Psychology in the Church?

Kim,

In the comment right above your’s, I was just wondering who Shrinknet is and why they repeat some of the comments?!?!? Click on their name and it will take you to their web page.

I have done much reading and research over the past 7 years on subjects touching the things under discussion here, and I am quite familiar with the presumption made by those dabbling in occult/metaphysical practices that Christians need to lighten up and not be so “fearful”.

I guess it’s hard for those who do not possess faith in Christ and are motivated to honor His word to understand the hearts of those who do.

We believe God and His word. We have a healthy reverence for the instruction He has lovingly placed in His word, the Bible. We are influenced by our reverence for God, what the Bible calls a fear of Him. And it is not an unhealthy fear. It is quite the opposite actually. It is wise to fear God. In fact the Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is wisdom’s starting point. We all want to be wise, yes?

What God calls abomination is something no child of His would want to touch — no matter how much “success” appears to be found by others in the use of such things. We know the spirit realm to be very real. It is nothing to be trifled with. God’s word informs us that Satan and his angels masquerade as angels of light in order to gain influence over men’s souls. Therefore we are wise to be to be on our guard against the use of such things, as God forewarns us of the dangers inherent in occult practices, which He has condemned.

It is our respect for God and His word that motivates us to shun these things, because we see from scripture the harm that can come to those who dabble in them.

Many things that appear to be good and helpful come from a source that is malevalent and bent on turning us from truth. Respecting God and valuing His wisdom and instruction, we are careful to avoid those things He has warned us of, and we do well to warn others.

There is such a thing as healthy fear. It serves to preserve and protect us from harm — in this case, spiritual harm, which can have serious consequences.

Amen!

When I lived in the UK, I became the client of a clinical psychiatrist who was highly regarded for his work using hypnotherapy for dental and obstetric pain management. I went to him to see if I could get to the root of my narcolepsy which I have had since a child. During our 6th session I experienced a vision as I was emerging from the hypnotized state.
I call it a vision because it played out like a video clip and I was conscious enough to grasp and perceive it with my mind. It was not a dream, I was not asleep, neither was my mind empty or in a void. I was very much all present and in the moment.

In this vision I was shown a figure prostrate on all fours surrounded by a thick wall. In that thick wall there was a vaulted door with a glass portal.
As I stared through the portal the face of a hideous, bestial, black man stared back at me with fists clenched and teeth bared in rage.

My immediate reaction was panic and fear and I never went back to continue therapy, although I knew the therapist was not to blame. It took me a further 6 months to begin thinking that somehow my illness had some sort of spiritual link. That I was somehow some kind of prisoner within myself. Ultimately I failed to fully understand the meaning of the experience, but one thing it did do was get me thinking about God and how badly my morals & lifestyle had degenerated. In fact for six months all I could think about was how dark I felt inside and how dead I felt spiritually. It initiated a time of intense introspection and self-examination. I began admitting to these unhappy feelings that I had had bottled up inside me for years. The hypnotherapy had been a sobering experience and it prompted me to do my own research into the field.

About six months later I was still confused about the message of the vision, but I knew that there was more to my illness than simply a neurological disorder. About 6 months after that my health started to deteriorate and I was fired for sleeping on the job. That was the last in a long line of dismissals. One afternoon while at my desk after a long conversation with my brother in the US I put my hands on my face and said loudly….”oh God what am I going to do with my life now?”

Within a split second I heard a voice over my right shoulder say to me with firm, calm authority “Matthew you should pray” and that’s what I did. I got down on my knees and prayed to God for the truth of my illness and to be put back on track to my life’s purpose. After 3 nights of praying to God, suddenly it was as though all the darkness inside of me began manifesting.
The dreams were chaotic, hellish, menacing and it felt like some kind of wild animal had been unleashed within me. I began to consider the idea that it might be something to do with indwelling demons, although I only began to fully confront that reality 2 years later

After another 3 years of hell and a degeneration into chronic depression, I received an exorcism which paved the way for my struggle in daily deliverance using the word, prayer and Penn-Lewis’ refusal strategy.
Now almost 3 years later and I am standing on the brink of a powerful healing and an end to all my woes.

Lynn you words “I guess it’s hard for those who do not possess faith in Christ” astonish me because you have absolutely no idea how bad demonic oppression can be when it destroys a persons career, self-esteem and joy. for the last 3 years I have been walking in faith daily with the Lord and I have been in the word daily for 3 years. In a way I was lucky to get the root cause of my suffering, because many people out there simply accept what doctors tell them and so there is no hope for them.

Thanks to my boldness, open-mindedness and rooted faith that I am now on a hope-filled straight path to spiritual victory ,wellness and blessing.

Here are some perspectives on hypnosis from Christians:

http://www.infinityinst.com/articles/christian_pers.html

http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/hypnosis.html

http://www.forministry.com/USNVNONDECOL1/HYPNOSISRELIGIOUSFAITH.dsp

Click to access Article%20for%20Christians.pdf

Matt, I’m confused. Do you credit the hypnosis, do you credit your own boldness and open-mindedness (to what? you didn’t specify), or do you credit the Lord Jesus Christ for the victory you’re experiencing over the things that were oppressing you?

I was not questioning or discounting the subject of demonic oppression in my comment but faith in hypnosis and things of that nature — the pursuit of answers in realms that are unapproved by God. I acknowledge that a good amount of what afflicts us physically and mentally should be considered as possibly from demonic sources. And I commend the willingness you had to examine yourself, and your desire to seek serious answers from the Lord about the source of your problems. I would just exercise caution in attributing legitimacy to what you discovered through hypnosis. I think the Lord may have gotten your attention in the midst of it, but not because of it. He can do that. And that is an act of mercy on His part, for which I praise Him. He would not have us assign faith to any teaching or practice that lacks His approval.

It seems like you may be placing your faith in what “experience” tells you, but there is a world of deception that awaits us in that category. I commend your fervent pursuit of answers from the Lord, your deep, unrelenting, beseeching prayers to God to understand the source of the terrible problems in your life. That is so wise. That is where I believe your answers came from, not the hypnosis, even though your vision during it prompted your search. I think we must be careful what we attribute our help to be from. It should not be a source that is at contradiction to God’s revealed will for us. That is my only point of contention.

Would that all of us would seek to be shown of the Lord what is the source of our debilitating problems and our besetting sins, with the kind of passion with which you sought to understand, and an openness to the truth that we may be shown. I think that many problems are contributed to by somewhat careless and shallow living (detached from an understanding of cause and effect) on our parts, and through attitudes we may nurse or permit to exist in ourselves. It’s easy to live in a careless or clueless fashion. We have no idea at times how much our own hearts deceive us (I find this true for myself), even as we seek answers for what afflicts us.

It was good of you, it was right, to relentlessly seek to understand the basis for the extreme problems you were having, and to be willing to be shown, and humbled by what you learned. This is healing. This is a wonderful way to seek the knowledge and the healing we need for the things that perplex us, that dog us and threaten to undo us. We must be careful what we attribute our help to though, or from what or where we seek our help, that it is not from a source or practice warned of in Scripture. There is so much in the spirit realm that exists to deceive and ultimately destroy us, and we would be wise to avoid it, to shun it all.

Thanks for giving me the chance to clarify what I meant by what I stated earlier. Matt, all glory goes to God. He reaches down to us, into our lives, wherever we’re at, drawing us to Himself. I love the scripture that says (in James somewhere): Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” It’s funny how something that sounds so simple can seem so elusive to us. Each time the Lord reminds me of that scripture, I seek to understand and apply the simplicity of it. The simplest of sayings can require deep consideration and cause us to seek a proper understanding of what is meant. I continually wonder at the wisdom that God has tucked into His word for us. We will never plumb the depths of His wisdom, yet I love how He calls out to us to know and understand His mind and His will, His desires, for us, and how He cares for us in our weakness and is willing to lead us to the answers we seek for what plagues us.

(Thank you, Father! You are too wonderful for words. My mind and my flesh fail me. I cannot do You justice. But THANK YOU for Your love and mercy in Christ Jesus, and for the wisdom, hope and help we find in Your word.)