CAN CHRISTIANS BE BIPOLAR?

FOOTNOTE:

First I am not a writer, as you can tell, and I just put down thoughts that most of the time seem ramdom in nature. Sorry about that.

• It seems believers are being identified more by psychiatric labels than by their fruit. Labels like ADHD, bipolar, panic attacks, OCD and integration sensory disorder are becoming more normal than the list from Galatians 5:22-23 to describe the Church.
• Since more believers are being diagnosed with these and other kinds of psychiatric labels pastors, elders and lay counselors are finding it difficult to offer counsel that seems relevant. Sufferers bear the emotional, physical, mental, and relational burden of the diagnosis, while pastors are hard pressed to understand and accept the premise of the diagnosis. The believer who is looking for comfort and guidance from their leaders typically struggle with the counsel they receive because a gap of misunderstanding separates them.

BIPOLOAR DISORDER OR MANIC DEPRESSION

• Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, manic depressive disorder or bipolar affective disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood clinically referred to as mania or, if milder, hypomania. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes or symptoms, or mixed episodes in which features of both mania and depression are present at the same time. These episodes are usually separated by periods of "normal" mood, but in some individuals, depression and mania may rapidly alternate, known as rapid cycling. Extreme manic episodes can sometimes lead to psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. The disorder has been subdivided into bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymia, and other types, based on the nature and severity of mood episodes experienced; the range is often described as the bipolar spectrum.
  
  You click on the blue for the definitions of these terms.
  
  Here is my point, it is not that Christians don't get themselves in these conditions. They do. But should they have gotten themselves in theses conditions?
  
  DIAGNOSIS
  
  
• Diagnosis is based on the self-reported experiences of an individual as well as abnormalities in behavior reported by family members, friends or co-workers, followed by secondary signs observed by a psychiatrist, nurse, social worker, clinical psychologist or other clinician in a clinical assessment. There are lists of criteria for someone to be so diagnosed. These depend on both the presence and duration of certain signs and symptoms. Assessment is usually done on an outpatient basis; admission to an inpatient facility is considered if there is a risk to oneself or others. The most widely used criteria for diagnosing bipolar disorder are from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the current version being DSM-IV-TR, and the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, currently the ICD-10. The latter criteria are typically used in Europe and other regions while the DSM criteria are used in the USA and other regions, as well as prevailing in research studies.

So there you have it. Can we say that those who have bioplar disorder have a form of mental illness? What is mental illness? Good question.

What percentage of Christian pastors suffer from some type of mental illness?

• I am sure many pastors of all churches suffer from some kind of mental illness? I have worked I am sure with a few of them.

So who makes the disagnoses of our conditions?

• We go to the doctor, what kind of disagnoses is he going to give us? We go to a friend what kind of dosagnoes will they give? We go to a professional counseler what is their disagnoses? What if we were to go to a pastor/teacher, what would be the disagoses? What if we went to all these people? How many different disagnoses would we have and how to solve them?
  
  How would a medical doctor view a conditon verses a pastor/teacher?

Should Christians Stay In A State of Depression

WHAT IS DEPRESSION

Feeling down from time to time is a normal part of life. But when emptiness and despair take hold and won't go away, it may be depression. More than just the temporary "blues," the lows of depression make it tough to function and enjoy life like you once did. Hobbies and friends don’t interest you like they used to; you’re exhausted all the time; and just getting through the day can be overwhelming. When you’re depressed, things may feel hopeless, but with help and support you can get better. But first, you need to understand depression. Learning about depression — including its signs, symptoms, causes, and treatment — is the first step to overcoming the problem.

So tell me, who does not have these symptoms at times. Are we already into "depression" or are we going into depression? I can say, "I Am Depressed." So does that makes it okay to accept it?


Common signs and symptoms of depression

* Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. A bleak outlook—nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation.
* Loss of interest in daily activities. No interest in or ability to enjoy former hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex.
* Appetite or weight changes. Significant weight loss or weight gain—a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month.
* Sleep changes. Either insomnia, especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping (also known as hypersomnia).
* Psychomotor agitation or retardation. Either feeling “keyed up” and restless or sluggish and physically slowed down.
* Loss of energy. Feeling fatigued and physically drained. Even small tasks are exhausting or take longer.
* Self-loathing. Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. Harsh criticism of perceived faults and mistakes.
* Concentration problems. Trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things.



So look that this list..... To have the attitudes of some of these is sinful, wrongful thinking. And you are saying, "I can't help it?" I might feel restless or sluggish or feel fatigue and physically drained or not able to focus or not feeling strong and this attitude might get me to feel hopeless.

I don't say, "I am depressed!" I don't say I am worthless. Well I might. But I don't believe it. I don't take my thoughts and make them law of my life. Am I as a Christian believer worthless? No. Might I feel worthless in the sight of God? Yes. AM I? No.

I am not going to act upon feelings to the point of believing I am worthless. Which if I do, can lead me to false reading of my self.

Had I read into some of the events that have taken place in my ministry and life, I would be really depressed, heart broken, sad, sluggish, and worthless. And I would have just quit and got into the term used by the medical field, as manic depressive. What is that anyway? If that had happen I would not be the Pastor/Teacher of Rivers of Joy Baptist Church.

Well, you say, I don't know how all this has happen? I now find myself with all these symptoms. This could be true I am sure. So that is why it is important to keep a daily tap on your life.

Remember you are more than the sum total of all your negative experiences.

Time To Relax After Sunday's Services

After a day on Sunday. Relaxing. We need April to help us look less relax with here photo program

SHOULD CHRISTIAS BELIEVERS GET CLINICAL DEPRESSION

SHOULD CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS GET CLINICAL DEPRESSION

Christians Struggle With Life.

How Should Christians Deal with Life’s Events?

How to respond to emotions of Fear, Worry and Anxiety

Sunday Evening I spoke from Philippians 1 again (as a matter of fact I have taught in this book now since I have pastored Rivers of Joy Baptist Church.) THE INTEGRITY OF WEARING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST PERSONALLY An exhortation to steadfastness, unity, fearlessness.

• 27 Only let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 30 Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me. Phil 1:27-30.

Now that does not sound like we as Christians should get into the condition that is called clinical depression. IF YOU GO TWO WEEKS WITHOUT PRAYER, BIBLE STUDY, AND BIBLICAL TEACHING, WISDOM, AND WORSHIP, AND YOU ARE HIT BY DAILY EVENTS IN OUR LIVES, YOU COULD GET YOURSELVE TO THE POINT OF BEING OVER COME WITH FEAR, WORRY AND ANXIETY.

We hear the term so much "depression" most of us will use the term to describe us when we have the “symptoms” quote of depression. According to the DSM-IV, major depressive disorder (or "depression") is diagnosed when five or more of the following symptoms of depression are present for most of the day, nearly every day for at least 2 weeks. At least one of the symptoms must be either persistent sad or "empty" feelings or loss of interest in activities.

• Constant sadness
• Irritability
• Hopelessness
• Trouble sleeping
• Low energy or fatigue
• Feeling worthless or guilty for no reason
• Significant weight change
• Difficulty concentrating
• Loss of interest in favorite activities

As I am doing research on this subject, I note there are a number of definitions of terms we use to describe ourselves.

Sadness, empty feelings, loss of interest, feelings of lack of fulfillment, downturn in mood or frame of mind, a feeling or display of gloom or anger or irritability over something perhaps trivial.

So would you say any of the above or below symptoms are to characterize a Christian?

And I WOULD say all people could describe themselves in these terms at times

Our “emotional state of mind,” our “mood today is”, our “feeling today could be described as”,
So I am taking a look at terms that are used in our description of ourselves. The process of giving an account or explanation of events in our lives.

Depression (mood), a common term for a sad or low mood or emotional state, or the loss of pleasure.

An emotion is a "complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral, and physiological elements, by which the individual attempts to deal with a personally significant matter or event." It arises without conscious effort and is either positive or negative in its valence.

Other closely related terms are:

• affect, a synonym for emotion
• affect display, external display of emotion
• disposition, referring to a durable differentiating characteristic of a person, a tendency to react to situations with a certain emotion
• feeling, which usually refers to the subjective, phenomenological aspect of emotion
• mood, which refers to an emotional state of duration intermediate between an emotion and a disposition
• http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/emotional+state

Of course we all know people who have such emotions, moods, sorrow, fear, worry and anxiety.

I OFTEN GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF MY PAST EXPERIENCES. Charity and I often hear accounts of people’s experiences in life. This process of giving an account of our experiences sometimes are pleasant, sometimes they are heart wrenching, your emotions are forcibly moved to one level to another level of feelings, some good and some bad.

So to get an idea of what we are dealing in terms we use, I am trying to understand what is meant by the terms we use.

“Emotion is generally regarded by Western civilization as the antithesis of reason. This distinction stems from Western philosophy specifically Cartesian dualism and modern interpretations of Stoicism, and is reflected in common phrases like appeal to emotion or your emotions have taken over.”

“Depression is a serious biologic disease that affects millions of people each year. The encouraging news is that it may be successfully treated. Learn how you can manage your depression by reaching out to others such as a health care professional or family and friends.”

Psychology and mood:

• Depression (mood), a common term for a sad or low mood or emotional state, or the loss of pleasure.
• Clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, a clinical term for a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individual's social functioning and/or activities of daily living. Subtypes of clinical depression:
• Melancholic depression, characterized by the inability to find pleasure in positive things combined with physical agitation, insomnia, or decreased appetite.
• Atypical depression, a common long term cyclical form of depression in which the individual can feel enjoyment, eat, and sleep, but there is significant lethargy, a 'leaden' feeling, and a strong response to rejection-related issues.
• Psychotic depression, in which clinical depression co-exists with psychotic or delusional perceptions.
• Postpartum depression, depression following childbirth, sometimes known as 'postpartum blues'.

Now do Christians get into these kinds of “depressions”? And if so how do they deal with them.

I often hear that Charles Spurgeon had “depression”? And I ask myself how is that possible?
So I found this article about Charles Spurgeon:

• “Few men in God’s army have been as faithful and productive as Charles Spurgeon. His work output, as it is recounted, seems almost superhuman: The church had many institutions which needed constant input from Spurgeon, such as the Pastor’s College, the Almshouses, the Orphanage, the Colportage Association and many evangelistic and compassionate societies, the latter usually being chaired by the elders. There were 66 of these by the time Spurgeon had been pastor for 25 years. The Pastor’s College generated a great deal of work, not only in the regular interviewing, lecturing and oversight, but also in the endeavors and cares of the churches founded by former students . . . Spurgeon’s literary work was immense. He compiled more than 140 books, maintained the monthly The Sword and the Trowel magazine (from 1865), and edited the weekly sermon (The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit) . . . [and] he responded to an average of 500 letters each week (p. 11). What is even more amazing is that he accomplished all this while having regular bouts with serious illness throughout the last 24 years of his life. These letters, many of which were written from France while on leaves of absence due to illness, are addressed to his congregation. Many of them speak of his pain and his trials, many of them speak of his great passion for the salvation of the lost, but all of them reflect the love and concern of a true pastor. The letters are divided into three time periods, Part 1: 1876-83; Part 2: 1884-90; Part 3: 1891-92. At the end of the book appear several short articles and sermons written by Spurgeon. This attractive volume includes pictures, illustrations, annotations regarding the circumstances referred to in the letters, and pictures of some of the original letters.”

Then I have read D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Spiritual Depression (the book is not about depression) which is used to say that Christians can have depression.

• “Very well, that is what I regard as perhaps the most important rule of all, that we must not concentrate overmuch upon our feelings. Do not spend too much time feeling your own pulse taking your own spiritual temperature, do not spend too much time analyzing your feelings. That is the high road to morbidity (p. 115);”
• “If you want to be truly happy and blessed, if you would like to know true joy as a Christian, here is the prescription: ‘Blessed (truly happy) are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness’ not after happiness.”
  This book is not so much about depression (a word that has taken on official, clinical connotations), as it is about a lack of joy in the Christian life.
• 
  End of this post, maybe. Thanks dear, deer, doe, Charity. Your buck Charles.

HAPPINESS IN THE SECULAR SENSE IS NOT VERY LONG

In reading the book "Happiness Is A Choice" Barry Kaufman

7 steps to overcome depression.

(Its a start)

(I received this from a friend earlier today)

1. Commit your life daily to the purpose of glorifying Jesus Christ.
2. Spend some time each day meditating on God's Word and applying it to your life.
3. Get rid of grudges daily.
4. Spend a little time nearly every day getting more intimate with your mate and children. Parents, brothers, sisters, and other close relatives should also have a high priority. Do all you can to resolve family conflicts.
5. Spend some time each week having fellowship and fun with at least one or two committed Christian friends of the same sex. If you are married, have fun with other married couples. In this way husband and wife can together benefit from intimacy with others.
6. Be involved in a daily routine (including work, play, housework, projects) that brings personal satisfaction to you. Be convinced that this routine is God's will and purpose for your life-your way of glorifying Him.
7. Do something nice for on special person each week. This kind deed can be physical(helping with a chore, for example), emotional (buying a book or giving counsel) or spiritual( having devotions together.

For anyone who personally knows Jesus Christ as his Savior, and lives by these biblical principles happiness is a choice.

Then I read on a blogger this from a mom.

1. I don’t like the intimations of happiness being a choice. Call me jaded if you want but I just don’t like the idea of someone telling a depressed mom that she made the “choice” to be depressed. Yeah, right. I CHOSE to have horrific thoughts about harming my children. I CHOSE to slide so far down my pole that I landed in a psych ward. Yeap, that’s me. Choosing to be horrifically clinically depressed with OCD thrown in just for kicks. Why? Cuz I like it there. I like it in the dark, all alone, milling over thoughts of how to hurt my kids, thinking that everyone is out to get me.
   C’MON.

And that does make sense doesn't it. Many do find themselves in a state of unhappiness, and before they know it, they have many of the symptoms of "DEPPRESSION." I fully undertstand that, don't you.

There are few who want to get into a state where they are "crushed under the load that sometimes life in general throws at them.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have situtations in their lives that if allowed would totally crush them into a state of worry, fear, and anxiety. While it is true we do personally get our selves in to situtations that will result in a lot of unhappen results. But most of the stuff in our lives come via someone other means.

While we create a lot of things in our lives that will cause of grief, worry, anxiety, there are a lot of events in our lives that are not of our causing and will result in the same problems.

Life isn’t about what it hands you. It’s about how you handle life. Looking at life through that lens would make it seem that happiness is a choice and to a certain extent it is a choice.

But sometimes life throws a curveball you just can’t avoid. So what are you to do? You have two choices. You can either let it knock you flat on your butt and stay there for awhile…..Or you can pick yourself up, dust off the dirt and mend the wounds, and go on your way.

But the longer you stay on your butt, the harder you are going to find the strength to get up.

So the scripture tells us to "examine ourselves daily to see where we are in living life." (2 Cor 7:1) We are to be like David in Psa. 51 we are to ask the Lord to "cleanse our heart daily." Psa 51:10. Psa 51:12 "Restore to me the joy of your salvation.""And sustain me with a willing spirit."

I am happy once are twice a day. If Tiger Woods win I am happy. I am happy if I get to talk to my children. I am unhappy if I hear what my children are telling me about there life. I am happy if Charity is happy. If I have $100 in the checking account I am happy.

I really don't focus so much on happiness. But there are ways to stay happy longer.

I read this earlier today:

• Every day, it seems, we're flooded with pop-psych advice about happiness. The relentless message is that there's something we're supposed to do to be happy -- make the right choices, or have the right set of beliefs about ourselves. Our Founding Fathers even wrote the pursuit of happiness into the Declaration of Independence.
• Coupled with this is the notion that happiness is a permanent condition. If we're not joyful all the time, we conclude there's a problem.Yet what most people experience is not a permanent state of happiness. It is something more ordinary, a mixture of what essayist Hugh Prather once called "unsolved problems, ambiguous victories and vague defeats -- with few moments of clear peace." J. Scott McKay

So I have learned happeness is a state of mind, and I am going to be happen sometimes, I am not going to to happen very long at a time. Happy could be described as the following ways

1. feeling or showing pleasure, contentment, or joy
2. causing or characterized by pleasure, contentment, or joy
3. feeling satisfied that something is right or has been done right
4. resulting unexpectedly in something pleasant or welcome
5. slightly drunk
6. used in formulae to express a hope that somebody will enjoy a special day or holiday
7. inclined to use a particular thing too readily or be too enthusiastic about a particular thing

Some one will say, "How are you doing?" I will say, "good." They might say, "Just good, not great." What do they mean by that? You can't force a person to be good, or great, or to be in high spirits.

If I am drunk, I could be really great in my mind, high in spirit. But it doesn't mean I am happy. (Of course I have never had a drink of Cool Light either.) No wonder I am never very happy.

So where we are, not happy about this post. Or can we be pleased with what we have said, because someone might be happy to read it?

SATAN IS OUT TO SHAKE YOU UP

Christians who are Holy Spirit-filled will be able to work through times of emotional drama in their lives.
(Notes from August 2 2009 message)
Paul's Cure for a Dysfunctional Church

Vs. 18 “We want to come to you.” 18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us. 1 Thess 2:18)

It’s the Elders’ desire to bring people in the church to a fuller spiritual life. We desire to see our people grow in their spiritual life. Paul wanted to evaluate spiritual needs. If they were growing, teach them more. Lead them, mother them, father them.

I believe there is in these passages in I Thessalonians, Paul’s cure for a dysfunctional church. And why there are so many

Dysfunctional - Definition: (A cultural term, not a biblical term)

1. relating badly: characterized by an inability to function emotionally or as a social unita dysfunctional familydysfunctional behavior


2. not performing as expected: failing to perform an expected functiona dysfunctional bureaucracy
   
   Satan hindered us -- On a different occasion "the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Jesus" (so the oldest manuscripts read), Ac 16:6, 7 forbad or hindered them in a missionary design; here it is Satan, acting perhaps by wicked men, some of whom had already driven him out of Thessalonica (Acts 17:13-14) compare John 13:27, or else by some more direct "messenger of Satan -- a thorn in the flesh" (2 Corin 12:7, 2 Corin 11:14). In any event, the Holy Ghost and the providence of God overruled Satan's opposition to further His own purpose. We cannot, in each case, define whence hindrances in good undertakings arise; Paul in this case, by inspiration, was enabled to say; the hindrance was from Satan. GROTIUS thinks Satan's mode of hindering Paul's journey to Thessalonica was by instigating the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers to cavil, which entailed on Paul the necessity of replying, and so detained him; but he seems to have left Athens leisurely (Ac 17:33, 34, Acts 18:1). The Greek for "hindered" is literally, "to cut a trench between one's self and an advancing foe, to prevent his progress"; so Satan opposing the progress of the missionaries.—Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
   
   Satan will try just about anything to hinder the church family from accomplishing its biblical purpose.

Footnote:

• I have a new Kodek and the video recording for Sunday's Message was only for 30 minutes which was about 10 minutes less than my message. And the GB was higher than the old Kodek. I can only upload 1GB at a time. The old Kodek would give me 22 minutes per 1 GB the new one would give 1GM for about 11 minutes.
• I will post Sundays video message later today. The message is in three parts due to the explaination above.

The Power of God's Strength and Comfort

Well we are not a monkey, but we do get angry sometimes.

When we do get angry, when we do get over loaded in our emotions, when we are pulled down in our spirit by our physical weakedness, when we get upset by our actions, when we have family problems

Then we can remember

There is no boundary away from the power of God's strength and comfort

• 
  
  A workman was employed on a building project. One of those high-rise deals. It was necessary because of some deadlines and bad weather for them to work at night. While busy on the edge of the wall, he slipped, lost his balance, fell over the edge, grabbed the edge of the wall with both hands and hung on desperately. He began to scream and cry and call for someone to rescue him. It was pitch black, riveting machines were going, metal hammers were beating and pounding, mechanical motors were running and nobody could hear a word. Gradually his arms grew numb as he hung suspended over the street below and his fingers began to slip and against every effort of his own will to hold on, at last he lost his hold and he fell...about three inches to a scaffold that had been there all the time. The darkness prevented him from seeing it. And all through his anxiety he was completely safe.