What Does the Scripture Say?

The final portion of this excellent video. You can purchase it HERE. I don’t agree with Dave Hunt on everything (that’s for sure), but when it comes to Psychobabble, he’s pretty much spot on.

 Psych&church4.mov: Downloads 5

We all know that God is absolutely sovereign. He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. The Bible also tells us that God is sufficient for all of life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3 says ‘His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence.’

Seeing God and His Word as insufficient builds the foundation of a liberal church. But it has also come into conservative churches and even ultra-conservative churches. A conservative church may believe in the authority of the Bible, but it might not believe in the sufficiency of the Bible. Thus the Bible has limited value and must be supplemented by man’s word. They won’t admit this but it’s true. For example you can go into a liberal church and ask the pastor if he believes that God’s Word is sufficient, he’ll probably tell you, “No. It’s not. That’s an outdated concept that we’ve grown beyond.” Now, you can go into a conservative church and ask the pastor if God and His Word are sufficient for all of life and godliness and he’ll probably tell you, “Yes. We believe that.” But look closely around the church and you might find a James Dobson leaflet in the Sunday bulletin, or a Sunday school class going through a Gary Smalley video series on parenting, maybe a “Bible” study studying a Larry Crabb book, or perhaps a marriage seminar using Dennis Rainey materials, or a pastor using materials by Minirth / Meier for counseling, or maybe a woman’s group studying the so-called four temperaments by Tim LaHaye, and so it goes on.

The church gives verbal ascent, but if you look closely and can discern between Biblical wisdom vs. man’s wisdom, you’ll see the church capitulating to humanistic philosophy in many realms. The Bible warns us about such things. We read in Colossians 2:8 ‘See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy or empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ.’

Secular psychology is a belief system about who we are and how we should relate to 1) the self 2) each other and 3) the higher power (which, ultimately, is the self). It is based on evolutionary beliefs and its founding fathers were all atheists (or in the case of Carl Jung, an occultist). Perhaps you’ve heard of Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, B.F. Skinner, Alfred Adler, Eric Fromm, etc. All atheists, all haters of God, some of these men even signed the declaration of a godless society in the ‘Humanist Manifesto’. These founding fathers built a system of thought fervently held to, a religion you might say, based on evolutionary theory along with man’s best thoughts and the world fell for it.

Christian psychology on the other hand is….., well it’s on the same hand actually. It’s the same humanistic philosophy couched in Christian lingo and inserted into Bible texts everywhere. To talk of “Christian” psychology makes as much sense as talking of “Christian” evolution or theistic evolution. Both take outside influences (built on foundations of atheism) and add them into Scriptures. If you want to see slick isogesis (that is, reading into the text what isn’t there) just look at some of the common teachings of the so-called Christian psychologists:

Christian psychologists say man needs to learn to love self.

• The Bible says we already love ourselves and our great need is to love God and others. Matt 22:37-40 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment? And He said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets.” Notice Jesus said, “On these TWO commandments…” The Christian psychologists try to tell us there are three commandments here, love God, love others and love self. Then they go further by proclaiming that without first loving your self, you cannot love God or others. The self takes first priority.

Christian psychologists say man’s greatest need is for significance.

• The Bible says man’s greatest need is for salvation. Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. They consistently confuse the term ‘need’ with ‘desire’. What is really necessary or a need? Jesus said only one thing is necessary (see Luke 10:38-42).

Christian psychologists say that the greatest drive in man is his need for significance.

• The Bible says the greatest drive in man is his desire for significance. God calls this pride. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, not nurture our sinful, prideful nature. Luke 9:23 If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.

Christian psychologists say we need a high self esteem.

• The Bible says we need to esteem others as better than ourselves. Philippians 2:3 With humility of mind, esteem others as more important (or better) than yourselves.

Christian psychologists say we need to forgive self.

• The Bible says God does the forgiving and we need to accept His forgiveness. Colossians 3:13 Bearing with one another and forgiving each other whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. The Bible commands us to forgive other like God forgave us. It never commands us to forgive self. To do so would be to exalt man in the place of God.

Christian psychologists say we need to recognize our ‘infinite self worth’.

• The Bible says the nations are like a drop in the bucket and that we are like insects. Isaiah 40:15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. v17 All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded as less than nothing and meaningless. v22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers…v23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless…v24 But He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble.

Christian psychologists say we were worth the death of God’s Son because we were so valuable.

• The Bible says that we were not worth the death of God’s Son, nor was there anything in us that would send him to the cross. Christ died for us in spite of our unworthiness, He loved us in spite of our unlovableness. Why? Because God is love. Because God is gracious. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Inherit in this biblical truth is security. God’s love for me doesn’t depend on my character, it depends on His character, which changes not.

Christian psychologists say that sometimes we need to forgive God.

• The Bible says this is blasphemy. James 1. God cannot be tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

Christian psychologists say we need a good self image.

• Jesus says we are to see ourselves as worthless slaves. Luke 17:10 So you also, after you have done everything commanded of you, say “I am a worthless slave. I have only done that which I ought to have done.” Christian psychologists say we should see ourselves as God sees us. On the contrary, we should see ourselves as God tells us to see ourselves.

And so it goes on. These are just a few of the many aberrant teachings of the Christian psychologists. This is what happens when you don’t base all of your thinking on the Word of God.

The belief in the insufficiency of God’s word also directly leads to a philosophy of pragmatism. The main question becomes, “Does it work?” instead of “What does the Scripture say? Our culture, including our 21st century American Christianity is extremely pragmatic. Because all of us have been psychologized, we look for pragmatic reasons beyond the Scriptures for reasons why we do things. It’s not enough to say “Because God said so”. No, now we “13 reasons why you shouldn’t have premarital relations”. The main point is: Are we going to submit to the authority of the Word of God in every realm, or only when it works? Do we obey God out of love for God, or because it will make us happy? We need to live by principles not pragmatics.

We all need to grow in our discernment between Biblical wisdom and man’s wisdom. We can do this in a very practical way. We need to prayerfully study God’s Word and remain humble enough for His Holy Spirit to apply it to our lives in every area. I would encourage you to really allow this truth of God and His Word being sufficient to revolutionize your walk with Him. I would challenge us all to base our thinking on, as well as start and finish our thinking with the Word of God. Isaiah 2:22 says, “Stop regarding man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for why should he be esteemed!?” We need to get back to the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God!

Our little family has been so tremendously blessed by God through knowing and loving the Bradricks. Most of you who know us well can testify of the huge impact they have had on our lives as individuals and as a family. The Lord has graciously granted us the joy of becoming very close friends and our fellowship in the Lord is as sweet as can be on this earth. Let me introduce you a little more to this amazing family.

We met in the summer of 1999 at a Colorado Homeschool conference. We had been introduced to homeschooling the prior year by a coworker’s family. We were so impressed with the homeschooled children of this coworker that we decided to check out this homeschool conference even though we did not have any children at the time (let alone homeschooling age children). We had taken some days off work and had planned out the entire conference. We would be going to all the “New to Homeschooling” sessions during the 3 days there. Somehow during that first day, I happened upon a session called “Bewitched by the World” by Michael Bradrick. I was so convicted during this talk that I wanted to try another session by this man whom God used in a powerful way. So I went to another session and continued to be convicted by the Holy Spirit on the Biblical issues that Michael talked about.

Upon arriving at home in the evening, I told Christy about how wonderful the day went and was so excited to go back the next day, but the Lord had a change of plans. Instead of going through the “new beginners” track, we would go to every single Bradrick family session! This was a God ordained meeting and a real life changing experience. I honestly thought we would come out of the conference more knowledgeable about the how’s and why’s of homeschooling. But the Lord used this conference to draw me closer to Him, to purify me by showing me my selfish, sinful ways and to turn me on my face to Himself. I do not call many experiences in my life “life changing”, but this truly was.

One of the main issues that God confronted me with (through the Bradricks’ sessions) was man (me) trying to be in control over certain areas of life (specifically conception). I remember being so utterly convicted by the simple Bible verse “Children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward…how blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” It was one of the few times that it was crystal clear to me that I was giving lip service to a verse, but not really believing it. The Bible says children are a blessing, and I would give mental assent to that fact. But in reality, I was trying to stop my own children from coming into this world. It was deeply convicting that I could give lip service to a Bible verse, say I believe it, but not really believe it by not acting in accordance with it. Anyways, I could go on for hours on just that topic. I will probably to a blog post sometime in the future on just that.

Back to the Bradricks . After that conference, the Lord opened up an opportunity for Christy and me to go to the Northwest for me to get water baptized at Southwest Bible Church by Pastor Scott Gilchrist. I called the Bradricks to see if we could swing by and say hello. To my great surprise, they not only had us over for a meal but offered for us to stay with them in their home for a few days including a special thanksgiving feast. This was a real treat and honor, especially considering that we only met them that one time the previous summer. Well that week with the Bradricks and with the families from Southwest gave us a little taste of heaven. After that our families stayed in touch and became really close friends. I especially became very close to their oldest son still at home, Peter (who recently got married to Kelly Brown, see HERE for pictures of the wedding in which Peter asked me to be one of his groomsmen).

I honestly could go on writing for hours and hours about the tremendous work of God in the Bradricks and how they have been such a blessing to us. I wanted to give you a taste of this work by giving you a little preview of THE BEST parenting seminar I have ever seen. It is called “Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World” and is on DVD in four parts (almost 6 hours worth, I think). I forgot to mention that Michael and Susan have 9 children who, by the grace of God, ALL love and serve the Lord with everything they’ve got! Of course these great friends of ours are not perfect, they are not gurus, they are simply sinners saved by grace and in whom the Holy Spirit has done a transforming work. They are tremendously humble servants and hospitable to the nth degree.

Below will be two video clips from the DVD series. I highly suggest you view these and even purchase the DVDs directly from them if the Lord leads. The email address to contact them is bradricks@intergate.com I have about a half dozen of these DVD sets, so if you want one, please let me know. This conference was taped in 1991, while they where still in the midst of raising their houseful of blessings. The baby you see in the film, Stephen, is now 17 years old. The series comes with a very helpful booklet. Their prayer for each viewer is the following:

We pray that as you participate in these sessions you will carefully study each scripture passage to see “if these things be so.” ( Acts 17:11) We pray that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will apply God’s Word lovingly and diligently, “as you sit in your house, as you walk in the way, as you lie down, and as you rise up” ( Deut 6:4-7) that each precious child may be trained “in the way he should go,” so “even when he is old he will not depart from it.” ( Prov 22:6) And we pray that, in doing so, you will never aim for just external obedience, but that you will patiently (1 Cor.13) seek to win each child’s heart, encourage his heart to obey you out of love, and lead his heart to trust and obey Christ Jesus our Lord.

To learn more about the Bradricks and their ministry (which includes overseeing a Washington State Homeschool organization) please visit www.FamilyDiscipleshipMin.com and www.ChristianHeritageOnline.org

 Raising Godly Children Intro: Downloads 196
 Raising Godly Children Clip: Downloads 133

More excellent material.

 Psych&church3.mov: Downloads 148

No matter how fulfilling life becomes, there are always certain regrets when one looks back. My deepest sense of loss involves my father. So much has happened since his death. I often wonder what it would be like to share it all with him, and what his reaction would be.We never shared anything in our lives. Because of vows he had taken before I was born, not once did he ever speak to me or pay me the slightest heed. Just two words from him would have made me unspeakably happy. How I wanted to hear him say, “Rabi. Son.” Just once. But he never did.For eight long years he uttered not a word. The trancelike condition he had achieved is called in the East a state of higher consciousness and can be attained only through deep meditation.

“Why is Father that way?” I would ask my mother, still too young to understand. “He is someone very special — the greatest man you could have for a father,” she would reply. “He is seeking the true Self that lies within us all, the One Being, of which there is no other. And that’s what you are too, Rabi.”

Father had set an example, achieved wide acclaim, and earned the worship of many, and it was inevitable that upon his death his mantle would fall upon me. I had never imagined, however, that I would still be so young when this fateful day arrived.

When father died I felt I had lost everything. Though I had scarcely known him as my father, he had been my inspiration — a god — and now he was dead.

At his funeral, my father’s stiff body was placed on a great npile of firewood. The thought of his body being sacrificed to Agni, the god of fire, added a new dimension of mystery to the bewilderment and deep sense of loss that already overwhelmed me.

As the flames engulfed him, it was impossible to suppress the anguish I felt. “Mommy!” I screamed. “Mommy!” If she heard me above the roar of sparks and fire, she made no indication. A true Hindu, she found strength to follow the teaching of Krishna: she would mourn neither the living nor the dead. Not once did she cry as the flames consumed my father.

After my father’s funeral, I became a favorite subject for the palm-readers and astrologers who frequented our house. Our family would hardly make an important decision without consulting an astrologer, so it was vital that my future be confirmed in the same way. It was encouraging to learn that the lines on my palms and the planets and stars, according to those who interpreted them, all agreed I would become a great Hindu leader. I was obviously a chosen vessel, destined for early success in the search for union with Brahman (the One). The forces that had guided my father were now guiding me.

I was only eleven and already many people were bowing before me, laying gifts of money, cotton cloth, and other treasures at my feet and hanging garlands of flowers around my neck at religious ceremonies.

How I loved religious ceremonies — especially private ones in our own home or those of others, where friends and relatives would crowd in. There I would be the center of attention, admired by all. I loved to move through the audience, sprinkling holy water on worshipers or marking foreheads with the sacred white sandalwood paste. I also loved how the worshipers, after the ceremony, bowed low before me to leave their offerings at my feet.

While vacationing at an Aunt’s ranch, I had my first real encounter with Jesus. I was walking along enjoying nature one day and was startled by a rustling sound in the underbrush behind me. I turned quickly and, to my horror, saw a large snake coming directly toward me — its beady eyes staring intently into mine. I felt paralyzed, wanting desperately to run but unable to move.

In that moment of frozen terror, out of the past came my mother’s voice, repeating words I had long forgotten: “Rabi, if ever you’re in real danger and nothing else seems to work, there’s another god you can pray to. His name is Jesus.”

“Jesus! Help me!” I tried to yell, but the desperate cry was choked and hardly audible.

To my astonishment, the snake turned around and quickly wriggled off into the underbrush. Breathless and still trembling, I was filled with wondering gratitude to this amazing god, Jesus. Why had my mother not taught me more about him?

During my third year in high school I experienced an increasingly deep inner conflict. My growing awareness of God as the Creator, separate and distinct from the universe He had made, contradicted the Hindu concept that god was everything, that the Creator and the Creation were one and the same. If there was only One Reality, then Brahman was evil as well as good, death as well as life, hatred as well as love. That made everything meaningless, life an absurdity. It was not easy to maintain both one’s sanity and the view that good and evil, love and hate, life and death were One Reality.

One day a friend of my cousin Shanti, whose name was Molli, came by to visit. She asked me about whether I found Hinduism fulfilling. Trying to hide my emptiness, I lied and told her I was very happy and that my religion was the Truth. She listened patiently to my pompous and sometimes arrogant pronouncements. Without arguing, she exposed my emptiness gently with politely phrased questions.

She told me that Jesus had brought her close to God. She also said that God is a God of love and that He desires us to be close to Him. As appealing as this sounded to me, I stubbornly resisted, not willing to surrender my Hindu roots.

Still, I found myself asking, “What makes you so happy? You must have been doing a lot of meditation.”

“I used to,” Molli responded, “but not any more. Jesus has given me a peace and joy that I never knew before.” Then she said, “Rabi, you don’t seem very happy. Are you?”

I lowered my voice: “I’m not happy. I wish I had your joy.” Was I saying this?

“My joy is because my sins are forgiven,” said Molli. “Peace and joy come from Christ, through really knowing Him.”

We continued talking for half a day, unaware of how the time had passed. I wanted her peace and joy, but I was absolutely resolved that I wasn’t going to give up any part of my religion.

As she was leaving, she said: “Before you go to bed tonight, Rabi, please get on your knees and ask God to show you the Truth — and I’ll be praying for you.” With a wave of her hand she was gone.

Pride demanded that I reject everything Molli had said, but I was too desperate to save face any longer. I fell to my knees, conscious that I was giving in to her request.

“God, the true God and Creator, please show me the truth!” Something inside me snapped. For the first time in my life, I felt I had really prayed and gotten through — not to some impersonal Force, but to the true God who loves and cares. Too tired to think any longer, I crawled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Soon after, my cousin Krishna invited me to a Christian meeting. I again surprised myself by responding: “Why not?”

On our way there, Krishna and I were joined by Ramkair, a new acquaintance of his. “Do you know anything about this meeting?” I asked him, anxious to get some advance information.

“A little,” he replied. “I became a Christian recently.”

“Tell me,” I said eagerly. “Did Jesus really change your life?” Ramkair smiled broadly. “He sure did! Everything is different.”

“It’s really true, Rab!” added Krishna enthusiastically. “I’ve become a Christian too — just a few days ago.”

The preacher’s sermon was based on Psalm 23 and the words, “The Lord is my shepherd,” made my heart leap. After expounding the Psalm, the preacher said: “Jesus wants to be your Shepherd. Have you heard His voice speaking to your heart? Why not open your heart to Him now? Don’t wait until tomorrow — that may be too late!” The preacher seemed to be speaking directly to me. I could delay no longer.

I quickly knelt in front of him. He smiled and asked if anyone else wanted to receive Jesus. No one stirred. Then he asked the Christians to come forward and pray with me. Several did, kneeling beside me. For years Hindus had bowed before me — and now I was kneeling before a Christian.

Aloud I repeated after him a prayer inviting Jesus into my heart. When the preacher said, “Amen,” he suggested I pray in my own words. Quietly, choking with emotion, I began: “Lord Jesus, I’ve never studied the Bible, but I’ve heard that you died for my sins at Calvary so I could be forgiven and reconciled to God. Please forgive me all my sins. Come into my heart!”

Before I finished, I knew that Jesus wasn’t just another one of several million gods. He was the God for whom I had hungered. He Himself was the Creator. Yet, He loved me enough to become a man and die for my sins. With that realization, tons of darkness seemed to lift and a brilliant light flooded my soul.

After arriving home, Krishna and I found the entire family waiting up for us, apparently having heard what had happened. “I asked Jesus into my life tonight!” I exclaimed happily, as I looked from one to another of those startled faces. “It’s glorious. I can’t tell you how much he means to me already.”

Some in my family seemed wounded and bewildered; others seemed happy for me. But before it was all over with, thirteen of us had ended up giving our hearts to Jesus! It was incredible.

The following day I walked resolutely into the prayer room with Krishna. Together we carried everything out into the yard: idols, Hindu scriptures, and religious paraphernalia. We wanted to rid ourselves of every tie with the past and with the powers of darkness that had blinded and enslaved us for so long.

When everything had been piled on the rubbish heap, we set it on fire and watched the flames consume our past. The tiny figures we once feared as gods were turning to ashes. We hugged one another and offered thanks to the Son of God who had died to set us free.

I found my thoughts going back to my father’s cremation nearly eight years before. In contrast to our new found joy, that scene had aroused inconsolable grief. My father’s body had been offered to the very same false gods who now lay in smoldering fragments before me. It seemed unbelievable that I should be participating with great joy in the utter destruction of that which represented all I had once believed in so fanatically.

In a sense this was my cremation ceremony — the end of the person I had once been…the death of a guru. The old Rabi Maharaj had died in Christ. And out of that grave a new Rabi had risen in whom Christ was now living.

(Editor’s Note: If you would be interested in a detailed account of Rabi’s conversion, read his book Death of a Guru. Rabi is presently based in Southern California and is involved in evangelism all over the world. He invites you to write: East/West Gospel Ministries, P.O. Box 2191, La Habra, CA 90632.)

To view up to 10 sample pages of this book on line, go to THIS Amazon site and scroll down to the sample pages.

Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute.

Excellent 15 minute portion of this hour long video. May the Lord bless you.

 Podcast Video: Downloads 82