Paul

Change the Way You Think

July 31, 2017 0Comment

Sounds easy, huh?

In Mark 1:15 (God’s Word Translation), Jesus said, “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near. Change the way you think and act, and believe the Good News”. I think every Christ follower would like to change his/her behavior. Maybe we would like change our behavior in a general way to be more Christ-like. Or maybe we would like to change our behavior in specific areas, such as anger or forgiveness, etc. Regardless of the behavior we want to change, Jesus tells us that we have to change the way we think before we can change the way we act.

It’s simple and straightforward. However, it can be extremely difficult. For example, I had a bad experience at work. Who hasn’t, right? Nevertheless, this experience was a “Judas” experience. It was particularly nasty, and mistakes were made by everyone. I was mature enough to forgive everyone fairly quickly. However, I still think about the experience occasionally. Then I make myself mad all over again. Now, some people would say, if I really forgave them, would the experience still make me mad? My answer is yes. I don’t think it’s a forgiveness issue. I forgave them once, and every time I get mad about it, I forgive them again. I think the problem lies in the fact that I haven’t changed the way I think about the experience. Basically, I need to re-program my thoughts.

Luckily, there are several ways to spin a bad experience. Firstly, it’s not like I’m the first person to be falsely accused of something. Jesus was falsely accused everywhere he went. Also, I know according to Paul, all things work out for the good of those called to His purpose (Romans 8:28). And if I’m completely honest with myself, I can already see where that bad experience is working out for my good. Furthermore, I know that the Lord will fight for me; all I have to do is be still (Exodus 14:14). So, if I know all of these things, why do I still get mad when I think about the experience? Because I choose to think about the experience instead of choosing to think about all the things I “know”. The key is to be self-aware and to catch myself when I feel those old feelings come up. Then I can remind myself about all the things I know. If I don’t catch myself, then my thoughts will cascade into negativity….again.

Charles Swindoll said that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. How I react is entirely dependent on how I think.

Uncategorized

The Foreigner

December 8, 2014 0Comment

Ever get that feeling that you just don’t belong somewhere? Being a country boy, I felt that way when I moved into my cookie-cutter suburban home. Sometimes I get that feeling around extremely wealthy people….not that there is anything wrong with being wealthy or extremely wealthy. I just feel uncomfortable around them. But now I have that feeling on a much larger scale. Sometimes I feel like that I don’t belong in this world. No, I’m not suicidal. Sometimes I simply feel like a foreigner… or a “fer-ner” as my grandmother sometimes said.

A few years ago, I travelled to Bolivia on a mission trip. It was a great experience, but I have never felt more out of place. The language was different. The customs were different. The food was different. I truly felt like a foreigner. Thank God for my church group. Imagine how alone I would’ve felt if they hadn’t been with me.

Yesterday, I travelled to Wal-mart. Now I know that Wally World can sometimes be a lesson in anthropology all in itself, but it’s still nothing like Bolivia. I shop at Wal-mart at least once per week, and yesterday I felt like a total foreigner.

I think that I feel that way because as I get closer to God, I can’t understand the world’s language as well. The world has this weird, secular, Godless culture. Since I was at Wal-mart, let’s take advertising, for example. Think of almost anything that’s for sale. It could be sporting goods, pharmaceuticals, or clothing. All of the products have beautiful or famous spokespersons. You just don’t usually see ugly people in advertisements. And although I’ve never really considered it before now, the beautiful spokesperson has absolutely no connection to the product. There’s only one reason that the beautiful spokesperson is there: to make you think that you will look like him/her when you buy the product. Don’t get me wrong. God loves beauty, too, but he doesn’t care if you have the body of Victoria’s Secret model or the physique of an NFL linebacker. He is concerned more with spiritual beauty.

So, I guess this question begs to be answered: What do I do when I feel like a foreigner? I go to church or hang out with other Christians, just as I did in Bolivia. It helps to share struggles with people who are in similar positions. Following Jesus was never meant to be done alone. No one likes to be lonely. If we are lonely, we will seek companionship somewhere. The world is a tricky place. Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul talked about Demas and said, “for Demas, because he love this world, has deserted me…”. Don’t fall in love with the world. Find other believers to lean on. We may feel a bit lonely from time to time, but we know that our ultimate reward does not lie in this world.

Uncategorized

Ever Considered Yourself a Screw-up?

February 19, 2014 2Comments

A few months ago, I was having idle chit-chat with a friend when he referred to himself as a “screw-up”. Actually, he referred to himself with a synonym for screw-up, but for the sake of keeping this post rated PG, I’ll just use the term “screw-up”. I was somewhat taken aback. At first, I thought he was joking, but as the conversation continued, I learned he was not joking. My friend had a law degree and a professional career. He was also dedicated and hard-working. I would hardly consider him a screw-up. I tried to change his mind, but he would not yield. So, I said to myself, God can still use you. In fact, the Bible is full of Godly examples of screw-ups doing important things.

The first major screw-up that comes to mind is Moses. Moses was raised as Egyptian royalty. He eventually learned about his Jewish heritage. He saw an Egyptian slave driver abusing a Jewish slave, and he killed him. He fled Egypt and lived the next 30 or so years as a fugitive in the mountains….until God called him to lead his people out of Egypt. So, God called an old, fugitive, murderer to lead his people out of Egypt. And Moses-the Screw-up becomes the most important person in the Old Testament.

The next screw-up is Gideon. Gideon is probably more famous because of the Gideon Bible (that he did not write) than his Old Testament exploits. God called Gideon a “mighty warrior”. Gideon was hiding from an invading force. He described himself to God this way: he said that he was the weakest member of the weakest clan. God told him to tear down an altar to false god, and Gideon did it at night, so no one would see him. He got caught, and his father had to keep people from killing him. Yet, God called Gideon-the-screw up to kick an invading force out of the promised land, which he did.

The New Testament has screw-ups too. Peter and Paul may be two of the most central figures of the New Testament, AND they could easily be described as screw-ups. When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times. Peter said that he did not know Jesus. He said that he did not even know him. That is pretty rough, considering he had just spent the last three years with him and had promised he would never leave him. Yet Jesus said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church”. Paul despised the early church. His job was to stamp out what he considered a heretic movement. He severely persecuted the early Christians. Then he falls off a horse, meets Jesus, becomes the early church’s greatest ambassador, and writes two-thirds of the New Testament.

How’s that for proof that God can use screw-ups?

Change the Way You Think

The Foreigner

Ever Considered Yourself a Screw-up?

You Missed

Intersection of this Life and the next Life

Child-Like

Inverse Hypocrisy

Spread it out before the Lord