TURN TO JESUS
I was once invited to address a high school in the North West province in an affluent farming community where three teenage suicides in short succession rocked the small town. A minister from the Reformed tradition had invited me there and I was given almost one and a half hours to address the students after which time I put out a strong appeal to repent from all sinful behaviour and turn to Jesus Christ as Savior. More than 800 young people responded positively. That morning I shared the stage with five other ministers from various church denominations. They were visibly shaken by the positive response of the students and promised to get involved in the follow-up. Afterwards, we were having tea in the local minister’s study and he confessed guilt at not being able to prevent the suicides due to a lack of knowledge on counselling drug and depression-related issues. I asked him if he had any training in psychology whilst studying in Seminary to which he replied in the negative. He did receive some training in the counselling methods of Dr Jay Adams and had several of his handbooks, which he added he did not handle since he left university. So feeling ill-equipped to deal with the apparent psychological problems of these young boys he referred them to a pastoral psychologist in a nearby town and lost track of their situation. Two of the boys had family members in his congregation and so he presided at their funerals. Without heaping further condemnation on his head, I asked him why he did not at least consult the handbooks he had, which would have given him more than enough guidance from the Bible on how to handle the fears and anxiety these boys were faced with.
TEXTBOOK ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
No matter how much we theorize about counselling methods, the Word of God is more than sufficient to act as the Textbook on human behaviour from God’s perspective. We cannot fall for the lies with which Satan wants to rob the Church of her God-given authority. When Jesus stated that all the authority God gave Him he has passed unto us we must believe that. Matthew 10:1 says:
“And when He had called to Him His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. “
The word heal in this context is therapeuō in the Greek original text. Belief therapy is all about exposing lies and replacing them with the Truth of the Word. Many people are sick and disease-ridden today because of the poisonous chemicals they are being fed in the name of secular therapy.
WE ALL HAVE POWER
We have power over all the lies and strategies of the Devil and need not take second place to any other man-made theory or philosophy when it comes to dealing with any issue a congregation member of counselee may have. What is necessary though is that we are adequately trained in the Truth in order to identify lying spirits, mental strongholds and vain imaginations. When Christ sends us out to proclaim the Gospel and heal the sick it includes physical, mental, emotional and spiritual sickness. I mean; where did Paul, Timothy and all the other Apostles get their training from other than from the guidance of the Holy Spirit through Scripture.
THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY
When studying the root of the psychological tree of knowledge I was not surprised to find that both Jung and Freud had abused cocaine, suffered from many mental disorders and were both deeply involved in the occult. This information can be researched and traced on several websites and is present in much of their own writing. In one of his books titled “Psychology and the Occult”, Carl Jung states that the science of psychology is founded on the occult. In other writings, he confirmed that much of his theories were channelled to him by a spirit being called “Philemon”. In my simplistic mind, this puts this wonderful science of the mind in the same context as the following Scriptures:
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”
“Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead.”
DR KRIGE AND HOUSE REGENERATION
This adapted content was extracted from If not Rehab…what then? by Dr Ado Krige, the Founding Director of House Regeneration, a South African drug rehabilitation centre offering a comprehensive discipleship training program. By applying principles of Biblical Therapy, using the Scriptures to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness, House Regeneration counsellors show anyone who has suffered from addiction how to fully understand why they do what they do and how to bring their belief systems in line with the Word of God.
