Joseph Leavell

Eleven Personal Resolutions as a Biblical Counselor Seeking to Evaluate the Scientific Understanding of Mental Health Through the Lens of Scripture 1. Resolved: Not to stake my position, my theology, or my reputation as a biblical counselor on a contrarian posture that presupposes the science of mental health always gets it wrong. 2. Resolved: Not to stake my position, my theology, or my reputation as a biblical counselor on a conformist posture that presumes the science of mental health is always right. 3. Resolved: Always to evaluate every truth claim impartially through the lens of God’s authoritative and sufficient Word, remembering that while Scripture is always right and true, human scientific understanding of the body and mind is limited and fallible, and my own knowledge and interpretation of that data as a non-medical professional is even further restricted. 4. Resolved: To take a posture of respectful trust toward those who serve in the medical and scientific fields, recognizing their work of understanding the body is progressing as a gift of common grace, yet to test all claims carefully and embrace only what accords with both sound evidence and the truth of God’s Word. 5. Resolved: Through it all, never to surrender the authority or sufficiency of God’s Word to any other field of study, whether science, archaeology, history, or any other discipline. 6. Resolved: To remain humble and teachable, acknowledging that growth in true wisdom requires both reverence for God’s Word and subsequent attentiveness to the expressive reality of God’s created but fallen world. 7. Resolved: To recognize that insights from scientific research, when consistent with Scripture, may reflect accurate and helpful descriptions of God’s design and the noetic effects of sin on the human body and mind. 8. Resolved: Never to call a physical or mental calamity sin, nor to label a sinful failure as a medical condition, but to discern each according to Scripture and evidence, acknowledging the interrelated ways the body can affect the soul and the soul can affect the body. 9. Resolved: To remember that biblical counseling is not merely an exercise in doctrinal precision but an expression of patient Christlike compassion and care toward those who suffer and struggle both physically and spiritually. 10. Resolved: To depend continually on the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who alone enables true understanding, discernment, and transformation in our lives. 11. Resolved: To pursue lifelong learning in both Scripture and human experience, so that my counsel may grow in depth, accuracy, understanding, and grace.

"There is more security, in fact, with Christ in the middle of a stormy sea than without Christ in the warm stillness of our bathtub." - Jared Wilson, The Imperfect Disciple

What we were told is that Trump would be like Cyrus who would bring restoration and freedom. What it ended up being was more like Asa hiring Ben-hadad to fight our battle rather than trusting in the Lord, which did bring an immediate victory but along with it came a curse of continuous long term conflict and loss.

I have a weird brain.

This is a perpetual issue I see in counseling on a regular basis. People who are well versed in knowing their attachment style or being able to name their trauma response but not even being able to find the book of Ephesians.

One thing I notice when I comment on politics (which is a lot more rare these days - it usually just ends in people bickering with each other unfortunately) is that people on each side of the aisle tends to highlight the parts they like about the party they voted for while completely ignoring the unhealthy parts. It's usually only the people who are on one side of the aisle who point out the problems on the side of the other. It's likely why I get labeled "closet liberal" by some and "ultra-conservative" by others because I'm not shy about the unhealthy parts of both camps. It just doesn't make sense to me why it's such a threat to be honest about the problems in both parties. It's like someone who votes Democrat refusing to admit they have thyroid cancer because they look at their arms and legs and say, "Everything here is functioning correctly. What's the problem?" Meanwhile, they're quick to point out that the GOP has colon cancer. But the GOP response is, "Our thyroid works great! If you want your thyroid destroyed, vote Democrat!" Here's the point: Both parties have become a cancer. Voting for one party with cancer because it's healthier in areas that the other party has cancer makes no sense. Maybe one is stage 2 and the other is stage 3 in some areas. Who cares! Our country is still going to die of the rot of cancer either way!! This is why MAGA lost the mid-term. The voters saw that MAGA had squandered their opportunity by turning cancerous and they wanted it stopped. Draining the swamp is what everyone voted for. Feeding the alligators and introducing anacondas is what we got. You don't have to like that that's what happened, but it did! But choosing the cancer that is on the other side of the aisle is not the solution that our country needs! My hope, with the death of MAGA, is that genuinely healthy, moral, beneficial policies will begin to take shape as politicians realize that if they're not interested in advancing this country toward its founding ideals, principles, and successes, they're toast with the voters! "Give us someone healthy and worthy of my vote, or you'll lose badly!" is a message I can get behind! For clarity, if you want a sampling of the Democrat cancer: Abortion on demand without limitations. Restrictions on religious liberty. As a Christian who leads a faith-based non-profit, this one is really scary to me! Open-border policies under Biden were horrendous! The ever-expanding reach of an already bloated government through increased control, taxation, and redistribution. (This has become a both-party problem.) Reducing or defunding police. While I agree that ICE has been abusive at times, I would also argue that murder and violent crime rates have dropped as a result of a backing of law enforcement. Debt. Again, a both/and problem. Opposition to school choice. This is a hallmark issue here in Arizona. Public charter schools have brought competition to education and improved schools of all stripes by forcing them to compete for students. Democrats want to strip away that choice and authority from parents and hand it to politicians. LGBTQ activism. It's not simply about protecting freedoms; it's about promoting and requiring approval of an ideology that silences or punishes those who believe in traditional marriage and that your body tells the truth about your identity. Back end return of segregation through identity politics and DEI mandates. If you want a few highlights of the MAGA cancer: Personality and loyalty to Trump and the movement over principle. Election denial. Still. Not simply enforcing the law, but doing so with unnecessary cruelty. Abandoning fiscal conservatism. Our national debt has reached staggering levels, with likely catastrophic long-term consequences. Abandoning moral conservatism when it comes to family, character, and integrity. The pro-life movement has been politically sidelined. Religious liberty being used as a vanity plate rather than as the driving engine of freedom. Undermining and attacking the freedom of the press and independent institutions. The departure from basic American civics through the massive expansion of executive power, the push to eliminate the filibuster, and Congress's inability to accomplish anything meaningfully conservative beyond tax cuts without corresponding spending cuts. And that doesn't even touch the cronyism and rampant corruption which are hallmarks of both parties. The problem with cancer is that it metastasizes to other parts. Both parties' cancer has grown so much that they are beginning to bleed into each other in more and more areas so that the whole thing becomes riddled with cancer in overlapping ways. Judicial Activism is an example. Using the courts to advance agendas rather than through legislation. This is why Trump has been so mad at the Supreme Court is because he publicly has stated that he regrets that he implemented actual conservative judges who believe in the rule of law. It's a MAGA cancer now, but it's historically a Democrat one. These two cancers are growing into one large tumor that will continue to harm the judicial branch. One other example: Federal control over local communities - Decisions that impact our families are being championed as federal issues that only Washington DC can solve rather than keeping issues local as much as possible. It will get more and more corrupt and incompetent the more power and control DC exerts over us in our individual lives. The cancer of this race to the bottom is removed when "We the People" start acting like white blood cells, attacking the cancer with full force. Rather than choosing the different form of cancer in the other party each election, we need to choose politicians in our primaries and general elections who are worthy of serving, not leeches who only continue the rot. We need a return to civilly making the case for our best ideas and ensuring that our brightest and most virtuous minds are put to the task of solving problems. My hope is that voters are waking up, refusing to settle for the lesser of two evil cancers, and fighting for a healthier America by demanding leaders of character, integrity, and conviction who will work to restore the founding ideals that make this country worth fighting for. Character in our leadership matters. It always has and always will.

Several things can be true at the same time. 1 - I can be frustrated that Democrats won because their socialist policies cause harm. 2 - I can be happy that MAGA lost because their socialist policies cause harm. 3 - I can be unhappy when thyroid cancer is replaced with melanoma, but I can be hopeful that both may finally be recognized as cancer and a treatment plan is implemented to get rid of the rot.

Still true.

Who would have thought? 🤔

It's early, but I'm calling today the death date of MAGA. It might act like a snake with its head cut off for a bit...but today is the day the movement dies and people start running from their association with Trump and MAGA as fast as possible. The next two years are going to be interesting.

There really are people out there making the case that cohabitation IS marriage.

If you've never ended a time of counseling where both you and your counselee are caught up, weeping together at the greatness and transforming power of God's love and grace to bring rescue into his life through the Gospel...man...it's an incredible thing to watch God work!