kingdom travelin'

By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
(14.3, ESV)

I’ve been contemplating the mind afresh recently in light of biblical texts and am pondering two passages in particular:

that we are to love God with all our mind – Jesus

that we are to be renewing our mind – Paul

When He restates the Shema in Mark 12, Jesus clarifies the importance of the mind.

There is a need for balance. Using Jesus restatement of the Shema as a guide, God wants all of us, our heart, soul, mind and strength…

Sadly, this is, seemingly, another source of division in the church, some are so intellectual as to look askance at those who are driven by what they might call “emotional Christianity.” In response, those in the other camp look at the more intellectual faith as being “brainiacs.”

I find this particularly troubling since I know that the Enemy loves this division.

Jesus doesn’t divide us into camps, Jesus recognizes that we are both of these in His answer to the scribe. So, let us love God with all our heart, soul mind and strength. And, as Jesus added, let us love our neighbor as ourselves.

All of our neighbors.

Yes, its hard, but we should never give up trying.

I once had a tearful young lady tell me “I can’t do this!”

We were on a mission trip.

It was her first try at teaching.

I urged her on and encouraged her.

This is her door sign now.

It’s on the door to her shared office at the university where she now teaches English.

Don’t give up.

I read a quote from a preacher who is very prominent in some circles of the church these days. In this quote he said that faith comes from the heart, not from the mind. I paused when I read this about a week ago. It raises a lot of interesting questions. The same day I read these words from Paul to Timothy: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”

“Think
over what I say,
for
the Lord will give you understanding
in everything.”

I’ve been contemplating Proverbs this month, considering one a day. It is awesome to be reminded of great truths of life. As I read them, I hear many of the teachings of Jesus. Consider the Proverbs.

Well, I’m back in the good ol’ USA and am looking forward the the fall season and what lies ahead!