Speak The Truth

Episode Notes:– Marital Case study – Doing a thorough assessment of their sexual backgrounds, what they’ve experienced personally, what they’ve observed by their parents or familial context, etc. – Are there emotional, physical, or psychological issues that are affecting the there sex life, frequency, duration, etc. – What’s going on in their hearts? – Be quicker to focus on the vertical than the horizontal in their marriage.   

Episode Notes: ◎ Self Forgiveness: Can you forgive yourself? ◎ In order to have forgiveness, there needs to be an offender and a victim. ◎ People who use this statement are really dealing with something, but this isn't a correct articulation or rendering of what one is working out. ◎ 2 Cor. 7.8-10 is a text that does speak to grief; worldly grief vs. godly grief.  ◎ Godly grief produces life and worldly grief produces death. ◎ they need to move through worldly grief, over sin,  to godly grief over sin to life and freedom. ◎ We cannot remove or renounce God’s judgment, and pronounce ourselves as judge….we need to humble ourselves and let God be God. ◎ It’s not self-forgiveness, but rather, receiving the full measure of grace that Christ accomplished on the cross.   ◎ It's not self-forgiveness, but embracing God’s grace. ◎ Self-forgiveness is emotively based.  ◎ The object of godly grief was not to alleviate the grief, but that it would produce something beautiful in a person, an effort to change one’s life.   Episode Resources- Piper Audio from DesiringGod- Gospel Coalition Article - Robert D. Jones Book - I can't forgive myself 

◎ The counselor and their counseling methods◎ How to’s ◎ the time away from the counseling room is where the majority of our method is drawn for homework. ◎ the extent of homework is contingent upon the counselee; every counselee is different therefore, the amount or frequency of any homework is based on the nature of the situation and the person working through it. ◎ ABC offers a variety of "homework helps" for counselors and their counselee’s. ◎ The heart of the matter series; practical sheet - heart log - where the counselee captures the situation, their emotions, thoughts, desires, and behaviors.  ◎ Often times, our homework given is based on reorienting someone’s way they interact with scripture. ◎ Watch out for those “Sunday School” answers, help your counselee wrestle by engaging with the scriptures in a way that incites their hearts and their situation.  Episode Resources: Christian Counseling - counseling homework helps 

Episode summary:In this episode, the hosts discuss cultivating some counseling methods with the analogy of a farmer, which as biblical counselors we're taking God's Word and sowing it with our counselee's, and the importance of being encouraged through engaging our peers with prayer, and God's Word. Episode Notes: Discussion based on Ch. 13 of Jeremy’s new book, “biblical counseling basics”As Counselor’s we’re bringing access to a  myriad of identities; we could be an ambassador for another kingdom, we could be being used as an instrument of mercy and grace. Biblical counseling is a process of learned dependency. We're farmers in those moments in counseling; it's God who brings the harvest in someone's life and how he chooses to use the seeds we plant as biblical counselors. As biblical counselors, we have something that even the most renown scholar in psychology doesn't have, we have the Holy Spirit. And he is even more committed to the people we counsel, so we don't need to be doubtful in our ability. As a farmer, we're focusing more on the scriptures than the skills.

Show Resources: Bigstuf CampSalem Heights ChurchCCEF Conferences 

Episode Notes:   A biblical anthropology rooted in the gospel completely rewires human psychology from the way we think and to our affections. In counseling, we’re not trying to better the old man, but rather, we’re trying to cultivate the new man.  Humanism’s anthropology is to try and better the old man, which cannot accomplish what it sets out to do.  Gospel driven counseling is set to cultivate the new man as described by scripture.  Loyalty war that rages within, the fight for worship. The flesh is set on worshiping creation and self, where the spirit is set on having us worship God.  The Holy Spirit is at work in us to transform our desires, and to set them upon The LORD.  The hierarchy of needs model is a passive heart approach, but a biblical model says the heart will elevate an appropriate desire to an inappropriate level rendering them even sinful.  Episode Resources: Ed Welch Paul Tripp  St. Augustin Martin Luther James K. A. Smith You Are What You Love Johnathan Edwards - The Freedom of the will Abraham Maslow - Hierarchy of needs  

Episode Notes: The Imago Dei; we are made in God’s image, and we’re to be imaging(mirroring)who God is in order to bring him glory. There is no Imago Dei in humanistic thought, it's just the id, superego, etc. that there is nothing inherently wrong with man, its just the impact and influence of his environment.  The “S” word; sin isn’t even a category in humanism.  A scenario of adultery would be blamed on something in the brain, some disorder, manic episode of bipolar, etc, but wouldn’t be looked at as sin.  In biblical counseling, we’re to go beyond just reducing sin to behaviors, but we want to acknowledge its a spiritual disease that still has influence on what we’re thinking, feeling, and ultimately act.     Jesus points out the real problem with our hearts, our propensity to try and serve two masters - we will functionally love the one and hate the other. Masters of our flesh and pursuing our desires, or pursuing God and his will.  There are huge differences between these worldview’s; even the category of forgiveness is is lost in translation. Humanism would treat forgiveness as an emotional process, not a moral command like a biblical worldview would treat forgiveness. A biblical worldview would say, forgiveness is the bases to work on my anger verses the humanistic view of process through your emotion and then forgive.   

Episode Notes: Establishing both views; secular worldview on anthropology and a biblical worldview of anthropology.  Humanism began to take an overt stance in psychology by Abraham Maslow, founder of humanistic psychology.  Humanism has man at the center of everything.  Egocentrism unfortunately has crept into the evangelical church with its ear tickling.  Symptom alleviation, better circumstances, etc.  Darwinian evolution had a huge impact on psychology.  The world started from primordial soup, and over billions of years, we evolved from fish to philosophers - being factious.  Freud - psychosexual development - all our human development has a foundation in our sexuality.  Id - darker side, tempted us, superego - our conscience, ego - the mediator  Our view of human nature drives our diagnostic framework.  Carl Rogers believed - non directional approach, given a positive direction, the client would find their potential and flourish.  Our view of human nature not only tells us what’s wrong but also provides a prescription to make things right.  Alfred Kinsey - father of propagating the sexual revolution.  Show Resources: Biblical Counseling Basics - Jeremy Lelek

Show Notes: Resisting big God theology in counseling: Is the Holy Spirit a gentlemen?  Is the Holy Spirit a gentlemen, would he ever impose himself when believers aren’t ready?  Does scripture teach this idea?  Phil. 2The New Testament, Galatians 5 for example, demonstrates that these two natures are against one another. One is of the flesh and one is of the spirit.   The flesh produces flesh, one will not come to god when they’re  ready.   Show Resources: The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich BonhoefferChosen By God - R.C. Sproul The illusion of a gentleman god - monergism article 

Show Notes:The Holy Spirit in counseling.  How does the Holy Spirit apply what Christ accomplished? He is the one who brings change, real change. Not behavioral modification, etc.  John 14:15-17  The Spirit is the one who brings about change, His timing.  Who is the Holy Spirit He regenerates God's people(jn. 3.5; Titus 3.5) He produces conviction of sin(Jn. 16.8) He reveals truth through God’s Word(Jn. 16.13) See the rest: pg. 122 of biblical counseling basics; its roots, beliefs, and future.  The third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit has claimed the terrain of human flourishing. Pg.122  How can we apply this to the local church?  The Holy Spirit is more committed to the process of change for an individual than we can accomplish. In other words, we don’t possess the power to make someone change, that is, and can only be accomplished by the Spirit of God.   God uses three change agents; people, circumstances, and spiritual disciplines.  Be public with our weaknesses  Show Resources Mentioned: When God Weeps - Joni Eareckson TadaJoni's talk from the 2017 Called to Counsel Conference - Video