The Gospel Truth - The word 'gospel' simply means 'good news'. The word gospel is a word that is so tightly used of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ that it is usually understood to mean 'the good news about the Lord
Jesus Christ'. The phrase 'gospel truth' indicates the dependability of that good news; 'The truth of the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ'. The first four books of the New Testament of the Christian Bible are called gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) as they contain the good news testimonies of eyewitnesses who describe the life biography of our Lord Jesus Christ.Other Gospels - There are however 'other gospels' that are warned about in the Bible. Secular Humanism has provided 'other gospels' which the bible makes reference to. Christ opposed the Secular Humanist world view in His teachings. What he had to say was diametrically opposed to the viewpoint of Secular man today. Unfortunately even Christians are greatly influenced by Secular teachings and they often are unknowingly opposed in their viewpoint to the viewpoint of Christ.
The Secular Gospel of Evolution - One of the 'other gospels' we have briefly begun to discuss under the topic "What is ICC Truth". That topic is 'Evolution'. This doctrine is diametrically opposed to the Bible's doctrine of 'Creation'. This gospel offers 'good news' to Secular Humanists who do not wish to worship a Creator. If they are made of material beginnings from minerals in a primordial slime then they can avoid accountability to God for the way in which they chose to live their lives. We will have more to say about this. We are offering a free .pdf book or a low priced paper copy can be sent to you. Click on the following link to find out more about Evolution as it compares to the Gospel Truth. http://icctruth.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-is-icc-truth.html
The Secular Gospel of Psychology - (There are some aspects of Psychology which involve clinical research which is useful in understanding how people behave but the aspect we wish to address here is that of Psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is basically the aspect of talking about ones problems and helping people to cope using teachings which are foreign to the 'gospel truth' which were invented by atheists.)
The founding father of modern Psychology 'Sigmund Freud' referred to himself as a godless Jew. He was an atheist who was also a medical doctor. He did not agree that people suffering depression should receive their counselling from religious people. In fact in his writings he talked about repressions which were caused by religion which must be overcome. He saw one of the biggest problems that people have as guilt. He felt that if only a person could be made free from their conscience which accused people of their wrong doings they could be truly happy. Much of Freud's journalling was his attempt to face his own problems. It is thought that he himself may have been sexually abused as a child. He was obsessed with childhood sexuality of children under age 5 and had theories about lust for ones parents by underage children. Freud suffered bouts of depression all his life. Freud developed theories that he felt would cure depression, he even tried cocaine and prescribed to to some of his patients but he was never able to cure his own depression. In later life he committed doctor assisted suicide rather than face dying a slow and painful death brought on by throat cancer. This is ironic because one of the greatest fears used by Psychologists today to convince non-professionals that they should not counsel people suffering from depression is that the persons they are counselling could commit suicide and they will be guilty if they did not refer them for 'professional' counselling. It should be noted that 'Jung' also considered as one of the founding fathers of Psychology also committed doctor assisted suicide.
Comparing the various gospel 'good news' messages - The 'good news' (gospel) claimed by modern Psychotherapy is that man is basically good by nature and with the right mix of 'professional' counselling he is able to solve his own problems by talk therapy. There is nothing morally wrong with good people, their problems can be solved if we can release them from their feelings of guilt until recently explained as having been caused by their 'God given conscience' whose job it is to accuse them of their wrong doing. Freud devised his own explanation replacing the conscience with his contrived 'Ego', 'Id', and 'the subconscious' etc. There is no science to prove these exist other than in the imagination of Freud and the belief of his followers. The bottom line however is that Freud was able to devise a scheme by which the conscience could be explained as an evil within men that is only supportable by false teachings by religious people. The Bible teaches there is a conscience also called the 'spirit in a man' that God places it in a person to be their personal judge of the morality of their thoughts and activities. 27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart. (Proverbs 20:27). Also 14 .... these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. (Romans 2:14-16).
From the viewpoint of 'Gospel Truth';
- we will be held accountable for our obedience to the laws of God. We will have no excuse if we've lived lives that ignore the conscience which God has given to every man.
- becoming free of repression, which translates into freedom from obeying God's laws according to the judgement of the conscience God has given to everyone, will only result in God's final judgement.
- therefore the teachings of Psychology and Secular Humanism as expressed in the teachings of Freud's Humanistic Psychology are diametrically opposed to the traditional Judeo Christian teachings which are derived from the Bible.
Psychotherapy tries to put a band aid on what the bible calls sin. It does this by trying to help the patient find out where his 'repressions' come from. The counsellee is encouraged to talk about every sin that has been done against them in the past including teachings which are designed to make them feel guilty. Then the counsellee is instructed that they must do something to confront whoever sinned against them in order to 'let go' of the repression that they feel. The repression they feel is what the bible calls sin. Yes the sins of others may have been a contributing factor to a persons feelings of repression but they also have their own sins to deal with. By digging up the past nothing is done to cleanse the sinner. The method employed by Psychotherapy can be likened to continuous pealing of a scab before it has done its job of allowing the tissues under it to heal. Psychotherapy deceptively seek to build up ones 'self-esteem' by telling them that they have no sin, the feelings they are experiencing are repressions caused by others. Every attempt of Psychotherapy is to teach people that they are worthy (only they call it feelings of self-worth).
The bible has a different solution to man's sin. (sin may be defined as missing the goal that God has set for us. A person aware of their sin is aware of their unworthiness. The bible clearly claims that people must become aware of their unworthiness in order to have their conscience made clean. 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Heb 9:14).
Rather than justifying our wrong doings the bible says we ought to agree with God that we are guilty vile sinners in need of his forgiveness. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9).
The bible says we all have sinned that there is no one that hasn't sinned. 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23a).
The bibles answer to sin is confession, not psychotherapy and witch hunts to find out who has sinned against us. The bible expects everyone to take account of their own sins and to be seeking reconciled to each other and God himself by confession. The bible tell us that all who are reconciled to God are to be agents of His reconciliation to our fellow man. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-20).
To give counsel to people there is only one requirement given by the bible. We must ourselves have experience reconciliation from God of our sins. Being reconciled to God also entails doing our part to be reconciled to others. Then we are told that we are ambassadors of reconciliation to others. The conscience tells us of our need for reconciliation. Psychotherapy looks for ways to turn off the messages from our conscience. We are told that we should not listen to our conscience; In fact we are told to be guided by our 'subconscious'; something which cannot be proven to exist. Psychotherapy will help a person to feel good about themselves by turning off the neurotransmitters which are telling them that something is wrong about themselves. There are a whole class of Psychotropic drugs now being prescribed to people to help turn off these transmitters in their brains. Basically what they are doing is deadening their conscience from speaking to them and dulling their minds in the process. In the name of balance they are throwing their brains out of chemical balance in order to block the messages of low self-esteem that are the result of sin. These messages that we receive from our conscience are like a tooth-ache that tells us there is a problem. We can either address the problem by having our conscience cleansed or we can solve it by deadening the conscience. 2 ... having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, (1 Timothy 4:2).
The word Pharmakia from which we get the word pharmacy is used 4 times in the Bible. It is the word translated in the KJV bible as sorcery. The bible expects us to repent (turn away from) of sorcery and any other sins if we are to be reconciled with God but it predicts that people will rarely do this. Drugs should be the last resort with the intention of removing them as quickly as possible. The best solution is to have good endorphins being transmitted naturally which are caused by having a clean conscience. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality.... (Revelation 9:20-21).
Not only is a clean conscience important for this life but it is important for all eternity. It is so important to have a clean conscience that God was willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for us who are unworthy in order that we might be cleansed from all our unworthiness (the bible calls it unrighteousness) and that we might enter into right relationship with God. The bible presents this as the solution to all problems known to man pertaining to the soul (greek word for soul is Psyche. Freud knew what he was doing when he used the word Psyche to describe the Science falsely so-called that he was inventing.) For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. (Hebrews 10:2).
Truly this is good news! We have no need to sear our conscience by the aid of Psychotherapy! This is one aspect of the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Only One Gospel - The bible is clear that it is diametrically opposed to man's solutions for the soul. There is only one 'True Gospel'. 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-10).
A word of warning - If you have been currently receiving Pschotropic drugs under the care of a Psychologist or Psychiatrist I recommend that you find counsel from a church Pastor who can work with your professional healthcare worker to wean you off these drugs. Because your body is used to the drugs any sudden departure from them can cause you to experience severe withdrawl symptoms which you will require help to accomplish. It is now the case that withdrawl from medication or overdosing on medication accounts for more than half of all drug-related deaths in the USA. Proceed with caution. Unfortunately almost all churches have bought into Psychotherapy today they even boast of something called "Christian Psychology". If they need convincing to help you or perhaps you yourself need some convincing I recommend that you watch these videos by Dave Hunt of the Berean Call Ministry. http://www.bereancall.org/
Psychology and the Church (Pt. 1/6)
Psychology and the Church (Pt. 2/6)
Psychology and the Church (Pt. 3/6)
Psychology and the Church (Pt. 4/6)
Psychology and the Church (Pt. 5/6)
Psychology and the Church (Pt. 6/6)
To obtain the book and DVD that these videos were based on ask for "Psychology and the Church" by Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon ISBN #978-1-928660-61-3 at your favourite bookstore. It may also be ordered from the Berean Call. http://www.thebereancall.org/
Other topics discussed by Berean Call's internet radio program
Are Psychologists Witch Doctors?
The Church and Psychology
Is Psychology A Science?
How Did Psychology Enter The Church?
Is Psychology Of God Or Of Satan?
How Can Psychology Undermine Christians?
From Pastor To Psychologist
The Origins Of Psychotherapy
Is Psychology Ungodly Counsel?
Is Our Criticism Of Psychology Causing Harm?
Has The Church Sold Its Birthright To Psychology?
Some Of The Myths Of Psychology
Is Psychotherapy Just Conversation?
Is Psychotherapy Only Subjective Opinion?
Is Psychotherapy Based upon Science?
Is Psychology Satan's Greatest Scheme?
Is Psychology Connected To Eastern Religion?
Is Psychology A Belief System?
If Doctors Can Treat the Body, Why Not the Mind?
Psychiatrists And Religion
The Berean Call are not the only ones who are saying something about Psychology and the Church.
False Doctrines of Christian Psychology 02 Part 1
False Doctrines of Christian Psychology 02 Part 2
Free e-books
Made available by PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/
PsychoHeresy: The Psychological Seduction of Christianity
Competent to Minister: The Biblical Care of Souls
Christ-Centered Ministry versus Problem-Centered Counseling
The End of "Christian Psychology"
12 Steps to Destruction: Codependency Recovery Heresies
Four Temperaments, Astrology & Personality Testing
Hypnosis: Medical, Scientific or Occultic?
Against "Biblical Counseling": For the Bible
Larry Crabb's Gospel
James Dobson's Gospel of Self-Esteem & Psychology
Missions & Psychoheresy
CRI (Christian Research Institute) Guilty of PSYCHOHERESY?
TheoPhostic Counseling: Divine Revelation? OR PsychoHeresy?
Other recommended reading
The Question of God (C.S.Lewis & Sigmund Freud) debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life by Dr. Armond M. Nicholi, Jr. ISBN# 0-7432-4785-X
This Little Church went to market by Gary Gilly ISBN #0-85234-596-8
This Little Church stayed home by Gary Gilly ISBN #0-85234-603-4
Competent to Counsel by Jay E. Adams ISBN #0-310-51140-2
The Christian Counselling Manual by Jay E. Adams ISBN #0-310-51150-X
Introduction to Biblical Counselling by John F. McCarthur Jr & Wayne A. Mack ISBN #084-9910-935
Why Christians Can't Trust Psychology by Ed Buckley, Phd. ISBN #1-56507-026-7
Conclusion
The most important thing that you must do immediatlely is to become reconciled with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Contact us and we will gladly assist you to do this although it is something you can do yourself by humbly asking God to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
If you believe that Jesus died for your sins and that he offers to live in you you can ask him to do what he promises to do, to come into your life and make you the kind of person he wants you to be. I recommend that you read the gospel of John in the Bible. Pay special attention to chapter 14.
I have 2 messages that you can listen to which may be of assistance to you; the second one called 'Abiding' is based on John 14.
Why Does God Allow Suffering? - http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/audio/1/MsgsOfHope/A_WhyDoesGodAllowSuffering_RLuff_AAA050717.mp3
Abiding in Christ. - http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/audio/1/MsgsOfHope/B_AbidingInChrist_Jn14_RLuff_AAB050717.mp3
We would be glad to direct you and pray for you. Send us an email at icctruth@rogers.com. Our skype id is 'BibleDoor' for those of you that use Skype (google it if you need it.)
Ray Luff,
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