God can meet your deepest needs - Joshua 10,11

At first glance the Book of Joshua, chapters 10 and 11 seem to be more about blood and destruction than about mercy and grace. When Joshua 11:20 tells us that it was the LORD "who hardened their hearts... so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy" you have to stop and ask yourself, "Just who is this God?"

Biblical theology is a book by book approach to understanding the theology of the Bible. Instead of Systematic Theology which examines a theological topic throughout the Bible, biblical theology focuses upon a single book and what that book alone is saying about God, salvation, holiness, the end times, etc.

So what does the Book of Joshua say about the character and person of God? First and foremost, he is a lot more than a wimpy, powerless God of love. Yes, I know what the Bible teaches about love but in Joshua you see an almost frightening picture of God's character. He is holy and he will judge. To those who come to him in reverent fear (like Rahab and the Gibeonites) he offers unabounding grace. To those who oppose him he exercises punishment. Don't mess with God.

This brings up the question of the existence of hell. If God is love, the argument goes, how could he send anyone to hell? Joshua reminds us that God does not straddle the fence. Those who come to him in uncompromised humility receive life and those who oppose him receive death. As Joshua 11:20 points out, there is no mercy - none, zip, nadda - for those refuse to accept the simple truth that the wages of sin is death. Even when you think you are "in the club" God will still judge singul disobedience. Just look at Achan in chapter 7.

But what about God meeting our deepest needs? Where is this found in the Book of Joshua? At the beginning of chapter 10 the Gibeonites cry out for God's protection and deliverance. Two things need to be noticed here. First of all, God immediately responds. God's counsel to Joshua in verse 8 shows us that he is the deliverer, not Joshua. That Joshua marches all night shows God's willingness to meet our needs immediately. When he does not answer immediaitely there is always a divine reason, such as the need to deal with sin (as with the defeat at Ai or to teach us to trust him (such as when he had Israel march around Jericho for seven days).

The second thing to be noticed is God's ability to meet our deepest needs. When Joshua asks God to have the sun stand still we see the God of miracles. God can do anything. And take special note of verse 14: God listened. Not only did God speak to Joshua, he listened to him. Not only does God speak to us through his word, he also hears our prayers and petitions for help. God knows your needs and he is not powerless, nor is he unwilling, to help you.

What should you do? In humility, ask him, don't order him or demand of him, but ask him to help you during your struggles. If the answers don't seem to come immediately, ask him for wisdom to understand and to see his purpose during this time of testing and struggle. As the Book of Joshua teaches, God will always be true to his word and he will always keep his promises.

Book Review - Your Drug May Be Your Problem

This book (copyright 1999: DaCapo Press, Cambridge, MA) was written by Dr Peter R. Breggin and Dr. David Cohen. Breggin is a psychiatrist in full time practice since 1968. He is a well known critic of biological psychiatry, including medication and shock therapy. He is the founder and director of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology and has taught at Harvard Medical School and John Hopkins University. Cohen is Professor of social work at Florida International University. As an independent drug scholar he has served as a consultant and testified before state legislatures and in court proceedings on the adverse effects of psychotropic drugs. He is Senior Editor of Ethical Human Sciences and Associate Editor of Journal of Mind and Behavior.

It is not uncommon today to turn on your television and see ad after ad by drug companies promoting a new, safer drug for the treatment of anxiety and depression. These ads claim that all depression is caused by a "chemical imbalance". Need more energy? Take a drug. Not feeling focused? Take a drug. Stressed, depressed, and not sleeping? Take a drug. Children not behaving or doing well in school? Give them a drug. The authors of this book spend a great deal of time pointing out that many people today are not dealing with the problems that cause these issues. They are simply drugging the effects.

The book begins by making the bold statement, "Biochemical imbalances are the only diseases spread by word of mouth' (p.6). They challenge the reader to ask himself if their problems are caused by a brain dysfunction or "by conflicts in the home, at work, or in society, painful life experiences, confused values, a lack of direction, or other aspects of human life" (p6). After agreeing that drugs do affect mental processes they then ask the question, "Should they be prescribed as treatments?" (p13).

The entire book is aimed at making us aware of the inherent dangers in taking psychotropic drugs - what it does to our thinking processes, what it does to us physically and what dangerous, and even life threatening, side effects these drugs have. The authors seek to clarify media promoted myths and to offer an alternative to taking drugs: talk therapy. They also give advice on how to withdraw from psychiatric drugs. They are especially critical of children being given any type of psychiatric drug - especially Ritalin.

Chapter 1 gives case studies of people who were prescribed psychiatric drugs and found it very easy to become dependent on them but very hard to stop. Many of them had horrific side effects, including increased depression and a general lack of vitality and the ability to think clearly. Chapter 2 discusses from a medical and academic perspective the myth of chemical imbalances. This entire philosophy is based on conjecture and, since it is illegal to perform the necessary tests, has never been proven to be true in human brains. All researchers know is that drugs alter brain function. The rest is hypothesis.

Chapters 3 and 4 give drug by drug descriptions of the side effects of psychiatric drugs. Many people are given new drugs to help with the sleeplessness or mood crashing caused by the drugs they are prescribed. Dosages are routinely increased to cure problems that are caused by introducing the drug or withdrawing from it.

Chapter 5 begins laying a foundation for the cessation of drug use by giving alternative approaches for finding emotional healing. Chapter 6 explains why doctors do not know about the harmful side effects of the drugs they prescribe and why they are often reluctant to tell patients that there may be serious side effects.

Chapters 7, 8 and 9 tell the reader how to withdraw from psychiatric drugs, and what to expect. The public is unaware that many of these drugs create serious dependency and have horrific withdrawal effects. Chapter 10 is devoted entirely to helping children withdraw from psychiatric drugs.

Chapters 11 and 12 are directed to therapists. Many therapists are afraid to speak out against psychiatric drugs for fear of being blacklisted with their circle of associations. They are also afraid of lawsuits if something happens to a patient who is off their medication. In reality, most lawsuits stem from psychiatrists who have damaged their patients with drugs (p197). Chapter 13 gives 12 principles for helping yourself to deal with problems apart from taking drugs.

In conclusion, this book is an alarming, disturbing and often scary description of what is really happening to many people today. Convinced by drug companies who are spending millions of dollars to promote their products, overworked doctors are prescribing record numbers of medications to people. While wanting to help them, they may be doing them greater harm. To read this book is to become aware of the horrendous side effects and the possible risk of lifelong disability.

One thing I appreciated that was continually repeated by the authors: the decision to stop taking psychiatric drugs should not be taken lightly. Depending on how long a person has been on certain medications, the process can be a long (up to a year) and painful process. Also, this book was not meant to be read in parts. To gain the maximum benefit and the full impact of this book it must be read in its entirety.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is or who knows someone who is on psychiatric medications, especially children. Even if you do not agree with the authors' premises and conclusions, you need to know everything you can about what you are taking.

The Deception of Joshua 9

Joshua 9 is an interesting passage. You have the response of the kings in verses 1-2. Then you have the response of the Gibeonites in verses 3-13. Verse 14 is the key verse, the failure of the leadership followed by the response of the leadership in verse 15. Verses 16-23 give the response of the Israelite people, the response of the Gibeonite people to Joshua's question in verses 24-25 and then the response of Joshua in verses 26-27.

This passage brings a number of thoughts to mind. First, the response of the Gibeonites to willingly become servants rather than die reminds me of the response of the psalmist - "better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord..."

Second, in this passage we see a very mystical aspect of God's grace. Just as Rahab was saved, so the Gibeonites experience the grace of God. But it is the result of deception and the failure of the leadership to inquire of God - something that takes us back to Ai and their failure to seek God before they went to battle.

Jesus reminds us to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. He also talked about the shrewd manager and how the people of the world are shrewd.

God also talks about the lust of the flesh and how we are to walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 4:18 talks about the unseen versus the seen.

Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan, although 1 Timothy 2 says that it was Eve who was deceived - Adam willingly chose to disobey. Esau was deceived by Jacob, who was then deceived by Laban.

Paul tells us to be aware of Satan's schemes and someday the antichrist will come and deceive the people, something Jesus says could almost happen to the elect in Matthew.

The bottom line: find out this Sunday at 10am. "Don't Be Fooled"!