Healing the Inner Child

The reality of thorny issues, difficult problems, relational conflicts, illness and sickness is plainly stated in the Bible and written in our daily papers. We humans have a fallen human nature, live in fallen world and battle against fallen spirits. Thus, the Christians battle against the world, the flesh and the devil is a constant issue.

Hurricane Charley recently struck the USA, killing several people and destroying numerous homes and businesses. This is evidence of a fallen world. God may sometimes send storms as a punishment for sin but that is rare. Hurricane Charley was more than likely the result of nature.

We can see a combination of the flesh and the devil in the evil acts committed at Columbine High School and the homicide bombers around the world. There is no simple psychological theory that explains mass murder and suicide. Can we understand evil on such a scale without considering the evil one?

But the flesh is also a culprit in many of our problems. Scripture uses several strong images to indicate that we humans are scarred deeply by life's experiences. Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, we can find many references to a wounded heart and soul. I have seen first hand what St. James in 1:13-15 calls holes in the soul. He uses a Greek term, epithumia, that indicates that a person's soul is easily damaged by insults and or spiritual neglect.

After church we had lunch with our two grandchildren, Jacob, nine and Lily, two and I was reminded of how easily little children pick up on both good and bad things around them. Life or death are in the power of the tongue. PR 18:21 so I am careful to speak only about things that will build these children up and not tear them down.

I have spent almost my entire professional life trying to heal people with holes in their souls from the traumatic events of childhood. Buckets of tears have been shed by men and women talking about the pain of an uncaring, distant father or a harsh mother. Thank God, it is possible to bring new life to the bruised inner child of a successful adult. Jesus came to Heal the broken hearted and set the captives free. IS 61

It is never too late to have a happy childhood but an ounce of prevention is worth a pind of cure.


Rich Halter and I leave August 19 to bring inner healing to Russian Christians. The entire nation has suffered from unimaginable trauma for over seventy years. The number of persons who must live with holes in their souls is almost 100%. Please pray for us. The future of the people depends on Christians being healed.

Politics, War and Dissent

This morning I chatted with a man about John Kerry and the Viet Nam Vets Against the War. He was a student while I was on the staff at the University of Cincinnati but he had no memory about the riots, the war or all the protests.

When I explained how my life had been threatened by the radical students and that we received warnings weekly from the FBI about threats of bombing and physical attacks in the dorms he was unimpressed and skeptical.

I remember all too well the night I discovered that the automatic alarm system had been deliberately broken into and turned off in my 14 story residence hall putting 600 students and my family in danger.

We were not amused when the Weather Underground and Students for a Democratic Society called us pigs who deserved to die.

We were not laughing when Jane Fonda at the VVAW called for alll of us to become Communists and cause a violent revolution against the United States. (John Kerry was the head of the VVAW)

I was shocked when Kerry slimed all the American soldiers with charges of war crimes and admitted that he was a war criminal.

During this time I was a proud liberal Democrat who hated Nixon and distrusted all Republicans.
However, when I discovered that many of the anti war stories were lies and these "peaceniks" were using violent attacks to get their way, I began to question my commitment to the left wing.

Next week I will visit Russia for the twelfth time and try to bring love, truth and healing to the people, churches and businesses that were victims of the Communists.

Two years ago Karen and I visited Cambodia. This is a place where Communists unleashed by our failures in Viet Nam to kill millions of innocent people.

I cannot forget how the peaceniks betrayed our nation. Nor can I forget how some of them threatened my life in the "name" of peace. After Joyce Reichman, one of their leaders, came to Christ she confessed that they had planned to kidnap me and beat me senseless because I was a pig who turned her in to the cops. I was saved only by God's miraculous intervention.

Many of these folks were sincerely for peace and I bless them.

However, now we know from recently opened USSR files that some were stooges for the KGB.

Beliefs Help Kick the Drug Habit

In the long, challenging road to recovery from drug addiction, who is most likely to continue to remain drug free, seeking support from Narcotics Anonymous? Former addicts with stronger spiritual beliefs tended to be the most faithful attenders of Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings, found researchers at London?s Centre for Research on Drugs and Health. This had direct implications for recovery because, "NA attendance was associated with reduced drug use," or relapse, they noted.

Interviewed six months after they had successfully stayed off drugs for six weeks, the recovering addicts with stronger spiritual beliefs were not only more likely to remain involved in NA, but also tended to view a potential future relapse as something for which they would be personally responsible. Willingness to accept personal responsibility helps curtail future drug use, the investigators noted.

Consequently, the researchers found that spirituality does not encourage passive helplessness, but on the contrary encouraged clients to take more personal responsibility for staying off drugs.

"We found no evidence to suggest that clinicians should discourage spiritual beliefs on the assumption that these might...create helpless 'victims of circumstance,'" the researchers stated. In fact the findings of this study showed the opposite.

Knowing God is healthy in a number of ways.

Evangelical Men are Superior Lovers

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/008/26.44.html

Christianity Today has published another great blog by interviewing a scholar who has just written a book citing research about conservative Christian men. The link is above.

Conservatives are More Positive than Liberals!

Despite media fears that state the opposite, research by a non-Christian psychologist indicates that Fundamentalists are much more positive in outlook than are Moderates and or Liberals. The former President of the American Psychological Association supervised a team that compared various religious groups according to mental health and mental attitudes. Dr. Martin Seligman, an internationally known Professor at Penn revealed the results that mirror what we already know from scripture.

Their definition of "Fundamentalism" is what we call Evangelicals.

Abstract: Explanatory style from nine religious groups, representing fundamentalist, moderate, and liberal viewpoints, was investigated by questionnaire and by blind content analysis of their sermons and liturgy.

Fundamentalist individuals were significantly more optimistic than those from moderate religions, who were in turn more optimistic than liberals. The liturgy and sermons showed the parallel pattern of optimism.

...The greater optimism of fundamentalist individuals may be entirely accounted for by the greater hope and daily influence fundamentalism engenders, along with the greater optimism of the religious services they hear.

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What can we conclude from this? We ought to at least take pride in the fact that Evangelicals are producing resilient and mentally healthy members. This has tremendous implications for our children and could be a major aspect in our outreach to families. We need to tell the unchurched that church helps people develop health, peace, love and success.

Continue to preach hope, healing and change and your flock will grow and prosper.

A few days ago I wrote about the enormous benefits of church
attendance for African Americans and today about the benefits
of faith on mental health.

The devil lies about faith and conviction but he cannot get by with it
when we havethe facts.

The Great Physician continues to bless His people in multiple ways.

Attitude of Gratitude

Get a cup of tea and count your blessings. This is one of the best andidotes for stress, depression and worry.

Years ago an Alabama mother gave a new bride the following recipe
For washing clothes. This is an exact copy as written and found in
an old scrap book.

1. Bild fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water.

2. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert.

3. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water.

4. Sort things, make 3 piles. 1 pile white,1 pile colored,1 pile work britches and rags.

5. To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with
boilin water.

6. Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and then
bile. Rub colored don't bile, just wrinch and starch.

7. Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrinch, and starch.

8. Hang old rags on fence.

9. Spread tea towels on grass.

10. Pore wrinch water in flower bed.

11. Scrub porch with hot soapy water.

12. Turn tubs upside down.

13. Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs.
Brew cup of tea,sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.

Paste this over your washer and dryer and next time when you think things
are bleak, read it again and give thanks for your blessings.

http://lifewaycenters.com

Can You Sing?

The most recent wave of persecution of house churches by the Chinese
Government began in January 2004, when the DVD 'The Cross,
Jesus in China' became available. Between one hundred and one
thousand house church leaders are currently imprisoned, receiving
sentences of up to three years, reports
mission agency Open Doors. Brother Zhong from central
China tells of his first imprisonment, which lasted 33 days:

All of our house church leaders were arrested in a raid by
the National Security Office while we were training them.
In prison, our heads were shaved, and we were interrogated
for days. We were told that the other inmates were waiting for
their chance to beat us up when we were sent to
our cells. Up until then, every new prisoner had been beaten up.

I entered my cell shaking with fear. It was a fearsome sight:
sixteen other prisonersstanding in two rows, fists ready. My
heart was beating hard, and I prayed rapidly for help.

Suddenly, the leader of the gang asked 'Why are you here?'
'Because I am a Christian,' I answered, timidly, expecting
the first blows. 'You don't beat people up?' he asked. 'No,'
I answered. The next question surprised me: 'Can you sing?' '
Yes,' I replied, wondering where this was heading. The gang
leader told me to sing. The song 'I give myself as a seed' came
to mind, so I sang. The words are:

Who doesn't have a brother or sister? Who doesn't have a wife
and child? Who doesn't want to be with his family? Who doesn't
want to be among his relatives? But if the Lord calls me to carry
His Cross, I would ignore them all, even if they passed by my house.

Tears ran down my cheeks as I sang. The Holy Spirit came in our
midst, and half of the other prisoners were in tears when I
finished. The leader stepped forward and clapped me on the
shoulder. He then asked me to read the Gospel to them. They
wanted to hear it every day.

One day, when we sang again, a guard came to ask what we were
doing, and who was responsible. I stood up, and was punished. I
had to take off my clothes and stand against the wall in a very
uncomfortable position. The leader stood up and demanded to
be punished as well. Many of the others also stood up, demanding
the same punishment. The guard became very angry, and stormed
out of the cell. One of the other inmates became a Christian that day.

I was released soon afterwards, because my wife managed to pay
my bail. My time in prison impaired my health, but the spiritual
gain was worth far more. I am very grateful to God.

Source: Open Doors

Pray for the Chinese brothers and sisters!

Honesty and Genuineness

Francis H.C. Crick, 88, co-discoverer of one of the most important scientific findings of the 20th century, the recognition of the double helix structure of DNA as the blueprint of life, died Wednesday at San Diego's Thornton Hospital. He had colon cancer. Crick's powerful intellect and willingness to cross the boundaries of scientific disciplines led him and colleague James D. Watson to understand the "twisted ladder" structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, which carries information about heredity. What they learned was that each strand of the double helix could become a template for copying an organism's genes, and that replication is the way that every living cell has been created.

This article appeared in many newspapers. Yet, the whole truth is not revealed about the underhanded ways in which Crick and Watson got their information in the first place and how they conveniently left a brilliant woman out of the story.

In late February 1953, Rosalind Franklin, a 33-year-old physical chemist working in the biophysics unit of King's College in London, wrote in her notebooks that the structure of DNA had two chains. She had already worked out that the molecule had its phosphate groups on the outside and that DNA existed in two forms.

Two weeks later James Watson and Francis Crick, at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, built their now celebrated model of DNA as a double helix. They did it not only through brilliant intuition and a meeting of compatible minds, but also on the basis of Franklin's unpublished experimental evidence, which had reached them through irregular routes. She did not know that they had seen either her X-ray photograph showing unmistakable evidence of a helical structure, or her precise measurements of the unit cell (the smallest repeating unit) of the DNA crystal.

As Watson was to write candidly, "Rosy, of course, did not directly give us her data. For that matter, no one at King's realized they were in our hands."

This admission says that Crick and Watson stole Dr. Franklin's work and never recognized her contribution to their Nobel Prize. As an educator, author and scientist I understand the desire for fame, fortune and a fabulous future. As one wag said, "I can resist anything but temptation". However, the fact that Watson and Crick, 50 years later, are still getting the credit for discovering the structure of DNA is amazing because the true story is so well known.

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We live in a time when a sizzling story is more important than real substance. It is more important to have fame than reality. When Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" He used a term that means truth is "unvarnished reality". So much about our world seems to be based upon fantasy rather than reality.

Politicians openly state that they are going to "spin" their messages and ideas around major themes that are not reality and the news reports the spin as if they didn't know it is not factual.

Even in church circles there is much promotion of fanciful ideas on revival, church growth and the Christian life. In 1983 I wrote a book entitled Rational Christian Thinking and the title was rejected by many of my friends because being rational was seen by them to be contrary to faith. It seems that many prefer "Magical Christian Thinking" and flee from things that are rational, factual and real.

But Jesus created the universe. He is the author of facts, the generator of reality and always opened up the unvarnished truth. Of course, it got Him killed but He never turned to spin rather than truth. Spin sets us up while truth sets us free.

Now that Dr. Crick, who often attacked the veracity of the Bible and Christianity, has met his Maker he may be wishing he had not lied to get the Nobel Prize and lied to turn people away from God. In the end God's truth shall always prevail.

Why Look for a Christian Therapist?

Research tells us why.

Despite their popularity with patients, psychologists largely ignore the role of clergy. While psychologists routinely collaborate with professionals in medicine and nursing, one key group of professionals is consistently overlooked: the clergy. A recent research review found that a scant .02% of the studies in leading psychology journals considered clergy in their data.

A group of researchers from the University of Hawaii and the National Institute for Healthcare Research (NIHR) surveyed eight leading psychology journals from 1991 to 1994. Each article was reviewed to see if it contained statistics that examined "the role or use of religious professionals."

The reviewers found that of the over 2,400 studies examined, only four assessed the role of the clergy in mental health.

This lack of attention to the role of the clergy in mental health is alarming. Recent surveys have found:

-Four out of ten Americans seek assistance from clergy members in times of personal distress while only 8% go to a mental health professional.

-Clergy are more likely than psychologists and psychiatrists combined to have a person with a mental health diagnosis come to them for assistance.

Surveys have found that one in three psychologists report a strong interest in religion and 73% to 90% of clergy indicate a desire to receive more training in mental health issues.

Malaysia Tries to Stop Film Viewers

As you know, I travel regularly to Singapore and other countries in Asia. It is a surprise to many Americans to learn that the largest and most active Muslim countries in the world are here not in the Middle East. Indonesia, Malaysia, India, etc have millions of Muslims and there are many ways to reach them for Christ. Films may be the most effective.

The following news story recently tells about one struggle to contain the Christian message by Muslim governments.

Malaysian censors have passed Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ uncut, but have stipulated that only Christians may see the movie.

Officials have granted access to all ages when the picture opens in a few weeks by awarding the religious epic a Uncut rating, but steered clear of opening it up to the south-east Asian country's non-Christian groups.

... Film censorship board secretary Lukeman Saaid told Variety: "It's a deeply religious movie. We live in a multiracial country and we needed to show sensitivity toward other religions, particularly Islam."

Christians account for 9% of the 24 million population, which includes Malays, Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups, while about 66% are Muslims.

Tickets for the picture, which so far has taken a staggering $609m at the global box office, will only be sold through churches and the distributor Fox International will not be allowed to advertise.

Malaysian identity cards do not list the bearer's religion, so there will be plenty of opportunity for non-Christians to obtain a ticket through a friend and sample the picture for themselves

It is an amazing opportunity for God to educate Muslims and other non-Christians about the basics of Christianity. The film has drawn millions of Muslims and others to theatres in other Muslim countries.