|
|
|
||||||||
Christian Counseling
- Extremes in Christian Counseling (See Below)
- A look at Jay E. Adams
- A look at James Dobson's web site
- James Dobson's War on America
- James Dobson's Gospel
- Gary Ezzo and GFI
- Neil Anderson
- Psychohersey Awareness Ministries
- A look at Larry Crabb
- Nouthetic Counseling
- Phil Johnson's Bookmarks: Biblical Counseling
- Bill Gothard's Gospel
- Institute in Basic Life Principles
- Promise Keepers
- Gary Smalley
- John Trent
- Minirth and Meier
- Stephen Arterburn
- Clyde Narramore
- Gary Collins
- Tim LaHaye
- Nancy Missler
- American Counseling Association
- Professional organizations
- Christian Answers Net
- www.cultlink.com
- Churches That Abuse
- American Association of Christian Counselors
- Legalism
Extremes in Christian Counseling
On one extreme are the Faith healers who reject
all forms of medicine and blood transfusions (See
Faith
Tabernacle). Some Faith healers like
Oral Roberts had a hospital. Others reject faith healing, but see any type
of psychology as evil.
In the middle are those who blend Psychology with the Bible. Usually they
will deny this saying it all came from the Bible. Jay Adams does not believe
in mental illness. One must confess your sin, repent, read your Bible every
day and go to church and your mental illness will disappear.
At the other extreme are those who see the the Bible was not meant to be
a text book on psychology. What we call mental illness today was probably
refered to as demon possession in Bible times.
Christian
Counseling
This web page tells
some of the problems and myths of Christian counseling.
Gary
Ezzo
Gary Ezzo graduated from Talbot Theological Seminary and was on the staff of John MacArthur's Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California for 10 years. It is during this time that he developed parenting curriculums for the church. He then started his own separate ministry called Growing Families International (GFI). He became the full time executive director of GIF in 1993. He travels around the country giving seminars on how to raise your child.
Gary Ezzo, along with Robert Bucknam, is the author of the very popular, yet controversial book On Becoming Babywise. He promises that your baby will sleep through the night by the time he is eight weeks old if you strictly follow his guidelines. One must follow a strict feeding schedule. If the baby crys you must not pick the baby up. Let the baby cry just as God let Jesus cry on the cross, and did not help him. Waite until the proper feeding time to pick up the baby and feed him. Many doctors and nurses are upset at this advice. It has led to babies who have lost weight and have become dehydrated. This is also psychologically bad for the baby. When a baby cries, follow your natural instinct, pick the baby and feed him.
Ezzo advises to teach your little baby sign language so the baby can tell you what is wrong instead of crying. This seems ridiculous to me. How is a baby going to learn complex sign language when can not even speak, and their motor skills are very limited. He claims everything is based on Bible verses. That is his twisted interpretation of Bible verses.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a media alert about the Ezzo approach to parenting called "Parent Directed Feeding" (PDF). Grace Community Church no long recommends Ezzo's teaching materials. See http://www.mailing-list.net/redrhino/Ezzo/grace.html
The following are off site links with much more information about Ezzo:
- http://www.mailing-list.net/redrhino/Ezzo/Files.html This is the most extensive website on Ezzo and GFI.
- http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/8369.html#3
- http://salon.com/mwt/feature/1998/08/cov_06feature.html
- http://www.itwministries.com/cornerstone/gfi/warning.html This article looks at Ezzo's misinterpretation of scripture.