Weekend Open Thread
Don’t normally do open threads, but felt I would as I’m still in the midst of my opinion drought.
Feel free to raise any issues, request prayer, generally offload, have a moan – yes you can moan about me within reason – link to something, share your good news, or simply say hello and let us know how you’re doing.
I’ll kick of with a quote from a book I’m currently re-reading entitled: Mad, Bad or Sad? A Christian approach to antisocial behaviour and mental disorder.
For too long there has been a mutual distrust, a polarisation, between psychiatry and religion. Religious people fear that a psychological approach will ‘explain away’ their faith. Mental health professionals suspect that troubled people may be using their faith as a defence against facing their problems. Indeed it is possible to have a ‘neuotic relationship with God’, to see Him as we want to see Him, ‘in our own image’ as it were.
‘Neurotic’ in this context means that one perceives other people not as they really are, but in the light of an earlier dominating relationship (the imprinted image). For instance, if one’s father had been violent one might see all men as potentially violent regardless of the evidence. Previous experiences, unmet needs or yearnings will colour our relationship with God. We might invest in our faith in God what we need psychologically. Indeed religious faith can become inextricably bound up with the mental defence mechanisms of the mind.
The more primitive of these defences such as denial, ‘magical thinking’ and regression lead to our ‘kidding’ ourselves. We avoid facing painful or arduous issues. At best faith becomes an anxiety management strategy. At worst we project our problems onto others; impute to others our angry, negative feelings (projective defence). This makes it more difficult to forgive others.
The mature believer in Christ learns to empty themselves, pour out their sense of helplessness, bare their soul to the mercy of God. Repentance enables them to let down their defences before God, to accept the healing power of forgiveness, to allow the Spirit of God to empower. Can the Holy Spirit change dysfunctional brain pathways? This is what we believe.
I found that last para challenging.
Back in early 2011 I wrote on the concept of a neurotic relationship with God; prompted by reading the same book.
I do blog about some weird stuff don’t I.
Anyway, floor is yours…..but hopefully you’re out enjoying the sun.
Tags: Mental Health
July 21st, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Insofar as I can work out the latest Clifton Diocesan accounts (see here), it looks as though £600K is sent from the parishes to the docesan curia. That would mean that the new person who is taking over as Diocesan Chief Exec is going to cost the “man in the pew” an extra 10% a year.
How many Cliftonians are going to be up for it? Are you?
July 21st, 2012 at 12:19 pm
What sun?
But I want to complain about the fact that you don’t have many pictures on this blog. Specifically, how about pics of ladieeez in bathing costumes. Hmmm? I am sure it would be very popular.
But to wet peoples appetites and help you get the ball rolling here are a few anyway:
Bathing Beauties 1
Bathing Beauties 2
And finally:
One for the ladies
July 21st, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Nice one Tim. I thought you were gonna get me in trouble for a mo
July 21st, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Do you get a sense of impending doom every time I post a link? Lol!
July 21st, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Only when you talk about the ladies
July 21st, 2012 at 1:00 pm
You are right though Tim, I’m particularly crap with adding pictures of any type. I know I should, but can rarely be bothered.
July 21st, 2012 at 1:14 pm
The “Church in Wales” — meaning the Anglican church — is deep in the dwang:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18906518
Plans essentially consist of retaining a full complement of bishops and diocesan staff, and employing a few dozen curates, one per 25 parishes, to act as parish staff for the entirety of Wales for whatever christenings, marriages, and funerals the increasingly godless Welsh choose to pay for.
I suppose some cynical people might feel that such plans tell us rather concisely why it is that a church mainly memorable for persuading a nation full of churchgoers in 1900 to press the “eject” button is, a century on, deep in the financial, moral, and spiritual dwang.
They don’t seem to feel that getting Rowan Williams back is the answer, for some reason.
July 21st, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Welfare benefits cuts to bring about mass destitution – so that the masses despair and hurt so much they scream for National Socialism, is this a strategy of tension deployed by the UK Conservative Party?
July 22nd, 2012 at 7:32 am
[...] Like Stuart, I don’t have much in the opinion department at the moment. I do have news, though. [...]
July 22nd, 2012 at 12:21 pm
In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth
July 22nd, 2012 at 12:27 pm
I’ll watch that a bit later Tim when I can stream, does it have sound?
In the meantime, we were terribly wrong about 6 day Creationism. Evidence has been found for this in an archeological dig:
Evidence for Creationism found
Feel really silly to have been so wrong and trusted science and the theory of evolution….
July 22nd, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Quick, send it to the UK Human Rights people! They need to get on it ASAP!
And yes it does have sound i.e. music, not commentary. So it’s watchable whether you have sound or not really.
July 22nd, 2012 at 1:43 pm
And it’s also just occurred to me, has anyone updated Wikipedia yet?
October 18th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Pastor John Mcmartin preachers that we should give our first 10%
of our incomes so that God can bless the rest.
It a prosperity Gospel where you give to get a return on your investment
Romans 8:7
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God,
for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
John encourages people to work hard to make money so they can give more
John has groups called kingdom people who donate a sum of money to be
a member of the groups. It for business people who can give alot.
What does the bible teach on this
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth,
it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
people are led to believe if they give, God will take care of their money problems
This puts people into a false sense of security
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuQIoZV2KRY
and from Jesus himself
Matthew 19:23
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.
You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
What worldly teachers are doing to you
You adulterous people, don’t you know that
friendship with the world is hatred toward God?
Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes
an enemy of God.