About Jay Adams
Hello Paul,
I hope you are well.
I wanted to ask if you have any thoughts or opinions on Jay Adam’s book Competent to Counsel? Would you recommend it as a book for counselling other Christians?
Kind regards,
Alan
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Hi Alan,
I am well, and hope you are the same.
Yes. Jay’s counseling approach, though a contradiction to his soteriology, is effective. It’s the ONLY effective approach in church circles. Furthermore, Jay’s counseling movement, which peaked in the 90s, was the only true spiritual revival in church history. All the other so-called revivals were Christian political movements labeled as spiritual revivals. The biggest example is the Great Awakening, which was really predicated on individual freedom and Americanism, and the likes of Whitfield and Edwards rode in on their horses and took credit for it. The church, while being overcome by a resurgence of authentic Protestantism circa 2006, began aggressively attacking Jay’s counseling construct, even referring to it as a false gospel.
paul
Steven Lawson Explained: The Protestant False Gospel
Steven Lawson had five years to consider what he had to lose by partaking in a relationship with a women other than his wife. I think Lawson is probably an ok guy, and fairly decent as far as people go, so now we can consider what he knew. He knew what the exposure would do to the cause of Christ, his peers, his family, and his followers. While he revealed his penchant for imagination by preaching about the agonizing details of hell to invoke fear in people, a hallmark that supposedly makes evangelical preaching superior, he was certainly able to imagine the pain he was going to inflict on many. He knew he would lose everything, and lastly, he knew that the relationship was not good for the young lady that he was endeared to. And, Steve Lawson is not stupid, he knew that the affair would eventually be exposed. If, as reported, the sexual aspect didn’t take place until the latter part of the relationship, he had several years to prevent what he had to know was inevitable.
But, he didn’t. Why? Because he couldn’t help himself. He was tied up and dragged away by his own lust. Folks, the Bible calls that enslavement to sin. We can also think about the guy in the Old Testament that raped Absalom’s sister. Absalom’s reputation as a vicious warrior preceded him. What did the guy think the result was going to be? Yet, his sexual lust tied him up and dragged him away into certain death. The Bible tells us that the guy was so consumed with lust for Absalom’s sister that he was bedridden with depression. He had to fulfill the lust he was enslaved to, even though he knew it meant certain death. Likewise, Lawson knew the consequences. Certainly, his conscience cried out to him many times and he was afforded years of escape, but he couldn’t stop.
The Bible has many demarcations between the saved and unsaved. One is enslaved to sin versus not enslaved to sin with the ability to “say no to sin.” So, why do true Christians fall prey to sin? Weakness, not enslavement. That’s why the lives of professing Christians should be demonstrably more virtuous than unbelievers or religionists. Obviously, Lawson couldn’t say no regardless of the consequences.
But wait, that’s the Protestant gospel. It conflates justification and sanctification, and denies a biblical definition of the new birth. It states that Christians still need to be saved (Piper), and that Christians are yet enemies of God (Tripp, Mahaney, Calvin, Luther et al). According to Protestantism, salvation is nothing more than a “legal declaration,” while there is no change in any “saved” person’s state of being. This means that every Protestant is still enslaved to sin by definition. Wouldn’t this explain the train wreck that is church (John Mark Hall) in general and the long list of fallen pastors in particular?
With this being said, I believe there is a difference between the intellectual testimony of some Protestants and their functionality. While some have a proper understanding of the new birth, and even showed signs of having a transformed state of being in the beginning, sitting under bad theology week after week can cause them to be functionally enslaved to sin. Either way, we hear constant testimonies from Protestants about falling into the same sins over and over again and chronic lack of assurance.
Lastly, let’s discuss more corruption that constantly flows from the Protestant industrial complex ruled by spiritual tyrants as would be expected due to a false gospel. What did Lawson’s peers know, and when? This was going on for 5 years and no one knew? Really? I can tell you that his wife knew. C’mon ladies, bear witness. Your husband could have a 5-year affair with another woman and you might not know? I don’t believe that. And if she knew, who else knew?
EVERY one of Lawson’s peers should have to publicly state on the record what they knew and when they knew it. On top of everything else, either Lawson performed an unprecedented level of deception, or many of his peers knew and remained silent.
And if that’s the case, it should be confessed.
paul
Let’s Talk About the Rapture and Possible “Golden Age”
I am a shameless believer in the Rapture, and I believe the insistence by Churchians that Christians will live through the Rapture comes from a justification by works mentality. On the one hand, the church moans and whines about how we are all broken and must escape to Jesus daily, but believing that Christians will be raptured to heaven before the Tribulation period is “escapism.” And so it goes, just another example of church cognitive dissonance.
And don’t you know, God supposedly plays word games. The Rapture isn’t imminent because Christ said we don’t know the “day or the hour,” but apparently, we can know the seven-year time frame. Nope, whether you are mid-trib or post-trib, the day can be pinpointed with the information stated in the Bible.
Regarding earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, and other present-day events, they have NOTHING to do with the Tribulation period. Nothing. What’s the difference? These events that take place during the Tribulation will trouble the whole world. Jesus said these events will be the beginning of real labor. In nursing, false labor and real labor are easily distinguished. During the Tribulation period, most of the world will know it is real labor, and that it will soon intensify.
We are not going to see a gradual increase in worldly woes because we are supposedly in the Tribulation period already or in real labor. Christ made it clear, his return will be like a thief coming in the night. And that return is obviously not his visible second coming at the end of the Tribulation period. There will be big picture signs that we are closer (eg, Israel becoming a state again), but we know that the passing of every day brings us closer as well.
This post is about another big picture event, if it happens. The new Trump administration is talking about ushering in a new “Golden Age” for America, and subsequently, the world. If this does occur because governments will no longer be obstructing individual creativity and upward mobility, this would be a big picture event that could be a prerequisite to the Rapture.
The Bible is also clear on the following point: the world will be enjoying peace and prosperity never before experienced and the Tribulation period will happen suddenly, and panic the world at large. There are many passages that could be cited to make this point, but the apostle Paul said that during a time when Israel lives in peace and safety, “sudden” destruction will come upon them. If America does occupy Gaza, virtually making the most powerful country in the world Israel’s next door neighbor, Isreal would certainly be living in peace.
Oh please, just stop it, I am not saying Trump is the Anti-Christ, but with that said, it will be someone like Trump who is a no nonsense problem solver. More than likely, the Trump doctrine is setting the stage for someone else who is coming later.
The main point of this post follows: the next big picture event before the Rapture is a golden age. And be careful, that does not speak to the population’s moral standing. While crime may be at an all-time low because of governmental restraint, biblical love will be scraping the bottom of the pickle barrel.
paul
Churchian Hallmarks Part 2
You need to be very careful that you are not looking in the mirror and describing yourself.
Or what? Sounds like a threat. I “NEED to be,” “VERY careful,” oh my. Oh, wait, that’s right, if I don’t submit to your authority, God will judge me. And thanks for telling me what I need. You see, tyrants always threaten us with their authority because they love the commoners. They are concerned with our, “needs.” The medieval church would execute you if you didn’t let them help you, because of the love, and this bunch are only different because of American jurisprudence. So, we best not forget another hallmark of spiritual tyranny, love bombing. Thanks for stopping by and furthering my point.
Churchian Hallmarks Part 1
Hmm, I came here hoping to see at least one of two sides presenting a clear, undistorted view of the other’s position as part of their response to it, and found only muddier waters. Oh well.
You are a classic Churchian.
First of all, you didn’t come here looking for clarity, you already know what you believe based on what preferred “experts” have told you. Secondly, you think you are always the smartest person in the room, because obviously, you think others and me are stupid enough to believe you came here looking for clarity. Thirdly, you came here to find fault, not clarity. Fourthly, you never address particular points of a view, but always pronounce a blanket unction that is either a thumbs up or a thumbs down based on the mantle of authority. What is the mantle of authority? Well, as a part of your man-worship, you believe everything you are told by the preferred experts minus any critical thinking, and, approach other views with the same authority, which you think you have because you sit under other authoritarians, viz, spiritual tyrants. In other words, you are a lower level spiritual tyrant who carries the mantle of authority from your rulers by proxy. So, you come here, and actually think that people will be swayed by your deceptive authoritarian unction. Lastly, you come here presenting yourself as an innocent seeker looking for objective answers, and your poor innocent soul is damaged by me because of my supposed inability to provide clarity. However, a cursory observation of the post reveals very clear points. Hence, this shows one of the classic marks of a spiritual tyrant, gaslighting.
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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