Conferência de Aconselhamento Bíblico SBPV NUTRA 2023 - Ernie Baker (13-09) Palestra manhã

very thankful again to be uh here and in your country um I enjoy looking at birds and you have birds flying around in your trees that I don't see at home I saw parakeets this morning we only see those in pet stores or zoos so that was very enjoyable one of the reasons I like looking at Birds is they remind me of Matthew chapter 6 and it reminds me that the Lord promises to take care of me uh I'm here on behalf of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville Florida we are a church that is totally

committed to biblical counseling uh we typically have 100 to 120 active counseling cases at any time uh we have a formal Counseling Center at our church I feel very blessed because it was actually designed to be a counseling center and we have uh approximately 40 people doing counseling right now there is much more informal counseling going on throughout the church uh we are a church of approximately 5,000 so there are many many counseling needs uh if you think about if my name ever comes to your mind please pray for our counseling Ministry I'm blessed because

my church allows me to travel and to teach biblical counseling around the world that's because we are totally committed to biblical counseling but I also work part-time with an organization called oversees instruction and counseling uh last year one of the main speakers was Wayne Vander and he is the founder of overseas instruction and [Music] counseling uh he's actually in Ukraine right now teaching at a seminary overseas instruction and counseling is in over 30 countries around the world and we focus on Church leadership training we want to especially train pastors and their wives and church leaders

in the skills of discip discipleship and biblical counseling we would Define Biblical counseling as intensive discipleship so how does a church transform into a church that does intensive discipleship we also teach academic programs around the world and that's my main area of responsibility uh we have graduate programs in the Philippines right now in East africaa Africa uh the Middle East uh three graduate programs in the Middle East and in Kiev Ukraine uh we are working on uh agreements with about three or four more schools in other parts of the world I I just remembered actually

we have seven more schools that are uh talking with us about providing training uh Chiago is our coordinator for Brazil and this evening he will tell you more about what he does here in Brazil with OIC uh there's a number of training events going on but I won't say anymore so he can say it tonight uh please look at your notes I have been endeavoring to help you think theologically about counseling systems in particular about trauma Theory uh please notice that I did not say trauma fact there are some things that are facts but sorry

but then there is much that is theory about how to help people we started with what is the Theory's source of authority and then we asked the question what do they view as the problem once you decide what the problem is you come up with a solution now this morning we're going to come cover numbers four and five once you decide what the solution is you have to come up with methods to carry out that solution and then every counseling system has support systems uh there are schools that teach that point of view in the

secular world it is things like mental health clinics so this morning we're going to talk about our methodology and our support system uh this is really at the heart of the matter this is where a lot of debate is occurring should we use methodologies from the secular World in biblical counseling I would like to go back to the story I was telling you I've been telling you a story about domestic abuse this woman who was beaten by her husband she was raped by her husband she lived in a very oppressed atmosphere uh this man was

an alcoholic but he also was a weightlifter and he would take steroids so that he would increase his muscle [Music] strength uh mixing alcohol with steroids is not a good combination uh do you know the story of the incredible haulk this normal looking man that turns Wild uh that's how this man is and he would be angry and agitated and um he's very lazy as well he did not want to work didn't have a consistent job so she's having to work to provide for the family he also liked to put things on credit cards uh

are you getting the idea that this man is an idiot uh there's been many times with these type of men that I've wanted to give them a holy punch not an ungodly punch it would be a Godly punch this man is an idiot I'm going to take a moment just to talk about what a godly man should be like for this wife she felt more unsafe with her husband than anyone else in the world that is the exact opposite of how it should be my wife wife ought to feel safer with me than anybody in

the world I'm called to be kind to her I'm to be sacrificially loving with her I'm to be gentle with her this man was the opposite of all of those things this was not just short events this was long term she kept this story covered up for a long time she did not feel safe telling anyone that's often the case unfortunately she finally realize I need help now here's the part I really want you to hear what was she experiencing in her life she was experiencing nightmares she was having panic attacks on a regular basis

she broke out in hives all over her face and her body I received a picture from our female counselor of her face uh there would be weeks that she would not come to church because she was so embarrassed uh one way we knew that something horrible was going on is she had a black eye she made up a story that she fell and hit her face now here's the question is there enough in the Bible to help her with her nightmares some people might be tempted to say this uh the Bible can kind of help

you with General ideas but for serious problem problems you need to look to psychology uh you need to learn the methodologies of psychology to help with serious problems I can tell you from doing uh from teaching counseling and doing counseling for over 40 years that that's not true here's another uh here's some more of the things that were happening in her life uh she was having intrusive thoughts she would just be living her life and then these thoughts would come into her mind to start dominating her thinking are there methodologies we can use to help

people with intrusive thoughts she had a lot of irrational thinking uh here's here's some of her irrational thinking I must be doing something to provoke him to anger this is all my fault if I was just a better wife maybe he wouldn't hit me maybe I'm not being submissive enough if I would just submit more maybe he wouldn't get so angry she was also depressed as you can imagine if you were living in that type of oppressive environment these are the type of people that we are trying to help with trauma when we say trauma

therapy we mean this type of person panic attacks nightmares irrational thoughts intrusive thoughts uh this has become a LIF dominating problem the secular world has developed whole systems of how to help people every counseling system has a methodology that has been developed to carry out this what they see as the solution to the problem you've already heard me say I want to be consistent within my system I do not want to get to methodology and then start adopting secular ideas into my methodology I need to be consistent with what I say my belief system is

as I've studied secular trauma Theory I have found this really interesting uh there's not one methodology I've already mentioned to you that the guru of trauma therapy is Bessel [Music] Vander and in his book the body keeps the score he promotes many methodologies I listened uh to an interview uh from [Music] him and they asked him why do you use so many different methodologies you listen to interview or you did interview you did interview or you listen to interv I listened to the interview what was question in the interview again why does he use so

many different method uh he uses yoga uh he uses what's called mindfulness uh he uses cognitive behavioral therapy you see some of these listed in your notes uh he uses a process called ey movement desensitization and reprocess in uh he said the reason he uses so many methodologies is this uh there are many different cultures around the world and people have all kinds of different personalities so we just need to find the methodology that works with that person I would tell you that we believe that the Bible is not culturally bound I can use biblical

principles in the Deep jungles of irania irania New Guinea okay maybe I should say the amaz or I can use the same biblical principles in the concrete jungle of New York City um I don't believe we need to use all these secular methodologies I would like to focus on this one in particular I was asked by the leadership of the conference to address this methodology in particular uh we call it EMDR it is amazing to me how widespread this has become uh many counseling uh many Christian counselors are using EMDR uh I find it kind

of confusing actually not the theory but why why would they use it um I'd like to evaluate EMDR a little bit with you uh let me ask a a more general question first though and you're going to be shocked by my answer are you ready for this do secular methodologies work you ready for the answer you think I'm going to say no the answer is yes but it's really important for you to ask this question what do we mean by work uh I'm trying to ask you this whole week to think I want you to

grow in discernment I have a friend that practices cognitive behavioral therapy and in particular he helps people get medical tests that they don't want to go through with in particular he helps people that are afraid of going into the tube to get an MRI um brain Imaging I don't like that um I hate it well he works with people to work on their thinking so that they will go ahead and do the test he teaches them how to control their thinking it depends on what your goals are if the goal is to teach a counsel

Le to live a god glorifying life cognitive behavioral therapy is not going to do that if the goal is sanctification cognitive behavioral therapy is not going to do that if the goal is to help a person deal with their heart idolatry which would help them root out what is the deep issue that is causing the problem cognitive behavioral therapy will not do that uh you have to think about what you mean by help let's think for a few minutes about EMDR uh I probably need to explain this a a little bit I'm just curious how

many are familiar with this terminology or this therapy see a few people let me explain what it what happens with EMDR and this will be good for you to hear because I am sure it is going to come to Brazil uh it is shocking to me how many people are intrigued by this Theory uh the main certifying organization in the United States in the secular world is the American Psychiatric Association uh they don't even recommend EMDR as a level one therapy they do not believe there's enough scientific evidence to demonstrate that it's actually true here's

the theory it involves bilateral stimulation of the brain let me explain that bilateral meaning each side of your brain and the theory is that your traumatic memories are stored in one side of your brain and through eye movement you can get them to switch to the other side of the bir and that will help you heal from the trauma some people are are speaking oh oh that's [Laughter] one this involves the therapist tapping their finger to get your eyes moving and while you're going through this process you think truthful thoughts rather than the lies you

have been believing and this is to get the memories to the other side of your brain uh the question we ask is is there something scientific here uh the answer is that the evidence is extremely weak many secular researchers are saying this that the process helps people not because of the eye movement that that's just introducing something that's unnecessary uh that it makes it almost magical and mystical it has some elements of hypnosis with it that what is helping people is actually getting them to think about the bad memories because they have been burying them

they have not wanted to process it now let me evaluate this using our seven s's as I've said numerous times a main goal for me this week is to help you learn a system to evaluate theories so that we are not cast to and fro by every wind of Doctrine as Ephesians 4 says trauma therapy is going to fade it is just the latest fad EMDR is going to fade away there will be some new technique that people say this is the answer but I would tell you the Bible says the grass withers but the

word of God never Fades away um the grass with Withers the first question we ask is what is the source of authority the source of authority in this theory is Francine Shapiro she developed this technique with a mixture of all kinds of psychologies uh it has some elements from Sigman Freud it has some elements from Aaron Beck and cognitive behavioral therapy it has some elements from Skinner behaviorism and it has some and it has some elements from hypnosis Theory some people say well I'm I don't believe those but I'm just going to use the technique

and mix it with the Bible in the secular Theory when the finger tapping is going on uh they train you to think things like this uh I am great I am successful this was not my fault uh I am not to blame I am the victim here I need to stop believing the lies and start believing different things about truth now some Christians are saying well I don't use that part of it uh I get them to think about the Bible in those moments I'm going to be very radical here and give you some illustrations

I believe that secular therapies are philosophies this is not science this is world view this is a theory it would be like this imagine if I said to you we need to pray more uh I'm warning you this is a radical illustration we need to pray more but it's hard to focus when we're praying so we're going to have Christian prayer beads and we're going to pray through the beads I know the Catholic Church does this but I'm not using it the same way would you be concerned about me we don't mix our belief system

with the belief system of the Catholic Church let me give you another radical illustration uh this one is also about prayer uh we all need to pray more would you agree with that uh we need to pray more so how about we build towers in every town and we train Christians to have a called to prayer five times a day and it's not Muslim this is Christian prayer and we're going to develop a Christian prayer mat and when you hear this leader call you to pray five times a day you put down your mat and

we fac Jerusalem because that's where Jesus was and we bow down in worship and pray five times a day would you be concerned about me I mean really would you be concerned I would be concerned about me that's mixing belief systems I call that syncretism this confuses me why people want to take secular philosophies and mix them with Biblical truth I want to live consistent within my belief system so I want to develop methodologies that come right out of my belief system I don't have time to talk about uh each one of the s or

each one of the seven principles for EMDR uh let me just mention two more what is the source of the problem the source is the bad memories in your brain now there's some truth to that but it's deep not deep enough people do believe lies but that's not the deepest problem in this secular methodology there is no sin nature there are no wrong wants and desires uh there is no heart idolatry so what is the solution I become my own savior I am strong I can make myself stronger and not believe lies anymore um scripture

is very clear that we do not Rob God of his glory uh this is degrading to our Savior I am not my own savior I do not have answers Within Myself the problem is actually within me and I need help from outside of me this is the opposite of the secular psychologies the secular psychologies would say the problem is from outside of you it's what other people have done to you but you have the resources within to make yourself better in secular psychologies you become your own savior um can you tell that I'm upset about

this uh I'm very concerned about how widespread this is used even among Christian counselors It's just illogical to me so what is a Biblical view of change uh this is the second point in your outline under point one uh notice the word change there a Biblical view of change is the process of sanctification in the Counseling World there are two significant questions to ask how do people change and every theory has a different answer to that question but even more importantly the second question is this what are we changing them toward in in the secular

therapies the answer is this I am teaching you to to change to a better version of yourself you do not realize all the potential you have within you your self-esteem is too low you need to have a much higher view of yourself that's not the goal in biblical counseling I want to change people toward being worshippers of God that takes humility self is the problem God is the solution focusing on myself causes more [Music] problems God wants me to focus on him and others the two great Commandments I was designed to love God and I

was designed to love others that means I need to die to self the glory of God and Christ likeness is the goal uh every counseling system tries to answer the question how do people change sorry again every counseling system answers the question how do people change now again I would like you to think uh this implies that there is something normal that we are trying to get people to change to in the secular World they ask the question how do you define normal uh here's one of the answers I read in the DSM uh do

you get the significance of this what is the standard that we're aiming toward what is a normal human here's one of the answers in the DSM listen closely that which is selected for by Evolution so whatever Evolution says this is what a normal human is that's what we're aiming for now I don't believe in evolutionary theory so I have a problem with that definition uh here's another definition that's given of normal whatever culture says is normal well in the jungles in the Pacific cannibalism is normal if you went there you would be described as abnormal

in the Bible Jesus is normal uh after the fall the only normal human who has lived is Jesus he is the standard that we are aiming toward the goal is not a better version of myself I need to die to myself and become like my savior we are aiming toward christlikeness we Define sanctification this way Progressive growth and change toward christlikeness Progressive growth and change toward Christ liken uh this is especially helpful with trauma Jesus knew how to handle trauma in his life uh this woman that I've been telling you about is a different woman

than she was three years ago this whole situation came to light three years ago she is one of the godliest women I know now imagine how Godly you need to be to forgive a man like I have described Imagine The Temptations to bitterness and she says I don't want to live that way imagine the godliness that it takes to say to your girls we're going to pray for your father with tears in her eyes she says he's living a deceived life I need to pray for his [Music] salvation she also used to live very afraid

of him but now she says I'm not going to live in fear of him any longer God is my protector I am not going to allow this man to dominate my life anymore uh you you are hearing sanctification in her life uh you are hearing that she has worked very hard on her thought life uh you see in your notes a reminder about our theology I've already told you in an earlier presentation that we have the Holy Spirit to help us change we have the Living Word of God to help us change we have our

new identity in Christ and we have the local church Church to help us change we have a complete belief system now I would like to show you how I would use scripture to help somebody going through trauma and I would like you to turn to Isaiah 26 uh this is a central question is there enough methodology in the Bible to help people going through trauma how do we help people with nightmares how do we help people when they have intrusive thoughts um I asked this woman to send me an example of some of her intrusive

thoughts so she sent me a whole statement describing what goes on in her mind here's what she wrote to me yesterday at the grocery store here is what was going on in my mind remember she's separated from her husband now I didn't hear remember she is separated from her husband uh in fact she lived she and her girls lived with us so that we could help protect them uh we we call that a safe house and our house uh was their safe house he did not know where they were so here's what was going on

in her mind the food is so expensive I am ill equipped to provide for my [Music] girls I was abandoned by my husband no I'm the one that left so I did this to myself this is all my fault uh can you see how if she continued to think that way it's going to turn into a panic attack but here's how she corrected her thinking she said this but then I catch a glimpse of the cross on my arm she has a tattoo or I see a Post-It note covered in verses or the Holy Spirit

calls me back to himself and I start saying this to myself God is good I am safe he loves me he won't abandon me he is going to give me what I need so I don't need to worry about tomorrow my God is fighting for me and he's using all of this for his purposes you're hearing her practicing a different belief system let's look at Isaiah 26 3-5 I want to remind you that when you're interpreting the Bible context is King when I hear Christian counselors say that the Bible does not have enough I don't

think they're deep enough Bible students in Romans chapter 8 Paul discusses suffering in detail it's really important to remember the context he talks about suffering and then promises to people who are going through suffering well he's writing to people in Rome it's the book of Romans is that it is the Book of Romans It Was Written around the year 52 ad guess who became emperor in 50 ad it was this nasty man named Nero if you remember the context you understand why he's writing about suffering that makes that passage come alive Isaiah 26 is the

same why don't you read three five through eight five five sorry three through five did you okay unless you understand the context uh these verses will just sound like everyday verses Isaiah is writing to the people of Judah the Assyrians were about to attack them or maybe the attack had already started the Assyrians were notorious for torturing people when they would lead you away as a slave this is what they would do uh this would be after killing your husband in front of your eyes or slaughtering your children right in front of you they would

then put a hook through your nose and it had a chain and you would be hooked to the person in front of you with a hook in their nose and you would be led away in the slave train the Assyrians were horrible Isaiah is telling them this amazing thing you can have perfect peace if you will work hard at trusting God he explains why you should trust God because he is the Everlasting Rock uh he is the unchangeable rock even in the midst of captivity what can this God do verse five says he can even

tear down exalted cities some of the exalted cities at that time were cities like Nineveh an even more Majestic city was the city of Babylon but guess what uh even though the city of Babylon was famous during its day uh archaeologists now have to dig through the sand to find it uh if you've never looked up pictures of the ancient city of Babylon you ought to do that God has torn down the exalted city um this uh point is so important that I don't want to rush and I haven't even talked about the second point

in my outline so I'm going to carry this over to my next presentation because the argument is really centering around around is the methodology in the Bible strong enough to help people with trauma and I want to give you seven ways I have used verses like these to help people in trauma I obviously can't do that with one minute remaining so I'll just have to hurry in my last presentation I hope what you're hearing is that biblical counseling has a complete belief system the problem is not that the Bible is deficient the problem is that

we are deficient in not knowing how to use it in creative ways with people so in my next presentation I'm going to talk about creative ways to use scripture to help people who have gone through trauma what type of homework do we give why do we give homework how do you help somebody with intrusive thoughts how do you help someone who's having suicidal thoughts how do you help someone with nightmares those are the questions I'm going to answer in my next presentation using Isaiah 26 but I could use all kinds of various passages it's just

that Isaiah is my favorite book so I wanted to make sure you got exposed to Isaiah [Music] for