The Doorstep Evangel Newspaper
The DoorStep Evangel is a bimonthly publication of the Empire Baptist Temple. It is freely distributed to Pastors and Missionaries as a ministry to encourage and edify men of God as they serve in this challenging age.
Archived here you will find a sampling of articles that have appeared in the DoorStep Evangel over the years.
Has America Change Attitudes Towards Mental/Psychic Health?
Dr. Ronald L. Tottingham
In a recent military officers course in crisis incident stress management by a very knowledgeable Ph.D. in Mental Health, it was again greatly impressed on my mind to believe America's attitude toward mental/psychic "health" has slowly and subtilely, howbeit drastically, changed. Today we are told, and see this attitude in the media, that our population needs mental health professionals to help them back to "reality."
Wasn't it only a few years ago that pastors/chaplains/clergy/ministers were set forward as those to be turned to in crisis situations? Wasn't it then the "ministers" who were thought of having the "healing" answers or grasp as ministers of God. Oh, but is God now no longer recognized as the "necessary" element in healing?
Once healing needed Creator attention. Now it seems to need only creature (Rom. 1: turned from creator to creature) attention or, a "deity's" attention for the psyche. Oh my, has America channeled attitudes toward mental/psychic health! This new "pastoral" has slowly taken the laws into its own hands until it is now the legal and media "pastor" of this nation's crisis incident stress or mental health professionals have become the legal/media crisis incident stress managers.
Now, because of this, crises are no longer opportunities to give testimony to God's great power in healing the individual or any crisis situation. Now man heals himself or each other. And tax dollars heal the crisis situations. Yes, America has changed attitudes toward mental/psychic health.