I teach psychology and counseling classes at a small Christian college. One of my classes is “Psychology and Christianity” where we wrestle all semester long with issues of faith/theology and how they relate to the work we do to care for and counsel people.
Our first textbook is basically an (undergrad) intro to systematic theology book for people helpers. We cover some of the major doctrines and what they mean for the work we do. So far, we have reviewed our doctrines of Scripture, God, Human Nature, and Sin.
Today, we talked about our doctrine of Christ – who he is and what he does. After some discussion of how Jesus reconciles us and justifies us and redeems us, I tackled some students' questions.
One particular student has been pretty open with the class about how she isn’t “very religious.” (By the way, I love that our class had made her feel safe to acknowledge this and talk about it openly.) So she sometimes has more questions than some of the others - which is great!
And in trying to distill/summarize what I’ve been saying for 30 minutes, she asks if I can give a simple explanation for what it means to be saved.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Because YES I CAN and YES I WILL.
And just like that, I got to share the gospel in class today. I wasn’t planning on it, but I’m glad I didn’t miss it.
If some of y’all would pray for my class, I would sure appreciate it. Pray that God will use whatever I said and make the most of it. And pray that it will take root with whoever needed to hear it today, whether that was her or anyone else in there.
Let's start with this one: Why can't we get past the headline before reading about DV victims being "tempted?" Temptation leads to sin - and so from the very beginning of the article, we are getting echoes of victim-blaming. If she doesn't seek help, it's probably her fault.
Does this seem off? We are already looking to understand the "controlling husband." And is it a deflection to talk about "the anger in the household" rather than, say, "the severe and uncontrolled anger of her husband" instead?
Periodic reminder: your college classes aren't doing you any favors if you are never challenged or offended by them. We aren't here to protect your bubble. This isn't VBS. It's boot camp.
"The student who is simply conditioned to respond in certain ways to certain stimuli is at a loss when he confronts novel situations, as he will in a changing society undergoing a knowledge explosion."
"He needs a disciplined understanding of his heritage plus creativity, logical rigor and self-critical honesty, far more than he needs prepackaged sets of questions and answers."
As you study the Old Testament, you see God’s people caught in a cycle. I’ve heard it described as one of rebellion, retribution, repentance, and restoration. It happens over and over and over.
God’s people keep forgetting. They keep going back to old ways. They keep returning to idol worship and self-determinism and a whole host of bad choices.
It’s almost like this is the 4,000-year object lesson. God’s people have to repeat this cycle for generation after generation to truly learn this: Left on their own, they will mess it all up.
Among the many concerns I have had (and continue to have) about @theaacc, this one may not be as serious. But it still speaks to the integrity and trustworthiness of the organization. The advertising for the new "Care and Counsel Bible" has been misleading, at best.
@theaacc Even though I already owned the "Soul Care Bible" printed in 2001, I ordered the new "Care and Counsel Bible" just printed this year. I told that story here:
One of the many problems that comes with unequivocal support of Trump while also running the world’s largest Christian Counseling association:
The entire organization is rendered mostly mute and powerless to speak on issues of sexual abuse and misconduct when it’s really needed.
Sexual abuse is *always* important to address. But this month has brought it front and center for many Christians, with the largest denomination publicly confronting its own sexual abuse crisis.
And every single tweet/retweet this month from the leading Christian Counseling organization is about how to register for their opioid addiction training.