Do you feel lost as to how to think and diagnose your problem?

Sure you do...we all feel this way from time to time. We find our souls depressed in a downward spiral and we wonder is there any hope for me? Such times of hopelessness and feeling alone can really lead one to a place of wondering "am I going crazy? Is there any hope?! What is my problem?!" Can anyone identify with that?

Below is part 1 of a 4 part series entitled, "Sane Faith" by Dr. David Powlison it originally was posted on "Boundless.org" I have placed it here in its entirety with nothing taken out. I did this because at times hyper-links to articles can move and I wanted to have this series on print here for you come back to and refer to from time to time. I trust this will help serve you in knowing how to think about real hope in the midst of real trouble.

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Sane Faith, Part 1
by David Powlison

We’ve invited Dr. David Powlison to begin a discussion on counseling from a biblical perspective by writing a series of articles for Boundless. This is a conversation starter: We believe that thoughtful discussion of significant issues is crucial to the flourishing of the body of Christ. Focus on the Family does not promote one particular model of Christian counseling, but earnestly seeks that we all grow in wisdom together. As with any article on Boundless, publication is not meant to be taken as an endorsement of its content. It is our hope that you are challenged to consider the relevance of Scripture, the importance of balance in the counseling process, and to better understand the Lord’s concern and power when it comes to understanding the real life problems that we all struggle with.
* * *
Garrett, 23, is a recent college grad. When some little thing frustrates him or he doesn’t get
his way, he explodes in anger. It goes way over the top. In college he was an episodic binge
drinker, but he’s started to drink regularly and heavily over the past year. The effects of
alcohol in him are unpredictable. Sometimes booze mellows Garrett out, but most times it
lowers his threshold for volatile hostility. In addition to his growing drinking problem, he
routinely turns to online pornography for a “fix.” His friends don’t know about that, but they
fear for his future, wondering if he will self-destruct with his drinking and violent temper.

Official diagnosis and current street wisdom? “Garrett suffers from intermittent explosive
disorder (IED) and is an addictive personality — and Garrett is all about Garrett, and
has control issues, big-time.”

Sarah, a 29-year-old single woman, has become increasingly preoccupied with her looks, her
calorie intake, and her exercise regime. She often “feels fat,” at 5’9” tall and weighing only
103 pounds, She’s relentless in her activities and self-care, competitive, always trying to
prove herself. Her roommates and family have become more and more concerned. Sarah
seems joyless, and has been detaching herself from normal social interactions. She seems
nervously self-preoccupied most of the time, so she has little time, energy, or attention for
anything or anyone besides herself.

Diagnosis and current wisdom? “Sarah has anorexia — and she’s a perfectionist with low
self-esteem.”

Lise, 32 and married, with a toddler, has felt down ever since she had the baby. Lise has had a
tendency to wallow in self-reproach ever since childhood, but lately it’s gotten worse. She’s
mired in loops of self-condemning thoughts, endlessly rehearsing and bemoaning her faults,
both real and imaginary. She has developed elaborate “quiet time” rituals that help her feel
some sense that her life is OK. She never feels like God loves her. Her husband worries that
Lise’s ritualistic habits and “sticky thoughts” about personal failings interfere with her ability
to raise their child. Her brooding casts a pall over their relationship, too. The simplest
question — “How was your day?” — often turns into a dark spiral of complaint and despair.
He walks on eggshells: “What can I do? What can I say?”

Diagnosis and current wisdom? “Lise has a case of clinical depression and obsessivecompulsive
disorder (OCD) — and she sets impossible standards for herself.”

Chandra, 21, a senior in college, has battled intense anxiety feelings ever since adolescence.
She gets tongue-tied if she’s put on the spot in a social interaction. She increasingly avoids
social situations, and only goes to gatherings or events if she has a friend with her to run
interference and carry the ball conversationally. She hasn’t been out on a date since a couple
of ill-fated attempts in high school when she “almost had a panic attack” trying to figure out
what to talk about. Chandra medicates her anxiety with daytime TV, Netflix and chocolate
ice cream.

Diagnosis and current wisdom? “Chandra suffers from social anxiety disorder — and
she’s shy, gets glued to the tube, and needs her chocolate fix.”

Do you recognize any of your friends in these people? I do. Do you recognize something of
yourself in any of their problems? I do, too.

And do you also notice how each diagnostic label simply takes what we already know and
then restates it in quasi-medical-sounding language? The actual experiences of life-lived get
turned into a depersonalized “condition.” Problems get viewed exclusively as something a
person “has,” rather than the array of things a person feels, thinks and does.
It’s curious. The labels don’t actually add any information to what we already know. Yet they
somehow alter the entire way we perceive a person. They even alter how people perceive
themselves. The story and the struggle get lost in translation.

Hold onto that thought, and we’ll come back to it later. First we’re going to climb into the
story and the struggle.

We’re all in these stories

Let’s start with the common ground we feel with other people’s stories. These problems are
garden-variety human struggles ... amped up to very destructive levels. They beset each one
of us to a greater or lesser degree. Of course, for the four people described, these tendencies
have taken on life-dominating power.

Perhaps you can’t identify with just how badly another person flounders. But can you
identify with worry? Getting angry? Overindulging in food or drink? Immoral thoughts?
Self-preoccupation? Feeling guilty and despondent? Breeding unrealistic hopes? Escape into
TV or music or web surfing? Bickering and gossip? Feeling anxious around people? Blanking
out on God? All the different ways of being loveless, and joyless, and restless? We can each
identify with aspects of what these people do.

Each of these four stories describes a person who needs help in order to face up, to deal, to
change. But these people aren’t in a completely different category from the rest of us. They
aren’t weird, as if the rest of us were normal. Think about it this way. They dial up the
volume, but we all play the same kinds of music. These are our friends ... and ourselves.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Bible engages the varieties of chaos, confusion and trouble that
mere humans experience. Our stories interweave with God’s story at every point. God
intends that we understand what exactly goes wrong — and how exactly he goes about
making it right.

In his letter to people who know Jesus, James alerted us to something about personal and
interpersonal chaos. Wherever you find “confusion and bad stuff” (James 3:16 paraphrase),
you’ll find two underlying problems. First, “bad zeal” wants the wrong things too much.

Second, “selfish ambition” organizes life around all-about-Me.

James is unblinking about what’s wrong, but he never gives the mess last say: “God gives
more grace” (4:6). More than what? His goodness is more than all that goes wrong inside us.
Confusion and bad stuff is exactly what he goes to work on.

Of course, the particular details of our four friends’ stories have a 21st century flavor. But
once you scratch the surface, they simply give new spin to old problems. These struggles are
variants on the typical confusion and bad stuff of people everywhere. Almost 2000 years ago,
Paul said “the works of the flesh are obvious.” He gave fifteen examples: “sexual immorality,
impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries,
dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21).
Anyone can see that this is not the way life is meant to be. All forms of self-preoccupation are
the opposite of love, joy, and peace. Paul rounded off his list by pointing far beyond the
examples he chose to mention. “Things like these” include the 21st century problems of our
four friends and people like us.

So our friends’ chaotic ways of living fit the category “works of the flesh.” These lifestyles
show up on the MRI of Scripture. God sees them for what they are, and he teaches us how to
see through his eyes.

God also looks behind the externals into the inner reasons. Galatians 5:16-17 names the
motor for a destructive lifestyle: the “desires of the flesh.” That’s Paul’s phrase for bad zeal
and selfish ambition. The things people want seem so instinctive and plausible. But our
desires become monsters and dictators. We want the wrong things too much, and approach
life as if it’s all-about-Me.

Garrett’s way of life is “my way or the highway.” No wonder he gets so angry. Sarah worships
an ideal of thinness that even supermodels can’t attain. No wonder she’s so unhappy. Lise
lives by a principle of self-attained standards of performance, and goes snow-blind to the
mercies of God towards her. No surprise, she has no sense of peace. Chandra craves approval
(and panics about possible rejection). She’s so worried about how other people treat her
that she has no thoughtful kindness to give to them.

God sees what’s operating on the inside, as well as what’s oozing out for all to see. He sizes it
up for what it is, and then helps us to understand life the same way he does.

These patterns of inner motivation are what the Bible calls your “heart.” We generate
substitutes for God. The false masters are “little gods” that become I GOTTA HAVE
THAT! Our blind, misplaced devotion enslaves us. We express our submission to little gods
by destructive lifestyles, by our emotions, thoughts, words, and choices that the Bible calls
foolish. God wants us to see our hearts the way he sees us. Inside and out, this is exactly what
Jesus came to forgive and aims to transform.
• Jesus died to overthrow the dictatorship of the flesh
• Jesus died so that you won’t die clinging tight to your idols
• Jesus died so you won’t waste your life massaging and refining self-preoccupation
• Jesus lives to become your true Master

Here’s the whole message in a sound bite: “He died for all, that those who live might no
longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised” (2
Corinthians 5:15). Jesus can liberate Garrett from the stranglehold of self-will, so he actually
begins to care about other people. Jesus can bring Sarah to her senses, so that she comes to
love the beauty of Jesus rather than obsessing over an impossible and empty ideal. Lise can
rebuild her life on a new foundation. Chandra can find safe refuge and the courage to reach
out.

Christ overthrows dictatorial desires. The fruit of His Holy Spirit — Galatians 5:22-23 —
makes for a life worth living.

Of course, the freedom is never all-at-once, one-and-done. But Jesus creates new conditions
for life. In our lives now, He begins to make right all that goes so wrong. He sets about the
long, hard answering of the complex questions. He begins a lifelong freeing process.

Two ways of doing life
From Jesus’ point of view, there are two fundamentally different ways of doing life. One way,
you’re connected to a God who’s involved in your life. Psalm 23 is all about this: “The Lord
is my shepherd ... and his goodness and mercy surely follow me all the days of my life.” The
other way, you’re pretty much on your own and disconnected. Let’s call this the antipsalm
23: “I’m on my own ... and disappointment follows me all the days of my life.” We’ll look first
at the antipsalm way of doing life.

Antipsalm 23
I’m on my own.
No one looks out for me or protects me.
I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right.
I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed.
It’s a jungle — I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert — I’m thirsty.
My soul feels broken, twisted, and stuck. I can’t fix myself.
I stumble down some dark paths.
Still, I insist: I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want.
But life’s confusing. Why don’t things ever really work out?
I’m haunted by emptiness and futility — shadows of death.
I fear the big hurt and final loss.
Death is waiting for me at the end of every road,
but I’d rather not think about that.
I spend my life protecting myself. Bad things can happen.
I find no lasting comfort.
I’m alone ... facing everything that could hurt me.
Are my friends really friends?
Other people use me for their own ends.
I can’t really trust anyone. No one has my back.
No one is really for me — except me.
And I’m so much all about ME, sometimes it’s sickening.
I belong to no one except myself.
My cup is never quite full enough. I’m left empty.
Disappointment follows me all the days of my life.
Will I just be obliterated into nothingness?
Will I be alone forever, homeless, free-falling into void?
Sartre said, “Hell is other people.”
I have to add, “Hell is also myself.”
It’s a living death,
and then I die.

The antipsalm tells what life feels like and looks like whenever God vanishes from sight. As
we hear about Garrett and the others, each story lives too much inside the antipsalm. The
“I’m-all-alone-in-the-universe” experience maps onto each one of them. The antipsalm
captures the driven-ness and pointlessness of life-purposes that are petty and self-defeating.
It expresses the fears and silent despair that cannot find a voice because there’s no one to
really talk to.

Our four friends are spinning out of control. They might implode. Something bad gets last
say when whatever you live for is not God.

And when you’re caught up in the antipsalm, it doesn’t help when you’re labeled a
“disorder,” a “syndrome” or a “case.” The problem is much more serious: The disorder is
“my life.” The syndrome is “I’m on my own.” The case is “Who am I and what am I living
for?” when too clearly I am the center of my story.

But the antipsalm doesn’t need to tell the final story. It only becomes your reality when you
construct your reality from a lie. In reality, someone else is the center of the story. Nobody
can make Jesus go away. The I AM was, is and will be, whether or not people acknowledge
that.

When you awaken, when you see who Jesus actually is, everything changes. You see the
Person whose care and ability you can trust. You experience His care. You see the Person
whose glory you are meant to worship. You love Him who loves you. The real Psalm 23
captures what life feels like and looks like when Jesus Christ puts his hand on your shoulder.

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Can you taste the difference?

You might want to read both antipsalm and psalm again, slowly. Maybe even read out loud.
The psalm is sweet, not bitter. It’s full, not empty. You aren’t trying to grab the wind with
your bare hands. Someone else takes you in His hands. You are not alone.

Jesus Christ actually plays two roles in this most tender psalm. First, He walked this Himself.
He is a man who looked to the Lord. He said these very words, and means what He says. He
entered our predicament. He walked the valley of the shadow of death. He faced every evil.
He felt the threat of the antipsalm, of our soul’s need to be restored. He looked to his
Father’s care when He was cast down — for us — into the darkest shadow of death. And
God’s goodness and mercy followed Him and carried Him. Life won.

Second, Jesus is also this Lord to whom we look. He is the living shepherd to whom we call.
He restores your soul. He leads you in paths of righteousness. Why? Because of who He is:
“for His name’s sake.”

You, too, can walk Psalm 23. You can say these words and mean what you say. God’s
goodness and mercy is true, and all He promises will come true. The King is at home in his
universe.

Jesus puts it this way, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke
12:32). He delights to walk with you.

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Copyright 2008 David Powlison. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. This article
was published on Boundless.org on August 26, 2008.

Our Daily Bread - A Mother's Testimony To The God Who Provides

The following blog journal is from "Alpha-Omega" publishers - my wife & I found much encouragement from this - and I trust you will as well.

"I felt like Old Mother Hubbard as I went to the kitchen cupboards that morning. I don't know why I even bothered to look. I knew there was nothing in them to make a meal for my four young children. The situation looked rather bleak for a cook who could make a meal out of just flour, eggs, and milk, but today I didn't even have those ingredients. I looked out the window at the winter snow that covered my garden-no vegetables to be found there. What was I going to do?My husband was on a short-term mission in Africa, and I was all alone, homeschooling our children in the middle of winter. I had no money, no food, and no way to even get out from the blizzard that had blocked our long driveway to our country home. I began to think about how we had prayed and asked the Lord for opportunities to serve Him in missions. God had assured us through His Word that He would keep His promises to take care of us-but now I had four pairs of hungry eyes wondering what their mother was going to do.I don't know what came over me that morning. I opened every cupboard door and the refrigerator. I sat the children down in the middle of the kitchen, and we began to pray. I almost shouted at God when I spoke and reminded Him that He had promised to take care of us. Right now we had nothing-nothing to eat, no one to help, and no escape. Just the night before I had read in Psalm 37:25, "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread." I prayed that God would keep His promises, but things didn't look too good.

When we were done praying, my children and I got up and started our day. Not even thirty minutes had passed when I heard a pick-up truck coming up our driveway. Unbelievably, our pastor from a town 15 miles away walked up to the door and handed me an envelope. The pastor said someone at church had given the envelope to him on Sunday, but he didn't know what was in it. He just "happened to be going" to the town near our home and had decided to drop off the envelope. Then, just that quickly, he was gone.I stood there with the envelope in my hand and opened it. The hundred dollar bill inside may as well have been a thousand dollars to me. I knew the money was God's answer to our prayers. I quickly bundled all the children in their coats and drove to town, following the path our pastor's truck had made in our driveway. God was going to fill up all those empty cupboards!I never knew who our benefactor was, but I did learn a valuable lesson I have never forgotten. God is able to show Himself the mightiest when we are the weakest. "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9)."

"The Shack" - A Subversive Theology

Dear friends,

I want to pass on to you a couple of great links concerning the best-selling "Christian" fiction, The Shack. Personally, I find it sad for how popular this book has become among Christian believers and how it is being received as something beyond fiction, but something that many have claimed "it has transformed their view of God." Again folks, we don't need a "new way" to look at God - we only need what is clearly shown to us in the Scriptures. And in The Shack, we have a journey of a man throwing off the shackles of orthodox biblical Christianity for a new way. Though this book is a fiction, it is making some very, very deliberate theological statements about God. For starters listen to Albert Mohler's radio broadcast on this book - and then check out Tim Challes' extensive, gracious but honest book review. -MH

Reformedbooks.net! Building Your Library!

Hey folks,

I wanted to pass on to you a great new tool by our friends at Monergism.com here at www.reformedbooks.net they have compiled what they believe to be the best in Reformed theological works by both author and subject. This is a great resource in that today there are SO MANY books out there! Here they have done a lot of the "combing" through to compile their lists! Go through there and find a good book to read this Fall! Take care,

Matthew

Family Vacation!

Wow folks, sorry...it has been a while since I have posted. We were away for a couple of weeks going on a family vacation and then for the last couple of weeks I have been "playing catch up." This year we were really blessed by Anna's grandmother to be able to go and spend a couple of weeks with her in Seattle and on Lopez Island in the Puget Sound. It was beautiful scenery and we were able to make a lot of family memories together.

Above is a picture from outside our backyard! Wow! Below is a picture of us along with Anna's brother's family, her mom, grandma and cousin Bridgette.
And yes we went SEA KAYAKING in the Puget Sound! We kayaked around a couple of smaller islands and had a great time! Once in a lifetime!

The bottom three pictures are a sampling of the wildlife that can be seen there!

Stand & Wonder At The Reality Of Being Called A Son!

Mr. Kettler - a very, very dear brother and small group leader here in our church sent this to me and what a great encouragement it was to my soul! Thank you sir, for always directing me to "stand and wonder" at the Cross of Christ! There are too many times I "stand and wonder" at the wrong things where there is no hope! Thank you for directing me to see through the grace of God, how my Father sees me in The Son. You are a dear friend my brother and this piece really ministered to my heart! I will take this with me on vacation as a daily exhortation of how good our Savior is! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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Oh stand and wonder!
(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity")

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us—that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 3:1

It is an infinite condescension in God, to honor us with the title of sons, and therefore we should never think of it, nor ever speak of it—but with much admiration. O sirs! what matter of admiration is this—that the great and glorious God, who has many millions of glorious angels attending Him—that He should . . .

• look upon all holy people as His sons,
• and love them as His sons,
• and delight in them as His sons,
• and clothe them as His sons,
• and feed them as His sons,
• and protect them as His sons,
• and stand by them as His sons,
• and lay up for them as His sons,
• and lay out Himself for them as His sons; that those who have not deserved . . .
• a smile from God,
• a good word from God,
• a bit of bread from God,
• or a good look from God,
• should be made the sons of God!
  

What manner of love is this—that those who have . . .

• so highly provoked God,
• walked so cross and contrary to God,
• were so exceeding unlike God,
• preferred every lust, and every toy and vanity before God,
• fought many years under Satan's banner against God,
• refused all the offers of mercy that have been made by God, —that those who have deserved to be reprobated by God, damned by God, and to be thrown to hell by God—that these should be made the sons of God!
  

Oh stand and wonder! Oh stand and admire the freeness of His grace, and at the riches of His grace!

Christ & Culture: D.A. Carson on "Redeeming The Culture"

At this last year's "Together For The Gospel" they gave out D.A. Carson's book, "Christ & Culture Revisited." I must confess, it is still in the pile of my reading in my office that I am working my way through. Below is an interview of Dr. Carson by Derek Thomas from the "Reformation 21 Blog" of where he addresses this issue of "Redeeming the culture." To read the entire article click here.
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(Derek Thomas) DT: Why don't you like the terminology of "redeeming the culture"?

(Don Carson) DC: Redemption terminology in the NT is so bound up with Christ's work for and in the church that to extend it to whatever good we do in the broader world risks a shift in focus. Not for a moment do I want to deny that we are to serve as salt and light, that exiles may be called to do good in the pagan cities where Providence has appointed them to live (Jer 29), that every square foot of this world is under Christ's universal reign (even though that reign is still being contested), that the nations of the world will bring their "goods" into the Jerusalem that comes down from above. But many of those who speak easily and fluently of redeeming the culture soon focus all their energy shaping fiscal and political policies and the like, and merely assume the gospel. A gospel that is merely assumed, that does no more than perk away in the background while the focus of our attention is on the "redemption" of the culture in which we find ourselves, is lost within a generation or two. At the same time, I worry about Christians who focus their attention so narrowly on getting people "saved" that they care little about doing good to all people, even if especially to the household of God. Getting this right is not easy, and inevitably priorities will shift a little in various parts of the world, under various regimes. Part of the complexity of the discussion, I think, is bound up with what the church as church is responsible for, and what Christians as Christians are responsible for: I have argued that failure to make this distinction tends to lead toward sad conclusions.


DT: What are some key things for young pastors to keep in mind when they are urged to "engage the culture"?

DC: Know what the gospel is first, comprehensively, accurately, faithfully. Work out from there. Learn to preach to your own people, not to the aggregates set out in books by Barna and Wuthnow (though much can be learned from such books). Whether the "engagement" is part of how you engage people evangelistically, or part of how Christians in your church do good in your own community, keep thinking through what the Bible itself says -- and then try, like the men of Issachar, to understand your own times.