Welcome back, and thank you for joining us in session nine. In revealing the power behind the throne at North Point Community Church our examination has also revealed that North Point is selling something extra biblical. We’ve shown that real Christian ministry cannot be sold for a price, and that North Point is in league with non-Christian service providers. Specifically—psychologists, psychiatrists, and so called ‘Christian’ counselors. Now, when we say in league with them, we should emphasize that North Point admits by the terms of their association that they are the bush-league, and the psych counselors are the major leagues. Those people are, after all, the ones North Point sends it attendees and members to when the going gets tough.
Now, the question comes to mind: why don’t all the members and attendees just go to psychologists on Sundays, or get psychiatric help, instead of showing up at North Point? After all, North Point confesses that the real power is on those couches, and not in their pews (oh, that’s right—they use theatre seats). Do they continue Sunday services after mid-week counseling session because of shows that are “all killer and no filler,” as one other infamous marketer put it? Is it the social life? Do the Life Group monitors phone them in?
It’s actually a well calculated combination of all the above. North Point’s strategy is focused on capturing and retaining prisoners, not setting men free. This is why they have attendees psychologized instead of discipled. But that won’t happen to you here as we attend another session in our conference series the: Church of What’s Happening Now.
Now, there is power in the use of psychology. But instead of edification, the use of psychology on the unsuspecting relies on manipulation. Both in intimate settings and in large audiences human characteristics can be played to create anxiety and then provide its release.
In small sessions, this is accomplished by the spontaneous process of shared discovery, which imitates the acquisition of wisdom, as therapist and patient journey together to discover the source of the patient’s problems.
In crowd settings, anecdotal stories or case histories are often shared of persons or couples who experienced problems—creating anxiety—and the successes of the psychological treatment is revealed—and sprinkled liberally with humor—to provide the release.
And, unlike Christian ministry, they can sell this stuff to make a fortune.
So, there is a symbiotic relationship between the psychological counseling industry and the apostate church—the pastor of which in many cases having got a seminary degree in psychology himself. Apostates manipulate the attendees with many psychological techniques for profit and empire building, and arrange for seminars where other psychologists reinforce the manipulation throughout the year.
And this year starts at North Point with a Married Life event where the attendees will be turned over to Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott. The price is $45 dollars per couple, but they will get a personality profile, and a copy of the Parrott’s book Love Talk.
We’ve looked at the Parrotts and their book here at TheNewsBeats.com when they were out on the circuit a couple of years ago, and observed:
In Love Talk, the duo claims to translate “psychobabble” into an “easy to understand language,” which can be used by them to teach couples how to “speak each other’s language.” It is fitting that these psychologists have finally come to accept the arch pejorative of their craft as a descriptive neologism: babble means confusion of tongues.
The concern that pastors should have regarding these counselors is that they continue to be received by major audiences through popular, nationwide secular programs. By this it may be presumed that they cannot be preaching the exclusive message of the gospel. Indeed, when going to the world marketplace with their merchandise, they should cast a broad net. A look at their product description for Love Talk gives an idea of how broad:
In this six-session Zondervan GroupwareSmall Group Edition DVD curriculum, acclaimed relationship experts and real-life couple Les and Leslie Parrott are back with a wonderfully insightful guide for improving the single most important factor in any marriage or love relationship – communication!
The term “any marriage” sounds all inclusive and applicable to the saved, unsaved, and unequally yoked, but do they expand their claim of nourishment and efficacy to explicitly extra-biblical unions? The terms taken together, “any marriage or love relationship” (emphasis added) would seem conclusive that they do.
This information should serve as a warning.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2Pe 2:3)
The Parrtotts are scheduled to take over the congregation at North Point on February 12, 2011, and they could come back several times in the next few years.
