No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Yeah, so....you may notice a certain lovely rose-bedecked logo has just been removed from my widgets list (or whatever you call the right-hand section of the page where various do-hickeys go).

I worked faithfully for a year and a half to get my local church's missions committee to partner with a certain outreach/mercy ministry in Bulgaria. For the last year and 3 months, we've been supporting the mission monthly. We found out last week that the US director (who lives about 20 minutes from our church) never wired them the thousands of dollars of support money which our church sent for the mission.

Want to hear the funniest part?

Apparently the Christian philanthropist who was sitting on the money was embarrassed at being caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, and accused me of a "violation of privacy". My offense? Giving his unlisted telephone number to the church treasurer, so he could find out where all the money disappeared.

I swear I am not making this up.

So if I don't blog much in the near future, you'll have to excuse me. The longer I live, the less edifying things I see in the weird, wild world of Christiandom.

"Living in a Loveless Marriage" - Great Article

This is a really, really good article. I'm re-posting it here so I never lose it. Scripture references appropriately used, too. The author has a couple of books that sound good, as well.

"Jean lived for years in a loveless marriage.


Her husband was not one to communicate his love to her through words, or demonstrate it through his actions, nor did he express any desire to spend time with her. So Jean resolved about 10 years into her marriage to try to be content without his love so she wouldn't end up seeking it somewhere else.


Jean knew the only way to be content without her husband's love was to seek an expression of love from God. Jean knew from Scripture that the Lord is her "spiritual husband" (Isaiah 54:5), but she struggled with feeling God's love and presence in her life."

Continue reading here...

More Venom from the "Spirit-Filled" Camp


  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:21-23

"You will know them by their fruits." - Matthew 7:20

Chippy the Attack Gopher

on the rampage against

those mean ol' Pharisee types

who read their Bibles!

"How dare you question

the Mighty Prophet

Gopher,  heretic?!?!?"

Recently, a fellow Christian writer and biblical counselor and I were attacked online, for daring to question the veracity of extreme "deliverance ministries" (and those who set themselves up as "prophets"). What made this particular attack so odd was that neither he nor I commented with a critical spirit, challenged anyone to a debate, OR questioned the fruit of the individual's life. What we were questioning, (and quite objectively, I might add), was the aberrant theology being promoted. Neither of us said anything the least bit sarcastic or inflammatory, nor did we attempt to bait the blog owners. This rabid hatred completely blind-sided me -- from individuals claiming to be Christ-followers.

Moreover, on the basis of one reference to 1 Corinthians 11-14 (cessation of the sign gifts) and 2 Thessalonians (referring to the lying signs and wonders in the last days), I was then told I was "obviously not a Christian"; "could not be saved"; sarcastically dismissed for my polite tone; called "trite"; and accused of raising a "strawman" (sic). I think the writer meant "red herring" in this context, but I'll let that slide. This was on the basis of ONE COMMENT simply giving a hermaneutic frame of reference for the apologist's comment. As a newcomer to this particular blog, I deliberately worded my explanation as respectfully and diplomatically as possible, leaving rhetoric and argument out of it.

The attack on the other writer, who actually responded to the sneering and personal insults, was even worse. This hatefulness was on a "Christian" blog, from people who don't even know us. Sadly, we agreed with our attackers' mission - a ministry to ex-homosexuals (the blog exposes the lie of homosexuality, and gives the biblical truth to those coming out of this lifestyle). None of that mattered. We gave the (substantial) biblical proof of A) cessation of the sign gifts; B) that demonic deliverance in the Bible was an act of mercy, not a way of ridding sin; C) people are delivered from life-dominating sins by faith and repentance, NOT by the "casting out" of the demon of ____(fill in sin of choice).

None of that mattered. We dared touch the sacred cow of C. Peter Wagner's fictitious "Five-Fold Ministry", and thus were deemed worse than pagans. My most heinous offence? Suggesting that freedom from homosexuality was by repentance, rather than "supernatural deliverance complete with prophetic words of knowledge". How dare I question a Prophetess, who is now a Prayer/Intercessor/Fast-er (for a small donation to her ministry, of course). Never mind that no biblical prophet(ess) ever charged a cent for praying.

Most of my regular readers know that I am a nouthetic counselor in training, and am publishing a book about biblical repentance from eating disorders. Many of you have read my testimony, through my "Redeemed from the Pit" blog (where I get attacked, regularly, for having the audacity to call bulimia a sin). After being set free by the grace of God, after 17 years enslaved, I think I know something about the power of the Holy Spirit. (Despite the unwarranted and relentless attack by these rabid charismaniacs to the contrary). My colleague, the apologist? A "rock-throwing Pharisee-cum-Sadduccee". Again, the venom was poured out on us for no other crime than being cessationists, and holding a "Prophetess'" claims up to the light of Scripture (which 1 John 4:1 commands us to do). According to my Bible, God takes false prophets (and prophetesses) very, very seriously.

What these rabid, hate-filled, desperation-driven seekers of signs fail to realize is that when one makes an extra-biblical claim, the burden of proof is on them. An argument cannot be made from silence. The Lord Jesus said "repent and believe"; not "pray for a demon to be cast out and to receive an extra-biblical prophetic word". The Canon of Scripture is closed, but even if we agree to disagree on that, the proof is in the unChrist-likeness of their response. Jesus Himself said that " a man speaks out of the abundance of the heart".  Our words were "filled with grace and seasoned with salt" (Colossians 4:6), but the "Spirit filled Christians" responded with malice, slander and harshness. They returned goodwill with evil. They did not content themselves with a single snide remark, but continued to slander us even after we graciously bowed out of further dialogue. Hmm...they were filled with a spirit of something, that's for sure.

Rotten fruit simply doesn't grow from a good tree. I admit I'm perplexed and cannot explain where this evil comes from in ones who claim the Name of Christ, but a brief look at the three moderators' blogs revealed morbid prose about flesh burning off of bodies in hell, below-the-belt verbal assaults on other people, and an irrational (albeit unsupported) allegiance to the new-fangled idea that the office of Apostle has somehow been restored. Aha...so that's it, I thought. Pride....and a desire to be self-important. We inadvertently 'messed with' that idol, and now their feathers are all ruffled!' No doubt when they're passing out on the floors of their sanctuaries, barking like dogs or screaming gibberish, they think themselves oh-so-much holier than we mere students of the Word, and therefore are vindicated by cursing and damning us with no cause. Yes. So much holier.

By their fragrant fruits ye shall know them, indeed. They act just like their father.

The ultimate irony? One of the rabid 5-Folders has John Macarthur's "Grace to You" linked at the top of his homepage. I laughed out loud when I saw that -- Macarthur makes the two of us look like continuationists!!!

Guest Post - Why Does God Allow Pain? (Lucy Ann Moll)

This week, fellow biblical counselor and sister in the faith Lucy Ann Moll posted a real gem of an article under the "resources" section of her site, which, with her permission, I am re-posting here. (Lucy Ann is the host of the radio show "Sisterhood of Beautiful Warriors", who interviewed me in December). I haven't had much time for writing or blogging these past few weeks, and yet it seems I am surrounded by good people who are suffering. So glad someone could articulate the biblical view of trials so well, and was generous enough to share her thoughts!

Drawing on the book of Job, Lucy discusses how to view trials without losing hope; recognizing God's sovereignity in the midst of our pain; and how to encourage a friend who is suffering. Please visit her site and be edified by the articles, interviews and biblical counseling resources available there.
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Why Does God Allow Pain?

By Lucy Ann Moll

http://www.lucyannmoll.com/

IF YOU’VE PUZZLED over this question – and don’t care for simplistic answers – you’ll like the honest way that the Old Testament book named Job considers God’s mysterious ways.

It tells the story of a godly man who endured unimaginable pain and loss. First, Job’s donkeys, camels, sheep and oxen die. Then his servants. Then his children. A short time later, painful sores cover Job from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his wife snarls:

“Curse God and die!” Ouch! Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is –NOT! When you think it cannot get any worse, his friends ‐‐ and I use the term loosely – verbally abuse him. They are certain he must have committed some terrible wrong for God to punish him.

Have you experienced something similar? Maybe you’ve endured one hardship after another? Have you ever asked God, Why me? The author of the book of Job conveys several key concepts, which were true then and still are true today.

God is sovereign. In 1:6‐12 and 2:1‐6, when Satan questions God regarding Job’s integrity (after God points him out as a blameless, upright and reverent man), God calls the shots. He tells Satan what he may and may not do. Satan has no power except for that which God allows. Satan is evil. Satan licks his lips with any chance to discredit God – as if this were possible – by inciting Job to curse God. Satan desires a throne above God’s. Suffering happens. First Job loses his belongings and wealth (1:13‐17), and Job was a very wealthy man. Then all his children die in a roof collapse (1:19). Soon after, Job’s health is hit hard. He sits in an ash heap scraping his sores with shards of broken pottery. What a lonely, pathetic picture!

Furthermore, in the face of almost‐beyond belief suffering, it is possible to avoid sin. Like us, Job receives strength from God to honor him. His wife says, “Curse God and die.” Job’s answer shows depth of wisdom gained by intimacy with the One whom he reveres. He says,

“Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?”

Friends may compound the pain. Each of Job’s supposed friends – and a young man named Elishu – accuses Job of sinning and failing to repent, thus bringing on his suffering in the first place. In 21:34, Job tells his friends, “How can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood.” In their economy, God would allow only an unrighteous man to suffer. Thus since Job is suffering, they propose, he must be unrighteous.

In addition, the greater the loss, the greater the grief. Surprising to me, Job says little of his material losses or of the deaths of his ten children. Rather, he grieves the loss of an intimate relationship with God. God chooses silence, but behind the scenes he is highly active in Job’s life. Job says in 23:8‐9, “If I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.” Job feels abandoned yet holds tight to God, trusting that this test by God will prove him as pure as gold.

As I read the book of Job, I question why God pointed Job out to Satan, why God allowed Satan to wreak havoc in his life, why Satan caused the death of Job’s children but not his wife, and why Job hadn’t had the foresight to select better friends, ones who wouldn’t attack him in the midst of trouble. I also wonder why the culture in which Job lived equated prosperity with blessing and hard times with cursing, why Job’s wife could be so callous, why Elihu feels a personal responsibility to rip into Job, why Job listens to Elihu, why God speaks after his silence, why Job chooses not to answer God’s request to answer, and why Job’s confidence in God increases.

The No. 1 question? If God can prevent suffering yet permits it, is he truly good? In short, the answer is “yes.” The secular worldview holds that seeking pleasure is the goal of this life, so suffering is bad for it is painful. Do anything to get pleasure! In contrast, the Christian worldview sees suffering as positive for through it we become more like Christ, the goal of his disciples. Our suffering is for our ultimate good.

In 1 Peter 1:6‐7 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – or greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refines by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Yes, I agree that suffering happens and is allowed by God for good purposes – to develop our patience, faith and hope, and to transform us so we are more Christlike. But I do not like pain. I try to avoid it. Getting absorbed in a great novel can do wonders to help me forget my troubles. . .for a while. I am compelled by my identity to believe God is good. Not only does the living Word attest to his goodness but also the work he has done in me proves his goodness.

What I’ve concluded from the book of Job is suffering happens to everyone, the godly and the ungodly. Suffering is a fact in our fallen world. Just because one lives a holy life doesn’t mean she can avoid suffering. In fact, suffering is probably more likely. Suffering doesn’t often make sense. It is painful.

What we do with our suffering is pivotal. Throw a pity party? Or do we run to God? Do we try to see the good in suffering? Do we thank God in every circumstance, joyful or painful?

Some of the things to learn from Job:

 Reassure a hurting friend that her suffering is real and it hurts.

 Listen well, especially to the reason behind her pain. If her suffering is a result of her sin, gently help her come to this conclusion.

 Continually point her to God – that he will help her in her suffering and will use it for her good. \

Source: http://www.lucyannmoll.com

I Hate Cancer

I mean, I really, really hate it. Because even though Jesus defeated death for all believers for all time, it still keeps snatching people away...after much pain and suffering.

As you know, I am an interpreter by profession and the majority of my clients are within the Boston-area hospitals. Some of them, unfortunately, are hematology and/or oncology patients. I get to know them over a period of years...to the point where I know all their grandchildren's names and birthdays.

Within the last month, I have learned that two of my long-time patients, both of whom I cared about deeply, lost their battle with cancer. In both cases, I found out about their passing after the funeral, so I couldn't even go and pay my respects to the families.

My only consolation is that I shared the Gospel with both of them. A woman in my Bible study encouraged me to do it, and both times, I was nervous.

I don't know what they did with it. I had noticed that one of the patients read his Bulgarian New Testament during his chemo treatments.

I hope. I just really, really hope God's Word did not return to Him void.

New Bible Reading Plan for New Year

Having done the 3-chapters-per-day-and-5-on-Sunday plan for reading through the Bible in a year several times already, I decided to try something new this year to enrich my daily Bible reading. This time through, I am only reading one chapter per day....and immediately following it up by reading a commentary on the same chapter. Blue Letter Bible, which you see over under my blogroll, has several text, audio and video commentaries available for each and every passage of Scripture (ah, the joys of living in the 21st century!).

While there are many fine commentators, I find myself going back to Matthew Henry time and again. He is thorough, precise, distinguishes between doctrine and speculation, and has meticulously exegeted every chapter and book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You could certainly do a lot worse in your personal study than Matthew Henry, so I am sticking with his commentary for now.

It's a bit tougher than it sounds. The commentary, with all it's cross-references, takes longer to get through and digest than the chapter of Scripture itself. By my estimate, it will take me 3 1/2 - 4 years to get through the entire Bible this way, although I started nearly two weeks ago. Still, I figure it will be worth it - seems I'll glean a lot more from the text's meaning this way than by another simple straight read-through. I will share interesting insights as God reveals them to me through my study.

I will be 43 by the time I get to Revelation. My daughter will be a junior in high school, looking at colleges.

That seems like a loooong way off. Sheesh!

David Powlinson on "Life Beyond Your Parents' Mistakes"

David Powlinson is a well-known CCEF counselor, writer and speaker at biblical counseling conferences. Also a member of the Board of NANC, he has produced many books, presentations and mini-books on a variety of practical topics. Along with Ed Welch's writing, I find Powlinson's material to be extremely helpful...not just as a biblical counselor in training, but for my own personal edification.

This week, CCEF's publishing arm, New Growth Press, made a free download available of Powlinson's "Life Beyond Your Parents' Mistakes: The Transforming Power of God's Love". In the 32-page booklet, Powlinson deconstructs the Freudian myth that human beings cannot experience God as Father without having had a loving, nurturing father figure. It is just such reasoning that has led to unhealthy dependency on the counselor, which often accompanies psychology-based therapy. This view also promotes the myth that "re-parenting or corrective emotional experience" is needed in order to know God as He is. It also begs the questions Powlinson raises:

"Are there any people with bad parents who have a great relationship with God? Are there any people with good parents who have a rotten view of God?"

Powlinson uses Scripture to counter this man-centric reasoning, which distorts the nature of the human heart and the reasons why people believe lies about God. Seeing God through the lens of an abusive, remote, or disinterested parent denies the power and truth of how God actually works through His Word and Spirit. Axiomatically, insisting that one must first experience a corrective human relationship to believe the reality of God's fatherly love is essentially to turn Almighty God into an almighty psychotherapist.

It is a sad fact that those of us who had abusive parents (especially of the "religious" variety) often project those images onto the true God. There is a hurt and a betrayal that doesn't just go away the moment we became Christians, and Powlinson acknowledges this. However, having sinful (or even evil) parents, of course, does not mean God is that way, so why do we often twist our view of God? Powlinson doesn't let us off so easily - and his clear, compassionate but uncompromisingly biblical angle makes us sit up and listen.

Other titles by which God identifies Himself include King, Shepherd, Master, and Savior. If human equivalents of these descriptions are corrupt, does that influence the way we see God? Not usually. Powlinson writes:

"Clearly, our fallen experience need not control us. Yet for many, the truth that "God is Father" seems to be the exception. They do feel that their knowledge of God the Father is controlled by the earthly parallel. So we turn to the second question: Must your own father dictate the meaning of that phrase until a substitute human father puts a new spin on it?"

This backwards, create-your-own-god philosophy comes from Freud and Erikson, not the Bible, and caters to our sinful tendency to find excuses and reasons for unbelief. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are prone to look for excuses and blame outside ourselves for our false beliefs and sinful behavior. (Case in point: try convincing a bulimic, even a Christian one, that bulimia is not a 'genetic disease'. Now insert a mental image of me tearing my very long hair out. Okay, illustrative rant over -- back to correcting our view of God.) 

As with any false belief or assumption, this view of God as remote, severe or capricious must be countered with Scripture itself - the living and active Sword of the Spirit, and the only way God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. Powlinson points out that we change when we see what God tells us about Himself, as portrayed in Isaiah 49:13-16 (a nurturing Comforter); Psalm 103:10-13 (compassionate Father); and 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 (gentle, encouraging and comforting Father). Ultimately, the sacrificial love of Christ in coming to die for rebellious children displays the pinnacle of what God's fatherly love is - an historical fact from which counselees often feel disconnected.

Of course, these are only a very small sample of all the Scriptures revealing God as the perfect Father; one of the specific steps Powlinson recommends the reader take is to go through the Bible, finding specific truths that contend with the lies and cravings he identifies in his thinking about God. "There ought to be a battle going on within you daily as God's light and love battle your darkness," he advises.

This booklet is extremely helpful not only in defining the problem, but also in countering it on biblical terms and pointing the reader back towards the only source of truth and help - the Word of God - for the solution. Additionally, in true biblical counselor form, Powlinson leaves the reader with nine well-thought-out, probing questions to work through in order to identify and change warped thinking about God, due to parental abuse or poor relationship. I plan to tackle them myself, and expect it will take me at least three months to fully explore and resolve them. God desires His children to know Him as He is, not to view Him through the warped lens of fallen humanity! This little book is a helpful, convicting resource to help Christians struggling with a "dysfunctional" past not to use that as an excuse to keep God at arm's length. I highly recommend it for counselors and counselees alike.

(To download the free book, go to New Growth Press's Facebook fan page.)