis of the future in all worry. Worriers, he says, live in the future (and see it in minute gory detail). Seldom does our worry come true as we thought and so much of our worry is that of false prophets–proclaiming something as nearly already happened that only is a possibility.
5. The book is pastoral. I hear Ed’s voice in this as soft and knowing. I think this book reads like his voice more than any other of his works. He reminds us that Jesus speaks tenderly when he calls us to not fear. He talks to us like a shepherd would talk to a little lamb.
6. Yes, God tests our faith and yet he is also very generous. In order for us to be rescued from danger, there has to be danger. He is near. He hears. He tests us. He gives us grace for today. He delivers (ch. 9).
7. The rest of the book details how we deal with fears about money, what people think of us, about death, pain, and punishment, and ends with a focus on “peace be with you.”

All in all, a good read for those wanting to meditate on something other than their own fears. This is especially a good read on those feeling guilty and judged because of their fear and lack of faith. You get a picture of a very generous God who knows your fear and is near. If you are looking for very practical steps (what do I do this afternoon about…) you probably won’t get ready answers, though I think you could do the work to apply some of the principles to your daily life.

Good book Ed.

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November 5, 2007 · 5:57 am

When you just can’t wait for something


How long has it been since you found yourself unable to wait for tomorrow to come? As kids, we counted the days to Christmas, to the end of the school year (now those of us who are parents count the days until they go back). I got to thinking about this as I watched my son last night. We got home late and it was time for bed. But he had gotten a CD from a friend and he really wanted to listen to it. It was hard for him to accept that since some people were already sleeping, he couldn’t listen to the CD until morning. Fast forward to 6 am this morning when I’m telling him to wait a bit longer before playing it. It was all he could do to wait. He could think of nothing else until he played it.

When was the last time you felt the same way about meeting with God, reading his Word, getting to heaven? If kingdom members are to be like children, then do we remind ourselves that Christmas (heaven) is just around the corner. Do we meditate on this fact and keep it fresh in our minds? While my longing for heaven has increased with age, I must admit I don’t often jump for joy on Sunday mornings or just before bible readings. I spend far too much time meditating about the next deadline, the next project, the next problem to solve.

Lord, help me meditate on better things.

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