Is theology your idol?

Tags

A.W. Tozer, books, God, idolatry, J.I. Packer, Knowing God, meditation, quotes, scripture, theology, Tim Conway

This video by Tim Conway underscores a point I made in my last post regarding the potentially damning dangers of theology.  When theology is pursued as an end in itself, can it become an idol?  I think so; and idolatry in any form, committed by anyone, is nothing short of an act of treason against God (see 1 Cor. 10:1-14).

Continue reading below the video clip for more excerpts from “Knowing God”

Looking at God through the wrong end of the telescope

In my last post,

3 Views on Sanctification

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Andrew Murray, biblical counseling, holiness, Keswick, reformed, sanctification, sin, theology, Watchman Nee, Wesleyen

We recently discussed the differing views of sanctification in our class.  Since biblical counseling is all about changing to become more like Christ, it is all about sanctification!  I did not realize the different views about sanctification commonly held by evangelicals.  Continued below…

The Wesleyan View

The first view is known as the Wesleyan View, or Christian Perfection.

15 Random Facts About Me(me)

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Blake Dewitt, blogging, blogs, blogs and blogging, family, internet memes, John Piper, meme, popeye, random thoughts, Trinity Baptist Church

No one was tagged in the making of this post!

Internet memes–most people either love them or hate them.  If you happen to be one of those who passionately hate memes, I want to set your mind at ease–you haven’t been tagged in this post, and you won’t be.

If you do like memes, on the other hand, I’ll suggest an alternative at the end of this post.  The original inspiration for this list, in case you’re wondering, was a Facebook note in which I was tagged by my friend James Galyon.

What do you really know about me?

Unless you know me in real life, most of what little you do know about me is probably derived from what I’ve written.  And if you’re a regular reader of this blog you know that what I usually write about is some aspect of following Christ, since I believe that nothing is any more important (for you or for me or for anyone else) than that.

However, I also occasionally write about things that are a little more personal regarding my family or my life in general.  One of the reasons I do that is because I think that most people who read blogs like to know something about the people who write them.

With that in mind, here are some random,

Comparing Counseling Methods

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Abraham Maslow, bible, biblical counseling, christian, christianity, counseling, Joel Osteen, psychology, scripture, Sigmund Freud

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11 )

When it comes to counseling, we must be very careful when we suggest that we can integrate secular psychological theories with a biblical counseling model.  As we will see, these theories have very little common ground among them.  Whenever we are exposed to counseling, or counseling models, we need to be good Bereans, to see if this is what the Scriptures actually teach us.

I’m going to examine four different counseling methods here: Freudian, Neo-Freudian, Rational-Emotive, and Biblical.  I’m not going to go in-depth with these but I just want to illustrate how these theories are diametrically opposed to the Biblical view. 

The Potentially Damning Danger of Theology (or, Why I’m Thankful for Packer’s “Knowing God”)

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book reviews, books, christian, christianity, doctrine, God, J.I. Packer, Knowing God, reformed, reformed theology, self-deception, theology

Do you have a short list of books that have had a profound impact on your life?

I do.  And J.I. Packer’s Knowing God is near the very top of my list.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Packer’s book because I’m just beginning a study of it in my Sunday School class.  If I have time, I may post a few additional thoughts about the book as our study progresses.

I initially bought and read Knowing God almost 35 years ago.  I was a new Christian, young and ignorant (even more ignorant than I am now, as far as I can tell); but as is true of many young people, I had no idea just how ignorant I really was.

I don’t think I can adequately express how thankful I am for Packer’s book.  It was a Godsend to me.  It taught me not simply how to approach theology, but how to approach God himself.  It shaped my heart and my mind in ways that I’m certain saved me from making even more mistakes than I did in my exuberant, youthful ignorance.

(I vow not to use any form of the word ignorant for the rest of this post.)

Ships and Sharks

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adventure, Andrew Peterson, book reviews, books, children's books, fantasy, fiction, North! Or Be Eaten, Wingfeather Saga

You learn a valuable lesson growing up in Glipwood playing Ships and Sharks.

Glipwood is a small, relatively quiet (although enemy occupied) township in Aerwiar, a world created by singer/songwriter/author Andrew Peterson. Recently I spent about a week devouring the first two books in Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and North! Or Be Eaten.  This post is intended (more or less) to be a review of book two of the still unfinished trilogy.

Aerwiar is home to an interesting cast of creatures—horned hounds, quill diggles, toothy cows, and rockroaches, for starters; and an even more interesting cast of characters—the three Igiby children, Janner, Tink, and Leeli, who spend their days playing Ships and Sharks and Zibzy, and working on T.H.A.G.S. (when they’re not fleeing for their lives, that is); Podo Helmer,

Defining Biblical Counseling, and a Word about Epistemology

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bible, biblical counseling, Bruce Ware, christian, counseling, epistemology, psychology, religion, Revelation, SBTS, truth

A Bat on the Ceiling

Much thanks to Barry and everyone else who prayed for me.  Swamped is a pretty good description of where I am at right now, needing to read God’s Greater Glory (Ware), The Problem of Pain (Lewis), and Leading the Team-Based Church (Cladis) this weekend.  I’m grateful for the grace of no classes on Friday and not being scheduled to work this weekend!  Highlights from the day included hearing Bruce Ware preach at chapel (watch the video), and getting to tell Dr. Russell Moore, “There’s a bat on the ceiling…just thought you should be aware.” (Exhibit A)

Defining Biblical Counseling

Last week, I laid out some examples of what biblical counseling isn’t, so this time we will explore what biblical counseling is.  A good summary of the definition we discussed in class would be that it is empowered by the Holy Spirit and consists of one Christian giving wise counsel to a brother/sister in need, that they would have a fuller understanding of how the Gospel relates to every area of their life, and respond in obedience.

That being said, one of the most helpful pictures we discussed in class was the relation of the physical and the spiritual aspects of whatever is going on that necessitates counseling.  The physical issues that can contribute to a problem are numerous and include sleep deprivation, illegal and legal drugs, hormones, diet, and many others.  Spiritual issues can include testings and trials, discipline, faking it, and guilt/cover up.  In almost every problem there are several physical and/or spiritual factors going on.  Spiritual factors will influence the physical, and physical factors will also influence the spiritual.  We have to be incredibly careful about giving pat-answers when someone comes to us for counsel. 

2 little sleep + 2 much caffeine = headed 4 disaster

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C.H. Spurgeon, caffeine, Charles Spurgeon, christian, christianity, coffee, ministry, rest, service, sickness, sleep, Spurgeon

Note: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” NORMALLY Thursdays belong to Isaac.  However, he’s swamped right now, so I’ll be posting today instead. I’m sure Isaac would appreciate your prayers.   ~ Barry ~

“Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.”

I crafted the silly little formula in the title of this post to express something true about myself.  It’s not a completely new realization for me; it’s more like I just connected the dots between a couple of old realizations.

I’ve always known that I don’t function well without adequate sleep.  Among other things, I can get irritable when I haven’t had enough sleep.  I’ve also always known that I’m sensitive to caffeine.  Too much makes me jittery and high-strung.  What I had never really thought about before is what a disastrous combination that is.

Think about it—not just irritability, but high-strung irritability, inciting me to act not just a little like Oscar the Grouch, but more like Oscar the Grouch on steroids.  It isn’t pretty.

A terrible reality dominates our existence.  We are all by nature sinners who deserve nothing but God’s wrath (Eph. 2:1-3).  In addition to that, sin has a blemishing effect on our minds and personalities so that we all have a few deeply ingrained character flaws, many of which we’re oblivious to.  Ideally, we need to know what those are.  It’s a healthy thing to heed Plato’s admonition: “Know thyself.”

But that’s not as easy as it might sound.  The same sin that deserves God’s wrath and blemishes our personalities warps our ability to know our own hearts, and even our ability to recognize that we may be deceiving ourselves.   “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9)

The Jesus Storybook Bible Giveaway

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bible, books, children, children's books, christian, christianity, free, giveaway, giveaways, Jesus Storybook Bible, scripture

Everyone like giveaways.

To commemorate the launch of their new website and the release next month of a deluxe version of The Jesus Storybook Bible, this week Zondervan is giving away a whole case of the new edition to one lucky winner.

My kids are all a little too old now for a storybook Bible, but I’m sure I’ll pick up some of these at some point for my grandchildren.  (I really don’t feel as old as that makes me sound, by the way.)  I’ve read numerous good reviews of The Jesus Storybook and have no doubt it’s a perfect introduction to the Bible for small children.

When the original edition was released, Dan Cruver interviewed the book’s author, Sally Lloyd-Jones.  He began his interview with these words:

Whenever a gospel-centered book is published I’m pleased, but when one is published specifically for children I’m especially pleased. So, when I heard about the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones, I was thrilled. It is very well written and does a fantastic job capturing Scripture’s big picture. Sally has served Christian families very well with this book. If you are looking for another resource that will help your children better understand the significance of Jesus’ person and work, this is a book you’ll want to pick up.

Read the whole thing here.

If you blog and want to enter the sweepstakes, you’ll have to hurry.  This phase of the contest ends at midnight EST today (Sept. 10).  Here are the details.

Thursdays belong to Isaac

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bible, biblical counseling, christian, christianity, counseling, psychology, SBC, SBTS, southern baptist, Southern Seminary

I recently expanded my blog to include two new team members, Derek Ashton and Isaac Johnson.  That’s created a little bit of confusion lately about who’s posting what.  To help clear up some of the confusion, I wrote this.

For now, Thursdays belong to Isaac, who just began his seminary education this fall at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.  Once a week Isaac plans to post a few thoughts and questions about his biblical counseling class.  Watch for the third installment of his series this Thursday.

Already, it’s become apparent that there is some controversy about what constitutes biblical counseling.  Not everyone agrees on what it is and how to practice it.  Whether you agree or disagree with Isaac’s posts, I encourage you to join in the discussion.  Comments on the first two posts have been pretty active, and that’s good for everyone involved.

What Biblical Counseling Isn’t

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bible, biblical counseling, christian, christianity, counseling, David Powlison, Jay Adams, psychology, SBC, SBTS, southern baptist, Southern Seminary, Stuart Scott

First off, wow, thanks for all the comments and discussion from my opening post.  Blogging is way more beneficial (and fun) when there are comments and mature discussions, so keep ‘em comin’.  I once heard that asking the right questions is a sign of intelligence.  I stink at asking questions.  So, I value any questions you ask for my own training and edification.

Wow, seminary is difficult.  It easily consumes my day and I don’t even have a job or kids.  By this time next week I’ll need to read David Powlison’s Seeing With New Eyes and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis in their entirety, read about 90 pages of Grudem’s Systematic Theology, not to mention probably 5 other chapters from other books.  For those interested I’ve put our required reading list for this class at the end of this post.  I’ve also realized that 88 credit hours is not the typical amount of hours for a masters degree.  That’s like, 3 masters degrees.

In one of our first lectures, we learned what biblical counseling is by first looking at what it is not.  There are many false assumptions about biblical counseling (some I had in my own mind).  Some of these false assumptions are that biblical counseling is simplistic, superficial, anti-science and anti-medicine, harsh, and that people’s problems are all due to their sin.

So, let’s look at what Biblical Counseling is not…

Moses in India

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evangelism, gospel, IMB, India, Lottie Moon, missions, southern baptist, the gospel

My pastor played a version of this video at our Wednesday night prayer meeting last week.  It’s a very short clip about a business man in India named Moses who walked away from financial success in order to spread the gospel.  Obviously, it’s a plug for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, but what I found most challenging (and worth imitating) was Moses’ sense of urgency to spread the gospel:

…you don’t have a single minute just to waste for anything. Go and pray and preach the gospel.