Life Discipleship Resources from Dr. Henry Brandt
“… present yourselves to God …” (Romans 6:13).
Sometimes it seems as though a long-lasting marriage is determined by chance or circumstances or just plain old luck. However, there are some steps that will enable you to establish your marriage on a solid foundation that will help you stay in it for the long haul. [Read more...]
“Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)
There it is. One of the most fiercely debated Bible verses concerning marriage. “Why should the wife do all the submitting?” That is the hot question. But here is the greater truth, the wife is not the one who needs to do all the submitting … this verse does not stand alone. [Read more...]
“I want to be a better spouse.” You say this, thinking back over a multitude of incidents that make up the history of your family. Some of them were funny when they happened; others are funny only as we look back on them. Still others were serious. Some were puzzling. [Read more...]
A gentleman came to see me who was extremely mad at his wife. “I hate to come home from work,” he said, “because I know that when I turn into the driveway, if my wife got there ahead of me, she will have her car parked smack in the middle of the car port. I have asked her time and time again to please either park her car to the left or the right of the car port, but no, she always parks in the middle! We have two cars, and there is room for both in that car port. But if she comes home ahead of me, her car is parked in the middle of the carport. She makes me so mad.”
Every night he has a decision to make. Either he will simply leave his car parked in the driveway, or he will back her car out of the car port, move it over, and drive his in. According to him, you see, his whole demeanor, peace of mind, and joy depends upon a choice that his wife initially makes.
Is this true? [Read more...]
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)
The law of sin pulls us downward. It causes us to miss the mark that we set for ourselves. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, however, pulls us upward.
You cannot pass a law that forces me to love you or to have a heart filled with joy. You cannot order me to be a peaceful man. You can force me to act like I love you. You can describe what a joyful person should look and require everyone to look that way. But you cannot pass a law that orders me to cease being angry, hateful, or lustful. You can only pass a law that limits the way I can behave when I am angry, or hateful, or lustful. You cannot legislate the condition of anyone’s heart. There is a vast difference between a cheerful manner and a cheerfulness that emanates from the Spirit. [Read more...]
Anger is a universal problem. I have observed it in the primitive cannibals in Irian Jaya, uncivilized Indians in the remote jungles of Brazil, illiterate people in tiny villages deep in the forest of Zaire, my playmates when I was a child, in my parents, church members, pastors, highly educated people, the very rich, people in government, and yes, even in myself. Call it what you will: mad, angry, frustrated, annoyed, perturbed, ticked off – all of these words represent a form of anger.
You cannot decide to be angry. You can take elaborate precautions to avoid being angry. But, alas, sooner or later anger underneath your skin is triggered by a memory, someone’s behavior, a conversation, a phone call, or a letter. It can cause your heart to beat faster, make you sweat, tense up your muscles, foul up your digestive system, alter the way you think, dictate how you act, and trigger negative words from your mouth.
There seems to be universal agreement that anger must be tamed. Yet there is vast disagreement over the cause and the cure. [Read more...]
Doctors, psychologists, government officials, and educators all agree that the human heart must be tamed. And almost all the people in these fields start from the premise that the solution to these problems depends on human intelligence, the scientific method, and social and cultural interaction. There is no deity to save us. There are no fixed standards to go by. We must help ourselves.
However, this is a false premise. We can depend on faith in a living God. Our problems are the result of deviation from His standards, otherwise called sin. It is true, we cannot help ourselves. But God has made provision for such a change. We need a change of heart as a starting point. [Read more...]
In grade school, I learned about an invisible law called gravity. It was on the playground where eight swings were installed side by side. We had a contest to see who could make his swing go the highest. I was standing up on my swing, and at a point where it was as high as it could go, I slipped—and I kept on going up and clear out of sight.
Do you believe that? No, thanks to the law of gravity, I came down so hard the impact broke one of my teeth.
Wouldn’t it be difficult if gravity worked only part of the time? Imagine walking in your neighborhood and never knowing for sure whether you would fly up or come down. Fortunately we can depend on the law of gravity. And though you can’t touch it or see it, if you jump out of a window, you will feel it.
You would not say, “I don’t believe germs exist,” just because you can’t see them. When you are sick, you experience the effects of germs. Even though you can’t see them, you do not deny that they exist.
These invisible powers are explained through science according to predictable laws. There are also biblical laws that affect our interactions. [Read more...]
After I completed my university work, I was just getting started as a teacher and counselor. A letter came from a rural Kansas town extending an invitation for me to come for a week to lecture on a Biblical view of mental health.
This town was surrounded by beautiful, rolling hills and lush, productive farmland. The air was fresh and clean. There was lots of sky, and we enjoyed glowing sunrises, spectacular sunsets, and beautiful moonlit nights. There were prosperous farmers who lived in large, lovely homes with all the conveniences anyone could ask for. They looked out of their picture windows at their oil wells pumping black gold 24 hours a day. Everyone had several big cars in their driveways and we ate sumptuous meals. The people were elegantly dressed. The church was beautifully furnished.
You would think if there were any place in the world where people would be content and satisfied, it would be in this town. No doubt these people could teach me a thing or two about mental health.
To my surprise, I was swamped by people who requested counseling. There were many troubled hearts in those beautiful homes. [Read more...]
Before I went to college years ago, I spent a lot of time studying the Bible. I came across words like anger, resentment, fear, bitterness, rebellion, murmuring, dishonesty, lust, jealousy, fornication, and stealing. The Bible referred to these words as “sins,” or works of the flesh.
I shared this information with the restless, nervous people who crossed my path. As we talked, many of these people could see that some of these sins were present in their lives. They repented of their sins and their restless, nervous symptoms disappeared.
This happened often enough that I decided to focus my college and graduate studies on a Biblical approach to human behavior. [Read more...]
