Greetings to you, and may the Lord Jesus grant to you His peace and joy in these difficult days.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” ( John 16:33).

AVOID THESE NEW AGE TRAPS!
There are so many books on counseling these days that the bookshops have them on shelf after shelf. We see these books (and video and audio tapes as well) in secular as well as “Christian” bookshops. The NEW AGE has brought this growth in interest in counseling, or therapy, so that the vast number of teaching books on the subject are now filled with New Age beliefs and techniques. The Images reason for the notes herein is that the confusion which now reigns has brought so many of God’s people, who are sincere enough, into occultic beliefs imagining that they are believing the truth according to God and His Scriptures! I will give to the reader a brief list of counseling methods that should be utterly avoided; the devil is a master of counterfeit. If you have already used any of these spurious counseling techniques, you must repent of this and confess it to the Lord. 1 John 1:9. No further involvement with the New Age or occult/ humanism should be entertained in any way in the future. We are in perilous times. Many “Christian” books on counseling also contain much of what is “borrowed” from the New Age, psychology or the occult, sadly.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” ( 11 Corinthians 11:13-15).

DO NOT use self-esteem or self-love beliefs in your counseling.
The Bible does not lead into self-love, or self-esteem. The whole of the SELF-teachings which fill the bookshops are NOT of God. The Bible teaches us to DIE to SELF, not to puff self up. Never use the techniques called “The Hierarchy of Needs” according to Adler and Maslow. These teachings are about SELF-actualizing. A good book on this is “The Biblical view of Self-Esteem, Self-Love and Self-Image” by Jay Adams. Pub. Harvest House Publishers.

DO NOT use the “guidance” method that counsels people to “go within” to find answers from God. This advice is often given these days to people in trouble or who are depressed.  They are told to sit with pen and paper writing down the “answers from God” that come rising up from inside themselves, or that come from the atmosphere around them. This is OCCULTIC. Eileen Caddy of Findhorn, an esoteric New Age commune well known around the world, is renowned for saying “go within” and for her technique of “journalling.”  The Oxford Group, a spiritualist movement that claimed to be Christian, popularized that method early last century. Seances, automatic writing, ghostly encounters and so on were the norm for the Oxford Group, this later led to Alcoholics Anonymous and Moral Rearmament apostasies.  The technique of going within and “journalling” the answers is akin to advising people to get instant inspiration from the Almighty and writing down your own personal Scriptures! A new Bible just for you alone! Then, often, the claim is made that the Almighty has by-passed all books (even the Bible) and has had thrilling interacted with the deceived one in Person. The Bible, that is really God’s revelation to us, is then delegated to a lower place than the supposed personal “revelation.” We could never separate our carnal thoughts and longings from “God’s” message coming from “within”, even if God really instructed us to seek guidance that way, which He doesn’t. The Lord God Himself, the Father, does not dwell within us. The HOLY SPIRIT has come to indwell us, this happened in the new birth [regeneration] through trust in Christ as personal Saviour. Yes, the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, but God the Father does not dwell within us. The Heavenly Father is in Heaven, where Jesus Christ sits at His right hand. We should always pray BY the Holy Spirit, THROUGH the Son Who is our mediator. TO the Father in Heaven. This is why the Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father which art in HEAVEN.”

Praying to the “god” within in order for Him to speak to us, keeping pen and paper close, then writing down the messages supposedly given from within, is called by the New Agers and spiritualists “Dialoging with God or “Journalling.” If the hand is allowed to be completely controlled, it is called “Automatic Writing.” It is closely aligned with the belief that WE HUMANS ARE GOD, or that everything is God, or Pantheism.
 More on the origins and errors of this “Journalling” error can be found in “Alcoholics Anonymous Unmasked” by Dr. Cathy Burns, Pub. Sharing.

DO NOT use “visualization” or “guided imagery” of any form in counseling. These are ancient shamanistic techniques. John and Paula Sandford, Agnes Sanford and Francis MacNutt are some of the Images proponents of the above techniques. Often these teachings involve using “energies” and the “power of the mind” in helping others who are in need. Richard Foster’s counseling methods are also highly shamanistic -  pseudoscientific mind-powers and mystical “forces” permeate all these teachings. They are nothing but ancient witchcraft, this is the truth. Mixed of course with Biblical truth, or people would never read any of these teachings. For more on the subject the good old book by Dave Hunt, “The Seduction of Christianity” is still an excellent choice.

DO NOT consult the psychotherapists, the psychologists or psychiatrists in any way to aid you with your counseling skills. The originators of these errors are/were ALL of them unsaved, involved in the evil spirit world and deceived by Satan. (Some of the names to watch out for are Freud, Skinner, Yung and Rogers). A strong statement, which can easily be proved. Get the book above, if you do not have it already in your library, then borrow the books listed at the back of Dave’ book from your local library. From their own material see what psychiatry and psychology are really about. The Cathy Burns’ book also has good information, apart from the material on A.A. If you still want to use psychobabble in counseling, after doing a little simple investigation, I would be shocked and astonished - please forget about counseling at all if you want to insist on using corrupt methods. We people of God must get SERIOUS about our stand, and not allow Satan to use us as his own tools of wickedness and rebellion against the Lord God. For this is what is going on when any Christian uses psychobabble in advising and helping the needy and troubled.

DO NOT enter into the spurious methods so common today in giving “spiritual” direction to the confused and depressed.  I mean here the strange “visions” and “insight” supposedly imparted by the Holy Spirit. These might be “visions” of a beauteous nature. Perhaps you have been counseled in some of  these“spiritual” ways yourself? The practitioner tells you they have seen a “vision” of you, you were standing bathed in light from God, walking beside a clear sparking pool. Your mouth has beams of light coming from it, giving wisdom to others. “God” has shown your adviser that you have a pure, lovely soul, “God” has even shown that you are to have a glorious BIG ministry because of  the “anointing” upon you. (Some such self-puffing mystical messages). Women in particular are inclined towards these “beautiful” deceptions. Be sensible, beloved of God, the Lord doesn’t want you to become a seeker after self-glory and self-fulfillment at the expense of others who need your help. Being a “counselor” is NOT about making yourself out to be a grand expert and acting like an ancient shaman, it is about being of use to hurting people. Being a counselor is not about SELF at all, it is about helping others to submit to the Lord. It is about helping them find out that Biblical obedience, in God’s own enabling, is LIFE with a capital L - abundant Life. We must CARE for the needy, the young in the Lord and the desperate people all around us! We are all called to CARE and give words that are Godly and wise. Women often render this service to others better than anyone else. Their soft words and gentle touch can melt the hearts of the tough and self-righteous, making the blow of finding one’s self in need of repentance and CHANGE easier to bear.
 

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (11 Timothy 4:1-2).

We blood-bought, redeemed ones are:

“…separated unto the gospel of God,  (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship [Paul’s and his contemporaries], for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: “ (Romans 1:1-6).