David Wilkerson is NO PROPHET!

There are NO prophets today!!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91097

Screwed up eschatology and emotion laden theology drives a fear based message! I mean what is the difference between Edgar Cayce/ Jean Dixon/Nostradamus and David Wilkerson?

Fear freezes the human soul in the past and constrains the human heart from enjoying the fullness of life! The crackpot Wilkerson (http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/) does not speak for God, never has, still does not and never will! God does not 'speak' that way today (Hebrews 1:1-2)! That is settled once for all!!

Fear is simply False Evidence Appearing Real and messages of fear appear real until they are critically examined for rational evidence and here with Wilkerson's message, none is found! Bereft of any rational basis, I soundly dismiss this 'message of doom and gloom!' An American Specific judgment is myopic and arrogant! I mean, think with me here, we are only 5% (really on 4.2%) of the world's population and yet we are to receive the majority of God's blessings and thereby the majority of God's judgment? You have got to be kidding?? Jesus Christ is my judgment and I am in NO fear of God's judgment (1 John 2:1-3).

It angers me that many people whom I love will tremble when hearing Wilkerson's words. Their faith and childhood psyche harkens back to gloom and doom and impending catastrophe! There is no hope, no grace, no goodness, and no love in that message. The fragile spirit of many will be crushed by such a message…that is not the message of the New Covenant (by the bye, Wilkerson and his ilk, seem to revel in citing Old Covenant passages that are specially written to someone other than today's Christ follower!!)! Begone you hobgoblin of fear! Brennan Manning once said this about the Specter of Fear, "A pox on you and your children!!"

No fear can live here!! Not in my heart! A heart of "love drives out fear!" (1 John 4:18).

I slept well last night and now I finish my morning brew of Brazil roast. Enjoy today, tomorrow, don't allow your tomorrows be limited by your fears!

Broken Becky?

Becky comes in broken in spirit, battered physically, and bruised in her soul. She has gone through hell at the hands of those who are to love her…she is a toy for her dad to play with…she lives through stuff that even horror movies will not touch. Maya Angelou wrote Still I Rise about the survival and the thriving of the downtrodden, battered, cheated, raped, pillaged, African-American race and it applies to Becky as well. Enjoy…
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Communication Breakdown…drives us insane…

How we process information determines the quality of our intimate relationships. There are three principles that govern this idea: 1. One cannot not behave. 2. One cannot not communicate. 3. The MEANING of a given behavior is not the TRUE meaning of the behavior; HOWEVER it is the TRUE MEANING for the person who has given it a particular meaning.

Principal one says we can never do nothing because even the so called doing nothing is doing something. Try to do nothing, try not to behave and if I am watching you I will say "you are doing something" because of what I am seeing at this moment…now hang on a moment.

Principal two follows naturally and I am communicating all the time. How many times have you said, "We just don't communicate"? All that this means is the communication at the verbal level is not very satisfying…but non verbal communication IS taking place and MEANING is given to the behavior even if the behavior is silence.

Now to the big one, Principal Three, which states that a particular behavior may be given multiple interpretations and that one interpretation is NO more correct (nor incorrect) than any other. Personal reality is subjective and how I create my reality will be formed from my assumptions and my particular frame of reference. However, it is only my perception…and that may or may not match your perception and for each of us that perception is equally 'true' and equally valid.

In addition to these three principals we need to understand that communication occurs in three modes; verbal, non-verbal and the context. The verbal is simply the words I use. The non verbal is my voice inflection, tone, facial expressions etc. The context is when I said what I said, why you think I said what I said, and where I said what I said.

When we mention communication breakdowns we usually are referring to the context and the meaning we give a particular piece of communication.

Want Your Heart To Be Uplifted!?!?

One tried and true strategy to offset the "blues" is to understand that you really don't have a problem...I mean relatively speaking! When you see what someone else is facing and realize that they have survived (and may even be enjoying life!) then you can "find strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!" Here is one such person and I don't think for a moment that DAD or MOM would trade what happened here for the sorrow they experienced 17 years ago!

Take about 5 minutes and watch Patrick Thibodeau. Patrick, a young man from Maine with Down’s Syndrome, has been a manager for four years at his high school. He plays in practice with the team, but has NEVER played in an actual game. But on his Senior Night, he was allowed to start and as the video showcases, got to make some memories for the rest of his life. Wipe your eyes, call your friends, enjoy GOD'S GRACE and remember you have never had it so good!! Yeah, life is good!!

You Can't Always Trust Your Brain...

I am sure you have seen figures like the one below and gotten stuck...really stuck...so stuck that you think the problem is impossible to solve. That there is no answer...but there is!

The Nine Dot Puzzle

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Start from any point and draw four continuous lines (without lifting the pen) so that each of the nine dots has at least one line running through it. You must think "outside of the box" to solve this.

Or how about this one: If a bat and a ball together cost $1.10 and the bat costs a dollar more than the ball how much does the ball cost?

Psychology tells us that our minds have two systems for solving problems and making decisions. One is the intuitive mind and the other is the reasoning mind. The intuitive mind acts 'with out thinking'...it just 'knows' but does not always know 'how it knows.' The intuitive mind is like having a blazing fast processor but it is does not 'learn new stuff' very well. On the other hand, the reasoning system uses careful calculations that is not influenced by emotions and is slower in the processing speed than the intuitive mind. Both systems have their place but both systems have their limitations. It is critical to determine  which decisions should be made by intuition and those that require careful calculations.

Most couples I see in the therapy are emotionally stuck precisely because they can not see any answer to their situation. They tell me, "I have done all I can do" and "I have changed all I can change" and "He just won't communicate and I have tried all the tricks!" You can hear the frustration in their voice and see the turmoil on their face and feel the exasperation of their state of affairs.

Correct thinking is the beginning of solving our problems. However we almost never approach a problem systematically and exhaustively unless we have been specifically educated to do so (Miller G.A., Gallanter E. and Pibram K.H., 1960). This is especially true in navigating and negotiating our emotionally committed relationships (lovers, husband/wife, parent/child). Listen to the wife who told me last week, 'I just feel awful' and throughout the first 40 minutes of our session I counted about 37 'I feel awful's' and believe me, I was not feeling all that good by then myself. What is the answer? THINKING and thinking clearly and correctly.

Your first answer may be incorrect. The second answer may not be correct either...but that does not mean there is no answer. Think and then think about your thinking. This will slow your reaction down and keep you from doing something really dumb and may even give you a better chance of strengthening your close relationships.

Back to our problem solving brain: if you said the bat cost $1.00 that would make the ball cost 10 cents and the bat would only cost .90 more...therefore your first answer (intuitive brain system) was wrong!! But there is a correct answer. Also, try to solve the NINE DOT PUZZLE with out using GOOGLE!

Use the rush of emotion to trigger your brain to signal to your heart....slow down and THINK.

Why your brain can't always make good decisions - CNN.com

Now I Know Why!!

Well, I have wondered why I often say "We will be along in a minute" and "sure, we will pick it up for you on the way home" when there is only one body, namely mine, in the automobile. Now I know why! Dutch researchers are claiming there is a higher incidence of schizophrenia in non right-handed people! Here is what they say.

Language lateralization is decreased in left- and mixed-handed individuals...which means language can occur in both sides of the brain...not just a boring one side of the brain!! They survey 86 scientific articles and the meta analysis revealed that non-right-handers had significantly higher schizotypy scores than right-handers and this significance remained after removing an outlier of more than two standard deviations.

The research team writes in the journal Schizophrenia Research: “In conclusion, non-right-handed subjects had higher schizotypy levels than right-handed subjects, while there was no difference between strong right- and strong left-handed subjects."

Wow, now I am left handed and we will continue to write...there I go again with the 'we' thing. By the way, one of my favorite patients, from time to time,  wears a sweat shirt that states, "If All The Voices In My Head Paid Rent I Would Be Rich."

Smile today...and right handers, be aware of the lefthanders!!

Headlines-PsychiatryMatters.MD - the essential resource in psychiatry

Perspective is almost everything…when it comes to contentment and peace, that is…

My main therapeutic task in the counseling room is to help the client see 'their problem' from a different perspective. Systems theory states that the way you see a problem will determine the answer you find for 'your problem.' As long as you continue to see the problem the way you see it, then your answer will always be the same! This explains why people repeat the same thing over and over getting the same results and complain…they want different results. If my financial problem can only be understood as a lack of money then I am stuck. Did you even have an Uncle Rudy tell you, "It is not the money you make that gets you into financial trouble, it is the money you spend"? Wow, what a different perspective! When I first heard that I thought, "You are nuts, yeah, but you don't make what I make…", but he was correct and I wasn't.

With all the ups and downs of the economy (our local gas prices jumped 17 cents over night two days ago), the 'erosion' of our 401-Ks, the fear of 'what will happen tomorrow,' it is good to take a slightly different perspective. W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm remind us that the 19^th century millionaire couldn't get a cold COKE from the fridge or jump into her car and run three hours down I 65 to Gulf Shores. She could not GOOGLE anything, nor get instant news delivered to her 'desktop' 24/7. She could not jet to New York City or to Belfast, Ireland. She could not run over to the mall and buy a point-and-shoot camera, Blue Ray DVDs, or a Botox injection. She could not escape our torrid heat in the summer with AC nor have a 'boob job' done by a plastic surgeon. She could not have by-pass surgery to prolong her life or even take the 'wonder drug' (aspirin) to quell her raging headache!!

The poorest of us today are far wealthier than any of the wealthy in the 19^th Century. A worker in 1900 worked for two hours and forty minutes to buy a three pound chicken…99 years later? He would only work 24 minutes! Four years prior to my birth the average worker put in more than two hours to 'purchase' 100 kilowatts of electricity; forty-nine years later the worker put in fourteen minutes.

"Godliness with contentment is great gain…" and I struggle in this world keeping the 'right' perspective. Remember, it is how you view your problem that will determine your answer…if you don't like your 'answer' then you may want to adjust your viewpoint. Looking at and doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results…now that is insanity!