The Criminal Mind: A Christian Perspective

(Note: This is a work in progress and, I hope, not too disconnected. It is certainly not intended to be authoritative from a behavioral science perspective, as my knowledge of this subject is superficial and amateurish. But my conclusion defining the root source of the problem as the sin nature, and the only solution as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is intended as authoritative.)

"I am willing to know the truth, the whole truth, and to provide for it (to deal with it)."
- James Madison

Each human being has two separate natures. The human nature and the sin nature. The ‘spilt personality’ referred to by psychologists and psychiatrists is a part of every single person - it is no anomaly. The human nature is that part of us that desires to do good; it whips out the credit card and phones in a donation when we see starving people on our T.V. screen. The human nature is the receptacle of noble sentiments, high ideals, our sense of justice, compassion and the conscience. In contrast, the sin nature can simply be defined as “That capacity and potential for evil which resides in every human being.” The sin nature is the source of mans inhumanity to man.

The human nature is neither good nor evil in and of itself. The human nature becomes good or evil depending on what animates it. Outside of Christ, the sin nature in some respect controls every human being, the difference is only a matter of degree. To illustrate, a child does not need to be taught to lie or be selfish. A child must, rather, be taught to be truthful, to share and do right because it doesn’t come naturally. As someone once said, if you want a demonstration of the sin nature in action, ‘place two three-year-old’s in one play pen with one favorite toy - then sit back and watch. It won’t be long until you see the sin nature in action’. We cannot see this sin nature, we only see it’s effects, the most visible being crime. Some behaviorists claim, because they cannot see the human soul, man therefore has no soul. They treat men like animals; Pavlov’s Dogs. Is it any wonder some act like animals?

My first memory as a 5 year old child, was my sister and I walking behind our parents up the walk to our house. My parents were walking side by side with their arm around each other. My sister and I walked behind them, side by side with an arm around each other, copying them, smiling and laughing. As we approached our home, I decided to take a detour to the creek for some unauthorized play. As I removed my socks and shoes to step in the water, I heard my mother call to me from the porch.

At that instant, I saw a snake coiled near a small pool of water. It looked interesting, so I stepped into the small pool with my left foot intending to reach for it. As I did, the snake struck me on top of the left foot. As I yanked my foot back, for a brief moment I saw its fangs sunk part-way into my foot. In yanking my foot back, the fangs tore a small gash in my foot, creating a small flap or flesh-cut. The snake was catapulted away, and it slithered off. Other than the gash, I never suffered any ill effects. Nearly forty years later, I still have the scar left by the serpent.

The Holy Bible declares that man was originally created in the image of God. As originally created, man had no sin nature, only a human nature coupled with God’s nature; God’s image. Man is not God, but humanity is Gods highest creation because we are created in God’s image. An illustration would be that when we look in the mirror, we see our image. That image is not literally us, but only a reflection of us. The big lie that causes man, through pride, to deceive himself is the lie of the serpent in the Garden of Eden: “You will be as gods”. The sin nature is the root of all pride, arrogance, greed, lust, hate, hunger for power; every evil inclination of man’s soul.

God created man in His own image as a free moral agent. Adam had a choice. When the first man sinned, he willingly forfeited the nature of God, and took on the sin nature of the serpent - the devil. It is what our Catholic friends call ‘original sin’. Eve blamed the serpent and Adam blamed Eve, but God held each of them personally responsible. Men and women have been passing the buck ever since. Just as the decisions we make virtually always affect others in some way, Adams choice affected the entire human race. It started with one of his sons murdering the other, and the consequences continue to this day. Deception, dissociation, powerful suggestion, hypnotism and evil are the nature of the serpent, who made his debut in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve learned too late; don’t toy with the serpent. The serpent always bites.

One evening I was sitting in the living room with my son as he did his homework. It was dusk, and as time went by, I looked up at the picture window and noted out loud that it had just become dark enough that, instead of being able to see out, all I could see was the reflection of the living room in the window. My son stood up in front of the window and looked quizzically, trying to peer past the image of the living room and see out into the yard.

I saw him looking at his own reflection and said: “Son, what do you see?” “I see my reflection”, he replied. I said: “You were created as a reflection of God’s nature, in God’s image”. He appeared to be deep in thought for several moments, and then said: “That makes me special, doesn’t it.” His declaration took me off guard. As I considered the great significance of his simple words, I fought back a tear. Regaining my composure, I said: “Well, son, that’s the understatement of the ages, but yes, it sure does make you special.” He smiled and went back to his home work.

The sanctity of human life. The reason human life is sacred was common knowledge to past generations in America. But today, our nation has lost it’s moorings regarding this all-important truth. We are created in God’s image. Therefore, a crime against another human being is, first and foremost, a crime against God. America is losing the fear of God.

Dissociation is, in reality, deceit. There are two fundamental purposes of dissociation: 1.) It prevents us from being hurt by others. All of us recognize the potential for others to hurt us, especially those we do not know or trust, and use a certain degree of dissociation as a self-preservation mechanism. This is an indirect acknowledgment of the sin nature. 2.) For the criminal, the shield of dissociation enables them to harm others. The psychopath, sociopath and criminal mind uses this false front of dissociation to deceive his victim into lowering their ‘shield’. When the dissociative mask is no longer needed, the criminal mind drops the mask, revealing the monster behind it - generally too late for the victim.

The study of the criminal mind is more than the study of thought patterns and resulting behaviors. It is, in essence, the study of the sin nature in action. And it goes much deeper than the mind - it goes to the inner being. For example, admiring beauty is one thing - selfish lust is another. Jesus said that a man who looked upon a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart (inner being). Christ went beyond merely abstaining from the outward act of adultery and went to the source - the evil desires of the inner being - the sin nature.

A high IQ is no guarantee of moral purity, integrity or character. As a criminal profiler has rightly said, educate a psychopath and all you get is an educated (and thus more dangerous) psychopath. History bears this out. Many of the most evil men have also been the most brilliant and charismatic. With this in mind, we see the futility of psychology or psychiatry attempting to ‘rehabilitate’ the criminal mind. It cannot work, because the source of the problem is not in the mind but the sin nature that animates the mind.

The easiest person to deceive is ones self. The criminal mind, animated by the sin nature, first deceives itself and creates a dissociative shield of deception. This ‘shield’ masks the fantasy or criminal intent from view while projecting the mask onto others as a true picture. The shield changes frequency and constantly adapts as necessary in order to maintain the false front. “But evil men and seducers will grow worse and worse, deceiving (others), and being deceived (by sin)” (2 Timothy 3:13).

Manipulation is the desired effect that the self-deceived dissociative shield has on others. In other words, the criminal mind, animated by the evil desires of the sin nature, first deceives itself, creates a shield of dissociative deceit, and then projects the deceit onto others for the purpose of deceiving and manipulating them. The dissociation is the shield that protects the fantasy from discovery and serves to deceive and quiet the conscience (assuming the conscience has not yet been seared). The source of the fantasy is not the mind, but rather the evil desires of the inner being. We do not become what we do. We do what we become.

The behavior does not feed the fantasy - that’s getting it backwards. The evil inward desire or compulsion (a product of the sin nature) is the source, which infects the mind and feeds the fantasy. The fantasy feeds the behavior. The behavior (or acting out) only occurs (excepting crimes of passion) when the external conditions are favorable and the criminal mind deems the ‘shield’ of dissociation to be strong enough.

While an understanding of the thought processes of the criminal mind is essential in terms of identification, apprehension and successful prosecution, tinkering with the thought processes of the criminal mind via psychotherapy, psychology or psychiatry is a hopeless quagmire in terms of a cure. Treating the mind will never cure, because the source of criminal behavior is not the mind but the heart; the inner being. A thief is not a thief because he steals, he steals because he is a thief. He first covets in his heart - not his hands or mind. It is the evil desire of the inner being that animates the mind. This sounds trite and over simplified, but it is the core issue.

Intelligence, or the lack of it, has no causal bearing on criminal behavior. This is a bold assertion, but true. It can easily be supported by the simple observation that criminal behavior crosses all intellectual (along with economic and social) strata of society. Some criminals are brilliant, others are stupid. Some law abiding citizens are smart, some not-so-smart. The choice to commit a criminal act, while involving the use of reason (risk vs perceived benefit), is not an intellectual choice, it is a moral choice. Incidently, all legislation (law) is, in some form, morality. Legislation, by it’s very definition (law), is morality!

Murder does not begin in the mind of the murderer, it begins in the heart. “Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer...” (I John 3:15). The moral decision is first made in the heart - which then animates the mind. Crime begins with hate, greed, jealousy, lust, rage or some other evil motive of the heart. The reason criminals try to avoid personalizing their victims is because the personalization addresses the conscience and humanity - personalization goes to the heart - disrupting the power source of the shield by producing a conflict between the human nature and the sin nature. In regards to crimes of passion, the rage or lust actually overpowers the reason, provoking the person to commit an act, which, under normal circumstances, would be - unthinkable. Yet he is still held accountable by God and man. The penalty may not be as severe as in the case of premeditation - but personal responsibility remains constant, as it should.

In contrast, the clever, sinister and calculating criminal uses intellect efficiently to execute his crime and avoid detection. But the difference between the two is only the manner and degree to which the intellect is affected or utilized, the source of the crime (the heart) remains the same. The intellect is not the receptacle of motive - the soul, animated by the sin nature, is. Criminal profiling that focuses only on the psychology and thought patterns of the criminal mind will never be complete or find the last answer to the last question, because it does not acknowledge or correctly analyze the source of crime, which is the sin nature. “Who would do such a thing?” The answer is all of us, if given the right internal subjective experience, circumstances and motivations.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:
who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Faith, feelings/emotions, the will, integrity, morality, the capacity for evil; love and hate, all inhabit the human soul together. This realization gives a whole new meaning to the question ‘who can know it?’ The answer is that there is only one who can truly know it - God. Psychology, psychotherapy and behavioral science that denies or ignores the spiritual component is grossly incomplete. Many behaviorists claim that man has no soul, that he is just another biological organism - an animal. Of course, man has the potential to act like an animal - a predator. In fact, the human predator is the most depraved expression of the sin nature.

Behaviorism (Pavlov, Skinner, Watson, et al) has greatly fueled the moral decline in America. Unfortunately, if we convince men that they are mere animals, they are much more likely to act like animals. After all, if he is a mere animal; a mere instinctive biological organism, how can he be faulted for acting like one? Behaviorism has also greatly furthered the purposes of those seeking greater control of the people (convincing men that they are the equivalent of mere cows, makes them easier to herd). An ignorant and immoral people cannot long remain a free people.

The question has been asked: Are criminals born or made? The answer: Both. As discussed earlier, every human being is born with a natural tendency toward evil. We must be taught and disciplined to do right, it doesn’t come naturally. The Bible says that “a child left to himself brings his mother to shame” (Proverbs 29:15). It can rightly be said that the family is the most important institution ordained by God. An overly permissive and/or dysfunctional home where children are not properly rewarded for doing right, and corrected for doing wrong, can and does ‘make’ a criminal. However, the environmental factor never, ever, relieves of personal responsibility.

But environment is a factor. A dysfunctional, permissive or abusive childhood environment combines with the natural tendency of the human being toward evil and creates an almost insurmountable bent toward sin and criminal inclination. Proponents who dogmatically claim the cause is all environment, and those who claim that a criminal is born that way, are both right - but incomplete.

Only a minuscule number of criminals are genuinely ‘insane’. The very presence of evasion and/or deceit proves sanity - in terms of knowing right from wrong. Deceit equals sanity. If the individual is genuinely unaware of the difference between right and wrong, deceit will be absent. It really is that simple. Compulsion, even if it becomes uncontrollable, is not insanity. However, compulsion can become so strong that it is able to overpower the human will. But that is not insanity and never relieves of personal responsibility.

The smoker did not start out addicted to nicotine. He did not even become addicted after the first, second or even 50th cigarette. During consumption of the first few packs, he could have put them down and left them alone with little or no trouble. He controlled the compulsion. However, as the smoking continued, his ability to control the compulsion imperceptibly, gradually weakened. Finally, the compulsion controls him. Evil compulsion is a function of the sin nature. Sin deceives men into thinking that they can control it. But the human nature, separated from God, is powerless against the serpent of sin. This compulsion, even if it becomes uncontrollable, is not insanity. Absolute personal responsibility remains intact, because the person chose to take that first cigarette. The alcoholic who kills someone in an automobile accident may not even remember it. But he is still 100 percent personally responsible, because he chose to take the first drink. Sin deceives man into believing that he can sample its pleasures while avoiding sins consequences. Sin brings human beings into bondage to the serpent.

God created man as a reflection of God’s own nature. Man is not God, but is God’s highest creation. Eve was deceived by the serpent (the serpent was animated by Satan), and sinned. For a detailed understanding of the means by which the serpent deceived Eve, and the specific dangers of psychotherapy and hypnotic techniques, follow this link. Eve saw that the fruit was ‘a tree to be desired to make one wise’. She ate, gave it to Adam and he sinned also. “And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked;...” (Genesis 3:7). Thus sin, and the resulting guilt and shame, entered the world. The fruit was not an apple. The ‘fruit’ was the tempting pleasure of sin (disobedience to God) presented by the serpent in such a way as to deceptively hide the consequences of ‘eating’ that fruit. Eve was tempted by the ‘lure’ of sin (the pleasures of the forbidden), while the consequences were craftily hidden by the serpent. The means by which the serpent deceived was, quite literally, hypnotism and powerful suggestion. The serpents tactics remain unchanged.

Adam and Eve were originally created with a human nature coupled with God’s nature. The sin nature of the serpent was absent. They were, in a very real sense, as innocent as little children (it can be rightly said, that the first crime committed against mankind was child abuse - the serpent is a scumbag)(The Solution to the Cyle of Child Abuse). When they sinned, God, because of His perfect holiness and justice, was compelled to withdraw His nature. They willingly chose to make the serpent their master and took on his nature in response to the serpents offered reward - which turned out to be the first con in history.

Instead of becoming ‘as gods’ like they were promised, they in reality were conned into forfeiting their relationship with God and were forced to take on the nature of the serpent (Satan). The Devil did not make them do it, they believed Satan’s lie and chose to do it. Sin entered the world. The seed (Adam) of the whole human race was polluted by sin. Every criminal act committed today is based on the same premiss - a perceived reward for sin, which turns out to be a raw deal - and ultimately leads to eternal consequences.

Compounding the problem was the fact that God’s holiness not only required His separation from the first couple, along with their expulsion from the Garden, but His perfect Justice also demanded a penalty. God had the raw power to simply reverse the problem, but His perfect Justice could not allow it. Just as an earthly judge has the raw power to set a criminal free (a decision, if unjust, that can be overturned by a higher judge), the judge cannot do so because the law requires a specific sentence to be imposed. God is the final judge, and cannot be overruled. God’s justice is perfect and incorruptible. Justice originates with God. Where did you think it came from - the ‘big bang’ or evolution?

The penalty required by God for sin - was blood. Before the fall, the life of mans body was God’s Spirit, which permeated man. After the fall, God was forced to remove His Spirit and nature. The replacement was the blood. The life of the body is in the blood, which in its very make up is a type and symbol of the Spirit. So, God passed sentence, and the sentence was death. Eternal separation from God, first during physical life, and then eternity in Hell. God’s holiness and justice demanded that the only way the sin of mankind could be remitted, was by the shedding of blood. “...without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

But, God’s holiness demanded that it could not be just any blood. First, since it was man who had sinned, it had to be mans blood. Second, the blood had to be pure and spotless, untainted by sin. This created an impossible situation for man, because the original seed and fountainhead of the human race was corrupted by sin, dooming the whole race to be born polluted by original sin. We can spend every waking moment of our lives doing ‘good deeds’ and still spend eternity in hell because good deeds cannot remove original sin - and the good deeds themselves are tainted by that same original sin (this is why so much evil has been done in the name of ‘religion’. Ceremony and religious works do not change the sin nature). The very first crime in history - doomed the entire human race.

But wait. God is perfect in justice and holiness, but He is also perfect in love, mercy and grace. Even as God pronounced sentence, He revealed the means by which He would Himself pay the penalty for sin. Speaking to the serpent, God said: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed (sinful men) and her seed (Christ): it (the seed, Christ) shall bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel (the Cross)” (Genesis 3:15).

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins (a type of the innocent sacrifice, Christ, who was to come), and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). “...Cain brought the fruit of the ground (the result of his own religious effort) as an offering to the Lord...And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock (an innocent sacrifice, and type of Christ)...and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering He (the Lord) had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell...And Cain quarreled with Abel his brother...rose up against Abel his brother, and slew (murdered) him (the very first murder was motivated by religious anger, jealousy and hate)” (Genesis 4:3,4,5,8). And as is obvious daily on our TV screens, religious hate is with us still.

Man was doomed. But God, in His mercy, love and grace, became a man (Immanuel, God with us), lived a pure, spotless, perfect, sinless life and gave himself for us on the Cross. Jesus was completely human, but with no sin nature; born of God through a virgin, and therefore not tainted by the seed of sin passed on through the human father. God became a man and paid the price that it was impossible for us to pay. Just as Abraham said, “...God will provide Himself a lamb...” (Genesis 22:8).

After Adam and Eve had sinned, they were confronted by God: “And they heard the voice of the Lord God...and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God...And the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, Where are you? And he (Adam) said...I was afraid...and I hid myself. And he (God) said...Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded that you should not eat?” (Genesis 3:8-11). Notice two things here. First, they hid themselves from the Lord because they were afraid. Why did they hide? What were they afraid of? They hid themselves because they were afraid of the consequences of their sin; they were in denial. Second, notice that the Lord addressed Adam first.

“And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat...(Adam blamed the woman whom God gave him; the very first case of passing the buck - sound familiar?)...And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? (Adam thinks ‘whew, I got out of that one’) And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat (Eve blames the serpent - the second case of passing the buck). And the Lord God said to the serpent (Eve thinks ‘whew, got out of that one’ and both think they are off the hook), Because you have done this, you are cursed...”(God holds the serpent, Satan, accountable first)(Genesis 3:13-14). In verse 15, God gives His plan of salvation for mankind, before He passed sentence on Adam and Eve. And then God turns back to Adam and Eve: “Unto the woman he said...(Eve thinks, ‘Uh-Oh’)...And unto Adam he said...(Adam thinks ‘Uh-Oh’) (Genesis 3:16-17). God held each one of them personally responsible.

If Eve would have rejected the serpents’ offer, only the serpent would have been cursed. If Adam would have refused to take the fruit, it would have only been Eve and the serpent in hot water. Notice the progression of the sin; from the serpent to Eve to Adam. When God confronts them, He addresses; Adam, to Eve, to the serpent. And when God imposes the penalty; the serpent, to Eve, to Adam. So what’s the point of all this? God started with Adam and ended with Adam. The Lord used one verse to pass sentence on the serpent (v14), one verse to pass sentence on the woman (v16), but three verses to pass sentence on Adam (vs17-19). What husband, at one time or another, hasn’t looked heaven-ward and said: “Lord, that woman that you gave me.” Sorry guys, the buck starts, and stops, with us. Be a man, and stop blaming the devil and women for your problems...

We wonder at times how a criminal mind can stubbornly keep the shield of deception, denial and dissociation in place - even when the truth has made it transparent to all but themselves. It is the very essence of denial - and it is the nature of the serpent (attempting to claim victory in the face of checkmate).

Any attempt to solve the crime problem that ignores Christ is futile and will, in the end, leave us asking ourselves ‘where in the world are we’? In fact, the first question God asked man after the Fall was: "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9). Only God holds the answer to this question. The reality is that as long as human beings have a sin nature and a choice, job security for those in law enforcement is assured. Crime has always existed, but in recent decades in America, has escalated both in terms of quantity and brutality. Why? The crime rate has risen in direct proportion to the rate at which America has abandoned her Christian heritage and precepts. The genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only power that can subdue mans sinful nature. Abandon Christ, and we abandon all hope of reducing crime. Our attempts to find the last answer to the last question, will only find us: “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

One can hardly blame some who are jaded and skeptical at the mention of love, through faith in Christ, as the answer. Many of the most horrific crimes and atrocities both today and historically have been committed in the name of ‘religion’ (does the name Koresh ring a bell?). We have seen self-proclaimed ‘prophets’ on T.V. (who are nothing more than deluded idiots) and the jailhouse ‘religionist’ who carries the Bible as long as it is useful to fool the system; promptly tossing it in the nearest trash can upon exiting the jailhouse.

On one detective program, an obviously deranged man was drowning out an investigators questions (regarding a child the man murdered) by singing ‘Jesus loves the little children’! Madness - not insanity - but a judicial madness imposed by God upon those who refuse to repent of sin. After witnessing such things, skepticism is understandable. But amidst all the buffoonery and madness, the genuine article does exist. The deranged man also sang the Christian song “Oh, how impatient he must be, He’s still working on me”. Let’s discuss several possibilities at this point.

I attempted to objectively evaluate the possibilities. From what I could determine from the man’s behavior and definite knowledge of Christian hymns, there are several possibilities. First, two points need to be made. 1.) The is a very real spirit world of good and evil. Good and evil; God and Satan, are real. The relationship between God and Satan is much like that of a perfect, flawless chess master (God) being stubbornly and stupidly challenged by an arrogant, narcist, amateur consumed by pride and self deception (not surprisingly, the very same characteristics consistently displayed by criminals - it is the nature of the serpent). But don’t bet on the dragon!

The chess game is no contest. The master need not even break a sweat or worry Himself in the least. The dragon may appear to win a few battles, but the serpent will lose the war - his defeat is certain. Yet, prideful, deluded fool that he is, the serpent actually believes he will win. The master will beat the dragon in a manner most painful and humiliating. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). But He is also a God of wrath: “With the pure you will show yourself pure; and with the froward you will show yourself froward (get ‘uppity’ and defiant with God - and He is well able to get ‘uppity’ right back) ” (Psalms 18:26). Those who set themselves as God’s sworn enemies - are in for one extremely sound, painful, prolonged, humiliating, torturous beating.

The prideful fool thought that he could dethrone God and take God’s place: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer...For you said in your heart, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God...I will be like the most High (the devil wanted to be ‘God’)...yet you will be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit...” (Isaiah 14:12-15). And in Ezekiel, God asks the dragon if he will still claim to be ‘God’ when the master finally destroys him: “Will you still be saying to him who slays you, I am God?” (Ezekiel 28:9). Don’t bet on the dragon.

2.) All sin must be dealt with - even in the life of a born again Christian. The born again experience, while it is the greatest event that can ever take place in ones life, is not an end in itself - but a beginning. The legal position of the Believer is perfect before God because of Christ - but the condition certainly isn’t. Many ungodly things in the life of a Christian simply fall away after conversion - but some do not. This is because human beings are fallen creatures with very complex, individual, subjective internal histories and free moral agency (free will), which is never overpowered by God. We cannot truly choose to love and obey God if the free choice to also disobey is not present.

The sanctification process is the process by which God restores His original image in us. It is a step-by-step, issue-by-issue, highly individual, life-long process. It works like this. First, as soon as sincere faith is placed in Christ, God legally declares the Believers position perfect and slams down a protective spiritual hedge around His newest child. The serpent does not get through unless God allows it. The persons own stupidity and ignorance can cause them some problems, but the Lord is generally very gracious here also if the Believer is sincere. The Lord then goes to work on the Believers condition. School days begin. The Lord begins at the first lesson, as He wills, and works on that lesson until it is learned. He is loving, kind and never grows impatient.

The Lord will allow the protective hedge to be slightly lifted at times - for a purpose (read the book of Job). The temptation or test is a tool God uses to draw our attention to an area He wants to change. He intends it to strengthen our faith and dependence on Him (self reliance is a no-no). Now, the serpent hopes to use the temptation, that God is allowing him to execute, as a tool to destroy faith and cause sin and destruction. The Lord uses the serpent as a very controlled tool to drive us closer to Christ; intending for us to run to the Cross. (It’s the ‘religious crutch’ - that works.) The results (pass or fail; victory or defeat) will be determined by how the Believer responds to the test.

There are a number of possible responses. If a person is truly saved, the Believer will not want to sin, and will see the desperate need to be rid of the sin. But the manner and means the Believer attempts to employ in order to be rid of the sin is as important as seeing the need to be rid of it. If the Believer rejects the sin (the lure is refused), the serpent will go to plan ‘B’, which is to try and steer the Believer into any kind of self reliance. If he can deceive the Believer into relying on himself, and not Christ, to beat the sin, the person will eventually lose the struggle.

The serpent is no match for God. But man, alone, is no match for the dragon. Self reliance is the same mistake Cain made - and God will ‘not have respect unto the sacrifice’. God does not change - it is we who must approach Him correctly - for everything. It’s God’s way or the hell way. A Believer can be placing all confidence in what Christ did for them on the Cross for salvation - and be truly saved - yet be approaching God wrongly for victory in day-to-day living. The world respects and applauds those who are fiercely self reliant. But self reliance stinks in God’s nostrils. He is God, and all created things owe their very existence to Him. That’s the way it is. Don’t like it? Take it up with Him (but I wouldn’t get ‘uppity’ if I were you). Only total and complete reliance on Christ and His atonement on the Cross will bring victory.

Lastly, a Believer can yield to the enticements and pleasures of sin. God intended certain things to be pleasurable, but also dictated certain confines. Greed, lust, hate, jealousy, pride, power, control, love of money and envy are just a few examples of ‘enticements’. If the Believer chooses to keep the sin and is unwilling to change - it is a dangerous place to be. The Lord is patient, kind and longsuffering, but Christ came to save from sin - not in sin. The Believer who stubbornly holds to sin can expect chastisement and correction of increasing intensity until repentance is forthcoming.

The Lord is patient, loving and will go to great lengths to try and steer the Believer in the right direction. But He will never overrule free will. If there is a continual refusal to repent, the heart will grow increasingly hard to the Lords dealings. There will eventually come a point, determined solely by the Lord, that the person will be turned over to what they desire and the Lord will leave (just like in the Garden). They become what scripture calls - cursed children. The Believer at this point forfeits salvation in favor of the sin. We can’t have both!

This hardening of the heart is a judicial hardening, eventually leading to a sort of madness, imposed by God upon those who stubbornly attempt to hold to Christ with one hand and sin with the other (read the Biblical account of Saul). All sin must be dealt with. Yes, Christian, you are indeed a ‘Kings Kid’, true enough; a child of God. The Lord watches over us and minutely avenges those who mistreat us. But with the privilege comes great responsibility. God tolerates sin in our lives even less than He does those who are outside of Christ. The Lord loves us - but also requires something of us.

So, what about individuals who commit horrible crimes, later repent and turn to Christ and have their lives and souls transformed? There is no simple answer. The Lord is sovereign. The kings heart is in the Lord’s hand and God ultimately decides. But, as a general rule, the Lord seldom removes the consequences of an individuals actions. There is a law of sowing and reaping: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows (plants), that shall he also reap (harvest)” (Galatians 6:7).

The Lord will forgive anyone who turns to Christ in humble contrition. The penalty for sin was paid by Christ on the Cross, and all who place their faith in Christ will spend eternity in heaven. God remembers their sin no more. But the penalty is different than the consequences. Christ came to remove original sin. But the consequences are still evident. Sin is serious business - not the joke that some make it. A death row inmate who converts to Christ, as a general rule, still must die. I think the Lord makes very few exceptions.

However, the offense of the Cross is this: All of us must forsake bitterness, hate, and also turn to Christ for salvation - or spend eternity in Hell. This truth tends to provoke indignation - it is the offense of the Cross. The assertion is not meant to be mean or unkind, but it is the truth. God has ordained government to execute His Justice impartially. But God reserves the execution of vengeance (revenge) or forgiveness for Himself alone: “...vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay, says the Lord...” (Hebrews 10:30). God ordains government to execute and administer His wrath, but prohibits personal revenge and/or hatred. A crime is first and foremost an offense against God. If men learn to fear God, the golden rule becomes a foregone conclusion.

There is a true, genuine, sincere, life-changing Christian faith and born again experience. When we accept, by faith, the lamb that God provided (Jesus), God can then legally re-implant His nature back into the believing sinner. It is called being “Born Again” (John 3:3). In response to sincere faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, God legally declares the believers position and standing before Him as perfect. Not because the Believers performance or condition is perfect, but because of faith in God’s provision of the perfect lamb (Jesus). Christ can take a life that has been wrecked, rebuild and transform it, even as the consequences of past sin are endured. This is true for victims and criminals alike. The free gift is available to all. God is no respecter of persons.

After declaring the believers position perfect (justification by faith), God the Holy Spirit then goes to work on the believers condition in order to bring it ever closer to their position. This is called the sanctification process in scripture. It is the process by which God restores and rebuilds His image in men as originally created. It is God’s ‘behavior modification’ model - and it is the only model that will work.

The born again Christian, then, has a human nature, God’s nature, and the sin nature. The sin nature is part of this fallen physical body and will not be done away with until physical death or the resurrection. But God intends for the sin nature, the factory of sin, to be shut down and rendered inoperative by the power of His Spirit, which dwells in the believer. And here is where many Christians miss the mark. They do not realize that it is God’s Spirit that transforms and restores His image (the character of Christ) in them. We can have faith Christ for salvation, but yet still be relying on our own self-religious effort for sanctification. It is God’s power that subdues sin - not ours.

This is the primary cause of moral failure in the life of the Christian. They can be sincerely saved and sincerely trying with all their might to live for God. But if they are relying on their self effort in any way to sanctify themselves, God will not ‘have respect unto their sacrifice’. If we can, through ourselves, restore ourselves to the original creation model and subdue sin, then why did Jesus go to the Cross for us? It is all of His Spirit. All of our faith and reliance must be in Christ. “Not by (our) might, nor by (our) power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:7).

Friend, this is the truth. If you have read this far - your accountable to God for it. If we break just one of God’s laws, one time, we are guilty of breaking all of them: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Ignorance is no more an excuse in God’s Court than it is in mans. But those who have heard, and still refuse Christ, will receive the stricter judgement. Mock the struggling Christian and tele-evangelists if you choose. It is true that “...judgement must begin at the house of God:”. But don’t ignore the rest of that verse: “...and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of those who obey not the Gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).

“And do you think this, O man, that judge them which do such things (break God’s law), and yourself do the same things (are a lawbreaker yourself), that you will escape the judgement of God?” (Romans 2:3). There are degrees of torment in Hell, and degrees of glory and joy in Heaven. God will render to each of us according to His Justice (law and wrath) - or His Mercy (Christ). Each of us has a choice. The same choice Adam and Eve had. We are individually accountable and responsible to God, and, apart from Christ, there is no escape. “...it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27).

Now, with all that said, getting back to the deranged man, there are several possibilities for his spiritual condition, God alone is the final judge of that. And make no mistake, a persons spiritual condition is the root cause of all outward manifestations of behavior, whether good or bad. It is possible that the man, at some point, had known Christ as savior, and, for the reasons discussed previously, the Lord turned him over to his sin. Secondly, the man could have simply become mentally deranged. The lowest depths of sin bring on a very real madness. I did not say insanity. The very presence of deceit proves sanity - at least in terms of the person knowing right from wrong.

Lastly, it is very possible that the man was demon possessed, or at least oppressed. The Biblical account of Saul is an excellent example of this. The serpent is a blasphemer. Any time the name of Christ is used in defense of sin - it is the highest form of blasphemy and demon spirits are involved. Some may scoff or condescend, but frankly, I couldn’t care less. We have all seen enough very real paranormal phenomena, documented right on our own TV screens (non-fiction), to put an end to the question of whether or not the spirit world is real.

God commanded Adam, plainly and unmistakably: “But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it: for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die (be immediately separated from God during physical life, and, after physical death, remain separated from God in Hell)” (Genesis 2:17). God did not create Hell for man. Hell was created for the serpent: “...everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

The serpent called God a liar: “And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (the serpent called God a liar and impugned God’s motives...)” (Genesis 3:4-5). The serpent promised: “...you shall be as gods...”, and men have been trying to ‘play God’ ever since. The serpent, in essence, was telling Eve: “If you choose to eat the fruit of my nature (sin), you will be gods (the lure of power), just like me. Come on, isn’t it heady, desirable and intoxicating? Look at the pleasure and power you can have.” Like a venomous Cobra stalking it’s prey, the serpent mesmerizes.

And the serpent deceives every human being in the exact same way today. The prideful fool could not checkmate God, so he tried to get to God through God’s children. Like I said - the serpent is a scumbag. And if he cannot lure into disobedience to God - he will try and intimidate into disobedience. How so? Every single human being since the Fall of Man is/was born with the nature of the serpent. As I stated previously, the ‘fruit’ is only a matter of degree. And the serpent has persecuted God’s children from the beginning - it is his nature to do so.

Suppose I say to you: “You are a sinner, with the nature of the serpent in you. And you cannot do anything to change that fact.” What’s your response? Perhaps you get indignant and reply: “Hold on a minute! I’m a good person, not an evil person! Yeah, alright, I may have done some things wrong, but it was for a good reason (mostly), and, besides, I’m not as evil as that person - I’ve never...”. So, we admit we have the ‘knowledge of good and evil’. But what’s the criteria? Who defines good and evil? In fact, ever single person has a slightly different view on what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’. And, something might be considered ‘bad’ under one set of circumstances and ‘good’ under another, and this varies with each person. It’s called situational ethics - and it’s also the nature of the serpent.

For those who have watched the movie The Devils Advocate, the moral of the story was: if the serpent cannot lure with lust, greed or power, he will use pride, self righteousness and ‘goodness’. The tree of the knowledge of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ has no genuine good in it. Both the ‘good’ and ‘evil’ fruit - are evil. Why? Because neither originated in God. The good side of the tree is a false 'goodness that leaves our Creator out of the equasion. God is Good. It is God who defines good; not you, not me - and certainly not the serpent. And God has revealed Himself to mankind through His Word; the Bible. It really is that simple.

It is God who says to all of us: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 8:23). It is God who calls us all sinners. Now, anyone has the choice to get ‘uppity’ with God and disagree - but I don’t recommend it. And it is God who says that there is only one hope for acquittal in His Court, on That Day. Jesus (God in human form) said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Plain, and unmistakable.

Jesus really does love every single human being. It was love that created man, and God’s love redeemed the human race. God’s justice demands that His wrath must fall on all sin, the serpent knew this. The serpent understood God’s justice - and attempted to use it to destroy God’s highest creation - you and I. But the serpent never counted on God’s love and mercy. He could not, for love and mercy are not his nature. When Jesus Christ (God in human form) died on that old rugged Cross and said: “It is finished”. God said to the serpent: “CHECKMATE”. Don’t bet on the dragon - he has already lost. All that God requires is faith in what His Son, Jesus Christ, accomplished for you on the Cross. That’s it. It’s as simple as that. But if Christ is rejected as savior now, He will be faced later as judge. All sin must be dealt with. Reject God’s Grace, and the only thing left is God’s law - and wrath. God is moral absolute - and He don’t change.

“Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind (like I said, the Lord loves you - but He don’t change), for menstealers (kidnappers), for liars (even little white ones), for perjured persons...” (I Timothy 1:9-10).

“Whoso(ever) sheds mans blood (premeditated murder), by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man” (Genesis 9:6). “...he that murders a man, he shall be put to death” (Lev. 24:21). Notice that God made no ‘insanity’ provision. Plain, and unmistakable. The death penalty should be the only sentence for premeditated murder in every state and at the federal level. One appeal, 12 months maximum. Period. Forensic Science is so advanced today that false convictions are extremely rare. If there is a wrongful death penalty imposed and executed, it is statistically far more likely for it to be the result of evidence tampering, and, since that is premeditated murder - the perpetrator(s) would face the same fate as the wrongfully executed. It is as simple as that. The Lord does not make His will obscure or hard to decipher - but it is difficult for sinful man to simply accept and obey what God plainly says.

A commonly phrased question asked today, particularly by therapists, is ‘How do you feel’ about it. A whole generation has been brought up with the philosophy that says ‘If it feels good - do it’. Feelings/emotions/passions are fluid, unreliable and potentially destructive. We may feel one way about something one day, and feel another way about the same thing the next day. For example, an all-too-common reply when a teenager is asked to take out the trash is: ‘I don’t feel like it right now’. I usually reply: ‘Yeah, and I don’t feel like making payroll this week on allowance day’. Like I said, ‘feelings’ can change dramatically in a moment.

Feelings and emotions are part of our humanity. But how we feel about something is far less important than what we believe about it. If a teenager believes that he can take out the trash whenever he ‘feels’ like it and still receive his allowance, the results will be undisciplined chaos (not to mention a smelly kitchen). Alternatively, if he believes that failure to take out the trash when necessary will result in a dock in pay, how he feels suddenly becomes irrelevant and subject to belief. If we believe in moral absolutes (and we should), then feelings are subject to moral conviction and belief. Faith is a matter of the heart, not the intellect. Faith resides in the soul, not the intellect.

“And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love”(I Corinthians 13:13). And through faith in Christ “...the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us” (Romans 5:5). “Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). So, it comes down to an individual choice. A much more complex choice, however, than simply whether or not to commit a specific act. Behavior, one way or the other, is merely the outcome. In the end, what we choose to do with Christ is the final question and answer. The person with criminal inclinations who rejects Christ, has only one option left - law and wrath. And, while physical life remains, that’s where government and law enforcement comes in.

Law enforcement does not fight crime in the truest sense, it fights the outward manifestations of crime. Crime does not begin with behavior, behavior is the final product. Crime/sin begins in the inner being/sin nature. In order to fight crime at its source, we must shut down the factory of the sin nature that produces the behavior. There are only two ways this can be accomplished: 1.) Death or 2.) The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have nothing but respect for the brave, honest men and women of law enforcement. They are on the front lines and are the difference between law and order and anarchy. But I don't think it is beneficial investigators or therapists to use manipulation, deception, suggestion or even hypnotic techniques during investigations or interrogation; it is the equivalent of the ‘fox trying to outfox the fox’. As demonstrated earlier, hypnotic techniques and powerful suggestion are serpentine tactics, ultimately spiritual in nature, with the potential to do great damage to innocent persons. Powerful suggestion, hypnotic induction and psychological techniques can do severe harm to the emotionally or psychologically weak, particularly distasteful if the subject is innocent, but in any case wrong. Deceit should not be opposed with greater deceit, deceit is ultimately defeated by truth.

The recidivism rate of the U.S. prison population is approximately 75%. While the recidivism rate of the faith-based ministries (those ministries which have as their fundamental premiss that the problem is sin, and the only solution is faith in Jesus Christ) is reliably placed at 15.6%. Aren't faith based solutions worth a second look?

Psychology and Behavior Modification do not cure the inner evil of the heart. In fact, it is impossible for these man-devised methods to do so - only the power of God through faith in Christ can deliver from inner evil. The Mental health professionals are correct in saying that there is no ‘cure’ for crime, in so far that their methods are powerless to change ones inner bent toward evil. The issue, however, is not that there is no cure, but rather that the profession rejects the only cure that will truly work!

New, emerging areas of psychotherapy present a very real danger to the soul of man and the faith of the Christian. The word psyche means soul. Certain new types of experimental treatments which integrate elements of hypnosis into counseling without the knowledge or consent of the subject present a very real problem and danger.

A technique called Indirect Hypnotherapy, developed by Milton Erickson, embeds elements of hypnotic suggestion into counseling sessions without the subjects knowledge or consent. The lack of consensus on how hypnotic psychotherapy actually works, and the lack of generally accepted theory to explain either psychologically or physiologically what is taking place in the human psyche (soul), has caused grave concern about the potential for unethical use. It is generally accepted, however, that hypnosis is characterized by a reduction in the ability to think rationally, narrowing of attention, reduced rational criticalness, and a marked increase in susceptibility and response to suggestion.

According to Dr. J. Meerloo, Psychiatric Consultant to the Amsterdam Municipal Health Service “...the subconscious mind under the influence of hypnosis has difficulty with epistemological thought and ethical discernment. The act of suicide, especially can be suggested...I call this criminal suggestive strategy psychic homicide...” (Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, p. 318). Murder by suicide. Powerful psychotherapy and hypnotic techniques, once mastered, can be very dangerous if employed unethically. Particularly at risk are the emotionally and psychologically weak. This is one reason why God prohibits their use. We are commanded by scripture to understand evil - but never participate in it.

WARNING: If used maliciously or unethically on an unknowing subject without their consent, the treatment model can be designed to covertly stimulate negative behavioral responses (by using the stimuli/suggestion to provoke negative thoughts, feelings, perceptions, fears, and negative imagination/emotional focuses, which can result in negative behavioral responses, or even suicide, without the subject ever knowing or understanding what is happening to them). Thankfully, for Christians: “Greater is He that is within you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4). These Satanic, suggestive mind control techniques are contrary to the Christian Faith, a violation of Biblical Commands prohibiting sorcery/divination and thus a violation of Christian Conscience. Not to mention a gross violation of basic human rights and religious liberty.

There is currently no legal definition for hypnosis. All psychotherapy incorporates elements of hypnotic suggestion and induction techniques. This needs to be addressed by the Justice System. Ericksonian hypnotic psychotherapy techniques (such as those taught by the New England Institute of Neuro Linguistic Programming) involve elements of serpentine mind control and should be specifically defined and banned.

NLP institutes (such as the New England Institute of Neuro Linguistic Programming) are clearly New Age centers. The following books are suggested reading and strongly express New Age mind control techniques. Mind control is not, and should not ever, be employed as behavior modification. Here are some of the most popular titles: Frogs into Princes, Magic Demystified, Meta-Cation, Reframing, Practical Magic, Patterns of Hypnotic Techniques, Trance Formations, and Therapeutic Metaphors.

Franz A. Mesmer (1734-1815), an Austrian, appears to have been the first to widely introduce hypnotism to modern Western Civilization. In the late 1700s, he claimed the power to heal people with "animal magnetism." In fact, he did a variety of very strange things, which no one could explain. But it was also true that some of his patients, who were well beforehand, became seriously ill afterward. Soon his method became known as "mesmerism. " Later still, it become known as hypnotism or hypnosis.

Some hypnotists have diagnosed and "healed" people at a distance of hundreds of miles. In the late 1700s, John Graham led out in introducing it into England, Marquis de Puysegur in France, and Elisha Perkins in the American colonies. James Esdaile, an English doctor working in India, used hypnotism as an anesthetic, and performed 261 major operations on people he had put into a hypnotic stupor.

Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893) was a leading French hypnotist of a century ago. Alfred Binet and Sigmund Freud were two of his famous students. Freud developed his early theories by studying people who were hypnotized. In this way. he could receive information directly from spirit guides; the information that later formed his theories which are today called Freudian psychology. Today, hypnosis is used in hospitals for major surgery, in dental offices during drilling and pulling of teeth, and by educational counselors, industrial specialists, and family workers. Hypnosis seems to be reaching out into nearly every sector of society. And now it is coming into the churches.

“Ericksonian hypnosis is able to embed therapeutic interventions in a seemingly casual conversation, not to mention adding music, and multiple voices to further the effect. Dr. Erickson developed a style of hypnosis that is ‘gentle, open-ended, and indirect.’”

Covert hypnotic activity with overt results: steal thy hypnotic techniques, carried out without the patient realizing he is being hypnotized. A study of the hypnotic personality-changing techniques.

Dr. Milton H. Erickson was a careful researcher into advanced techniques of hypnotism. He specialized in the study of that type of hypnosis, which could be used with out the client knowing he was being hypnotized. Milton determined that the use of such "covert," as he called them, techniques would result in far more successful patient manipulation and mind-conditioning.

“ERICKSONIAN HYPNOSIS, also called the new hypnosis, is based on the pioneering work of Dr. Milton H. Erickson. This style of hypnosis, is gentle, open-ended, and indirect. The hypnotic messages and suggestions are offered in a way that evokes powerful unconscious resources, yet is respectful of your individuality.” Advertisement brochure for Changeworks Cassettes.

A number of sales organizations are making money by selling aspects of Erickson's hypnotic methods, known as Ericksonian hypnosis. This includes, among others, (1) Change works Cassettes of California; (2) LEAD Consultant's LAB courses, based in Ohio; and (3) New England Institute for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, In Massachusetts. They are apparently franchised to use Erickson's hypnotic techniques through the Milton Eric son Foundation, based in Arizona, which provides the field with ongoing research update reports and lecture seminars. In fact, there are enough of these Ericksonian promotional sales organizations in the field, that a professional association has even been established. Entitled, The National Association for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, it helps coordinate inter-organizational activities and communication interchange.

Because all these Ericksonian franchise firms are heavily based on the same hypnotic conceptual approaches. “Multi-Evocation cassettes are so effective because of new and unique methods of learning. Each tape features: ERICKSONIAN HYPNOSIS, also called the new hypnosis, based on the pioneering work of Dr. Milton H. Erickson. This style of hypnosis, is gentle, open-ended, and indirect. The hypnotic messages and suggestions are offered in a way that evokes powerful unconscious resources, yet is respectful of your individuality.” You will only see the full implications of what LEAD teaches when we study the books listed previously.

Here is what you will learn by taking one of the LEAD courses:

“Know much more about how other people learn, store, access, and use their human experiences by just observing their behavior... Know the effect your presence and conversation is having on others by learning to read the non-verbal feedback they are constantly sending.”

For one introductory workshop students are taught the following:

* Principles of Neuro-Linguistics: understanding the research, rationale, history and state-of-the-art of the (NLP) field.

* Rapport skills: body mirroring, voice and tonal matching, postural, gestural and facial positions and other useful techniques to develop and keep rapport, including pacing and leading.

* Sensory acuity: learning to notice and monitor the external ‘beamers' accompanying another person's changing internal experiences.

* Representational systems: the way in which people internally represent the experiences of their lives. Also, the student learns to translate experiences expressed through one modality to another to greatly increase understanding and rapport.

* Predicates: identifying and matching the most used sensory-based process words for purposes of insuring rapport and understanding.

* Meta model: learning the language patterns upon which Neuro-Linguistics is based, enabling you to detect and challenge the generalizations, distortions and deletions which so often lead to mis-communication, assisting you to transform low quality verbal 'maps' into high quality descriptions.

* Behavioral flexibility: creating and maintaining flexible personal approaches to problems and challenges in order to more systematically and consistently produce additional choices and options.

* Anchoring: establishing triggers for responses (pairing one thing with another) to increase one's choices for positive experiences and stronger resources.

* Accessing cues: noticing how people represent, experience, and access information they have learned, and systematically using these accessing cues to bridge to better communication."-LEAD brochure.

Advanced training from LEAD includes the following instruction:

“Hemispheric lateralization: . . Outcomes: . . Utilization: . . Calibration: enhancing people-reading skills. . Fast phobia cure: . . Reframing: choosing the most beneficial perception of experiences from among the many possi ble interpretations, and reframing problematic behaviors and responses. . This (reframing) makes possible separation of a person from behavior, thus validating the person while choosing new approaches to their problem behaviors:” -LEAD brochure.

“Satire categories: learning to recognize another type of language pattern. Metaphors: using language in multi level fashion to maximally produce desired outcomes. Incongruence: . . Identifying and changing 'calibrated loops' that lock in un-useful behavior. Polarities: . . Hypnosis: studying therapeutic language patterns in the Ericksonian mode, known as the Milton-Model, or the inverse of the Meta-Model. Self-hypnosis: learning to use personal trance for growth, learning, creativity, problem resolution and healing.” -LEAD brochure.

As you might guess, the term meta appears to be a code word for reaching, what the NLP practitioners call, the unconscious. Sigmund Freud would have labeled it the “subconscious.” As we continue, you will note that those dealing with NLP are far more concerned with reaching and affecting the meta-mind (subconscious mind), than the reasoning, judging mind. And they explain why: it provides them with something of a sneak attack on the brain, enabling changed beliefs, motives, standards, likes, and dislikes to be more easily instilled in the mind.

“Sub-modality distinctions: learning to determine the various chunked-down elements in representation experience. Key Criteria: discerning a person's internal set of criteria by which that person makes key judgments, decisions and choices. Interventions: based on sub-modality distinctions to bring about more helpful, healthy adaptations. Interventions include working with a person's core beliefs. Language: directing your language to have maximum effect and impact upon the person or situation at hand in terms of altering sub-modalities usefully. Strategies: eliciting, marking and working with the sequences of activities in a person's representational systems that have become functional units of behavior.” -LEAD brochure.

New England Institute for NLP:

Sub-modalities" and "intervention" are two other frequently-found words in the NLP vocabulary. The first means the "unconscious;" the second means to reach down into the unconscious and make changes in it, thus changing both the feelings, objectives, and conclusions of both the unconscious and conscious mind. Please do not think that the persons taking these training courses only listen to lectures and ask questions! They also practice on each other. Such courses produce seasoned hypnotists. This is the objective of NLP instruction.

New England Institute for Neuro-Linguistic Programming:

“We have noted that LEAD Consultants base their methods on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), as initially developed by Milton Erickson. We have found that brochures for their courses contain essential Ericksonian elements. In the materials by LEAD Consultants and Change works, we have already over viewed some of the NLP content. But here is more information on Ericksonian hypnosis, franchised to various practitioner firms under this name, Neuro- Linguistic Programming. We will provide you with this data in connection with materials distributed by The New England Institute for Neuro- Linguistic Programming. The basic raw material for NLP was extracted from research into deep hypnosis by Dr. Milton Erickson. Because many people are afraid of sleep-like hypnotic trances, Erickson had as his objective the placing of people in a non-sleep hypnotic trance, so that the very same objectives could be accomplished as in deep hypnosis.”

“The person most responsible for advancing the field of hypnosis was Dr. Milton Erickson. Erickson... showed us how to use hypnosis to meet therapeutic goals more effectively. He taught us that we can communicate with the whole person by reaching both the conscious and unconscious levels. Erickson also taught us how to utilize and bypass client 'resistance' by em bedding therapeutic interventions in seemingly casual conversation.” -NEINLP brochure.

The research by Milton Erickson was later expanded by Richard Sandler and John Grinder. They took his findings, and combined them with discoveries made by other “masters”. Hypnotism involves communicating what you want another to do, and getting him to do it. Well, do we not try to do that all the time? Yes, but hypnotism is getting him to do what you want, whether or not he had intended to do it; whether or not he knew why. Instead of force or coercion, hypnotic mind control is used to change actions and beliefs.

“How do people who are masters in communicating and effecting changes in others achieve their excellence? It was in pursuit of the answers to this question that NLP began . . “ In the early 1970s, Dr. Richard Bandler and R. John Grinder through careful study of acknowledged masters of communication and change such as Drs. Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, Gregory Bateson, and Fritz Perts, discovered what made these individuals so effective, and in the process developed the field of Neuro-LInguistic Programing.

“There is a growing body of patterns for accomplishing specific desired changes in emotions, beliefs, thinking strategies, and behavior. In accomplishing all of this, NLP fosters an attitude of respectful fascination for the unique way in which each person creates his or her own experience.”-New England Institute of NLP, brochure. The second paragraph, above, was very important. It is clear that the Ericksonian passive-type hypnotism is actually far worse than classical hypnosis, which puts people into a trance. Its intensity is due to the fact that it operates more subtly, and can be repeated over a period of time. The reason it can be so easily repeated is that people do not realize they are being hypnotically worked on.

The result can be devastating. Why? Because, according to the above statement, it can change your beliefs, your behavior, the way you feel about things, and the way you think! What else is left? All your life experience is summarized in those factors. They represent your distinct personality. Any subtle mind control therapy practiced on an unknowing, un-consenting subject which can and does change the persons belief system ( if the persons belief system is a constitutionally protected one) is a violation of First Amendment Constitutional Rights - and that’s just for starters.

“The person most responsible for advancing the field of hypnosis was Dr. Milton H. Erickson. This extraordinary person (a matter of opinion) showed us how to. . utilize and bypass client resistance (‘resistance’=self preservation; a normal response to a real spiritual danger) by embedding therapeutic interventions in seemingly casual conversation. Perhaps most importantly he taught us that each person is an individual and psychotherapy should be more compatible with the way each person structures his or her own experience.”-Same brochure.

The sentence in each of the above two quotations is significant. Ericksonian hypnosis works so effectively by starting with your present likes, dislikes, belief system, and feelings, hooking you emotionally through them, and then turning you toward whatever new direction the hypnotic manipulator wishes to take you. Is all this moral and ethical? No, it is outside the realm of morality or legality. When a hypnotist takes you from one emotion/logic system to another, he did it apart from moral considerations. He did it simply because that is what he wanted to do. And nowhere in the hypnotic change-over did he ever concern himself with convincing you of a new belief pattern. He just gave it to you, outside of and away from your conscientious judgment. Think about that awhile. Hypnotism, whatever form it may take, is always dangerous.

“This certification training will present the fundamentals of Ericksonian Hypnosis in a carefully sequenced format, giving you a set of approaches, resources and skills that will allow you to deal much more creatively and effectively with your client's needs. The Institute's skilled and experienced trainers will guide you through supervised experiential learning to acquire behavioral competence in using Ericksonian Hypnosis.”-New England Institute for NLP, brochure.

Below that statement we are told that both the classical (stupor-like trance) method of hypnotism and the Ericksonian (unconsciously-received) technique are taught in the course. “What you will learn from this training: . . Use of a variety of methods for inducing and deepening trance both through formal hypnotic induction and conversationally.”

“NLP is a systematized study of subjective experience: what we take in through our five senses, how we encode or organize that raw sensory experience into 'maps' or personal models of the world, and how we then express our experience. This map-making process, and how it determines our choice of behavior, is often out of our conscious awareness. As an NLP practitioner, you develop increased sensory acuity for observing human behavior, and acquire new abilities to identify the language patterns in a person's verbal communications.

Using these skills, you discover that the previously unconscious and seemingly inaccessible 'maps of the mind' become Conscious and directly perceptible. It then becomes within your capacity to alter these 'maps' if appropriate transferring personal resources from one context to another, transferring excellence from one person to another, and thus provide both yourself and those with whom you work more options in choosing behaviors.” -NEINLP brochure.

“It then becomes within your capability to alter these maps.” Who decides what thoughts, feelings, and beliefs will be changed? The hypnotic operator does. He may have ever so good intentions (or maybe not), but he is the one who is in the driver's seat of the other person's mind, not the person who owns that mind.

Here is another description of several aspects NEINLP teaches its instructors:

“The Meta-program and its use for diagnosis and change in psychotherapy and in business. Verb tense shifts, directionalized Metamodel (Metamodel lll) and verbal patterns to produce change. Threshold patterns, including those for restoring relationships and for breaking compulsions. Identification and utilization of the structure of emotional states as the basis for interventions. A wide range of advanced submodality techniques. The structure and change of beliefs. The identification and use of presuppositions. Advanced work with criteria. Motivation, and creation of compelling features. . Generative chaining model. Deliberate multilevel communication. Re-imprinting of past formative experiences. Personal change using the time line. Modeling: thorough training in eliciting and reproducing behavioral excellence, using both conscious and unconscious methods. Advance holistic methods, such as the 'meta-mirror' and the 'resonance pattern.' Over 24 'sleight of mouth' patterns for reframing and belief change “-NEINLP brochure.

What classical hypnotist can do all that we find in the above paragraph? Ericksonian hypnosis can provide the operator with: “Meta-programs to affect the subconscious. Using the way you phrase words to change the way they think, believe, and act. Subliminal threshold patterns. Interventions: implanting new patterns within them. How to change their unconscious, their beliefs, and their premises. Changing criteria: changing the norms by which they make their moral judgments. Getting them to do what they did not previously want to do. Implanting new, crucial reasons for their doing something they had not planned to do. Linking one emotional reason to another. Talking to their hypothalamus at the same time you talk to their frontal lobes. Bringing back their earlier experiences as a reason for doing different things now. Changing someone else's behavior to match what you think it ought to be. Reflect their emotions as you speak with them so they will do what you suggest. Using facial appearance to overpower their will.”

The use of psychotherapy or hypnotic techniques in criminal investigations is not the answer. God will not bless or assist efforts which employ deception or hypnotic suggestion in any form. Scripture declares the human mind and heart deceptive above all things (even the best people don’t, and can’t, fully know themselves). “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I search the motives, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9,10).

Psychotherapy and psychology (which have their roots in mesmerism, hypnosis and paganism) are an evil counterfeit of God’s behavior modification model. Using anything having it’s roots in these practices is condemned by God’s Word as evil, and thus will not be blessed by God. Fighting criminal deception with deception (outfoxing the fox) in order to fight crime is a dead end street because God will not bless the use of deception. The Word of God does admonish us to ask Him for wisdom and discernment (James 1:5) and to be wise. “Therefore I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves: be therefore wise as serpents (learn to recognize serpentine elements) and harmless (innocent) as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Scripture plainly declares all deception as evil. God never does anything deceptively, everything God does is open and out on the table. God’s Word condemns doing evil that good may come from it (the end justifies the means). “For if the truth of God has more abounded through my lie unto His glory; why am I still then judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as some slanderously report that we say,) Let us do evil that good may come? whose damnation is just” (Romans 3:7,8). The bottom line is that deception/evil/crime/ is not fought with deception, but rather with Truth.

Truth is not an abstract, subjective concept. Neither is it a set of absolute moral codes or facts. Truth is a person; Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6); “... grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). And hours before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to the Father: “Sanctify them (God’s behavior mod.) through your truth: your Word is Truth” (John 17:17) “And the Word (truth) was made flesh (Jesus), and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

The complete means and wherewithal to identify, profile and treat criminals is found in the Living Word of Truth. Truth is the most powerful behavior analyzer and modifier ever known, because it transforms from the inside out. Tell me, what better assistance can one possibly obtain to combat evil/sin/crime than the God of Truth? The most effective and beneficial way to solve crimes is to seek God for help - not the serpent.

The study of human patterns of behavior in order to predict future behavior is crucial. The issue is; what foundational premiss do we use to study this behavior? I maintain that the foundational premiss must be truth. This leaves investigative and treatment methods which rely only on psychology and psychotherapy weighed in the balances and found wanting. Everything man needs to identify, profile, prevent and treat criminal behavior is found solely in the Word of Truth. Psychotherapy and psychology will never cure, because they attempt to treat the human condition without consulting the manufacturer.

The trend in law enforcement towards greater acceptance and reliance upon hypnotism, powerful psychological suggestion, manipulation and the world of the ‘psychic’ is alarming. This is the realm of the serpent. They were the tools used by the serpent to bring about the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Do we resort to serpentine tactics to catch the serpent? These ‘psychic’ techniques have another name. God calls them divination and witchcraft - and forbids their practice. If God’s help is to be sought, the serpents techniques must be abandoned. Just because something works occasionally, doesn’t make it right or good. Eve found the fruit ‘desirable’ - but it wasn’t good.

Any form of hypnotic induction or psychological suggestion is serpentine sin; psychologically and spiritually dangerous, not only to the subjects, but to the practitioners as well. All forms of psychotherapy employ some elements of hypnotic induction. Should it surprise us that criminals ‘treated’ with psychotherapy are statistically more likely to re-offend? It’s time to wake up and smell the snake oil. Evil spirits are involved in some way with all sin. How do we know that the same spirit(s) who influenced the criminal to commit the crime are not also speaking to the ‘psychic’ who helps catch him? The dragon loves it - the use of his tactics lends him legitimacy.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the study of human behavior. It is necessary, useful and intriguing. Scripture commands us to be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. We are admonished not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices (methods), but God prohibits their use, or our participation in them. Finally, scripture tells us “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). We don’t fight fire with fire - we fight it with water. Attempting to beat the dragon at his own game is foolish. We may appear to ‘win’ a few battles and it may seem to work - but it is a trap. The use of such means may seem in some cases to solve an immediate problem, but the long term affects will be destructive.

So, if all these tools are out - what’s in? Tried and true investigative techniques combined with God's help. The dragon makes tracks when Christ gets involved. Those in authority/government, including members of the judicial system and law enforcement, whether they realize it or not, are God’s ministers: “For he (government) is the minister of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain (the officer don’t carry that gun for decoration): for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute (God’s) wrath upon those that do evil” (Romans 13:4). And as with any minister of God, from preachers to politicians to law officers, with the office comes greater honor, coupled with greater responsibility and accountability to God and man.

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal (man is a created being), that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights (rights come from our Creator), that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure (protect) these (God-given) Rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...” God created men equal. Rights are granted by God - not government. Governments are ordained by God to protect individual God-given rights. Government is granted it’s just powers from the people. No other nation in history has ever been built upon this sure foundation. These principles are the political embodiment of the Christ-centered covenant our pilgrim forefathers entered into with God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ; the Gospel of spiritual and political liberty, is America’s real National Treasure. Every just system of man’s laws has, as it’s foundation, the Ten Commandments - the Word of God.

In God’s Court - we are all criminals. God’s standard is absolute, untainted, pure, holy, perfection. No human being has ever kept God’s law perfectly - but one: Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Even if sinful man could keep the outward form of God’s law (which is impossible), it would do him no good. The sin nature he is born with would remain. Can any of us say, honestly, that we have never lied (little white ones count); never stolen? Never had even one malicious, resentful or bitter thought toward another? Have never coveted what someone else has? God’s standard of justice is much more demanding than man’s. Man says we cannot do or say certain things - God says we can’t even desire to do them; that wanting to do them is equal to doing them. Break one of God’s laws (in thought, word or deed), one time, and we are guilty of all.(James 2:10). There is only one hope for acquittal in God’s Courtroom on the day of judgement in the next world, and for a transformed life in this world - Christ.

What we are, in this life and the next, all hinges on what we believe. If we believe right - we will do and feel right. The just shall live by faith. But that faith and trust must be in the right person. That one person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the father, but by Me” (John 14:6). When we place our faith in Christ, we are adopted into the family of God; God becomes our father: “But as many as received Him (Christ), to them he gave the privilege to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

If we reject Christ, the serpent becomes our spiritual father by default, and the sin nature, to one degree or the other, will reign in our lives. Jesus said of the serpent: “...He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because the truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

The most important consideration is the suffering endured by the victims of crime. Jesus Christ came not only to save and bring victory over sin, but especially to heal the broken hearted who have been the innocent victims of that sin. God’s model requires Justice to be done, but God’s Justice is tempered with His mercy and healing. God loves every single human being so much that he gave His only son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).

In a book written by a prominent criminal profiler, there is a copy of a goodby letter written by a victim who had been abducted and later murdered. The author wrote that it was the greatest example of strength, fortitude and faith in the face of tragedy that he had ever witnessed. Where did her strength come from? What enabled her to remain so strong; stronger than most other crime victims faced with similar terror? In the letter, she plainly states that her faith was solidly anchored in Jesus. The Born Again experience, Jesus, was the source of her great strength.

Only through faith in the shed blood and sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, can we have victory over sin, forgiveness of sin, and our relationship with God restored. As the old Christian hymn says: "Amazing love, how can it be, that you my God should die for me."

"Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).

That same overcoming strength for victory over sin, for healing and for strength in the face of adversity, is available through Christ, to all; victims, drug addicts, alcoholics, gambling addicts, politicians, cab drivers, white and blue collar workers, and, yes, even lawyers and criminals. God is no respecter of persons. God hates sin, but loves every person equally. If we are to love others, as God loves us, we must go and do likewise. God will forgive and wipe away the sin of even the most wretched criminals - but God seldom softens the consequences. God’s love is never soft on sin/crime. But Jesus did make a way, through His Cross, that, whosoever will, may drink of the water of eternal life freely. Those who leave this world with faith anchored in Christ - are never gone. They have merely gone home.

My mother knew Jesus Christ. Cancer took her to be with her savior in 2000. Afterward, I was looking through her Bible. Most Christians have numerous notes and passages underlined in their Bibles. To my surprise, I found only one verse highlighted in her entire Bible. It seems fitting to close with that same passage:

To all, Christ extends this personal invitation;

“Come unto me, all you that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:

and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28,29).

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Email:shilohcomes@mychristiansite.com

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The RELIGION of Psychology and the Dangers of Hypnotic Induction Resident in all forms of Psychology and Psychotherapy

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The Key to Victory over the Sin Nature: Romans Chapters 6-8

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