PsychoHeresy Unawareness: Dr. John Street Shot the Sheriff, but He Didn’t Shoot the Deputy
Originally posted September 30, 2012
No doubt, PAM reveals many problems with the biblical counseling movement that one may expect when it is based on a false gospel. But John Street’s real sin is his participation in a mass propagation of a false gospel.
Dr. John Street, founder of Clearcreek Chapel in Springboro, Ohio has finally made it big in the biblical counseling movement. This is evident from the fact that he has become a target of PAM (PsychoHeresy Awarness Ministries). PAM is directed by Martin and Deidre Bobgan who, without a doubt, are the most formidable critics of the “biblical” counseling movement.
John Street is an elder at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in California, and the Chair of the graduate program for biblical counseling at the seminary associated with MacArthur’s church. Also, last time I checked, Street is the president of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC).
In the most recent PAM newsletters, (http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/street_tmc&s.html and http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/street_tmc&s_2.html) Street is barbecued for practicing counseling methods that the Bobgans deem unbiblical. PAM primarily decries the biblical counseling movement’s “problem-centered counseling” verses “Christ-centered Ministry” (http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/e-books/CCMpcc-ebk.pdf ).
I am not sure what PAM means by “Christ-centered ministry,” but it seems to be a passive approach regarding the disciple’s role in sanctification:
This is why we say that those who minister to one another need to get in the way and out of the way. They need to be available, but they need to let God work rather than push their own agenda.
The idea of pushing our own agenda could mean “let go and let God” instead of pushing an agenda that just so happens to be God’s agenda. The wording is unsettling. Elsewhere the Bobgans write the following:
Christ-centered ministry encourages spiritual growth and depends on the Lord to do the work in each individual through His Word and Spirit. Therefore, one can confidently assure believers that this ministry is more effective, long-lasting, and spiritually rewarding than problem-centered counseling for those who are willing to go this way.
Depend on the Lord to do the work? At the very least, the Bobgans need to clarify their position more thoroughly because by and large, gospel contemplationism is the primary thrust of NANC counseling. One wonders if PAM is accusing NANC of what they are guilty of: an overly passive approach to sanctification.
And, NANC, when they were (past tense) helping many people, encouraged an aggressive role in sanctification by the counselee. Christians are called to “study to show thyself approved,” and then aggressively apply that truth to their lives in order to have a life built on a rock (Matthew 7:24).
This was NANC’s approach in the past, and it did result in massive professions of faith, and real lasting change. I know; I was there; I am a firsthand witness. This was before David Powlison via CCEF and company infiltrated NANC with the gangrene of progressive justification. Unbelievably, in broad daylight, Powlison admitted (during a lecture at John Piper’s church while Piper was on sabbatical searching for different “species of idols” in his heart) that NANC’s “first generation” counseling was in contention with “second generation counseling” over the very definition of the gospel!
And this is my point: PAM is focused on the supposed evil of “problem-centered” counseling (is the gospel itself not problem-centered? The gospel did not come to solve a problem?) while the real issue is that NANC and CCEF both propagate a blatant false gospel. The counseling is based on the fusion of justification and sanctification with gospel contemplationism as its practical application.
CCEF’s counseling is based on Sonship theology. Dr. Jay E. Adams nailed that doctrine specifically as the fusion of justification and sanctification in his book, “Biblical Sonship” published in 1999. Adams, in the book, decried Sonship’s position that regeneration is powered by the finished work of justification. CCEF then effectively infiltrated NANC and took it over with the same doctrine. I use over 200 pages to document all of this in “The Truth About New Calvinism” (thetruthaboutnewcalvinism.com).
Hence, we must assume that NANC counseling yields many ill results, and I will say this: PAM points them out though they are missing the much larger issue. Case in point:
The truth is that counselors and especially counselors with an agenda (their particular approach) too often take credit for successes and attribute failures to the counselees. The trumping truth is that success is primarily in the hands of the counselees….
And worse yet, the counselee’s “failure” ends up in church discipline!
Also:
Problem-centered counseling is typically a one-to-one relationship. Sometimes couples and families are involved, but the relationship is generally artificial and restrictive. The counseling relationship itself usually does not extend outside the counseling room. The relationship lasts as long as counseling is being provided and normally does not extend to other involvement, even in most biblical counseling centers. Problem-centered counselors commonly do not involve themselves with counselees outside the counseling room. That is why both psychological and biblical counselors sometimes use intake forms requesting a great deal of personal information. Because this relationship is generally isolated, the counselor and counselee can be selective as to what they want to reveal about themselves. In fact, as we mentioned earlier, research shows that counselees often lie to their counselors and protect themselves by concealing important information.
The great advantage of Christ-centered ministry is that it is not limited to an artificial one-to-one relationship where one has the problem and the other supposedly has the solution. In the Body of Christ all are growing together. there are many opportunities to know one another and to interact in genuine relationships. When a believer is experiencing problems, more than one person may be involved in ministering to that individual. One may be teaching. One may be reminding. Another may simply be extending support and fellowship. Another may be helping in practical ways. Another may be exhorting. Another may be admonishing. And, in a few cases, some may be exercising the responsibility of disciplining a fellow believer for the sake of restoration. But, all can be praying and encouraging the individual in the direction of the Lord. And, through all this, all are growing together and the relationships may deepen with one another as well as with the Lord.
No doubt, PAM reveals many problems with the biblical counseling movement that one may expect when it is based on a false gospel. But John Street’s real sin is his participation in a mass propagation of a false gospel. It reminds me of Eric Clapton’s ode to one who objects to being accused of shooting a deputy when he really shot the sheriff.
paul
Today’s Christian Husband and Father: Killing His Family with Awesome Preaching
Originally posted December 6, 2012
Bob is on his way to Jerry’s house for dinner. Bob is the chairman of their church’s elder board. Jerry is being considered for eldership and Bob will be dining at his house for a pre-interview en lieu of further discussion. Pizza is the cuisine. And apparently, not just on this night—Bob notes that every trashcan in the house is stuffed with pizza boxes. Dishes full of M & Ms also adorn many of the table tops. Bob is taken to the kitchen by Jerry to meet his wife, and Bob perceives no less than twenty-five bags of potato chips staked about in various places. One corner of the kitchen is occupied with a tall stack of Coca-Cola 12packs. Big on taste—small in nutrition.
Precious few will disagree that Bob’s family is headed for serious health problems if they do not change their ways. Yet, Bob is a picture of how the vast majority of Christian husbands oversee the spiritual diets of their families. However, the “Bob” motif falls woefully short of making the point; at least Bob knows what his family is eating for better or worse. Christian husbands of our day don’t even know the difference between Redemptive Historical hermeneutics and Grammatical Historical hermeneutics. In fact, when the subject comes up, a rolling of the eyes follows.
That’s because the preaching/teaching is awesome where they go to church. Uncompromising, and God glorifying. As one pastor exhorted me when inquiring about what hermeneutic he used in his preaching: “Come and see if it tastes good, and if you still want to, we will talk about theology.” But I never doubt it will taste good. Who doesn’t love pizza for dinner, potato chips as a side, Coke to drink, and M&Ms for desert?
Fact is, nearly 90% of preaching/teaching in today’s American church is fundamentally based on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. This document is the very heart of the Reformation and the engine that drives the present-day New Calvinist movement. Its premise was based on the idea that all spiritual reality, wisdom, and truth comes from the combination of two perspectives, and only these two: the holiness of God, and the wretchedness of all men whether they are Christians or not. Luther called this perspective the “theology of the cross.” It has come to be known as Gospel-Centered preaching/teaching. It is also the foundation of the Calvin Institutes. Everything in the Calvin Institutes, in some way, points to the glory of God “as set against our sinfulness.”
This has become job one: as described in the Heidelberg Disputation; this way of teaching is the “cross story,” and all other spiritual wisdom is the “glory story.” Hence, the contemporary clarion call of the Reformation derived from Luther’s Disputation is, the centrality of the objective gospel outside of us. Anything at all that has anything to do with us is “subjective,” and part of the “glory story.” Unless it concerns our wretchedness. Therefore, the Disputation ridiculed a negative attitude towards suffering as well for this serves to further reveal our woeful state in life which magnifies the redemptive work of Christ and our utter worthlessness. The whole motif can be visualized by the following Reformed chart:
Yes, you can preach wonderful sermons on those two dimensions. They are both abundantly true. Charles Spurgeon is known as the “prince of preachers.” All of his sermons are based on the “cross story.” All, I repeat “all” of John Piper’s sermons and the (seems like) 600 books he has written are based on nothing but, I repeat, nothing but the “cross story.” Amen, pass the potato chips. In circa 1994, John MacArthur abandoned the “glory story” aspects of his preaching and now focuses on the “cross story.” Amen, pass the M&Ms. And those babies slide down nice with a big swig of Coca-Cola.
“But Paul, what’s so sweet about focusing on our own wickedness?” My dear friend, haven’t you seen any Staples commercials? It’s easy. You totally stink. Nothing is expected of you: “Hey honey! Good news! We don’t change! Our marriage isn’t about a bunch of do’s and don’ts! Our failures make us wiser!” That was easy. In fact, teachers like Michael Horton and John Piper continually espouse the idea that expectations are just, “more bad news.” And regarding leaders? “Alright, time to prepare my message for tomorrow, and all I have to do is look for two things, and two things only in the text: how great God is, and how bad we are.” That was easy. In fact, we find the following on a well-known Reformed blog regarding instruction on how to prepare a Bible lesson:
At this time, resist the temptation to utilize subsequent passages to validate the meaning or to move out from the immediate context. Remembering that all exegesis must finally be a Christocentric exegesis.
Look for Christ even if He isn’t there directly. It is better to see Christ in a text even if He isn’t, than to miss Him where He is.
But as the apostle asked rhetorically, “What saith the Scriptures?” Is there another story other than the “cross story”? Anybody interested in the House on a Rock story?
Matthew 7:24 -“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Learn and do. That’s how we have a life built on a rock. It is the very definition of a disciple:
Matthew 19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So, here is my suggestion. When you go to church this Sunday, and other days following that involve sitting under the teachings of your leaders, take a legal pad with you. Draw a line at a downward angle on the bottom labeled, “our sin.” Draw a line at the top with an upward angle, and label it “Christ.” Then draw a line in the middle and label it, “What? Why? And How?” Or, “Not only what Jesus did, but what did He SAY?” Or simply, “Life built on a rock.” If there isn’t a three-dimensional balance—get out of there. You either love your family or you don’t. You will be judged by Christ accordingly.
I was approached by my wife Susan this morning. My son by marriage had approached her asking questions about demonology. Apparently, he had questions concerning some things he had heard about the subject (demonology) in the secular realm. I was astonished; though both of them have been in church for a combined total of 72 years, they didn’t even know the basics regarding this subject. My wife wanted to know the answers to his questions—other than the usual answers: “Jesus” and “gospel.”
And if we don’t know, the world will gladly inform our children accordingly. Knowledge equals authority.
Men, wake up.
paul
The Church’s In-House Persecution for the Offence of Thinking
We hear much ado in our day about Christians being persecuted overseas and in this country as well. However, an often-missed persecution going on in the evangelical church is against their own parishioners for free thinking and inductive thinking in general. Yours truly was ridiculed for years within the institutional church for expanding my religious vocabulary. Often said to me was, “Listen here brother, is this a Sunday school or a seminary?” “Brother, don’t give me big words, just give me Jesus.” These complaints are often lodged by Christians with post graduate degrees in the liberal arts. Why? This is because of the traditional dichotomy between faith and knowledge in Protestantism. “Why is there such a dichotomy?” That’s a great interpretive question that we will pursue, and the answer is not difficult, yet troubling.
Christians being excommunicated for asking too many questions and wanting answers to boot is a literal epidemic in this country. It starts with a simple question in regard to something heard in the teaching, and the non-answer given. This makes the inquisitor suspicious and uncomfortable—making them think something about their church isn’t exactly square. This leads to persistence as a matter of trust, and things escalate from there. From the viewpoint of this ministry, for whatever reason, it is primarily wives who won’t back down. And for whatever reason in our day, Christian women are at the forefront of discernment hands down. This results in men being threatened with church discipline if “you don’t get your wife under control.” Again, this is presently an epidemic in the evangelical church.
Be sure of this: the evangelical church is anti-intellectual, and this is often the valid argument launched against it by atheists. Since my interest in the connection between inductive reasoning and the Bible, many opportunities for dialogue with atheists have opened up to me. I am finding that many of these “atheists” believe that there is a God, but were raised in the church and taught that faith and reason are mutually exclusive; so, being unwilling to part with reason, they reject Christianity altogether.
Where does this belief that is akin to Eastern mysticism come from; the belief that reason and faith are mutually exclusive? It came from the founder and hero of our Protestant faith, Martin Luther. Luther believed that the material world is evil and only the invisible is good. Reason is alright for worldly matters, or matter itself, but reason and faith are mutually exclusive. Luther despised the application of reason to faith calling reason an “ugly whore who should have dung rubbed in her face to make her ugly.” So, rigorous learning regarding the liberal arts is admirable, but such learning applied to faith is spiritual whoredom, and my friends, that is exactly how evangelicals function in our day.
Point in case: some years ago, I knew a very educated Christian who would come unglued when someone used improper grammar. However, the same individual continually complained to the leadership of our church in regard to my teaching; i.e., the use of words like “justification” and “sanctification” that are specific words found in the Bible. To explain what was behind those words (that are in the Bible), was “deep theology” and “50-cent” theological words beyond the understanding of “hurting sheep” who need “relevant food” and “encouragement.”
And what is a Christian’s deepest need? Luther taught that there was only one thing that the material world was good for; its suffering. Man is unable to understand reality, or do any good, but if he increased faith by being a student of suffering, the goodness of the invisible world would be imputed to the material world. Faith can be expanded to an increased wellbeing through experiencing the invisible world regardless of circumstances on earth. For Luther, this necessarily meant a focus on the cross of Christ and His suffering.
Luther believed that this was the sole purpose for God sending His only Son to the cross; that the mysteries of the gospel would be revealed through its suffering. Hence, the cross is an avatar gate to the mysteries of the invisible world. Luther stated that “knowledge of God is hidden in suffering” symbolized by the cross. Christ was a sort of aviator that that set the example of suffering as a way to experience the wellbeing of the invisible. To “take up your cross and follow me” meant the pursuit of suffering for present wellbeing. This is why the cross is the dominate icon of Western religion, it symbolizes the suffering that we should live by.
As a result, inductive Bible study has been shunned for the most part in evangelicalism. The Reformers saw the Bible as God’s tool for a deeper understanding of Christ’s suffering, and suffering in general. This has often brought the charge from the world at large that Christianity is a “bloody religion.” In our usual cluelessness, we assume the complaint is against the onetime sacrifice of Christ on the cross, but it isn’t, the complaint is against suffering as a lifestyle.
This is so ingrained in the psyche of the Western church that church has become all about our guilt for not suffering, and glorying in suffering when it comes as “God’s will.” It even affects prayer life to the point where prayer is rarely about Christian living, but is an extensive laundry list of who is suffering. And, a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who has some kind of problem is no wise excluded from the list. It’s bizarre, after praying for every suffering soul from coast to coast, many of whom we have never met, it’s time for singing joyful hymns, and the “worship” leader is perplexed about why people are down and not lifting their voices up in praise.
Christian counseling is a multi-million dollar para-church business, and why wouldn’t it be when Christians are taught en masse to live a death-centered life? At least secular psychologists live off of whatever the ebb and flow of society produces; Christian culture is in a unique position of producing its own depression. No wonder then that prophets of the positive like Joel Osteen are all the rage—it’s bound to be a cultural pushback against a religious culture of death. The Bible is clear: we are to “dwell” on what is honorable and “true.” Death, failure, and sin in and of themselves do not define a true assessment of life—a death-centered life is simply not true, and we are not called to lead a life defined by death.
Nevertheless this counseling will seem to work because it calls on Christians to view this present material life as worthless. Not only that, it insinuates that the material world is really a worthless illusion. Indifference to the reality of life is then interpreted as being unmoved by the challenges of life; right, because it is a philosophy that causes us to be unmoved by life in general, and that includes compassion.
The most popular method of Bible interpretation in our day is the Redemptive Historical hermeneutic which teaches that all reality should be interpreted through redemption, or the cross. It gets right back to interpreting the Bible via Luther’s Theology of the Cross. All life events are predetermined by God and serve to show us our worthlessness as set against God’s holiness which elevates our gratitude for salvation. Therefore, to draw wisdom from the pages of Scripture inductively supposedly circumvents the intended purpose of the Scriptures. Again, a dichotomy is made between wisdom that is suitable for worldly affairs and spiritual considerations, but such practical wisdom is no heavenly good for anything. Hence, using the Bible to obtain wisdom for living life is discouraged. Keep in mind that the following excerpt is taken from a sermon preached in a conservative Baptist church:
So as Paul is addressing them, he says, “Look, your concerns are worldly. You have a worldly vision. And so when you make decisions, what do you do? You make decisions that will help you to pursue this kind of worldly end.” And know what’s been happening in this church. There’s strife, there’s division, there’s quarrelling, all because they are pursuing an agenda of achieving their own ends. Now in this respect, for example, I would consider my father as a wise person. Now my father is not a believer, and he’s not particularly well educated. But when he gives me advice, he understands this is what you really need to do if you wanna accomplish these goals or these ends. And so he’s pretty good at stuff like that. But it’s not a vision of the good that would be considered necessarily a godly vision. But he’s wise in a worldly sense.
So, practical wisdom that is useful in the world is mutually exclusive from biblical wisdom which is the “vision of the good” (a Platonist term by the way). Therefore, the Bible is not to be studied in order to find wisdom, it is merely a tool for gospel contemplationism. Yet another anti-reason statement by an evangelical was sent to me just a couple of days ago by email:
As Americans, we believe in debate…………
In fact, many in the Christian community would do well to understand the risks of a debate structure in answering challenges. Politics, work situations, community organizations, even families suffer certain risks from debate-structure discussions.
Ultimately a debate is an attempt to convince by reason. Christian concepts are usually not learned or understood by reason, particularly reason alone. An appeal to reason in the garden was what got us in this mess in the first place. The serpent simply questioned details of the truth until Eve’s reason took over and made a decision. When faced with the details or logistics of miraculous events, for example, reason struggles. We may debate the reality of a world-wide flood in the days of Noah, but when the details of feeding the animals or cleaning the ark, they become troubled. The mind wants to be able to understand these simple things, rather than release them to the miracle. Debates give the impression that truth can be rationally discerned, when the Scripture tells us otherwise.
Statements like this from mainline evangelicals should send cold chills running up and down our backs. Moreover, those who believe in utilizing reason to understand the Bible are persecuted outright in the church. The same people who bemoan persecution of Christians disdain those within the church who do not share their mysticism. Perhaps Dr. Robert Condon has best clarified the issue: to know definitively is to be accountable. Will people really stand before Christ and say…“I didn’t know, the only thing I ever knew was the cross and you crucified. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know, I didn’t want to be puffed up and unloving”?
Apparently, it’s likely that will be the case.
paul
$15.00 an Hour Minimum Wage: Not Just a Question of Money, But Life Itself, and Even Marriage
For the most part, Americans, and American Christians in particular, suffer from TDD. ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is a mere symptom of TDD (Thinking Deficit Disorder). This disorder is most prevalent among Christians because they think reason is antithetical to faith; after all, if we knew everything we wouldn’t need faith, right? “Gee, I don’t know, I have never asked myself that question before.” Right. Ignorance is a banner of love over us; we know nothing so we cannot judge ourselves or others, and stupidity is a sure proof of our humbleness.
America is a historical anomaly because the biggest sword always ruled until the American experiment put “We the people” in charge. We have now experienced the results of the American experiment for over 200 years, and unless those who want to destroy America move slowly and carefully, the American dream will not go away quietly. For the first time in world history, freedom can’t be taken away by killing more people than those who disagree with you, so another angle has to be taken.
It all boils down to the competence of the individual: is government for the purpose of expediting human potential? Or is government for the purpose of controlling the incompetence of mankind? Until the American experiment, the latter was the dominate ideology of history; viz, the mindless following of the masses is critical for social justice and the collective wellbeing.
Hence, public schools stopped teaching us how to think critically. The church stopped doing that well before the public schools did. Christian parents continually boast that their children “at least know the Bible well” even though they have little knowledge of the liberal arts. After all, the word, “liberal” is in there. The next step is to offer us free things that pose as life improvement, and for a while may serve that purpose, but are designed to lead us back into the same bondage that has always dominated world history.
“Don’t worry we will feed you if you are out of work” eventually ends up as, “There isn’t anybody who can create jobs, we gave all their money to you, there is no more money, so if you want to eat you must work, and oh, by the way, it will be the job that we give you whether you like it or not.” Ever heard of a place called, “China.”
So, as a country, the push to raise minimum wage to $15.00 an hour exemplifies the fact that inability to think below the surface of initial brain chemical reactions is well in place. Entry level workers see this as a good thing; why? Well, because they will be making more money. And initially that is true in the same way that cheese on a mousetrap is initially good for the mouse if he can get a couple of bites.
A $15.00 an hour minimum wage will make the rich richer and the poor poorer while the poor think the opposite is true. This same satanic gig just keeps working over and over and over again throughout history. As a longtime small business owner, I am not speaking completely out of school here; if it’s back in the day and I still own a business, what am I thinking?
“Ok, $15.00 an hour is good money, so I am going to get my money’s worth. Bye, bye inexperience; bye, bye immaturity that you can live with at $7.00 an hour; bye, bye to anyone with tattoos or piercings, pretty much bye, bye to anything I don’t like at all because I am not being compensated for putting up with it.”
Hence, this will be good for older, experienced workers. High school students looking for work during the summer? They can forget about it. Not happening. And with the job market already in the tank, there is an abundance of older experienced workers waiting in the wings after their long journey in the desert of age and price discrimination. Bottom line: entry level employees are going to be all but totally out of luck. Businesses in general are going to want bang for their buck.
The first step towards an enslaved populous is the lost art of thinking. And in this case, the thinking doesn’t penetrate any deeper than that of a mouse running for the cheese on that funny-looking table with a large metal bar above it. More and more as one who counsels people from time to time, I find myself teaching them how to think for themselves and then sending them away to “take on the day.”
We live in the age of the expert because a thinking serf is like handing a child a loaded gun in our minds—that has always been the mentality that precedes tyranny. “Do they think we are stupid?” Yes, in fact, that’s exactly what they think, and we think anything more is faithless humanism. That’s why I am not much for marriage counseling anymore. All any marriage needs is what Ephesians chapter 5 states: Christ and two thinking people. Conspicuously missing is the pastor and expert. Good marriage counselors teach couples HOW to think, not WHAT to think, and that’s probably true of life counseling in general.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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