THE DOCTOR IS IN

[al Hartman]

Long before Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, or Dr. Ruth had gained popularity, psychiatric advice was being handed out for a nickel per visit by Lucy van Pelt, one of Charles M. Schulz's famous "Peanuts."  A comic-strip regular, Lucy dispensed her wisdom from a sidewalk stand of the type that other kids use for vending lemonade.  When she was on the job, Lucy hung out a shingle that stated "THE DR. IS IN." 

My thought for this thread is that we have all learned things that may benefit others, but we don't always have the right format in which to offer it.  If you have something on your heart or mind that doesn't fit anywhere else on the board, bring it here and offer it up.  Although cartoonist Schulz was a Christian, Lucy's advice was, often as not, a revelation of the basic self-centeredness of human nature, portrayed humorously that we might learn to laugh at ourselves and hunger for a better way.  We won't know until that great Day of the Lord how many souls may have been harvested because their yearning for Christ began with reading Peanuts.

Similarly, this thread doesn't need to be another forum for theological doctrine.  Nothing wrong with sound teaching, but Jesus also said,

If I do not do the works of my Father, believe me not,
But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works: that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I am in Him. (Jn.10:37-38) and again,

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe for the very works' sake. (Jn 14:11)

So share the works that God has done in your life by opening your eyes to realities that have changed your relationship with Him, your family, His people, sinners... and let those same works bear witness to others.

The "Doctor" referred to in the title of this thread is, of course, the Great Physician, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Please tell what you have learned and how it has helped you, with the prayer that it may now help your brothers and sisters.  Speak openly and plainly-- this isn't a venue for critiquing your presentation, but for learning and receiving help.

In Christ,
al Hartman

[al Hartman]

When I was a kid, it was very important to me to gain approval, which made me irrepressible at attracting attention to myself.  This carried over into my adult life and, when I became a Christian, I wove it into the pattern of how I handled spiritual information.

Whenever I caught sight of a "new" spiritual truth, the thought that immediately occurred to me was: Who can I tell this to-- who needs to hear it?  This translated into, Who can I use this information to "straighten out?"  The basic human drive to be ahead of all the rest in possessing some special knowledge was alive and well in me.  I would rush toward the first opportunity to preach at someone my latest revelation.  Somehow, it never occurred to me that my consistently doing this to nearly everyone I knew didn't ever seem to bring about any significant changes or growth in anyone's life.

Fast-forward to the present:  I have begun to realize that our Lord's showing me something, no matter how wonderful, is not His command for me to teach it, but His call for me to learn it.  This is not to say that we should never share as we are learning.  But the realization that what God allows me to see is for my own blessing and spiritual growth has given me a much deeper sense of appreciation for His involvement in the smallest aspects of my life.  That I may be able, sooner or later, to benefit someone else's life with what I have learned is becoming more a matter of privilege than of pride.

al

[lenore]

When I was a kid, it was very important to me to gain approval, which made me irrepressible at attracting attention to myself.  This carried over into my adult life and, when I became a Christian, I wove it into the pattern of how I handled spiritual information.

Whenever I caught sight of a "new" spiritual truth, the thought that immediately occurred to me was: Who can I tell this to-- who needs to hear it?  This translated into, Who can I use this information to "straighten out?"  The basic human drive to be ahead of all the rest in possessing some special knowledge was alive and well in me.  I would rush toward the first opportunity to preach at someone my latest revelation.  Somehow, it never occurred to me that my consistently doing this to nearly everyone I knew didn't ever seem to bring about any significant changes or growth in anyone's life.

Fast-forward to the present:  I have begun to realize that our Lord's showing me something, no matter how wonderful, is not His command for me to teach it, but His call for me to learn it.  This is not to say that we should never share as we are learning.  But the realization that what God allows me to see is for my own blessing and spiritual growth has given me a much deeper sense of appreciation for His involvement in the smallest aspects of my life.  That I may be able, sooner or later, to benefit someone else's life with what I have learned is becoming more a matter of privilege than of pride.

al

"Is not His command for me to teach it, but His call for me to learn it""

I think this is the most difficult of all.  To learn it ourselves.  In the SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Jesus told us to get the log out of our own eye before we try to remove the splinter out of someone elses.  In other words , clean up your own heart and soul, before we can even begin to teach someone else.  In otherwords. 'WALK THE TALK'.
I am a intellegient Christian more than a heart Christian. Meaning I learn with my head and not my heart.  With Jesus, He wants me to be very personal with my relationship with him. Not just think about it.  He wants me to apply what he is teaching me. SOmetimes I think I have a spiritual blockage between my head and my heart. It is in the application that trips me up.
It is only through my example that people see, not what they hear, and if my life doesnt add up to my visible life and my verbal life, then they will not trust what I have to say.  This is what God has been teaching me more and more, as He is gently aligning the entire me, to be a must more effective witness for him.
Al, I am glad you share this journey lesson. 

Lenore

[matthew r. sciaini]

Al:

Here are some snippets that might help (call them Rx on the run):

(I'm still learning, by the way)

The fewer words the better, especially before God (from Ecc 5:1-3)

People don't want excuses, but apologies, if they feel they have been offended.

More dispensed later.

Matt Sciaini

[al Hartman]

Thanks Lenore & Matt,

     Not only is the Doctor, our Great Physician, always in, but we have access by His grace to a 24-hour Pharmacy!  Keep those prescriptions comin'!

More later,
al

[al Hartman]

Most people seem to form first impressions quickly.  Personally, I have to fight the urge to instantly like or dislike someone based upon their appearance or manner before ever getting to know them.  Sometimes the battle continues even after getting acquainted.

I have a theory about the reason for this which has to do with self-image.  I think that folks naturally have two images of themselves:  First, the image of the ideal person we want others to see us as being and, second, the less-than-perfect person we actually see ourselves as.  The existence of the former is because of our dissatisfaction with the latter.  Popular psychology attributes this condition to what is termed "low self-esteem."

Having a poor self-image, a sense of hopeless inferiority, is easily explained and honestly come by:  We are sinners who fall irretreivably short of the purpose and function for which we were designed by God, and we can't escape sensing the truth of this reality.  We are further traumatized by a (false) sense that everyone else can and does see us as that inferior person we hate being.  Our natural defense against this state of affairs is to project an image for others to see, of the person we wish we were-- the one we would be if only we could.  We work hard to maintain such a front, to the point of trying to persuade ourselves that we actually are that fictitious person.  Popular thought encourages us to believe that by pretending to be the ideal individual, we can actually transform ourselves into that desirable other self.

Sadly, we each seem to suffer the delusion that this dilemma is particular to "myself alone," failing to recognize that it is the most common of human traits, and suffered by all.  Because we are achingly empty without God in our lives, and desperate for something in which to believe that will fill the void and heal the anguish, we are inclined to accept the deceptive images that others project at us of who they are.  We want to believe them, which in turn makes us even more dissatisfied with ourselves, for which reason we work harder at sustaining the lie of who we want others to think we are-- an unending cycle...

The realization of redemption through the grace of God in Jesus Christ begins the healing of the affliction of "low self-esteem," as we begin to see the esteem in which we are held by our Father in heaven and His Son.  We are born again, a new creature ever-so-different from the sad, lost person we had been.  But the transition has just begun.  We have a history of thinking in the frames of reference of the godless, self-preoccupied soul we have always been, and a whole new manner of living lies before us-- a new way of looking at and seeing life.  Just as the process of growth, from our physical birth to physical maturity, so spiritual growth also is gradual, and its pace varies with the individual.

Now a battle has begun within each of us.  The old, original person we have always been possesses the landscape, but the new creature in Christ has invaded and holds the high ground.  Let there be no doubt: God's Man will win out in the end.  But there will be contest for every inch of the way.  Eventually, by the same grace that gave us new life, the old nature in us will be vanquished and the new will rejoice in triumph.

But old habits die hard, which brings me back to the point of first impressions.  We once related to others based on our natural perceptions of ourselves and the images we all projected toward one another.  Now we have a new and better way, but the old nature won't give up without a struggle.  We must learn to see and accept both ourselves and others as God sees us and accepts us in Christ.  The jealousies and competitions for dominance and favor were never truly valid, and now we are no longer compelled to consider them.  The Spirit of God which indwells us is the Spirit of Love, freeing us from the pettiness of our former jealousies and hatreds.

There are many subtleties at work in our transformation, and they occur to each of us at the perfect, but not always the same, time.  You may find yourself enjoying a certain liberty or bound by a certain constraint which I have not yet realized.  It may be natural for me in such a situation to feel resentful of your freedom or commitment.  But I need no longer be bound by my natural inclinations.  Being in Christ, and Christ in me, I have access to His Spirit and His mind.  God has given us the gifts of prayer and His Word so we may be liberated from the confines of selfish natural thinking, and that He may express His love and His will through our lives.

The battle I have with first impressions, and with lasting impressions, is to get my impressions from God, through the new creature I was born to be and am becoming practically, and to not base my responses and relationships upon the input from my natural faculties alone, but to weigh these things in the light of the Word of God.

Please pray for me,
al

[lenore]

 ::)February 25

Insecurities, doubts, pride, issues with trust & respect, issues of self worth, self esteem and even self love and forgiveness.

As Christian we are all taught to think of others and put others before us. This is good advice, so well will not be self absorbed, conceited and selfish.
But only the person who has love, knows they have been forgiven, who have the confidence in themselves, who is able to trust despite of opening themselves to vulunerability, who is assured of their worth in the eyes of God can easily put themselves second.
Because they have settled these issues, where from the past of their upbringing, enviroments, mistakes and failures. They have deal with it to point of overcoming and able to step beyond that chapter and begin a new phase of life with eyes of maturity.

We Christians are human, with all our human flaws, we can try, try, it is not in the trying , doing it on our own power. We will fail each time.
It is only when we put our selves in hands of our Saviour that we will ever get victory over these hurdles that keep tripping us up.

I can do the talk, but in the application of what I just said, issues are still inbedded in my spirit is mistrust, a damaged spirit from abuse, unforgiven self guilt of past mistakes and failures. These still creep up and trip me on my Christian journey. There are times I am sure I follow the example of the Pharisee, where on the outside I appear to have it all together, and on the inside growth is slow in coming.  I have the ' IF ONLY'S ' attitudes at times. If only I had this, If only I had that, If only.....

SO I need pray too, My prayer is to have the closest personal relationship that I can with Jesus.

[al Hartman]

::)February 25

 My prayer is to have the closest personal relationship that I can with Jesus.

Thanks Lenore, and "Amen!"  As I read 1Jn.5:14-15, I have to believe that there is no prayer more important than to grow closer to our Redeemer, and no prayer more certain to be favorably answered.

In Christ,
al

[al Hartman]

When the Bible says that Christians walk by faith, not by sight, what does the phrase "not by sight" mean?  Does it mean that we don't choose our path according to what we "see" with our senses, or not by what we "see" with our reasoning?  I think that the answer is "Yes" to both.  Although our senses and our reasoning are inextricably involved in all we do, neither nor both together are sufficient to guide us in our spiritual journey.  We need to know, and be in close personal association with, our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is basic human nature to want to have all the answers.  There is a great sense of security in believing that no one can spring a question on us that we can't answer, or an argument that we can't shoot down.  This is precisely why God leaves so many questions open-ended-- so that we will continue to follow Him, content in the knowledge that HE has all the answers and, because of that wonderful reality, we don't have to know them all.

Some people may excuse their lack of faith by saying they can't see how Noah could have possibly built a ship that would house two of every living species.  But back in Noah's day, the two mice were probably just wondering why Noah brought the cats on board, the cats probably questioned the wisdom of the dogs' presence, the dogs were puzzled as to the reason for bringing the fleas, just as Noah's whole family doubted the justification of bringing the mosquitoes, and the two rabbits couldn't comprehend why they were kept caged at opposite ends of the ark.

al

[al Hartman]

"Is not His command for me to teach it, but His call for me to learn it""

I think this is the most difficult of all.  To learn it ourselves.  In the SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Jesus told us to get the log out of our own eye before we try to remove the splinter out of someone elses.  In other words , clean up your own heart and soul, before we can even begin to teach someone else.  In otherwords. 'WALK THE TALK'.

 I believe that we all are sufferers of ocular tabula (roughly Latin for plank-in-the-eye).  After all, the Lord didn't tell us we could avoid having it, but that we're to remove the plank from our own eye, so that we might see to take the speck out of a brother's eye.  The first step is to admit it's there.  We don't really seem to feel or see it, so we tend to ignore it in favor of criticizing others (more natural and more comfortable than taking a hard look in the mirror).  Once we have owned up to its presence, the question becomes HOW to remove it...

To own up to having a log in one's eye, one must identify it-- name it.  This is not easy.  Prayer is recommended, for wisdom and grace to both identify it and to extract it (it may not have hurt while it was in there, but it will most likely be painful to remove).  A clever order of procedure could be put together, quoting numerous Bible passages, for the process of log removal-- it could even become the foundational doctrine for the establishment of a new denomination (the churches of the logless eyes?).  But the safest way is for the individual who wants to obey and please Christ to simply engage Him personally in pursuit of the goal.

I am a intellegient Christian more than a heart Christian. Meaning I learn with my head and not my heart.  With Jesus, He wants me to be very personal with my relationship with him. Not just think about it.  He wants me to apply what he is teaching me. SOmetimes I think I have a spiritual blockage between my head and my heart. It is in the application that trips me up.

Both head and heart are parts of the grand design.  Our first experiences in this world involved learning with our heads.  We were also learning with our hearts, but we didn't know it.  We can explain (or at least attempt to) what we know in our heads, but our hearts can be full to overflowing and we may be at an utter loss for words to explain what is in them.  This is really quite OK!  Can you guess why?  Because God knows our hearts-- they are the fertile ground in which He is establishing the roots of the fruit He will bear in our lives.

I sometimes visualize my own heart-to-head relationship as an hourglass with all the sand in the top (head), trickling ever-so-slowly down into the heart.  But that only pictures the scenario from my viewpoint.  I have no idea how it looks to God, Who sees it all, past, present & future, from where He watches.  But I'm pretty sure that His outlook is far more optimistic than mine .

It is only through my example that people see, not what they hear, and if my life doesnt add up to my visible life and my verbal life, then they will not trust what I have to say.  This is what God has been teaching me more and more, as He is gently aligning the entire me, to be a must more effective witness for him.

Jesus said to let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  Our good works are the fruit of His life in us: the things we do because of the ways in which He has changed us from lost to redeemed.  But the works are not the light-- the works are to be illuminated by the light.  The light is Christ Himself.  We may offer a thirsty person a cup of cold water in the name of the Lord, but all they will see is a cup of water unless we tell them in whose name it is being given.

In Christ,
al

[al Hartman]

Continuing the thought of the previous post (of March 13):

We are to develop, through prayerful study and meditation, our understanding of all things in which the Lord is instructing us.  We cannot wait until we have perfected our knowledge of a topic before we may share ot teach it.  In this lifetime, our total comprehension of anything is unlikely if not impossible.

Rather, our concern, along with trying to have the best possible grasp of all we are learning, must be to realize and stay aware that only God has perfect knowledge, and thus not to lord it over our brethren and fellow-servants because of something He has showed us.

Indeed, He may have shown it to us first, in order that we may be the vessels by which He introduces it to others.  But all knowledge remains the particular and private province of the Lord Himself-- to us a gift, but never an exclusive possession.

[al Hartman]

Recently I seemed to upset some people by posting the following on another thread:

I confess that I was under a cloud of deception for years, even after being away from the assembly, and that my deception was self-induced and self-enforced...

Both my wife Cathy and I, from diametrically different backgrounds, had wondered as young Christians how people could settle for just "warming a pew," in light of so great salvation.  We both wanted to live lives of service to God, and the assembly provided the perfect setting for that.  All we had to do was silence our inner objections toward GG & his program, and the ministry provided us with the tools for achieving that.

We don't regret a minute of it now.  We needed it.  We weren't ready for anything else at that time, and the Lord has taught us amazing things through our assembly history, now that we are no longer under its yoke.

Those who reacted were rightly offended by what they apparently believed me to be saying: that the assembly was a good thing, or at least had its good features.  For having given that impression I apologize.  That was not what I meant to convey at all.  But what was in my heart and on my mind did not successfully make the transition to my keyboard.  The resultant statement may not have told anyone what it was I wanted them to know.

As for my opinion of the assembly, Brent has summed it up succinctly:  "Assembly bad..."

The point I had meant to make is based in Romans 8:28:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

This scripture does not merely suggest such an outlook, but states We know... leaving no room for doubt.  All things do and must work together for good in the lives of God's elect.

To say that the assembly is bad and to be avoided is simply to state fact.  But to infer that such things as the assembly should not occur is to imply that their existence is a case of God's will having been thwarted; that the hosts of evil have "put one over" on God.

Be not deceived.  God is not mocked.

Not that folks and fallen angels don't wish to, and try to outsmart and bypass God, but they cannot succeed!  So if we believe that our time in an assembly was an accident that occurred while our Lord was attending to something else & not watching, we are deceived.  He who knew us before we were conceived, Who formed us in our mothers' wombs, Who loves us to the extent of Calvary and beyond, and Who has known the end from the beginning will not lose us to an "accident," even for a split second.  God IS NOT mocked.

I may not want to think that a loving God would allow, much less lead me to stray into such a pit as the assembly, but I must admit that He has instructed specifically the prayer, ...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...  Why should we ask Him to not do and to do things unless they are distinct possibilities?  We are clearly told that exposure to temptation and evil are a part of our Christian life.  The point of the prayer is in our confession to God that we believe that, even in the most horrid of circumstances, that those circumstances are not our destination-- that He will not leave us there, but take us through, to His destination for us.

Cathy and I have no fond memories of our bondage, illnesses and humiliations during our assembly years, but the grace of God has allowed us to profit a great deal in retrospect of where we were and what happened to us, and we have many blessed relationships that are traceable to those years.  That's all I was trying to say...

Let me repeat:  Assembly bad!!!  But you couldn't have convinced me of it then (some tried), so God led me through it, since I was too stupid, arrogant, weak, blind, to be led around or past it.

Romans 8:28 shows us that we who are Christ's are always better off for our pasts, whether we like to admit it or not! 

Thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift!

In Christ's love,
al

[al Hartman]

Awhile back Dave Sable started a thread to address the topic of "Depression."  Since then several pages have been filled with personal commentaries and summations of the observations of mental health professionals.  And yet I suspect that there are many readers of this board who don't feel a need to peruse that thread because they do not and have not personally experienced depression and don't have to deal with it in the lives of anyone close to them.  Such perspective is both understandable and reasonable.  The same people, for similar reasons, may not read this thread...

There is, however, an important consideration which all of us surely fall short of fully realizing: What affects one member of Christ's church affects us all.  When one of us is burdened by a mood disorder such as depression or anxiety, or is saddened by grief or loss, or is challenged in faith by illness, tragedy or pain, the whole body of Christ is impacted, although we may be unaware of it.

Consider Jesus' instruction to His disciples regarding prayer in Mt.6.  The entire example is on a corporate scale.  (***"Assemblyspeak" Alert: Do not fear the word "corporate"-- it is legitimate terminology, regardless of assembly abuses of its emphasis.)  Beginning with "Our Father," we pray "give us... forgive us... lead us... deliver us..."  How many of "us" should we suppose "our" includes?  Those who are present at the moment?  Those also who are absent due to illness, family matters, vacation, work?  Other Christians in the community?

I suggest that so praying proclaims our union in Christ with every believer in every place.  And should we not be both praying for and aware of God's people wherever they are, whether or not we have personal knowledge of them and their situations?  Otherwise, to what could Paul be referring in 1Cor.12:12-27? 
v.12  For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
v.18  But now has God set the members every one of them in the body,as it has pleased Him.
v.22  ...much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary...
v.25  That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
v.26  And whether one member suffers, all members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

So should we take to heart the sorrows and the joys we hear of from each other (and those we don't hear of as well).  While we may wish that all we don't understand would just go away and cease to be, God's knowledge and plan are far greater than our limitations, and He is able to supply us with all we may think or feel we lack, according to the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. 

...have the same care one for another.

In Christ,
al Hartman

[vernecarty]

Thanks for reminder Al. I agree God wants to teach us compassion. As you indicated, this is something some of us have to work at.
Shortly after we started dating my wife- to- be said there was something she needed to tell me...well you probably guessed...

"Verne, you cannot stand weakness in others..not everyone is like you and you need to remember that..."

Well, I was to say the least stunned for I thought it was an entirely unfair observation.
She was nonethless right (as wives to-be always are!  )
While I finally grudgingly agreed with her it was not until her AFP test came back during her first pregnancy that I got the message. Some of you will understand what I am implying.
We cried a lot but got on our knees and told the Lord whatever His will was we would rejoice in it and give the baby all the love we had.
Anna was of course born absolutely perfect.
It was a good reminder and there is much in this area of my life the Lord has yet to accomplish...
Verne
p.s. I will read the thread...

[M2]

Awhile back Dave Sable started a thread to address the topic of "Depression."  Since then several pages have been filled with personal commentaries and summations of the observations of mental health professionals.  And yet I suspect that there are many readers of this board who don't feel a need to peruse that thread because they do not and have not personally experienced depression and don't have to deal with it in the lives of anyone close to them.  Such perspective is both understandable and reasonable.  The same people, for similar reasons, may not read this thread...

There is, however, an important consideration which all of us surely fall short of fully realizing: What affects one member of Christ's church affects us all.  When one of us is burdened by a mood disorder such as depression or anxiety, or is saddened by grief or loss, or is challenged in faith by illness, tragedy or pain, the whole body of Christ is impacted, although we may be unaware of it.  ....

In a church like the one I attend, I hardly know what's going on in 10 people's lives, so I am not 'affected' by it so-to-speak.  Though when I hear of someone's misfortune I am moved to sympathy and, if I have the opportunity, to be a listening ear or to help.  I find that I do not have to have my finger in every pie.  God have given each member an area of ministry/giftedness and as each one excercises his gift then the whole body benefits.  Also, I might interfere with another's 'ministry' were I to volunteer for everything.

The false teaching of the assembly was that spirituality was making it up to LB/LBW and LB/LBW-worker.  Until then one did 'everything' so that our growth would be evident to all.  1Tim 4:15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all.  When one arrived at LB/LBW status then one focussed on preparing a word for God's people and did not do the serving at tables stuff.  Acts 6:2 And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables."

My point,  if I do not 'involve' myself with every discussion on this BB it does not follow that I am not sympathetic or not doing something about it.  It also does not follow that I should.  On some discussions I benefit from others' perspectives, so I just peruse or read rather than comment.

Marcia