Where is your MIND?

 

I love what Charles Dickens said, “Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort”.  How about this Plato quote, “When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself”.  The question is: what is it saying?

Of course, as a born again believer, I prefer to listen to the Word of God as the primary source of wisdom.  The Bible gives us clear instructions dealing with what to think about, and where our minds should be focused.  If you did a Google search about the mind, you would see a barrage of information on how the mind should be controlled, worked out, and so on.  There is information on ways to increase focus, overcome depressing thoughts, think to be rich, and the list goes on and on.

The first quote I mentioned from Charles Dickens is quite enlightening.  It falls right in line with Newton’s Laws of motion.  The common phrase is “a body at rest tends to stay at rest”.  I can be actively working or playing and just want to keep going; however, as soon as I sit, and if I sit long enough, I do not want to get up!  My mind is the same way!  Once engaged in thought, reading, discussion, or any other act of intellectual sport, the mind stays engaged, but let the mind have “excess comfort”, how soon can we lose strength.  This is quite dangerous for our spiritual condition.

It is important for Christians to put the effort into reading, thinking, and dwelling on the things of God.  The natural state of man is described in Romans 1:28, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient".  With this in mind, if we allow our mind to become lazy, it is a high probability that our mind will make it's way back to this natural state of thinking.

It is no secret that it takes work to create a godly way of thinking.  And just as Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:1, "ye have [already] received of us how ye ought to walk...", many of us already know that it takes work.  So, the quandary is not "learning" how to work on our thinking, but rather simply "doing" the work. 

So, where is your mind?  We all have experienced that what we think about eventually determines our behavior.  Therefore, if we think on the eternal, we will act for the eternal!  Paul, while in prison, wrote on how to experience joy even in the worst of conditions in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things".  How many things are now eliminated by this verse that we typical think about throughout the day?

Nate

 

Sports as Worship

Sports as Worship

I love sports!  It doesn't seem long ago that I was playing sports in High School, though it was almost 20 years ago.  How can sports be a part of our worship experience?  Let me present a few options:

As a reminder, worship is giving God EVERYTHING!  Living our lives as a "complete sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service"  (or divine worship)  Romans 12:1.  Understanding the focus of our life is to glorify God, or as my Pastor (Pastor Mike from Fellowship Baptist Church) puts it, "putting a smile on the face of God", we can view sports as an opportunity to do so.

If you’re a parent, there is a considerable risk of teaching our children to "worship" sports.  For instance, in youth ministry, I have noticed the trend of a "performance at all cost" mentality being taught in the lives of the students.  I quote my Pastor a lot and am going to do it again here :) "It's not what you SAY, it's what you TOLERATE".  As parents, we can tell our kids the importance of church, and the need to be faithful to the body of believers; yet, with our actions, we allow them to skip church for homework that they didn't get to because of a practice that was mandatory, and so on.  Now, I am not discouraging sporting activities, just making a point that we must be diligent to speak truth, and not tolerate behavior that presents confusion in the mind of our students.

As individuals (whether young or old), how does sports offer itself as worship?  The most mentioned professional player right now is Tim Tebow.  There is a word now that defines someone who gets down on one knee and prays even when everyone else is doing something different.  It's called "TEBOWING".  What a great example of someone who is using the art of sport to bring glory to God.  Tim Tebow definitely sacrifices for the cause of bringing glory to God.  Many mock and are now asking "where's your God now?" after the Broncos loss in the playoffs. Those who are still engaged in sports have a great way to worship God.  Are we maintaining godly behaviors during the game? Do we say things that are God-honoring? Are we "tebowing" when we can to be an example of one who is committed to the Lord?  Just some thoughts to ponder.

As fans, we can worship God through sports.  I have a friend who is a football NUT (Lee, you know who you are:) But guess what, every Sunday he is in his place serving the Lord at our church; He even shows up on Super Bowl Sunday:)  I will not confirm or deny whether or not he was checking updates on his phone...)  We can worship God by inviting people over to our home to fellowship and use a sporting event as the main draw.  We can worship God by taking a needy family, child, someone in our church to a game to give them an opportunity to experience something they otherwise may not be able.  Many other ways are possible...would love hearing your comments on how we can use sports to glorify God!

Love ya,

Nate

Let's Worship

What do I mean by HIS glory?

“Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31)

Glory (δόξα dox'-ah) is defined as:  
- Honor, praise, worship.
 

Honor is having great respect and admiration.

Praise is expressing (word, song, etc) that great respect and admiration.

Worship is a devoted life that gives God what he deserves…EVERYTHING!!

Paul wrote in Romans 12:1

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

The word service (λατρεία lat-ri'-ah) literally means: 

worship: - (divine) service.

So, what does it mean to do all for HIS glory?

It means that I have a great respect and admiration for my Lord; I express that respect and admiration through prayer, singing, etc; and I have a daily worship service that consist of mortifying my flesh, presenting my body as a living sacrifice, and being holy as He is holy!

Let's Worship Today!!

Nate

Purpose in life

Philippians 3:13 is one of my favorite passages! 

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before".

First, Paul tells us of his PURPOSE:  "this one thing I do".  He is not double-minded in his goals, nor is he feeling insecure about his purpose in this life.  He simply has this one goal in mind...

He is forgetting the past.  Of course, we can view the past as a learning activity, and also as a way of rejoicing in the goodness of God; however, it is important to never let the past interfere with the purpose of our present responsibility of bringing glory to God.  In the races Paul often wrote about, could you imagine a runner as he endeavors to win the race stop, turn, and take a look at those behind him?  What a dumb thing to do.  Let's stop looking behind and filling our minds with regretful thoughts; it' time to move past high school...your football glory days are over...(Unless your in high school, of course:)  Let's focus on what is ahead!

He reaches forth...I love watching sprinters race!  They do a close up, slow motion shot of one, and you see every muscle twitch, nerve bouncing, eyes focused, all in movements of the runner!  Reaching forth is putting everything about us in the act of glorifying God.  It's not a "I'll give you Sunday" relationship, but "my entire life is committed to you, Lord."  What are some things in our life we need to drop.  Let's get all in!  I love what my Pastor says, "let's work at putting a smile on God's face".

Solomon said it best... "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Love ya,

Nate