Christian human service professionals

[Guest least of these]

hello, i'm a first timer with this chat room. i'm a mental health professional who is a born again Christian striving to be obedient to the Lord. I find it hard at times, to decern when human wisdom is in conflict with Godly wisdom and Biblical principles. i work for a secular non-profit agency, so i'm constantly bombarded with secular points of view. i need to mix the two in order to do a good job at work and walk with Godly wisdom. This is my prayer. Is there anyone out there that is a social worker, human services worker, or mental health professional that might have some advise or experiences to share?

[fisherguy]

Yup, like you I'm a health care professional and have worked in mental health for quite a few years. Prinicipally with mentally disordered offenders.

I find the question isn't so much - How can I do my job and be a christian - but more - how can I do this...and not be!

I always found the difficulty was in seperating "what people do" (a result of complex (and occasionally disordered) thought process + action + situation) from "what people are" glimpses of the very heart of god.

Ours can be a very hard calling and - I think (because the lord can use us in a big way) we get bombarded with heavy duty attack from the enemy. (Not saying others don't...just....well..YOU will know what i mean.

Anyway I'm signing off to go sort out the sick of Ayrshire,,,,, see ya later.

FiG

[Guest least of these]

Yup, like you I'm a health care professional and have worked in mental health for quite a few years. Prinicipally with mentally disordered offenders.

I always found the difficulty was in seperating "what people do" (a result of complex (and occasionally disordered) thought process + action + situation) from "what people are" glimpses of the very heart of god.

Ours can be a very hard calling and - I think (because the lord can use us in a big way) we get bombarded with heavy duty attack from the enemy. (Not saying others don't...just....well..YOU will know what i mean.

Anyway I'm signing off to go sort out the sick of Ayrshire,,,,, see ya later.

FiG

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for responding, i was beginning to feel like Elijah! ('Lord, i'm the only one out here who doesn't bend a knee to Baal' paraphraze, mine)

You make a good point in "how can i do this and not be a Christian." There is so much confusion (not from God!) in this field, that we need to be faithful in believing His word. James 1: 5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men (and women) liberally . . . and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, . . . a double minded man is unstable in all his ways." i thank the Lord that He always has the answers, even when no one else does. keep lookin up! LOT

[Quizzy]

Hi Least

I am not a mental health professional yet, but am working towards it. I go to school at a Bible College for counselling, and they have some good courses such as Biblical Foundations of Counselling. Would it help you to seek a course such as this, it may help you to understand the differences, and may also assist you in dealing with secular issues?

Just a thought,

Quizzy

[Guest cochteres]

hello, i'm a first timer with this chat room. i'm a mental health professional who is a born again Christian striving to be obedient to the Lord.  I find it hard at times, to decern when human wisdom is in conflict with Godly wisdom and Biblical principles. i work for a secular non-profit agency, so i'm constantly bombarded with secular points of view.  i need to mix the two in order to do a good job at work and walk with Godly wisdom.  This is my prayer. Is there anyone out there that is a social worker, human services worker, or mental health professional that might have some advise or experiences to share?   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hi this is my first time using any chat room. I've been a human services worker & went to college for Psychology. I'm now disabeled & stay home. I can relate to what's going on with you. I think that if anything you do conflicts with Gods message of love or respect for you or another, then that isn't ok. You know about those bracelets called: "WWJD?" "What Would Jesus Do?" If something is bringing you away from God then you either have to pray for strength or become removed from that thing which is possibly causing you to stumble.

I've been in situations like this...I've worked in High Schools & have tried to shine the Lord's light for the unsaved, and mostly all I felt I could really do was pray for the people God put in my path, and also love them.....by listening.....being there as much as possible, but...I think that in a world where people are coming out of the closet, like Ellen Degeneres & such, I feel that we, as Bible believing christians should have the right to feel as if we can say what we think is the right way to go, or the right thing to do. I think that if you stand up for what you think is right coupled with respect for others, people will see that & your voice will be heard & ..........isn't that the point? For us to put what we can of Christ "out there", so we don't hide our light under that bushel?

Stand strong, my brother...your heart is totally in the right place. I'll talk to the Almighty for you....hope it helped!

[Green Darner]

My motto always is:

The more time you spend in the Word, the more you know what's NOT in the Word.

Whenever I'm faced with confusion - I spend ALOT more time in the Word and then things become much clearer. Remember God is not the author of confusion.

When you know "the real deal" thouroughly, you can spot "a fake" instantly.

For example: My brother is in the banking industry and he once explained to me how they train personnel to spot counterfeit money. The trick was not figuring out all the ways people could counterfeit but rather they spent ALOT of time observing what real money looks like - all of it's details. He said that after spending all that time looking at real money he could easily spot a fake no matter the method used to produce it or how "real" it looked.

I asked him if he thought it would be easier and less time consuming to just have a list available of what kinds of things to look for on counterfeits. He said that although he spent a great deal of time learning about the real money it actually saved time (and was easier) in the long run because he didn't have to keep a running checklist in his head (or on paper) everytime he was handed money. He could just look at it and "know" whether it was real or fake. Besides, he said, people are always looking for new ways to counterfeit and it would be tedious to try to keep up with them all.

So I guess I wrote all this to say that the more you know God's Word, the easier it is to spot man's word.