Thinking Christianly

Notes:

Think:

How to Change the Way you Think?

Brain Excercise:

Automatic Immediate Thoughts and Impulses: “Hey, dude, we’re trying to protect you.”

“What do we already know, how can we apply that to this situation.”

“This is the easiest way we know.”

System 2: Lurk and Create Thoughts

Highest performance, I need to discipline my mind.

“Leads to healthy things in my life, and not just protect me.”

RWID:

relative weigh of Important and duration

Relative weight is high and important and they last

Negative: If you keep obessessing about negative things, you will automatically think about negative things.

Positive: We can give a lot of duration and importance to positive thing

Think about the Best Possible Outcomes

Awareness

Notice: Where are my thoughts right now.

Just to be aware of our conscience.

Start paying attention to your thoughts. Just check in… What are your thoughts right now.

If all your thoughts are on FB, you can constantly focus on the wrong things.

Redirect:

What would be the opposite of this negative thing? Visualize and thinking about a more positive outcome.

Visualize, and then what are the steps to make it a reality.

Feel what you’re visualizing. Give a lot of emotion to it! Pay attention to it…

“I”m not into easy right now, it’s repetitively focusing on the positive attention.”

“Personal Power”

Creatively force it to direct it to a different direction.

Ellaborate it! Start building in the capacity.

How?

Create a Sheet:

5 positive questions you can ask yourself today.

What can I feel grateful right now?

How can I demonstrate love or excellence right now? Simple questions, but giving them weight and duration.

3 Words that Describe your Ideal Self:

Alarm buzzes and reminds him.

I want to be more present at home. Or Peaceful. Or patient.

If you can focus on being more attentive, everything changes.

Our unconscious and mind: Our mind is also conditioned by behavior.

“Be authentic over and over again.”

“Fake it until you make it.”

The more you take action, the more your brain develops. You can actually condition your mind other than THINKING, but your ACTIONS condition your mind just as much as your thinking does.

Brendon Burchard

Oprah.com: “One of the most successful online trainers in history.”

Oprah’s Supersoul 100

Front cover of Success Magazine

NT Times Best Selling Author

Importance of Thinking Christianly

Honor Culture in Philippi

But no one was actually living that way?

“Paul’s concern through has been the gospel, not its content (‘doctrinal error’ is not an issue), but its lived out expression in the world.” Fee

Review of the book:

Response to his own suffering in Ch. 1

Christ’s way of suffering in Ch. 2

Paul’s Testimony in Chapter 3

Now he describes what a life in response to the Gospel looks like.

One main theme throughout the book is about ones mind:

Phil 1:27: that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind

Philippians 2:2 “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

Philippians 2:5 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,”

Philippians 3:19 “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Last week: Philippians 4:6 “6 do not be anxious about anything...”

Philippians Church Struggled with Anxiety

They had to get their minds straight!

The Content of Thinking Christianly

List Whatevers: true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent worthy of praise

Explain the content:

Doctrine:

True, honorable, just: If you want peace, think doctrine.

Why are people actually anxious? They don’t think!

Biblical perspectives

Keller:

“Stupid Peace”: Don’t think

“Smart Peace”: You think big, big picture: Everything is going to be ok!

Aesthetics:

Pure, lovely (“causing pleasure or delight”), commendable (“fair-spoken, fair-sounding”)

Excellence and Praiseworthy

Excellence or virtue: “Exceptional civic virtue” BDAG

Plato had his lists. The Stoics had their list.

Argument: “Paul’s challenge to think about these Hellenistic virtues indicates his desire for the church to appreciate all that is good in the surrounding culture.” Hansen

“Ultimately, life in Christ brings to fulfillment the highest moral aspirations in the surrounding culture.” Hansen

“Paul is calling for followers of Christ to be attentive, reflective, meditative thinkers. Developing a Christian mind and character requires a lifetime of discernment and disciplined thought about all the things that are excellent and praiseworthy.” Hensen

Chapter out of Greek Literature: “It is almost as if he had taken a current list from a textbook of ethical instructions, and made it his own.” Beare

“Paul expects his readers to see how the noblest aspirations and highest standards of Hellenistic culture are uniquely fulfilled in Christ and in those who are in Christ. But his challenge to think about such things also calls for discernment evaluation of all that is virtuous and praiseworthy in their own culture.” Hansen

“This text suggests a better way, that one approach the marketplace, the arts, the media, the university, looking for what is ‘true’ and ‘uplifting’ and ‘admirable’; but that one do so with a discriminating eye and heart, for which the Crucified One serves as the template.” Fee

Fee: “Cultural Osmosis”

“This text reminds us that the head counts for something, after all; but it must be a sanctified head, ready to ‘practice’ the gospel it knows through what has ‘been learned and received.’” Fee

The Strategy of Thinking Christianly

We don’t spend enough time thinking about the psychology of Thinking Christianly

v. 8: “Think about such things”

“Reckon” or “take into account”

“Paul is telling them not so much to ‘think high thoughts’ as to ‘take into account’ the good they have long known from their own past, as long as it is conformable to Christ.” Fee

For example,

But this is NOT the POWER of POSITIVE THINKING

Oprah is the Power of Positive Thinking Queen

This is the Power of the Holy Spirit on our Souls!

Part III: Use Paul as an Example

“As a good teacher in his day would customarily do, Paul sets before his students his art: his portrayal of the suffering of Christ and his participation in Christ’s sufferings present what is most excellent and praiseworthy. He calls for believes to imitate him and acquire his art.” Hansen

Always rejoicing while in jail

Not worried about his situation

Prayers of thanks

Peace of Mind

Put these things into practice, and God’s peace will be with you.

“Think about such things as acts of selfless love in the service of others because they are excellent and praiseworthy: the self-emptying, self-humbling love of Christ on the cross. Put into practice the selfless love of Christ that you have learned from me and seen in me so that your lives will be excellent and praiseworthy.” Hansen

4 Aspects of Watching Paul: - Learned, received, heard, and saw.

Learned the Gospel

Shared the Gospel.

Heard the Gospel

Saw the Gospel

Full-orded.

Peace of God will be with you. Future tense.

“When the God of peace will be with you, then the peace of God… will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Hansen