Christian Care and Counsel

In the state of Ohio it is illegal to say you are doing counseling unless you have an active license from the state board of Counseling and Social Work. But lots of people call themselves counselors and offer counseling for money or for free.

Every time I go to the Kroger Store to get my medicines I am asked if I want counseling. I know it is illegal to do it but obviously Kroger does not know it is illegal. When I drive into some parts of Cincinnati I see signs advertising Palm Reading and Past Lives Counseling. That is also illegal.

This morning I read an article in the newsletter from a large, conservative seminary in the USA. It was called, "Gaining a Balanced Picture of Gospel Counsel" and was strongly focused on what they call, "Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling" in their soon to be released book by that name. The article was filled with admonitions to make sure Pastors and Christian leaders focus on the gospel as they meet and care for hurting people.

Their "Gospel Centered" approach was a call to  preach and teach people about the demands of living a life in accordance with the rules and regulations found in the Bible. They were really centered on what Luther would call The Law and not so much on the Gospel. In fact, there was no mention of several biblical items I would call central to Christian Counsel and to the Good News.

No mention of: 1.The Holy Spirit, 2. Spiritual warfare, 3. Guilt, 4. Shame, 5. Confession, 5. Repentance, 6. Forgiveness, 7. Prayers, 8. Healing, 9. Discernment, 10. Renewing the mind, 11. Love, 12. Gifts of the Spirit, 13. Power of God, 14. Laying on of hands and Anointing with oil. 15. Repentance, 16. Fasting,

In many ways, the article was like reading my secular humanist text books on behavior therapy in graduate school. There was no inkling that Christian and Biblical Christianity is as a supernatural endeavor through and through. How can a seminary call itself biblical when it contains almost nothing of the Bible in healing and counseling?