Transforming Thoughts: Embracing Christ's Redeeming Power

"See that's real discipleship is where you devote your mind and your time in a serious relaxed but focused way on learning in now let me just say bill calls me dr. Willard and I actually I'm one of those kinds of doctors that can't do anyone any good." [00:01:17]

"The way of Christ is to say it's all real that's all real and everything is redeemable there isn't a single thing that happens to human being in this world that is not redeemable all things work together for good that doesn't mean all things are good do you understand that there's some bad stuff." [00:06:01]

"See and that's the story so that's what enables us no matter what is happening to be able to give thanks now that takes some work because our thoughts have often been obsessed with bad stuff and one of the things that really pulls us in is the bad stuff that happens to us then we become fixed on that and we become angry and unforgiving and superior in our outlook to defend ourselves all kinds of things." [00:06:58]

"Now that's a choice see now that's what I've been talking to you about he's making that choice where you gonna put your mind what are you going to be focused on that's your first freedom and of course the first thing we focus on to begin to pull ourselves out is Jesus Christ and the God that reveals himself in him you know Romans 5:8 God recommends his love to us it's like Jesus is a letter of recommendation in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." [00:08:29]

"Now that's a major point for tonight is that if we are not weary in fact even if we are weary if we don't have help teaching the grace of God our feelings will capture our thoughts and when that happens then our thoughts turn towards ourselves and bad things and we become incapable of trusting God and so then we wind up trying to run our own life." [00:10:29]

"Being content means well I'm contained feelings when they come on you you're not contained you're splattered all over the wall right the person who is content as the person who's contained he's learned he or she has learned how to take whatever the circumstances are and to so have their thoughts focused on Christ and God and what is good that they are not victimized by their feelings." [00:18:37]

"Now you see the legalism in that because what they do is they took Jesus's teachings well don't look to lust and said well we know how not to do that don't look how do you not look live where you can't see and this is a part of the really sad story of the Christian Church that sees women as evil or less at least than men now you see Jesus is not talking about doing that see he's talking about a kind of change an inward change where you wouldn't do what he's saying don't do." [00:44:03]

"Now we want to grow to the point to where when something presents itself perhaps around us in the social situation and people are doing things that are wrong that we would see that as simply crazy we want to be in a position where instead of in many of social situations people expect you to lie or to deceive it's just something they're prepared they they believe that human beings are like that they so they think they can count on you to do that and you want to be in a position of looking at them and saying why would anyone want to do that." [00:45:36]

"See because we're really talking about changing thoughts and feelings here why would I want to hit him just because he hit me see when Paul teaches about don't take vengeance leave vengeance to God and all of that he's talking about a total shifting of thought and feeling now we'll talk about this next week would you see ordinarily when someone hits me I've already hit him back before I think about it if I'm the standard human being maybe it's just verbal they slapped me verbally I slapped them back before I think okay so we have to we have to talk next time about the body and the social circumstances and how that works but tonight we have to talk about the feelings." [00:47:10]

"Recognizing the occasion is a major part of what has to happen in thought and feeling before you can begin to think about doing what Jesus said the normal person reads what Jesus says and think what I got to do that and the answer is no you can't do that and if you try you'll just mess yourself up and a lot of other people too you wind up faking it you create a legalism of some sort and there you are." [00:48:36]

"Art is one of those great functions in our church's art the artist often has the hardest time because they're in a world of imagination and that is often experienced as threatening but you see what you what happens if the people of God do not redeem art by their presence and I don't mean by making Christian pictures or whatever I mean making good pictures right if they don't do it then it's taken over by evil and used with tremendous force and the 20th century and the present is full of all these things but feelings are basically good but they have become twisted and constantly deepened the human brokenness." [00:38:15]

"Feelings are absolutely essential to action and we are active beings we're made to act and if if you just had to do it with thought it wouldn't happen and when when we feel good as we say you feel good Wow yeah okay that life is flowing in that right when you feel good it flows and of course that's good that makes you feel even better doesn't it so I mean even treating some forms of mental malfunction if you can just get people to be active it'll do wonders for them and see that that's deeply rooted in it when we feel bad we experience opposition and resistance it's a real drag that's what we say a real drag what's a drag well that means you just have to pull it along it's a drag it's not flowing." [00:25:50]