David Whiting Live

Depression Meds (a video)

The last EQUIP class, we talked about the role of medications for depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc... It seems like a couple of times a week I am coming across secular news articles or reports that question America's use of these meds.

Here is a 13 minute report from this past Sunday's 60 minutes. It really is worth watching.

 

If you receive this by email - click HERE to see the report.

Free Food & Coffee (a great motivator)

This brief post is for those taking EQUIP. Here are three notes:

• Don't forget this Saturday's class is from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM (instead of 9 to 11)
• As a way to thank you for sacrificing an extra hour of sleep and to thank you for sticking it out in the class - we will have free bagels and coffee Saturday. So arrive a bit early.
• We ran out of "Blame It On the Brain" in the bookstore on Sunday. If you still need a copy to attempt to read some of it before Saturday, just let me know (if you get this via email - just "reply" and it eventually gets to me). Or you can directly contact Alison Delgatti. We will work out a way to get a copy to you before Saturday.

"Blame It on the Brain?" - A book worth reading

For those in our EQUIP class, you should be reading "Blame It On the Brain" for our next meeting (February 11). For those of you NOT in EQUIP, I would highly recommend you to get this book. It gives a theological basis for how to view head injuries, mental illnesses, and other behaviors. It tackles issues such as depression, A.D.H.D, homosexuality and alcoholism. He write about which of these are sin issues, which ones are malfunctions of the brain, and which ones might be a mixture of the two. It truly would be worth reading.

For those in EQUIP - in case you haven't gotten started or have not read very far, let me point out the chapters that I would urge you to prioritize. Here is what I would recommend if you can't read the entire book by February 11.

• Introduction - Read
• Chapters 1-3 - Read (theological basis for how to view these issues)
• Chapters 4-5 - Optional (Alzheimer's & Head injuries)
• Chapters 6-8 - Read (Intro to Psychiatric Problems, Depression, and A.D.D)
• Chapters 9-10 - Optional (homosexuality and alcoholism)
• Conclusion - Read

I look forward to talking about the issues of medication at the next EQUIP class. As a reminder, we are meeting at 8:00 AM instead of 9:00 AM. Thanks for being flexible. I look forward to seeing you on February 11 at 8:00 AM.

EQUIP - Saturday @ Northridge

Our EQUIP class is happening this Saturday at 9:00 AM. When you leave, you will definitely have a couple of tools that will be practical and useful to help others that you are influencing. In fact, you may find this to be the class material that you use more than any other from this class. I hope you don't miss it!

 

Helping Others See and Solve Their Problems

We are reading "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" for EQUIP. It is an amazing book that I have read three times, but need to keep reading! Those in EQUIP should read as much of the book as possible before Saturday's class

Favorite quotes from chapter 13:

• We tend to be shortsighted and self-absorbed. We forget that God's primary goal is not changing our situations and relationships so that we can be happy, but changing us through our situations and relationships so that we will be holy. (p. 241)
• This is one reason why the Bible does not present divorce as a solution to marriage problems, though it may be a result. Unrepented adultery may provide biblical grounds for release from the marriage covenant, but divorce does not solve the problems that led to it. Divorce changes relationships, situations, and locations, but it doesn't change the heart. People who use divorce as a solution often repeat the same problems in subsequent relationships because the one thing that needed to change reminded unchanged: them! They were blinded by their own now-ism. But if they see their marriage NOW as a training ground for their marriage THEN, the trials God sends their way make perfect sense. As you solve marriage problems with THEN in view, you won't deal with trouble by separating from your spouse. You will learn how God wants to change you so that you can better live with him or her. Your NOW response will be shaped by a THEN perspective. (p. 242)

Confrontation... The Struggle and the Need

For EQUIP, we are reading "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" (this month chapters 9 - appendixes).

Two Favorite quotes from chapter 12 on Confrontation:

• Our goal (in confrontation) is not to communicate a list of offenses, but to help people see themselves. Often when people tell their story, they are not in it! They focus on the difficulties of the situation and the attitudes and behavior of others. They don't include their own thoughts, desires, choices, and actions. While we are sensitive to the realities of suffering and being sinned against, our goal is to encourage people to look at their behavior and examine their hearts with biblical eyes. (p. 223)
• The most basic question in all personal ministry is, "For whose glory are you living?" (p. 226)

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands

On Saturday is our next EQUIP meeting. The book we will finish reading for this week is Paul David Tripp's Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. This is the third time I've read this book and it is my favorite book I remember reading on the topic of helping people.

We are reading chapters 10 through all appendices for Saturday...

Favorite quote from Chapter 10:

Why would God put the world's most significant, demanding, and difficult human relationship (marriage) smack dab in the middle fo the world's most important process (sanctification)? If he did it so that people would realize their individual dreams, it would have made senses to get them fully sanctified before facing the trials of marriage. But God hasn't made a mistake. He is working on a greater dream, so he tried and troubles us. he lets our dreams slip though our fingers so that as we learn to love each other, we grow more deeply in love with him. (pp. 185-186).

Two favorite quotes from Chapter 11:

A rebuke free of unrighteous anger is a clear sing of biblical love, but I am afraid we have replaced love in our relationships with being "nice." Being nice and acting out of love are not the same thing. Our culture puts a high premium on being tolerant and polite. we seek to avoid uncomfortable moments, so we see, but do not speak. We go so far as to convince ourselves tha we are not speaking because we love the other person, when in reality we fail to speak because we lack love. (p. 202)

Remember, God has ordained that difficult person to be in your life. It is not a sign of God's inattention but his covenant-keeping care. Humbly embrace the fact that the Wonderful Counselor is working on everybody involved. Humbly acknowledge the ways God is using this person to expose the areas where you need to grow. Embrace the fact that God can transform the heart of that person without neglecting you - and vice-versa! (p. 211)

 

EQUIP Reminder

I wanted to remind everyone about EQUIP on Saturday @ Northridge Church. I'm probably more excited for this two hour meeting than any of our previous EQUIP meetings. So make sure you are there at 9:00 AM!

I believe the content of the video we will watch (Paul Tripp) and what will be taught can radical change the way we look at life's conflicts. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

One other thing... We expect a ton of guests on Sunday (Child dedication), and I hope it is the last Sunday that we will need to have people parking off site - so help us out if you can! We are going to need every committed person possible to park off site on Sunday. We have over 40 children being dedicated and most of the parents are inviting a lot of guests!  So thank you for helping us!

 

One of the Best Books I've Ever Read

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands is certainly one of the best books I've ever read. This is my third time through it and I think I'm challenged more by it this time than the first two times.

If you are in EQUIP, don't forget to read the first nine chapters by Saturday for our class.

Here are three important, summary quotes:

• from the preface: "Many of us would be relieved if God had placed our sanctification in the hands of trained and paid professionals, but that simply is not the biblical model. God's plan is that through the faithful ministry of every part, the whole body will grow to full maturity in Christ. (p. xi)

• from chapter 1:
  "If you are going to help someone, you need to know what is wrong and how it can be fixed. You go to your auto mechanic because he can determine why your car is malfunctioning and get it running again. Any trustworthy perspective on personal change must do the same. It must correctly diagnose what is wrong with people and what is necessary for them to change.
  
  "This is where our culture gets it completely wrong. In rejecting a biblical view of people, the world eliminates any hope of answering the "what is wrong?" question accurately. And if it wrongly answers this question, how can it possibly provide a proper solution?
  
  "Why do people do the things they do? Is my problem fundamentally an informational one? Will a well-researched, logical set of insights provide the solution? Or is my problem fundamentally experiential? Will dealing with my past solve my problem? Is my problem fundamentally biological? Will helping me achieve chemical balance solve my problem? Or is there something beneath all these things that is more deeply wrong with me? Scripture's answer to this last question is a clear, resounding, "Yes!"
  
  "Scripture would agree that my problem is informational, in that I don't know what I need to know. it also affirms the impact of our experiences, though it maintains that our core problem precedes our experience and goes deeper. The Bible also acknowledges the complex interaction between our physical and spiritual natures, but it never locates our core problem in our biology. in this way, the Bible is radical compared to our culture.
  
  "The Bible says that our core problem, the fundamental reason we do what we do, is sin. What is being said here? Scripture is defining sin as a condition that results in behavior. We all are sinners, and because of this, we all do sinful things." (pp. 9-10)
  
  
• From Chapter one: "If you are going to deal with your own difficulties or assist others who want to deal with theirs, you must correct wrong thinking. Yes, you must deal with the suffering of the past and ways the body isn't properly functioning, but you must do more. You must help them conquer the sin that distorts all these experiences." (p. 10)

You Really Should Read This Story!! - A Personal Story about Anxiety...

A person who was reading one of our EQUIP books, "When People Are Big and God Is Small," wrote me an email a couple of months ago that was amazing! I wanted to share it with you (with her permission):

I have struggled with some degree of social anxiety disorder since adolescence.  (Social Anxiety Disorder takes all the "fear of man" issues discussed in the book, multiplies them to the point of irrationality, and then mixes in some physical/biological responses like nausea, sweaty palms, shallow breathing, fast heart rate; your classic "fight or flight" response.)  Secular counselors would tell you that this developed as a response to having had bad (or even abusive) social experiences in the past, and that I just need to learn to believe that I am essentially good and worth liking.  This is a lie.  These ideas muffle the identification of sin. 

 

I began to feel my deepest conviction in this area of sin in my life several years ago when my mother in law (a wonderful Godly woman I look up to) called me one day to tell me (with great emotion) that she felt unwelcome in my home, and it was hurting her.  This revelation hit me like a ton of bricks.  You see, I had been so fixated on what she would think of the condition of things (dirty dishes in the sink, toys on the floor, kitchen floor un-mopped) and therefore what she would think of me, that I avoided her coming inside.  Ever.  Of course, I did not discriminate; very few people had been in my home without a week's preparation.   

 

I was hurting someone I care deeply for, only because I so much wanted to avoid being hurt by her.  Who did I care for more?  Her, or myself?  The truth of this question was not easy to swallow, as I realized that this was at the core of my social anxiety.

The point was this: rather than asking myself how I could honor God with my home, and how can I best love my mother in law, I was asking myself how can I avoid anyone finding out what a terrible housekeeper I really am? How can I avoid SHAME?  So this problem really had two faces. On one hand,  I needed to change some habits in order to actually be a better housekeeper; to honor God by being a better steward of what He has charged me with. On the other hand, I really did need to focus more outward on others and concern myself with loving them rather than hiding myself  from them to avoid shame. (Adam and Eve hiding in the garden after realizing they were naked has a much deeper meaning for me now!) This realization extended to all social interactions; when the panic attack starts; when the palpitations and fear and desire to avoid shame come, who am I loving most?  God and others?  Or myself?  OUCH.  

 

Have I overcome this struggle?  NO WAY.  But, I have been learning since then that whatever bad experiences I may have had can not pardon my sin of self-absorption, and that modern psychology merely affirms that sin and puts a positive spin on it to make you feel better.  (As described on pgs. 87-88)  I am thoroughly enjoying this book because it has deepened my understanding.  I know it will become a great tool for continuing to replace my sinful attitudes with correct ones.

 

Thanks for EQUIP class; we have been longing for this kind of learning and growth for some time.  :)

If you haven't read "When People Are Big and God Is Small" - you really should read it! It could change your life!