His Mansion puts Biblical Counselor on Staff

According to Stan Farmer's latest missive, His Mansion has hired a new counselor. The counselor does have a bachelor's degree in psychology, but their Masters is in biblical counseling. What makes matters worse, the Masters degree comes from Westminster Theological Seminary, one of the most reactionary anti-mentally ill seminaries in the country, with close ties to the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF), another major biblical counseling-supporting group. I respectfully urge His Mansion to recruit someone whose degree is from a more forward-looking seminary than Westminster

Note to Memoir Readers

Hey, all my kind memoir readers, I just have a request. Let me know whether you think this memoir is publishable by a traditional publisher or should instead be directed towards a print-on-demand or other alternative source of publication. I tend to think it's not going to be well-written enough or interesting to a wide enough readership to go the traditional route, but I wanted to get your ideas too. Thanks.

God, the Devil, and Cognitive Dissonance

I recently finished reading the End of the Affair, by Graham Greene, a deeply moving Catholic novel that I could relate to on many levels. Basically, it's about fleeing God, even when you believe it is likely He exists (let me add that the novel is, in my opinion, deeply pro-faith. And also fair to non-believers as well). It made me think about my own faith experience growing up in the evangelical church, and what doctrines I was more able to rid myself of than others. One thing that I've noticed is how completely I've been able to erase the idea of the Devil from my mind, yet how hard it is for me to erase God from my mind at the same time. Why is that? And why is the God I know seem like a malevolent deity? I wonder, if in some sense, now, God plays both roles, both Succubus and Saint, Deity and Diabolic, Christ and Crucifier. I don't think the Devil idea ever had as much sway over me as over other Christians, not because I didn't believe in the Devil, but because I felt blaming the Devil and demons for my own sins was a way of avoiding responsibility. I think I still feel that. But God, Abba Father, is someone who I yearn to both love and kill, and I'm never sure which impulse rules me from moment to moment. I'm caught permanently in a state of flux between belief and unbelief, usually leaning towards the latter, but part of me still yearning for a Jesus who loves my kind - the unforgiven, the damned, the mentally ill, the disabled. But in the modern world, it is only the supposed servants of the Devil, those heretic Wiccans and agnostics, who seem to care for the spiritually disabled. And so I cast my lot with the damned, for though I am not of their faith, I am sprung from the same barren soil.

Interesting thought from Adams

Since I usually criticize Jay Adams, I also wanted to present one of his more intelligent comments as well. I don't agree with all or even most of this essay, but Adams, unlike many other biblical counselors, realizes the implications of locating memory in the brain. If I understand Adams correctly, he speculates about how memory survives after death, if the mind is just a function of the brain. Here, one can see Adams struggling with a central issue that neuroscience presents to the Christian believer, and I can understand his consternation at this problem, as it has also troubled me from time to time. I don't think the correct answer is to divorce mind from brain, or to create the syncretic relationship that Adams suggests, but he is at least offering some smart questions here, and I respect that.

Mark Driscoll jumping on the biblical counseling bandwagon

From this post, it sounds like Mark Driscoll, a combination Emergent-Reformed evangelical, may be jumping on the biblical counseling bandwagon, and perhaps the sheparding bandwagon. With the problems the Reformed Church is already having from the influx of Pentecostal-Reformed syncreticism (Sovereign Grace Ministries in particular), this is not good news, either for the Reformed Church or for the mentally ill.

Memoir almost ready to go out

Hey guys, just wanted to give you a heads up. The memoir is finished, and spellchecked. If anyone is willing to run their eyes over it for a proofread, that would be a big help. If not, I'll hire someone to do it, as my dissertation and job search is preventing me from working on this continously. Let me know (and if you have any suggestions about the text, give those too, though I may not be able to implement them). Thanks so much for your interest in this process.

Jay Adams on irresponsibility

Jay Adams has recently blogged on irresponsibility among counselees. According to Adams, it is one of the chief problems that faces contemporary biblical counselors. Adams writes: "The irresponsible counselee leaves things around, and wonders who took them. He doesn’t have his car serviced and has to pay large bills down the road when the motor blows up. He cannot be trusted to fulfill a task at church—even though he volunteered to do it. He is in trouble on every front.
How do you deal with irresponsibility?
Since it is a life-dominating sin, it pervades all one does. That means a total restructuring of his lifestyle is necessary. He must recognize the overall pattern, desire to change it, and determine how to live differently in every slice of the pizza of life. Slice the pizza into the following pieces, if you will: physical life, church life, work/school life, social life, family life (and/or as many other slices as you fancy). Then, probe in each area to see how irresponsibility is affecting the counselee."

What is the cure for irresponsibility, according to Adams? Recognizing the problem and repenting over it.

One should be careful not to dismiss Adams charges here out of hand. Even some mental illnesses, such as OCD, require that a counselee be at least partly responsible for their own care and attitude (I would not argue this for bipolar or schizophrenia, however). But being responsible for one's attitude and admitting guilt for sin are two totally separate concepts. Moreover, irresponsibility may be caused by factors beyond a person's control. Bipolar disorder, for instance, has been shown to increase people's impulsiveness, resulting in many unwise decisions. Should a bipolar person feel guilty for these decisions, when they may very well be caused by biochemical imbalances in his brain? Like so much of Adams's writing, his ideas are perhaps innocuous when applied to the "normal" client, but can be sometimes devastating when applied to the mentally ill.