Pastor, passionate about soul care and Glorifying God through shepherding His people, applying the Word to suffering, and training others to counsel biblically

Arizona, USA
Joined May 2022
Interesting watching the "trauma-informed" retreat from their previous dogmatic positions. The move from "The Body Keeps The Score" to "The Body Keeps the Score sort of" While I commend the retreat from lies, the inconsistency requires further reformation. Take for example the attached article. This article wants to say two things at once: 1. VDK was directionally helpful with his framework. 2. But VDK's framework was materially false at key points. In point 1: Claes says VDK helped people see that trauma affects the body. (Sadly, we know that is not what VDK was claiming to do, nor what people believe now about trauma). In point 2: She rightly points out the Frontiers article that the body does not store trauma. But then moves to include "body work" as a help to counseling trauma. These blaring errors in addition to the continued category mistakes show that much work is still to be done in undoing VDK's errors.
1
3
18
4,188
I know I’ve heard something eerily similar. Labels as weapons
1
4
140
Matthew Statler retweeted
Would Jesus embraced the polyvagal theory?
2
2
5
296
This may come as a shock to many: “Dr. Charles Hodges @runningdoc , a physician and biblical counselor, warns, "Not every study will have a good design or be well conducted, and the researcher's biases can sometimes influence the interpretation of data."”
1
1
21
514
Would Jesus embraced the polyvagal theory?
2
2
5
296
Polyvagal theory is Stephen Porges’s proposed explanation of how the autonomic nervous system shapes responses to safety, danger, and social connection. It is influential in trauma-informed therapy, but its specific neurological and evolutionary claims remain scientifically contested—it should not be presented as settled neuroscience. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/article…
2
68
“Pastors cannot build God’s kingdom, then, without His tools. God forbade the Israelites from lifting a tool on His altar so they would not pollute it with human workmanship (Ex. 20:25). As soon as men bring their man-made ideas into ministry, they have polluted the work of God. Only God can build His kingdom. If man builds it, then the kingdom is man’s and not God’s. Not only are pastors helpless without the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit’s strength is necessary for a pastor to persevere amid the difficulties of ministry. In particular, a pastor needs the Spirit’s indwelling, influence, and empowerment.” Thriving in Lifelong Ministry: Cultivating Spiritual and Pastoral Vitality for the Long Haul by Joel R. Beeke
1
7
321
Stay Baptist Friends! “6. I love Baptist grit. We’ve often been despised and hated. Most of our first leaders were self-educated and had to scrabble livings as farmers, artisans, or booksellers because their churches (many pastored more than one) couldn’t pay them a salary. They didn’t have access to higher education or centers of cultural power. Thankfully, that’s since changed, but Baptist grit hasn’t disappeared. It can still be seen in local churches and frontier mission settings all over the earth. Grit persists among the Baptists. If you don’t believe me, sign up for the next Pillar Network church-planting conference.”
1
5
385
We are at the phase of discourse in the biblical counseling conversation where everyone I don't like is a Fundy.
🤖 Made with AI
5
3
1
27
923
Matthew Statler retweeted
I had the joy of sitting down with Ernie Baker and @shannonkaymccoy to chat about my new book, “Biblical Counseling and Foundations.” @ShepherdPress We discuss Cornelius Van Til, presuppositions, epistemology, the antithesis, common grace, and current issues in the biblical counseling movement. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
2
3
11
530
What I'm reading between classes
1
9
434
Samson: You’re not trying to find my weakness so that you can betray me are you? Delilah:
5
12
643
Matthew Statler retweeted
“I bet you that Browning hat I can do it in 25.” THE TERMINAL LIST Season 2 based on TRUE BELIEVER drops all episodes on October 21. First 2 episodes hit the big screen in over 70 @RegalMovies theaters across the country for one night only on October 20. officialjackcarr.com/the-ter… Get ready! 🇺🇸
12
69
1
851
19,967
Grateful for all of our new members! Get ready to enjoy teaching from… - Dr. Daniel Berger (@drbergerdr) on understanding secular psychology from a biblical worldview - Dr. Sean Perron (@seanperron) on Jesus’ counseling method - Dr. Stephen Yuille (@JStephenYuille) on how the Puritans can help us counsel more effectively - Matthew Statler (@StatlerMatthew) on post traumatic stress and suffering - Nick Sevier (@sevier_nick) on theology and method in our counseling collaborations If you’re certified by @ACBC or pursuing certification and would like to join us, we now offer a special rate for ACBC members. Check that out here: biblicalcounselorssociety.co…
1
1
5
482
No psychological system can truly solve man’s restless problem: “Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not find it out; and though the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot find it out.” (Ecclesiastes 8:17b, LSB) “The more self-conscious men become with respect to the real meaning of their own position, the more clearly do they realize that their systems are escape-mechanisms by which sinners seek to hide the truth from themselves.” -Van Till, Systematic Theology pg 182
1
17
401
"What we are witnessing in the field of biblical counseling today is not a true Reformation but, as Van Til perhaps would have seen it, a counter-reformation. It is presented as if it were the consistent outworking of Reformed theology, but in reality it is of a different order. This modern reformation risks drifting toward epistemological instincts more reminiscent of Trent or Kant than of a consistently Calvinian epistemology. It is presented as a reformation, a move “forward,” yet it returns toward an epistemology of autonomous human reason." — @DrKeithAEvans
4
15
476
To be clear, Van Til’s doctrine of common grace allows that unbelievers may discover much that is true and useful. But this is not the same as granting that unbelieving disciplines may supply the church with governing categories or methods for ministerial care—frameworks and methods which are never philosophically neutral. — @DrKeithAEvans
4
20
541