Preaching Tomorrowar a River Tree Church tomorrow at 10:30

The focus will be on discovering how to be Fully Human and Fully Alive! You can learn rather simple way to assess how your journey to maturity is progressing.

Stop Lecturing, Marching and Protesting

Stop Lecturing me and Start Teaching Poor People How to Prosper

I am convinced that we have adopted Talking as a way to avoid doing! If I show my pity and compassion in articles and protests and conferences maybe I can continue to live well and never do anything to actually help the poor.

I do not go on many marches to support minorities, minimum wage, gun control, helping addicts, etc. Instead, I actually train parents, families, churches and community groups how to prevent poverty and addiction and heal it if it happens.

I have friends and family members that do not like my positions on theology and popular ideas about helping hurting people. I do not care what you say, show me by your actions what you believe.

The answers are simple.

Teach people to: 
Fish for themselves! 
Honor God!
Speak effectively;
Work skillfully;
Save money;
Have no debt;
Be responsible;
Stay married; 
Rear your children well;
Treat others with mercy and grace;
Honor people in authority; 
Be healthy; 

What can you add?

See our books, tapes and materials. 

Helping Poor People Prosper

There are a lot of articles and books on our responsibility as Christians to help the poor. In my view, some are good and some are unintentionally set up to reinforce poverty. Here is my response to the article linked above.

Building Virtuous versus Vicious Circles of behavior are key. These are activities that break Poverty Cycles and build Cycles of Prosperity. Virtuous Circles are:

A beneficial cycle of events or incidents, each having a positive effect on the next. These factors are mutually reinforcing: more satisfaction leads to more contribution; more contribution leads to more satisfaction and it gets deeper and wider at every step. 

The Compound Interest I collect is a Virtuous Cycle of Prosperity. That which I pay is A Vicious Cycle of Poverty. Whatever we do must build disciples materials that can be learned and implemented by the Persons of Concern. We may give a fish to them for a short while but over time teach them to fish. Habitat is doing this. Micro Loans are doing it. Fishermen and Women can then use their relative prosperity and knowledge to teach others to fish, thus widening the Cycles of Prosperity. in Mark 4 Jesus taught this model to His followers. 

A church of 100 can, over time, teach this model to dozens of people. I started a Ministry overseas in 1990 and today have over 1000 people teaching it to the families of addicts. They lead hundreds of groups, churches and ministries. Prosperity comes from discipleship that impacts the whole person and their whole life and lifestyle. 

A church or ministry can pick a family in need, teach them how to build a Virtuous Cycle of health and welfare. Start small and build small victories. "If you are faithful in small things I will put you in charge of big things." 

Does Preventive Awareness Education Work for Drugs and Suicide?

I feel more suicidal . . . after treatment!

Psychotherapists have played an influential role in the public schools over the last decade. They run divorce adjustment groups, talk to kids about their feelings, and run a variety of prevention oriented programs.

Research on this site already strongly questions the efficacy of traditional drug prevention programs that simply make kids and adults ""aware" of the drug problem. (Click here for information about the failure of the schools' DARE program). Other research now seriously questions the effectiveness of Teen Suicide Prevention Programs (TSPP). In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that "there was little evidence that the programs reduced suicides and suicide attempts."

Importantly, the programs reviewed--like their DARE counterparts--were "intended to raise awareness of teenage suicides by describing the warning signs to young people at risk." 

Teenagers actually participating in the study experienced two main effects:

(1)   they were less likely to recommend the program to peers; and

(2)   they believed that the programs made kids more likely to kill themselves.

One is left to wonder why programs based on fear and the identification of pathology continue to be used when other, more effective modes of intervention exists--namely relational skill building. 

Teaching kids to make decisions and think maturely is the most effective way to prevent drug abuse. 

Having a personal discussion with kids without emotional preaching or pleading can be preventive. 

Going to church and developing solid, Christian relationships can be helpful. 

Treating kids like adults can help. 

Kids talking to other kids is best. 

Journal of the American Medical Association (December 26, 1990)

I want to help stop drug use, self harming behavior, depression, anxiety, bullying, and all other harmful behavior. However, many "Education Programs" designed to  prevent problems focus on the wrong people with the wrong approach. 

If you want to know more about what works, see our web page.

Helping People Be Happy #3.

My fist book came directly from my dissertation. It was called Apples of Gold. Want to guess where that term originated? It is simple. From Proverbs, which is an entire book of advice and counsel. It is Soul Care.

A word wisely spoken is like an apple of Gold on a tray of silver. Proverbs 25:11

I wrote that monograph in the late Seventies after finishing a Doctorate in 1975. We began to equip our church members with the Core Conditions of Care, Genuineness, Respect, Empathy and Warmth and eight women learned them well enough to train others.

I later re-wrote Apples and it was published as Listening for Heavens Sake, in 1983 by the first international training organization we set up in 1978. It is Equipping Ministries International.

Since then the book has sold well over a million copies. I will never forget when it was translated into Norwegian. It is now in numerous languages including French, German, Russian, Chinese, Nepalese, Danish, Swedish, ETC. God is good.

In the front of the book is a chart that shows our inspiration. It is a drawing of Nine (9) Apples that show Anxiety or Peace, Faithfulness or Faithlessness, etc. It has a scale that allows readers to check the number closest to where we think we are in releasing each one.

I saw that the Common Factors coming from Psychological research relate exactly with the Fruit of the Spirit as found in Galatians 5:22-23. My dissertation was accepted by a group of Professors at the University of Cincinnati, one of whom confessed to me that, "I have no idea what you are talking about but it is academically OK!"

So, the notion that Psychology and Scripture contradict each other fails to impress me. I know different.

Want more? Books and free videos. Hope and Change for Humpty Dumpty has all these ideas in it.

Anger or Good Health #2

My dissertation helped me to see how the Bible teaches on healing, growth, change and counseling. In fact, it is a rarely discussed truth that Counseling and Psychotherapy was done by people of faith until Freud came along and got Medical Doctors involved. That was in the 20th Century!

It had always been called seelsorge. In German. That means Soul Care!

When I prepared to leave for Graduate School to study Counseling and Psychology, a friend warned me that "It is from the devil".  I was shocked to hear him say it and was he ever wrong. In fact, it is the reverse. Psychology helps me understand the Bible and the Bible helps me under stand Psychology.

For example, I learned in Psychology to do a Differential Diagnosis. That is simply a process to "differentiate one thing from another" to make sure we are not jumping to conclusions about the cause or cure of an issue without a careful examination.

We do the same in Bible study but call it an exegesis. That is why we have developed systematic studies of scripture and do not just use a text out of context to teach key principles. That results in Practical Theology.

We also learn to differentiate one word from another. The meaning  in English can be very different in Greek. For example, Ephesians 4 says in English, "You will be angry but so not sin with it." A verse later it says. "Do not allow the sun go down on your anger".

Both use the term "anger" but they come from completely different Greek words. the first means "Feelings of anger" and the second means "Holding Bitterness". Paul seems to say, "Of course you will feel anger but do not hang on to those feelings overnight."

Learning how to differentiate in Counseling taught me how to do similar things in teaching and writing about Pastoral Care or Soul Care.

For more get my books and videos, cheap!

Healthy Ideas Lead to Happy Lives

Several years ago I did a Dissertation at UC in which I attempted to integrate the best research findings on Counseling and Psychology with the Bible. It was pretty clear that the BIG IDEA coming from the thousands of studies about outcomes from Counseling that the key to success is not a Counselor's knowledge or interventions! It is not information, education, preaching, advising, threatening, bribing, pills, hypnotism, rewards, etc. Nope.

YIKES! How can that be? Why did I learn all those facts about diagnosis and study 960 pages of the DSM V if they are not important?

I did not say those things are of NO importance, but of little importance. The Counselor/ Therapist/ Psychiatrist interventions are worth 13-18% of the good changes.

What else is more important?

The quality of the interaction between the person seeking assistance and the Helper is worth a lot more than that. When I learned that bit of information, I immediately thought of a Bible passage. Which one comes to you?

To learn more about how to effectively partner with people for growth, healing and change, see my books and video tapes.

Healthy Living 4

Several years ago a psychiatrist friend asked me to see a patient who had been under her care for several years. The diagnosis was depression and treatment was medication. The patient never improved and kept asking the psychiatrist, a Christian, to discuss her spiritual condition. The patient believed she had committed the “unpardonable sin” and was doomed to hell.  The doctor refused to discuss religion but decided to ask me to help the patient with pastoral care and counseling.

I saw the lady for four years and listened intently to her stories about why she believed God had left her. After some months I asked if I could pray for her and she agreed to allow me but knew it was hopeless. However, before long the patient began to feel better and after some months of probing and prayer started to consider the possibility that God was still with her.

The client currently takes no anti depression medications and is free from depressive symptoms. She is now convinced that God loves her. It was a slow but remarkable recovery. She will tell you it is the result of prayer. In addition to prayer it was patience, supportive interactions, cognitive interventions including scriptures on the love and grace of God.


This lady has been under psychiatric care since 1955 but did not find any therapist that would take her spiritual concerns seriously until she met with me.  That was intentionally disrespecting the patient’s beliefs and convictions and it led her to live in misery for 50 years.  That is medical and psychological malpractice.

Respect and Empathy are essential to fostering health in others. Listening is love! 

See my books and videos tapes at our web.

What are Virtuous Cycles of Life?

A beneficial cycle of events or incidents, each having a positive effect on the next

–Maximum satisfaction and maximum contribution.

These factors are mutually reinforcing: more satisfaction leads to more contribution; more contribution leads to more satisfaction and it gets deeper and wider at every step. 

C. S. Lewis on The Death of the West

Inaugural Lecture from The Chair of Mediaeval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, 1954

De Descriptione Temporum

But roughly speaking we may say that whereas all history was for our ancestors divided into two periods, the Pre-Christian and the Christian, and two only, for us it falls into three-the Pre-Christian, the Christian, and what may reasonably be called the post-Christian. This surely must make a momentous difference. I am not here considering either the christening or the Un-christening from a theological point of view. I am considering them simply as cultural changes. When I do that, it appears to me that the second change is even more radical than the first. 

Christians and Pagans had much more in common with each other than either has with a post-Christian. The gap between those who worship different gods is not so wide as that between those who worship and those who do not.

See my E Book Healing Release of the Holy Spirit on basic theology.

The Great Physician 2

While getting a doctorate in 1972 a Professor of Sociology refused to allow me to research the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous. “We are a public university and we cannot violate the separation of church and state,” he said. 

A.A. is not, of course, a church, but they do allow clients to acknowledge God. Research shows clearly that A.A. is effective in treating addictions. That fact did not convince my agnostic teachers. Their fear of God's people was so great that ending the suffering of alcoholics was enough reason to look at the methods of AA. 

Although that teacher was a practicing Buddhist, he was frightened about the idea that there is a Christian spiritual reality in the world. He used a bogus excuse to forbid its study.  That is what happens to academic research when fear and prejudice take over. 

Read my book on theology and counseling to see how integration can work. The Healing Release of the Holy Spirit.

Nobody guessed Who said Make as Much as you can

Make as much as you can!

Save as much as you can!

Give as much as you can!

John Wesley

He also said: I love to work with the poor. However, they don't remain poor after coming to Christ. They start acting better and stop boozing, messing around and stealing. As a result they get rich.

They evacuated from the tsunami of sin and got rich. You too can do it.

Bad Theology in Music

When I was Associate Dean at University of Cincinnati we had a small group of students that regularly came to our home for nurture, worship and Bible study.  I was astounded at how many wanted to quit school and "Serve Jesus full time".  I encouraged every one of them to stay in school and learn to prosper so they could impact the world.

Bright lights attract the world while offering the truth of the gospel. We are always encouraged to "Study and show ourselves improved". A dim bulb can hardly shine from the hilltops.

These young people needed to "sharpen their swords". They thought they knew the Bible and how to hear God but they did not. We need more Seasoned Believers".

See my books and free stuff so you can shine brightly. 

Music With Bad Theology

I usually listen to our local Christian radio station in the mornings. The early show is very good with nice, simple encouraging talks in between the "Top 40 Christian Songs". This morning was no different.

As a rule I like the music and find it theologically and biblically balanced. Occasionally they play a song that I hear many times each week and always dislike because the tune is wonderful but the message is not. It is:

"Take This World and Give Me Jesus!
This is not where I belong!"

Yikes! No wonder so many believers fail to minister to their neighbors and help those in need.  No wonder so many Christians are poor and fail to succeed. They want to be in heaven and deny their existence on earth.

As an old friend was fond of saying, "As a kid, the only hope that kept our church alive was the desire to die and go to heaven!"

What a life destroying idea. It can drive us to be "So heavenly minded that we are no earthly good".

We do belong here on earth. This is my Father's world!

Read my books to discover how to integrate theology and the daily practices of life! 

American Men Have it Easy So Let's Laugh About It

Think About These Truisms and Add Your Own NICKNAMES If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah. If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Bubba and Wildman. EATING OUT When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back. When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators...YEP!! ! MONEY A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale. BATHROOMS A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items. ARGUMENTS A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument. FUTURE A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife. MARRIAGE A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does. DRESSING UP A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail. A man will dress up for weddings and funerals. NATURAL Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night. OFFSPRING Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY A married man can forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

Who Said This? It is a Virtuous Cycle of Life

Make as much as you can!

Save as much as you can!

Give as much as you can!

Dealing With Complaints

My recent post that included several complaints send or said to Preachers and Pastors got a lot of laughs and comments. I appreciate both. In an era when we are very concerned about personal attacks, bullying, mean people, etc, we need to learn how to fortify ourselves against those who utter bad things.

Rule #1. It is probably impossible to stop such attacks and comments. Many others and I have written books on it, preached about it, posted about it and so on it goes. I recently posted a chart I developed from the research of Dr. John Gottman. He is an expert at helping couples deal with differences in a healthy manner.

Gottman lays out several levels of interpersonal dynamics that explain how we tend to deal with negative interactions.

Level I. Contented and Harmonious: We are generally at peace when our relationships are here.

Level II. Complaints: People say they are unhappy: We tend to get upset and hurt if we hear anyone Complain. We think a Complaint about my hair style, clothes, preaching voice, or behavior means I must change. However, it can mean the person is  upset and needs to discuss it with me. In fact, it can be a healthy Complaint.

The first thing a leaders can do when a Complaint occurs is LISTEN and clarify what the Complainer Needs. 

How can we stay Peaceful in the midst of Complaints? 

Healthy Living for All 1

Find a therapist/doctor who will treat the whole person and the whole family.  (David Larson, M.D. of Duke University, The Forgotten Factor in Physical and Mental Health, 1992)

As a therapist my interest in integrating faith and medicine began in earnest after dad's accident in 1968. I received a call from Mother saying Dad was dying and the doctors only hoped he would survive until my brother arrived home from Korea. My older brother Maury and I went back home to Illinois be with Mom.

We relieved her at the hospital so she could rest. Each of us took turns holding on to Dad’s arms to keep him from pulling the tubes from his nose and mouth. It was an awful experience. I felt helpless and hopeless, sitting awkwardly beside his bed listening to him ramble and attempt to breathe.

After some time, I began to silently pray for God to heal Dad. I had never prayed like that before. Our denomination did not believe in miraculous gifts. We “Prayed for the sick we didn’t pray for them to get well,” we joked but this was no joke. We had always asked God to “Bless the patient, the doctors and nurses and comfort the family” but never asked for a miracle. This time I was so desperate that I forgot my theology and prayed for a miraculous healing.

My prayers were awkward, mumbled and panic stricken. They were not filled with faith or even hope. Despite my hesitancy and poor faith I finally sensed the presence of a powerful force in the room. The hair on my head stood up and I had chills down my spine. About the same time Dad became quiet and his labored breathing was smooth and peaceful. His body was calm and sleep replaced the thrashing and resistance we were trying to control.

I knew Dad had been deeply touched and that allowed me to follow his lead and relax. His hands fell quietly on the bed. I thought, "Maybe God has answered my prayer". He had. 

Dad recovered fully and lived another ten years. I too was changed. I could no longer deny that Jesus was “The Great Physician” that healed the sick. It thrust me into a desire to understand the healing ministry. I had no preparation but I was going on the excitement of one personal experience.

My profession of Counseling resisted the story and so did my church. Neither was thrilled by hearing about God’s healing touch. Nor did they bless my desire to learn and do more about spiritual healing. Few of my friends welcomed my new faith in a healing God. Preachers and teachers who regularly talked about the Great Physician were shocked when I mentioned what He had done to integrate theory and experience. 

I was caught between the Scylla of fearful, unbelieving Christians and the Charybdis of anxious disbelieving psychologists. Several years before I went to graduate school in Counseling a Sunday school teacher warned me to “Stay away from psychology! It’s from the devil.” 

My religious friends were frightened about me focusing on love or prayer to heal.  They usually protested by telling about people who were not healed and their loved ones complained.

I also found that my professional friends were deeply suspicious of any healing other than their own brand of theology from Freud, Skinner or Rogers.  I was caught in the middle of two competing theologies. Neither biblical.

Stay tuned for what is. 

Identity-Who Am I?

I learned how much I did not know when I was in Africa!

Karen and I were chatting earlier this afternoon about how driven we were when we began to minister. I know that many things I "accomplished" were for my own ego or identity not really for God. I thought it was all for God but looking back, I was driven to "Rescue" hurting people because I needed to be needed.

People need a lot of things, but rarely is it to be rescued. Sure, when they have been swept up in a flood or caught in a burning house, they need a rescuer.

But most of the time they need Life Success Skills. When did you learn to think your way out of a bad fix and there was no "Rescuer" around? Jesus was famous for getting out of tight spots. The legal scholars of His day seemed to dislike the stuff He taught and the ways He escaped from their traps.

Jesus was rarely argumentative or defensive. He wiggled out of attacks with great wisdom. To to question about the woman caught in adultery, He wrote in the dirt and asked paradoxical questions. And, voila, the men all walked away.

Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, He said. We try but too often end up dumb as a bird and mean as a snake.

Want to see some free stuff on video? It might bore you because it has no Hollywood stars.

Is Poverty Unusual in History?

Why are we prosperous in America?

                Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded—here and there, now and then—are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people.

 Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as “bad luck.”

Robert Heinlein

Why do so many want to change our prosperity for poverty?

Don't Call It Love!

Agape Love or Covenant Love is not the same as the term when it is used in Love Songs and Socialism and Enabling Families of Addicts. In our culture, the term has been so over used it seems in interchangeable with Lust or Marketing Beer.

A great challenges that faces counselors of addicts are parents and friends that feed the addiction! They don't mean to feed it but they do. Why? Because they "love" the addict.

To be blunt, that is not God's Love but self love.

It is Helping that Hurts!

Sexual Predators tell us!

"I am the only one that really LOVES that little boy."

That is not God's LOVE or Biblical Love but LUST that arises from self love.

People addicted to pornography say they love it.

People  love Chocolate, or coffee, or movies.

Moms and dads love their kids.


But none of these are Agape Love. 

My paper "Healing Release of the Holy Spirit" can help us define terms.

It is a MOTM. (Managing Our Terms Manual)

WHY MEN ARE SELDOM DEPRESSED

Men Are Just Happier People -- What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack... You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. If someone forgets to invite you, He or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, even decades. You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes --  one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives On December 24 in 25 minutes. ___________________________________ Men Are Just Happier People

Patient Care in America

We have a wonderful collection of clinical and medical experts in the USA and Western Europe. The advances in medical technology, medications and clinical expertise borders on the miraculous.

Yesterday, I visited the Cincinnati Eye Institute to have the cataract removed from my left eye and replaces with a tiny lens. I entered the operating room at 7:30 and by 8:30 I was on my way home.

I am recuperating at home but in a few days my eyes that have not been working well for the past few years will be almost like new! Almost miraculous!

I am thankful.

I love my new Tri-Foculs
My dentures fit me fine
My hearing aids are working
But Lord, I miss my mind!

A Network for Families And Caregivers Engaged

I often hear of a new book, web or webinar about supporting FACE.

If you click on that link it will open on a space that is really open for parents of a special needs child to link in and dwell awhile.

Great music and encouragement.

Our work with families can be found here.

Spiritual Healing and Growth: Spiritual Healing and Growth: Peer Helpers for men...

Spiritual Healing and Growth: Spiritual Healing and Growth: Peer Helpers for men...: Spiritual Healing and Growth: Peer Helpers for mental and emotional distress a... : Peer Helpers for mental and emotional distress are per...

Spiritual Healing and Growth: Peer Helpers for mental and emotional distress a...

Spiritual Healing and Growth:

Peer Helpers for mental and emotional distress a...: Peer Helpers for mental and emotional distress are persons with care and compassion that want to learn how to encourage growth and heal...

Peer Helpers for mental and emotional distress are persons with care and compassion that want to learn how to encourage growth and healing rather than death and destruction.

Death or Life are in the power of the tongue and we who wish to help the needy must learn how to speak gently so the wounded can build enough trust to seek our support.

Go to our lay focused web page and look at the great videos we have on building great relationships. 

Family and Caregiver Engagement (FACE TIME)

Almost every researcher looking into ways to achieve decrease costs and increase income know how important they are to accomplishing their goals. The three critical areas are called The Triple Aim.

1. Increase Patient Satisfaction
2. Decrease the cost of treating each patient and the entire population.
3. Increase the effectiveness of treatment outcomes.

Every leader understands the "Holy Grail" of accomplishing these items is to get the Patients themselves more deeply engaged is self care. Medical and other Clinical staff members have no idea how to accomplish that simple goal. In the past, everyone was paid on the basis of the diagnosis.  A knee replacement cost &______. An elbow a little more. Heart surgery even more.

That era is over!

Go to our web page to find out our solutions.

What will we do now?

Peer Helpers for mental and emotional distress are persons with care and compassion that want to learn how to encourage growth and healing rather than death and destruction.

Death or Life are in the power of the tongue and we who wish to help the needy must learn how to speak gently so the wounded can build enough trust to seek our support.

Where Do Hurting Go for Help?

One of the great questions among mental health and mental illness professionals is "To whom do mentally distressed people go for help? The historic numbers are somewhat surprising to the Professional Clinical and Psychological people.

100% go to family and friends before a professional.
42% seek out a Church Leader as the first Professional Helper
18% talk with their Doctor first
8% go to a Mental Health Professional

These studies are rather old and need to be updated. But we can see why churches need to have trained Helpers both Peer and Professional.

Those who seek a man or woman of faith is double those when want a Physician and 5 times as many as those who seek assistance form a Counselor! Get Ready!

People are needy!!

It is not enough to "Welcome" people in need. We must have well trained Lay or Peer Helpers that can walk with them and foster healthy thinking and acting. Lay/Peer Helpers are usually as effective as professionals.


We have trained thousands of Peer and Professional Helpers around the world. Get our training materials here.

Mental Health and the Church

                                  The way it used to be!

The recent murders at schools and public places reminds us that we are facing several intractable enemies in  our world: Evil people, Deluded people, and Sick people.

Since the Sixties I have been involved as a Professional  Counselor, a Minister and a Counselor Educator in mobilizing and releasing mature Christians into the battle for the hearts, minds, souls and bodies of distressed people.

Several years ago the Evangelical Christian world was rocked by the suicide of the adult son of Rick and Kay Warren. Since that time, the Warren family and Saddleback Church have launched several initiatives to educate, inform and equip church leaders to help those with mental and emotional distress.

They are a wonderful ally in the battle for Pastoral Care and Counseling in Christian organizations. This week they are sponsoring a big conference to inform and train Christians to be more effective care givers. Here is the link.

I wrote a dissertation on these issues in 1975. My books since then have all been built on the foundation of what I learned way back then plus what I learned from a book that is several thousand years old. My books for lay people here.

How Do We Increase the Number of Poor People?

How do we increase poverty?

It is simple!

I could do it in my sleep!

Take a look at the basic causes of poverty and increase them.

The basic causes are;

1. Generations of single parents.

2. Generations of births out of wedlock.

3. Generations of people losing a parent as a child.

4. Generations of kids failing to finish high school.

5. Generations of families drinking, smoking marijuana, doing hard drugs.

6. Generations of kids reared without self-discipline.

7. Generations of kids reared without a religious/spiritual heritage.

Poverty! What Do You Think Are the Major Causes?

I grew up in a poor family. Mom and Dad married in 1933, the worst year of the depression. Their first child died shortly after birth and mother also barely survived, causing trauma, pain and financial problems.

My brother was born in 35, still a time of great financial stress but my folks were doing OK since dad and mom both worked. Then disaster came to our house again. I was born and dad suffered from a burst appendix.

At that time, such a medical difficulty was almost certain death, but his life was saved by the Doctors using an untested medicine. And, they had tow babies to feed.  I will tell you later how we survived.

In the USA we are facing one of the largest increases in poverty in decades. Despite the fact many people are getting better off, there are millions of people who have been out of work so long that they have dropped out of the labor force all together and have joined the ranks of the permanently unemployed.

Second, generational poverty is growing. Many families are living in poverty for three to five generations! This is very difficult to alter.

As you look around what do you see as the things causing these problems? What would you do to improve the lot of poor people??