To One and All,

How do you feel about Evangelistic Associations in general, particularly those who employ psychological profiling as a method of selection and control of likely candidates for evangelists?

-- Anonymous, November 25, 2001

Answers

Philip, I have found that they are both good and can be bad at the same time. In today's world it is hard to start a church without finacial backing- it can be done - but with an Association it is easier. But, the negative- you have an accociation breathing down your neck wanting instant results. Sometime the association is wrong. In FL the SCEA was wrong to start the Odessa project in the manner that they did- they started first with an expensive property before they had a congregation. Now I think they have a congregation but it has taken years.

-- Anonymous, November 26, 2001

I had a brush with the Northern California Evangelistic Association that is heavily involved in psychological profiling to screen their potential candidates. I was in the middle of discussion a possible Hispanic church-plant in the Salinas area where over 75% of the population is Spanish-speaking only and we do not have a church there. THAT IS SAAAAAD! Needless to say, I had decline from entering in a partnership with them.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001

Philip,

Why is it wrong for them to profile you? They want to make sure they are good stewards of God's money. Why should they send someone into the field that is not mentally able to handle the duties of a church planter?

I happen to be very familiar with the NCEA and no for a fact that this is only one of many criteria they require. I've got a feeling you didn't make the cut and so now you're bellyaching.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001

Ouch!!! You really know how to hurt someone’s fillings Barry – rather odd for someone who is all loving, all caring, Maha-Berry the PK lover.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001

For all concerned, this is why I did not go along with the NCEA:

Missions & Psychoheresy

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Mental health professionals1 wield a great deal of power and authority in numerous sectors of society, including business, industry, schools and colleges, and lamentably also in churches, Bible colleges, seminaries, and Christian schools. Psychoexperts have infiltrated and occupied many areas of life. Their power is tremendous even though what they do lacks scientific support.

Numerous books and articles have been written about the chasm between psychological claims and research revelations, between the psychological promises and the produced results. We have written extensively over the years warning about the unbiblical and unscientifically supported psychologizing of the faith. Some years ago we coined the term "psychoheresy" and titled one of our books with that name. In it we described "psychoheresy" as the integration of secular psychological counseling theories and therapies with the Bible. Psychoheresy is also the intrusion of such theories into the preaching and practice of Christianity, especially when they contradict or compromise biblical Christianity in terms of the nature of man, how he is to live, and how he changes. The subtitle of our book PsychoHeresy is The Psychological Seduction of Christianity, which is a seduction that we documented as having already happened and that continues to deceive many professing Christians. Our book The End of "Christian Psychology" provides further research and reasons why Christians need to throw off the shackles of psychoheresy.

In this present book we focus attention on the use of mental health professionals and psychological tests for evaluating missionary candidates and the use of mental health professionals for providing treatment for missionaries on the field who are suffering from problems of living. The psychology and psychological tests used to evaluate missionary candidates not only contradict and compromise biblical Christianity, but also do not meet the standards of science in theory or in practice. Furthermore, the care of missionaries provided by mental health professionals denigrates the doctrines of Scripture and bypasses the help that God has already given in His Word.

From all the evidence, it is surely an understatement to say that the "faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3) has been thoroughly psychologized and undermined. The evidence is found in numerous places from seminaries to Bible colleges and from churches to Christian schools. A plethora of mental health professionals and their surrogates are found therapizing and falsely theologizing the saints for a variety of problems from real to imaginary. For decades now, those who identify themselves as "Christian psychologists" have been peddling their secular wares behind closed counseling doors; within the walls of seminaries, schools, Bible colleges and churches; throughout Christian media; and in a multitude of books. Is it any wonder that they have intruded into the very heart of missions? They are the professional experts called upon to evaluate missionary candidates, above and beyond the call of God, through their gnostic psychological knowledge and psychological tests. They are the professional experts called upon to provide mental health treatment to missionaries who experience problems of living.

While we cannot say how much psychology is being spread throughout the world through missions, we do know that it has influenced missionary candidates who have been trained in seminaries and Bible colleges. They have already had a good deal of psychology mixed into their understanding of Scripture and its application in people’s lives through pastoral ministry classes, as well as through direct psychology classes. Unless they are in the small minority, they have accepted this blending of psychology with Scripture and hold "Christian psychologists" in high esteem. Therefore, a psychological evaluation and psychological test will generally be accepted as a necessary hurdle. Moreover, the assurance of psychological help in the future, should problems arise, is no doubt seen in the same way as medical health care coverage, necessary when needed.

This book is primarily about the prolific practice of using mental health professionals and psychological tests to evaluate missionary candidates and to provide psychological care for missionaries. However, this focus of concern is appropriate wherever the psychoexperts vend their wares and services.

In this volume we expose the mental health professionals’ false façade of expertise for screening missionary candidates and caring for missionaries, and we intend to explode the myths that surround the psychological testing used on these hapless men and women. We will first report on the responses of a number of Christian mission agencies2 to a survey having to do with approving missionary candidates and the care of missionaries. These are merely examples of the similar practices of numerous other mission agencies and are only meant to demonstrate this dark side of missionary selection and care. Our focus is missionary selection and care, but many of the same tests and practices are used in the training and selection of pastoral candidates and others interested in Christian service.

To conduct this survey we decided to ask only a few questions, and, to simplify the interview, these questions could be answered with "yes" or "no." Our goal was to find out about the involvement of mental health professionals and psychological tests in the screening of missionary candidates and the use of mental health professionals in assisting missionaries experiencing problems of living.

After considering a variety of questions, we decided on the following three:

1. Do you use mental health professionals to screen or evaluate missionary candidates?

2. Do you use psychological tests to screen or evaluate missionary candidates?

3. Do you use or favor the use of mental health professionals to assist missionaries if they are experiencing problems of living?

While we are examining only a few ways in which psychoheresy has invaded missions, these are clear and objective facts. They reveal the obvious use of psychology in both evaluating missionary candidates and providing treatment for missionaries experiencing problems of living. In giving psychology such a place in selecting missionary candidates and in providing treatment of missionaries, mission agencies clearly demonstrate their trust in psychologists and psychological devices and their veneration of the psychological wisdom of men, which is the very wisdom of men that God warns us about.

(Excerpted from Chapter One.)

.Mental health professionals include such persons as psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, clinical psychologists, marriage and family counselors, and some social workers. We reluctantly use the words "mental health" and "mental illness," because they tend to confuse the visible and invisible, the body and the soul, and the tangible and the intangible. These terms therefore lead to illogical conclusions and applications. Please regard the terms as "in quotes" throughout. 2. The following definition of "Christian mission agencies" is used in World Vision’s Mission Handbook 1998-2000, which we follow throughout this book: "Please note that the term ‘agency’ is used throughout the Handbook in the broad sense, referring to denominational boards and other kinds of organizations involved in overseas mission."

(PAL V8N3 * May-June 2000)

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PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries 4137 Primavera Road Santa Barbara, CA 93110 www.psychoheresy-aware.org

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001

Philip,

I'm not a PK lover. I've never been to PK in my life. I just think it's a good idea to get your source material first hand before blasting somebody or some group.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001

Wow! First you hit and run, than you try to change the subject of this string! You’re to fast for me Barry. You ought to be playing for the Yankees – they could really use a hard hitter like you right now.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001

Philip,

So is your information about PK from firsthand experience or other sources? Is it fair for you but not for the cult awareness groups?

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2001

Barry,

I have not “quoted secondary sources” as you claim. I have only posted articles that have been written by those in the know. The source has been included in each one of those articles. I have not made any additional comments on those same articles. If I had commented on them than your rebuke would be in order; since I have provided no additional comment, your reaction is quite revealing of where you stand. In any case, please take up this argument with the authors of those articles, not with me. If you want to take the time to do research, go right ahead. You may just end up agreeing with the authors of these articles – but then again, maybe not, sin you are the all-knowing, all-seeing, maha-Barry who doesn’t need to investigate any further than what appears on the surface.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2001