I don't claim that mental health professionals are always helpful. I really don't know whose success rate is better, theirs or Jesus's.
WHY? should it even be an issue, a question?
I guess in the end its all going to boil down to whatever
any individual puts their faith in., if it works it works.
If it doesn't well ... JESUS is still there...waiting.
__________________ You can tell more about people
by what they say about others...than by what others
say about them.
I don't claim that mental health professionals are always helpful. I really don't know whose success rate is better, theirs or Jesus's.
I'm gonna get excoriated for what I say, but I'll do it anyway.
I see information, books, and websites discrediting the medical treatment of mental health. At 911truth.org you can also find out that Bin Laden actually worked for the U.S. up until 9-11. For every truth, there is someone who will attempt to discredit that truth and there's a conspiracy theory available for everything.
Did you know there's actually a cure for cancer but the medical industry is covering it up because it turns such a profit on chemotherapy drugs?
Keith didn't start this thread so that people could debate the validity of mental health treatment but as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be debated and from my one-month AFF experience, I knew most of who it would be that would attempt to discredit it. Very predictable.
So I'm not saying this to change the mind of a few of the posters. But if you're of the people who clicked on this thread because you're struggling, PLEASE don't let your actions be dictated by the religious stigma that seeking mental professional help shows a lack of trust in God. This entire subject is very painful at the moment.
__________________ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! HE IS THE ONE who has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for HE IS THE ONE who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us. (Romans 8:33-34)
"The greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity". –Erwin McManus
WHY? should it even be an issue, a question?
I guess in the end its all going to boil down to whatever
any individual puts their faith in., if it works it works.
If it doesn't well ... JESUS is still there...waiting.
A college classmate of mine decided to "trust only Jesus" with his daughter's health and is about to be sentenced to many years in prison.
How in the world can we possibly be debating the validity of medical help?? Were your children born in your living room or in a hospital?
A man that attended the church I pastor once called me. He was one of the most gentle, respectful people I'd ever known. When I answered the phone, he f-bombed me relentlessly before his wife was able to get the phone from him. They couldn't afford his prescription that treated the chemical imbalance he had in his brain and had gone two days without it.
Is there bad psychiatry? Yep. There are also churches that protest soldier's funerals, handle snakes, drink animal blood, demand that people follow only the OT diet, and a truck load of other goofy things. I would submit that religion is WAY more dangerous than psychiatry. At least the psychiatry folks have been to school.
__________________ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! HE IS THE ONE who has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for HE IS THE ONE who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us. (Romans 8:33-34)
"The greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity". –Erwin McManus
Oh my you really don't know?
You have my condolences.
Yes then by all means, go see a shrink, or md.
Oh, and condolences? There's no need!
You guys put a lot of stock in experience. That's good. We should always compare theory against reality. We should also be willing to arrive at conclusions based on that comparison, and not on what we want them to be, or on what we're taught they must be.
So here's my experience. I believed the Bible, and in a particular set of doctrines derived from it, not really much different from that of Apostolics. My experience was in the Assemblies of God. (Now, don't go hyperventilating over how totally different that is from you guys. Yes, there are differences, but we had pretty much the same views on a lot of things: tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, and healing in particular, as relevant to this discussion.)
I saw miracles. Heard about miracles. Cancer. Pain. Broken bones. I myself thought I was healed of depression. It lasted several weeks. When it returned, it was worse than ever, of course, since it came along with disappointment and guilt over the failed (or expired?) miracle.
Funny thing, the human mind. Very complex, and its health is affected by many factors, internal and external. Natural and man-made chemicals affect it: drugs, alcohol, hormones, fatigue, even faith.
Yes, I said "faith". If you have faith in something (just about anything!), it can have a profound effect, for good or bad. The mind is probably more susceptible to placebo effect than anything else in our bodies. So yes, faith in God can be beneficial. Not always, but it can be, and in terms of results, I don't care if it really is God stepping in or not. If it works, it works.
Back to my experience. My bouts of depression got worse each time. God didn't heal me, or did so only temporarily. (Maybe He helped me out only long enough to keep me from killing myself?) I did try medication, briefly. It may have helped some, but I didn't give it enough time to find out for sure. Dropped it due to side effects. Didn't try another med. But I didn't need to. It was about that time I left the AG and its dogma. Facing reality, without the mandatory conclusions I referred to above, helped immensely and immediately.
In my case, maybe it wasn't a chemical imbalance. As I said, the mind is complex and affected by many factors. Maybe all I had to do was remove myself from an environment of failed promises (and all the other dogma I could no longer try to believe) and accept reality.
But that's my experience. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited (ha, that's a good one! ).
__________________
Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
A college classmate of mine decided to "trust only Jesus" with his daughter's health and is about to be sentenced to many years in prison.
How in the world can we possibly be debating the validity of medical help?? Were your children born in your living room or in a hospital?
A man that attended the church I pastor once called me. He was one of the most gentle, respectful people I'd ever known. When I answered the phone, he ******* me relentlessly before his wife was able to get the phone from him. They couldn't afford his prescription that treated the chemical imbalance he had in his brain and had gone two days without it.
Is there bad psychiatry? Yep. There are also churches that protest soldier's funerals, handle snakes, drink animal blood, demand that people follow only the OT diet, and a truck load of other goofy things. I would submit that religion is WAY more dangerous than psychiatry. At least the psychiatry folks have been to school.
Excuse me?
__________________ "all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
~Declaration of Independence
Keith didn't start this thread so that people could debate the validity of mental health treatment but as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be debated and from my one-month AFF experience, I knew most of who it would be that would attempt to discredit it. Very predictable.
Who?
__________________ "all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
~Declaration of Independence
I'm gonna get excoriated for what I say, but I'll do it anyway.
I see information, books, and websites discrediting the medical treatment of mental health. At 911truth.org you can also find out that Bin Laden actually worked for the U.S. up until 9-11. For every truth, there is someone who will attempt to discredit that truth and there's a conspiracy theory available for everything.
Did you know there's actually a cure for cancer but the medical industry is covering it up because it turns such a profit on chemotherapy drugs?
Keith didn't start this thread so that people could debate the validity of mental health treatment but as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be debated and from my one-month AFF experience, I knew most of who it would be that would attempt to discredit it. Very predictable.
So I'm not saying this to change the mind of a few of the posters. But if you're of the people who clicked on this thread because you're struggling, PLEASE don't let your actions be dictated by the religious stigma that seeking mental professional help shows a lack of trust in God. This entire subject is very painful at the moment.
What does the bibe say about our minds. That is the answer and always will be. I've might have missed but I haven't read promsise of perfect bodily health.
__________________
Today pull up the little weeds,
The sinful thoughts subdue,
Or they will take the reins themselves
And someday master you. --Anon.
The most deadly sins do not leap upon us, they creep up on us.
I really don't know whose success rate is better, theirs or Jesus's.
Brother Timmy, you don't know?
__________________ "all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
~Declaration of Independence
There's no need!
Yes, there are differences, but we had pretty much the same views on a lot of things: tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, and healing in particular, as relevant to this discussion.)
).
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