Who's Helping You Think?

How many times a day do we say things like, "What do you think?",  "What were you thinking?", "Do you really think so?" or when we're asked a question we answer with, "let me think about it", or "I think so, I thought so, or I'm thinking"?

In my natural smart-aleck conversational style I often answer when someone asks me what I think about a certain thing, "Oh, thinking's not my strong suit!"

I would venture to say that "thinking" has gotten more people into more trouble than anything else.

Let me explain:

When we have a strong opinion or preference about something we naturally "think" we are right.

We often misunderstand someone and even get offended because we "thought" they said or intended something they may not have intended or even said.

Sometimes there doesn't even need to be a word spoken, we can jump to a conclusion and "think" someone is saying, signaling, meaning, or trying to say something we find offensive.

Have you ever thought about that?

A couple of weeks ago I met a man on the youth mission trip down in Monticello. His name is Lavon Cope. Lavon and I talked about a lot of things over those 3 long days but most of our conversations hinged around something the Lord had put on his mind that He's been contemplating. Lavon said the Lord put in his mind during a time of discouragement, "Just who is helping you think?" and he's been thinking about that ever since, and the Lord has been bringing me back to that question for the last couple of weeks. "Just who is it that's helping you think?"

[Matthew 9:4 NKJV] Jesus had healed a man who had been paralyzed but a group of scribes that were there accused him of blasphemy, but Jesus knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" Jesus knew that these thoughts hadn't come to them from a close relationship with God.  God, through the leadership of His Holy Spirit leads us to think good thoughts, positive thoughts that edify and bring strength and grace. The ruler of this present world, Lucifer, and his demons are roaming around like roaring lions, trying to steal, kill and destroy everything that is good. That certainly includes  trying to get you to think wrongly.

I. Consider Lucifer's undoing in Isaiah 14

 [Isa 14:12-15 NKJV] 12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [How] you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.

He (Lucifer) thought he was equal to God and further, he thought he could take, or at least share, God's glory and God's throne.

II.  Then there's  Adam & Eve, they "thought" that maybe God hadn't told the truth when He told them about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Where'd they get such an idea?

[Gen 3:4-7 NKJV] 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make [one] wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked;

Then in verse 11, God asked them why they were hiding and they answered that they were naked.  I can just hear God saying, "Who told you that you were naked" or in other words, "Who's helping you think?"

III.  Then Abraham in Genesis 20 "thought" that Abimelech would kill him to get to his wife Sarah, he "thought" if they told him Sara was his sister rather than his wife things would work out better for them.

IV. King Saul did a lot of thinking and most of it got him in trouble. At one point he didn't get the answer he was looking for from the lord so he went looking for a medium, well the ole boy ended up with a XL helping of trouble.

V. the Disciples

[Mar 6:48-49 ESV] 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,

VI.  People who "thought" they were saved

[Mat 7:21-24 NKJV] 21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:

So...

 [Philippians 2:5 NKJV] 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

[Philippians 4:8 ESV] 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Breath of God

There are so many songs written about the breath that God has given each of us...

"Blow, mighty breath of God", "This is the air I breathe",  "It's Your breath, in our lungs, so we pour out our praise",  "Holy Spirit, breathe on me", etc. , etc.

In Genesis 2: 7 we see, "And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." 

Before the breath of life that came from God and was breathed into the nostrils of this dust-formation called man, that's all man was...a formation of dust, a mud-pie. But with the breath of God we become a creation of the Most High God, created in His Image, in His Likeness, the Crown Jewel of God's creative process--made for His glory, to give Him praise.

When our earthly existence is over, that breath leaves us. It is that breath that defines what it is to be alive. We cannot be alive without breath, it is the breath we breathe that oxygenates the blood that courses through our veins.  After we cease to breathe--we die, and we resort back to the natural state of where we were before God breathed life into Adam. Back to dust. Ecclesiastes 3:20 KJV,  "All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again."

But while we live, while we contain the breath of God, let us give part of that breath back to Him in praise.  It is for that purpose we were created.

Psalm 89:1 KJV,  "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations."

Psalm 92:1 KJV], "[It is a] good [thing] to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:"

Psalm 95:1 KJV,  "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation."

Psalm 96:2 KJV, "Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day".

Psalm 104:33 KJV, "I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being."

Psalm 147:1 KJV, "Praise ye the LORD: for [it is] good to sing praises unto our God; for [it is] pleasant; [and] praise is comely."

Notice, there is nothing in these versions about musical style, ability or talent. Just sing! While we still have breath!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Bro. Jeff

Coastal Confusion (Movies, Music & More)

I am a music lover and a musician so I decided to record the Grammy award show and watch it a couple of nights later. Oh my, where in the world has the music gone? Don McLean may have been a bit premature in singing about “the day the music died.”

The show began with old-time Rock n’ Rollers AC/DC and their hit “Highway to Hell”. Isn't there a better song/group to honor an era or to open a show? Flames, horns and gyrations flooded the venue. So no, Virginia, this isn’t a new problem.

Later in the show, Madonna performed a very graphic number glorifying horned creatures, death, excess, death, attacks on organized religion, etc. It looked very demonic to me as I fast forwarded through it. A one point I was encouraged when LL Cool J mentioned that we were “going to church” but alas it was the church of romance and sexuality, eros rather than agape. 

We’ve come a long way baby! All this made me think, how many “normal Americans” does the academy represent. I didn’t know Beck had a new album and I’ve never heard of Sam Smith or most of those who were nominated. (Sia, Iggy Azalea?)

This got me thinking, it’s the same thing with movies and television. We are letting those who see things though a completely different set of filters (read none) decide what we watch. I have seen wholesome family and children’s movies make millions and millions of dollars while those “experts” on the coasts push their agendas and behaviors on the unknowingly general public through “critically acclaimed” movies, music, books, television programs that make us blush, or worse, make us unable to look away, even though we know we should (kinda like a train wreck) but are far less than box office successes. 

The homosexual agenda is being pushed upon the general public. In America’s heartland (the area between California and New York) the percentage of those who claim the homosexual “lifestyle” is less than 10% , yet it seems that every television program and every Hollywood movie includes a homosexual character or plot twist, even this year’s SuperBowl Pre-Show. This is due to the fact that in those areas where these shows/movies are written/produced that percentage is much higher.

So what do we do? Continue to enjoy good music, wholesome movies, good television shows and reject the “acclaimed” offerings. Money talks friends, surely soon they’ll get the message. Additionally, flood the industries with Christ followers; writers, producers, actors, etc. We can stem the tide of worldliness!

Ad Nauseam

While I agree the last thing we need is another article on “Worship Wars”, I have had to learn and admit some things for myself over the last few weeks that I hope will be relevant in your life as well. 

To start, I have the great blessing to be able to play drums in our church orchestra. I will admit to you there are songs that are more fun to play than others. The musician in me likes fast-paced, rhythmic songs that are a bit challenging. But those songs satisfy something in me and, as such, are not offerings to Christ. Also, as a musician I have quite varied tastes in music, I love to listen to, sing along, and thoroughly enjoy many different kinds of music. While there is certainly nothing wrong with enjoying secular music (within reason), this type of music is also for my own entertainment, not a gift given to our Lord Jesus Christ.

I also enjoy music that might be classified as sacred, but in reality actually leans more toward entertainment like good old 4-part, syncopated, toe-tapping Southern Gospel but if my feet are all that is moved and if it gives more pleasure to me than it does God, then it too should be categorized as entertainment.

We all have our favorite Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, along with many other classifications of music. These could be our favorites because it reminds us of our youth, of our old home church, of family members, or of some other nostalgic chord within us. But to come to a corporate worship service and give our exceedingly worthy Heavenly Father a set list from a juke box of our personal favorites stops far short of a sacrificial gift of praise.

Church is not to be like American Bandstand where we “Rate a Record” and decide a song’s worth based upon our personal tastes and opinions. Nor is it that juke box of favorites just previously discussed. To refuse to lift our voices in worship because of the choice of song is to place our own opinions and preferences above God and we all know that is idolatry.

Have you ever noticed that the loudest protests regarding music selection in church are most often provided by those who hardly ever sing anyway?

“Father, forgive our selfish hearts and fill us with love and joy and a desire to express that, along with gratitude and praise, as a sacrifice of praise to You and You alone.”

Rather than complaining about the selections on the smorgasbord of the song service, let us raise our voices together using the music as a vehicle by which our worship and praise can be carried to the portals of heaven and the sincerity and genuineness therein received as a sweet smelling savor to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Isn't He worth it?

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  Psalm 133:1 NKJV.

For He Alone is Worthy,

Jeff Hulsizer, Worshipper