#3 Myth about Mental Health Coaching – Mental Health Coaching #7 - Purity 1349

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning! Today's photo of a pair of birds in the setting sun over an idyllic ocean beach scene comes to us from an unknown source in the far reaches of my phone's photo archives, as I captured and saved this scene from someone or somewhere on May 10, 2015. Well, it's Saturday, and as I often look back into the past to process memories and free myself of any burdens they may have caused me to carry into the future, I've been on a continual campaign to free my phone's memory banks of photos I saved over the years. In some instances, I know I took them. This could be a vacation photo from Cape Cod, but I don't think so. The dates are all wrong, but I could have conceivably saved it from another source that was mine on that day, but I doubt it. And iPhone doesn't— wasn't saving the source information back in 2015 like it does now, so this could be from a Facebook friend sharing or really anywhere else on the interweb circa 19— well, 2015. In 2015, we didn't think in terms of giving photo credit. Those days were wild, lawless, and free, but we have learned better since then, so this If this photo is yours, let us know and we'll update the blog after the fact. 2015 was the year I went into recovery for alcohol in March. By May 10th, I had already had my first, and as it turns out, only ever relapse. While I may have had my doubts about whether or not the Celebrate Freedom Christian Recovery program could work for me and my unique situation, The Lord was faithful to help me, and I thankfully was faithful enough to trust him and have followed him into sobriety and increasing freedom, peace, joy, and victory ever since. So this Celebrate Freedom program and the Celebrate Recovery material that formed most of its foundation must have been amazing and undoubtedly has led to leading hundreds of thousands or thousands of people to experience their freedom too. While I can't make those claims about our small local program— Celebrate Freedom has only been around since 2015 with a break from 2021 to 2023 and has never been able to boast about high attendance or numerous long-term success stories— one source states that Celebrate Recovery has had more than 5 million people go through their program in 30 years. So obviously Christian Celebrate Recovery-based recovery program has to be the only way to do recovery. I'm being facetious, of course, because there are a host of different options for substance abuse recovery treatments and methodologies that have been successful. To think that there is a one-size-fits-all solution to human problems doesn't take into consideration the myriad of diverse variables that may be contributing causes and ignores the possibility of alternate treatments and solutions. However, that claim is exactly what the third myth about mental health coaching makes. This brings us to our current, our series on mental health coaching, where we are currently sharing from Matthew Boone's 2023 blog post section on the common misconceptions about this relatively new mental health provider option. Boone writes that the third myth about mental health coaching is: Myth #3: Mental health coaches use a one-size-fits-all approach. Boone writes: Another misconception is that coaches rely on generic, one-size-fits-all techniques with clients. In reality, emotional health coaches rely on well-established codes of ethics plus evidence-based techniques which, while teral— while tailoring their approaches to best serve each client's unique needs and circumstances. Boone's rebuke of this third myth is short because it is fairly obvious that treatments for human problems have to be tailored to the individual needs and circumstances of each case. As a Christian life coach, I may be unable to defend myself against the accusation that my one-size-fits-all approach requires my clients to have faith in Jesus, because as far as I and the Word of God are concerned, for the quote-unquote optimal results of eternal life and peace that goes beyond all, beyond all understanding, it does. However, I could offer treatments and techniques for managing mental health symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or high stress that could be based on general principles of truth or God's common grace. That wouldn't require faith in Jesus but could be helpful. But I would prefer to provide my clients with a method that offers the best possibility for success, one fueled by faith in Jesus Christ and that has access to all the promises and power of God for a new abundant life. But regardless of whether I offer my clients a gospel-based or generic plan to reach their personal, professional, or mental health treatment goals, No two plans would be one-size-fits-all. People are different from one another, and I would develop a plan that would help them accomplish what they want to accomplish and would respect their wishes and preferences for the type of strategies and methods we would use. With my education and experience, I could suggest spiritual formation, discipleship methods, healing prayer ministry, spiritual warfare, uh, uh, focused training course and prayerful repentance process, or general cognitive behavioral, uh, behavioral techniques to assist my clients to overcome the obstacles that prevent them from flourishing and accomplishing their goals. So there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and regardless of whether you enlist the help of a Christian mental health coach or not, mental health coaches will provide care and treatment that will be unique. To you. We move along to today's Bible verse. Uh, today's Bible verses come from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on death and eternal life. And today's section of scripture is a long one. It's 1 Corinthians 15:35-57. And the word of God says, but someone will ask, how are the dead raised? What? With what kind of body do they come? You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for stars differ from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural. Then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of man, of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised is imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the imperishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Today's verses fall under the 28th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on death and eternal life. And that 28th point is: Paul describes the beauty and the glory of our imperishable, incorruptible resurrection bodies and declares that, that death will be swallowed up in victory. Today's verses are a great discourse for the hope we have as Christians in eternity. Death, where is your sting? Nowhere, because God gives us the victory over death in Christ. And like Jesus, we will one day experience the wonder of a glorified resurrected body. Forget about those false images of the afterlife of angels on clouds with harps That's a trope of ignorance of God's word. The biblical worldview may give us the awe of the throne room of heaven, but it also informs us that Jesus is coming back, and when he does, the saints in heaven will go marching on in with new bodies to live with him. So rejoice! The word tells us we will live forever, and one day we'll have a body that will know no pain, sorrow, tears, or death. We need not fear death because in Christ we have the victory, and its sting is gone. As always, we invite all to go to mt4christ.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Allpert.. And today's, um, today's passage, um, focuses on Acts 20. And, um, from Acts 20, he shares a host of different verses, um, today. And so we're going to read through those. Let's see. And, uh, yeah, um, I'm not sure if there's much commentary. It looks like it's all verses, so we're going to just read what we see. Um, Stephen Alford shares Acts 20:26, I am innocent of the blood of all men. And then he write, and then from verses 18 and 19, I always lived among you serving the Lord with all humility. I kept back nothing that was helpful. Verse 20, I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Verse 27, I testify to you that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 26. I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. Verse 31: I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. Verses 33-34. And then Alford writes, what this was Paul's testimony before the brethren at Ephesus. He was to see their faces no more, but he left innocent of the blood of all men. What a standard. And he completes by praying, O Lord, give me the grace to aspire to this standard. Amen. Amen. And, uh, Alford's just pointing out, be like Paul, you know, that we live, you know, so we're, we're, we're supposed to be innocent of the blood of all men. You know, by sharing the gospel, um, we're not, we're not guilty. Um, you know, we're giving them hope, and obviously we don't kill anyone. Um, so that's it. We offer them life through the gospel. Um, serving the Lord with all humility, that's what we should do. We keep nothing back that was helpful. We help everything with everything we have. Um, we don't shun in declaring the gospel. Verse 27. Um, the innocence of all blood was touched on twice there. I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So yeah, and continually bringing the gospel and being helpful, uh, is a great testimony and standard that Paul had. And you know, we should aspire to have that too. So that's where Alfred was coming from, sharing mostly from Acts 20. And he prayed, you know, that he would do that. So that's what we should do as disciples, is be innocent of all the blood of all men by telling everyone about the gospel. And as today's passage on mental health coaching pointed out, you know, there's no cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all solution to human problems except for faith in Jesus Christ. Now you can come to Jesus in many different ways. Obviously. So even coming— even the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't one-size-fits-all because there's a host of different ways that people have testified to coming to faith in Jesus. So even that— but there is one Savior, one Lord. So if you want to be one-size-fits-all and make that accusation against us, we're guilty as charged. We're gonna tell you it's Jesus. Now you can seek God and find him in a host of different ways, but But at the end of the day, it's got to be Jesus. However, I can help you and, you know, give you a decent outlook on life and overcome challenges in your life, and you can refuse the gospel, but I wouldn't recommend it, you know. So I've learned many techniques on building joy and capacity and focusing on gratitude and, and self-awareness and acceptance and all kinds of different techniques for increase your peace, but the real power comes from your faith in Jesus Christ and the hope of heaven and, you know, knowing who you are in Christ. Those go far above and beyond any positive affirmations or cognitive behavioral therapy techniques that we could suggest. So that's why we bring it. That's why I'm unapologetically a Christian life coach because I'm going to point you to Jesus and show you the spiritual disciplines and practices that will, will resolve your conflicts and spiritual problems and give you your freedom in Christ. When you have that, you really can accomplish really anything. There's All things are possible with God, as Jesus told us, and you have to have them to experience that. So that's what we suggest. Um, today is Saturday. I'm not sure what the day holds, but, uh, it'll be good because I'll be giving thanks. I'll be in the presence of my wife, and we'll be, you know, taking some rest today. The Lord put on my heart to rest because I've been really busy with the development of the website, the business, and and the blog and finishing my training with the Deeper Walk International School of Prayer Ministry. I'm still waiting for my certification notification. We'll see if and when that comes. But now it's the time of rest. Next week we begin a men's study, Wild at Heart, at our local church, so that'll be good. And I don't know. We have Tuesday off. Wednesday is Celebrate Freedom at Starpoint Church, and then I'm going away for the weekend. And whether or not I'll continue to vlog while I'm roughing it at Band of Brothers camp in Pennsylvania is yet to be seen. I'm not sure what the technological options are. Um, there are no details on the website of what we'll be doing, so I have no idea what the amenities are like. And whether or not I'll be able to continue my 24/7 quest to share encouragement and good news. I'll be doing it while I'm there one way or the other, but whether or not I can, you know, broadcast it will be another matter to discover come Thursday— or, well, come Friday morning. We'll get a message out Thursday before we hit the road, but exciting times, and I'm looking forward to it. Anyway, um, that's all I got to say for today. I encourage you to follow the Lord and lean on his understanding to help you. Um, so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for this day off from work. We thank you for all you provide for us and the freedom that you've given us. Lord, we pray for anyone who might be listening, that they would follow you as well, and that you would come alongside them and bless them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith. Lord, we, um, desperately need your help to represent your kingdom, and we're asking for it today, even, even on a day off. So show us the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go. We thank you, we praise you, we love you, Lord. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.