“When God’s sheep are in danger, the shepherd must not gaze at the stars and meditate on “inspirational” themes. He is morally obliged to grab his weapon and run to their defense. When the circumstances call for it, love can use the sword, though by her nature she would rather bind up the broken heart and minister to the wounded. It is time fo rthe prophet and the seer to make themselves heard and felt again. For the last three decades timidity disguised as humility has crouched in her corner while the spiritual quality of evangelical Christianity has become progressively worse year by year. How long, O Lord, how long?” A.W. Tozer, “The Best of A.W.Tozer”, p.42.
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“The history of religion is the tragic tale of those who are morally spiritually blind and deaf yet who devise rituals and symbols in an attempt to “see” God and “hear” His voice and benefit from His power through means that the Bible condemns as idolatry and divination.” Dave Hunt, “Beyond Seduction”, Chapter 10.
Giving is an important and humbling attitude, yet not always the most exciting prospect to our flesh. As I think back to when I was little, I don’t think I was ever more excited than when I knew I was getting (not giving) something new. But one thing I now know… there is a reality beyond this world that reminds me that it’s truly more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35.
When Jesus spoke these words, I don’t believe He was talking against or contradicting the blessedness of receiving His glorious Gospel. Rather He was shining His light upon the selfish heart of fallen man. Adam’s race is by very nature selfish, creatures that desire to get as much as they can, many times giving only when expedient to self. In a nutshell, we are consumers at the core. But…once translated into the Lord’s Kingdom, being born again by His incorruptible Word, the beauty of giving should begin to bloom, becoming more and more precious as we yield to His Holy Spirit and Word. But why is giving more blessed than receiving? For the answer we need to go back to the beginning.
God freely gave Adam and Eve their very souls, time every day to fellowship with Him, a place to live, food to eat and the company of one another. He gave them everything, yet instead of following His example of giving, they did the very opposite, taking what rightfully belonged to their Maker. They took their lives into their own hands, stealing from the Lord God. Ever since that first act of robbery, men have sought to take and take and take, not content until all is consumed, much like the locust.
But praise God He did not leave us in this predicament! Jesus entered His creation, choosing to be born at the appointed time. Romans 5:6. He was born as a man, never stopped being God, to do what no man had ever done, yet was originally created to do- enter into a life of giving everything unto the One who rightfully deserves it all. Jesus laid it all down, giving up His life even unto death. Philippians 2:8. Instead of taking, He gave His life unto the Father, a living sacrifice to redeem thieves and robbers. What mercy! What grace! What love indeed!
Giving, in and of itself, is a futile act unless you know the True One you are giving all to. This is the key! It truly is more blessed to give that to receive when you know who you’re giving it all to – The Lord Jesus, our Blessed Redeemer! Knowing what He has done for such a wretch as me… now knowing Him, my heart sinks in utter humility and is filled with love for my Jesus! How could I do any less than give all to Him? May we always seek His face, asking the Lord to help us see how foolish it is to hang onto things that aren’t even ours! We have been purchased; bought with a price. Truly we are His, and what could better than that!?
“But drops of grief can never repay the debt of love I owe. So here, Lord, I give myself away. ‘Tis all that I can do!” ~Isaac Watts
“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.” ~Psalm 100:2-5
“O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon His name: make known His deeds among the people.” ~Psalm 105:1
This is an excellent 3 minute clip featuring Mike Riddle from Answers in Genesis providing a one-of-a-kind animated look at what it might have been like as the flood of Noah’s time impacted this planet. What a great reminder of both God’s judgment and His mercy! Please feel free to pass this along!
Psychology literally means the study of the soul or mind, not the brain. Are not the soul and mind both areas which only the Holy Spirit alone can renew and transform? How is it that we have abdicated the necessity of God’s Word and working through the power of His Holy Spirit for vain philosophies devised by men? For an overview of popular psychology, two excellent and free e-books are strongly recommended: “Christ-Centered Ministry Verses Problem-Centered Counseling” and “Person to Person Ministry- Soul Care in the Body of Christ”. Both are written by Martin and Deidre Bobgan.
For the remainder of this blog, I plan to do three simple things. First, I will provide several quotes revealing what many research scientists are saying about the so-called science of right brain/left brain teaching. Second I will provide the Scriptural support, if any, for these teachings. And finally I will provide two excellent links for further reading.
Although there are areas within science today that should more aptly be labeled science falsely so-called, i.e. evolutionism and popular (counseling) psychology, there are many fields of science which can be observed and are repeatable. There are fields of research psychology which unlike the over 400 theories of counseling psychology are credible and act much like watchdogs for the many ‘theories’ that have made their way into both the secular and Christian mainstream. There are also those doing serious study in the fields of neurosciences that have become somewhat frustrated at the simplification of certain right brain/left brain research in order to make it more palatable and understandable to the general public. Carefully consider the following quotes:
· Nobelist Dr. Roger Sperry says, “The left-right dichotomy . . . is an idea with which it is easy to run wild.” 1 Sperry also says:
The more we learn, the more we recognize the unique complexity of any one individual intellect and the stronger the conclusion becomes that the individuality inherent in our brain networks makes that of fingerprints or facial features gross and simple by comparison.2
· Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, in a book titled The Social Brain, has a chapter titled “Left-Brain, Right-Brain Mania: A Debunking.” He says:
Where does all of this conjecture come from? How did some laboratory findings of limited generality get so outrageously misinterpreted? Why were they picked up so hungrily by the press and then embraced by every sort of scientific dilettante? There are several reasons. The left-brain/right-brain dichotomy was simple and understandable and provided a way to talk about modern brain research and how it applied to everyday experience. Certainly no one was going to argue that people have artistic-intuitive skills and logical-linguistic skills. Prima facie there are manifestly different activities of mind. So science is used to prove that one set of skills is in the left brain and another in the right, which in turn proves that mental skills are different, and therefore able to be differentially trained. The image of one part of the brain doing one thing and the other part something entirely different was there, and that it was a confused concept seemed to make no difference. . . . The runaway fervor for such ideas relates, in part, to the difficulty in communicating scientific ideas to the general public. To really understand concepts arising out of experimental data is a serious business, and most people do not have the time or interest to assess information at that level. There is an extensive and usually foreign vocabulary to learn. The necessary qualifying remarks and constraints on the ideas prove to be too much of a burden for the potential audience. So scientific journalism purveys its stories on simple to-understand claims that most people can relate to, preferably at a personal level. This wouldn’t matter for the present story except for the fact that the distortions get in the way of why split-brain patients are truly interesting. And the oversimplifications and outright erroneous information have also tended to trivialize the complexity of the integrated processes of our minds.3 (Emphasis added.)
· After interviewing several researchers in the field, Kevin McKean says:
The problem arises when the right-brain movement implies that its conclusions are based on hard fact, rather than an essentially metaphorical interpretation of scientific discoveries. The differences between the hemispheres are still not well understood, and Gazzaniga, like Springer, says that the newest research tends to emphasize the way the two cooperate with one another during the normal functioning, rather than how they differ. 4(Emphasis added.)
· McKean also says:
Scientists are understandably annoyed when they see careful but often inconclusive work popularized and exploited so glibly. As Deutsch puts it: “I get bothered by people saying, ‘This is all based on neurological theory, therefore it’s true.’ It’s not legitimized by neurological theory. There is no evidence that people favor one portion of the brain or the other—-that’s pure speculation.” 5(Emphasis added.)
· Neurologist Dr. John Mazziotta at the UCLA School of Medicine says:
Even on the most trivial tasks our studies showed that everything in the brain was in flux—-both sides, the front and back, the top and bottom. It was tremendously complicated. To think that you could reduce this to a simple left-right dichotomy would be misleading and oversimplified.6 (Emphasis added.)
Next, I planned to provide Scriptural backing for right brain/left brain teaching, however I could find none. But consider this quote- “What must be said for those who reinterpret the Bible and counsel Christians based upon this humanistic myth? 2 Timothy 4:3-4 warns, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” The fulfillment of that prophecy seems to have come upon today’s church with a vengence.” Dave Hunt, TBC Newsletter, “Science Falsely So-Called, Feb. 1, 1989.
As we daily seek the Lord, may we always be willing to set aside the lies of this world so that both hands are free to cling tightly to the truth and sufficiency of God’s Word!
Finally, here are two excellent resources on this topic-
· E-Book- Chapter Fourteen of Prophets of PsychoHeresy II, written by Martin and Deidre Bobgan
· “Science Falsely So-Called”, The Berean Call Newsletter, Feb. 1, 1989, written by Dave Hunt.
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End Notes
1. Roger Sperry, “Some Effects of Disconnecting the Cerebral Hemispheres.” Science, Vol. 217, 24 September 1982, p. 1225.
2. Ibid.
3. Michael S. Gazzaniga. The Social Brain: Discovering the Networks of the Mind. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1985, pp. 48-49.
4. Kevin McKean, “Of Two Minds: Selling the Right Brain,” Discover, 1985, p. 40.
5. Ibid.
6. John Mazziotta quoted by Kevin McKean, p.38.
For the next several posts, I plan to share some of the largest and most colorful plastic jewels that I had picked up while in the world. After becoming a born-again believer it took time for me to begin understanding that there were many things I had picked up and was still picking up from the world. These jewels were easy to find, and get ahold of simply because they were and are so popular and pervasive. The first in this series of blogs is the popular notion of right brain/left brain psychology which is still main stream in numerous educational resources and couples self-help articles and books.
Right brain/left brain psychology entered the main stream somewhere in the early to mid 1980’s and can truly be labeled science falsely so-called. Many in the neuroscience fields know this concept has little data and much assumption surrounding it, yet many Christians have unfortunately clung to it as a precious jewel. Every time the saints accept worldly philosophies in lieu of God’s Word, both our walk and our witness are affected. One man put it like this, “The cause of Christ is not discredited by failure to keep up with modern science (which has nothing to do with spiritual reality), but by the substitution of “science falsely so-called” for God’s unchanging truth. This is a modern abomination.” Dave Hunt, TBC Newsletter- “Science Falsely So-Called”, Feb. 1, 1989.
There are few topics that are held with such passion as that of popular psychology. It would be one thing to say that the world won’t let go of it, but unfortunately most of today’s Christianity is spell-bound by its teachings, raising many popular Christian psychologists up to a priest-like status that is almost untouchable even by the Word of God. After all, you need a degree to become a psychologist so how could someone who only knows God’s Word ever be able to correct a psychologist? Yet many go to psychologists for the very reason they should be going to our Lord and Savior- for counsel. This article will not be an attempt to critique popular psychology and the love many Christians have for it, but since right brain/left brain thinking has its home in this general area let me say just a couple more things pertaining to psychology in light of God’s Word.
Did you know that psychology is the number two field of study both in Christian and secular universities alike? It is interesting that no matter what bookstore you go to you will more than likely find more books on counseling and psychology than you will on biblical Christianity. To say the least, psychology is very popular among both Christians and non-Christians alike. Did you also know that the Lord never ascribes counseling as a spiritual gift in the Bible? He does give some to be teachers, pastors, and some to be apostles and evangelists. Some have the gift of helps, and others have the gift of tongues and prophecy. And others have the gift of healing, yet nowhere does God reveal to us that He gives anyone a specific gift called “counseling”. (Romans 12:7, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11) With such a big draw and such an apparent need, why are the Scriptures silent on a gift of counseling? It seems the Lord has perhaps overlooked the needs of us living in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Perhaps this is why Godless men like Abraham Maslow and Carl Yung were raised up. Perhaps they were raised up to assist us poor, needy Christians who didn’t know how to properly give or receive counsel for almost 2,000 years prior to their arrival. Or perhaps there is another answer.
Is not God Himself called the Counselor, and does not the Holy Spirit indwell all believers? (Isaiah 9:6, John 14:16-17) Is not the entire body of Christ commanded to draw along side one another to bear each other’s burdens, helping the weaker for the strengthening of the whole body, which is fit together and supplied by the love of Christ? (Romans 15:1-2, Galatians 6:2-3, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Corinthians 12:18-27) Does not the Word of God claim to be sufficient in all things pertaining to life and godliness? (2 Peter 1:1-3) Then why should we go to the muddied streams of human psychology that was invented by Godless men, to try to glean a few nuggets of truth that will minister to hearts and minds?
“But you have not so learned Christ; If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:20-24
There are so many lies that I bought into while walking in darkness. They all seemed so sensible at the time. But now they seem at best like plastic jewels. I remember playing with little pieces of colored plastic as a kid, pretending they were valuable rubies and diamonds. Too often we hold onto the doctrines of this world as if they are beautiful and valuable jewels adorning us. In reality they are at best useless, and at worst deadly.
Once I accepted the full and free forgiveness of my sins by Christ Jesus, He began to shine His light on the lies I had once held to so tightly. After I saw the truth I began to realize these were not jewels. I had been lied to! The vain philosophies of the world and sciences-falsely-so-called are very alluring. Unfortunately many of its teachings don’t just fall away once we come to Christ. Why do we hold onto supposed jewels when we could instead be filled to overflowing with the treasure of the knowledge of Christ? May the Lord continue convicting our hearts with His truth and love so that we may desire to make Him our One and Only Treasure!
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
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