"Replacement Thoughts" - Finale to the Mastermind Series

Philippians 4:8 NRSV

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

INTRODUCTION

ONE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGWRITERS PENNED A SONG THE VERY YEAR OF OUR CHURCH’S BIRTH, 1968

AND IT’S OPENING LYRICS CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF HOW OUR THOUGHTS CAN SOMETIMES TEASE US, HOW OUR

THOUGHTS CAN SOMETIMES SEIZE US AND GET US SO WRAPPED UP IN THEM WE DON’T EVEN NOTICE WHAT’S

GOING ON AROUND US. MULTI-GRAMMY AWARD WINNER HARRY NILSON WROTE:

Everybody's talking at me

I don't hear a word they're saying

Only the echoes of my mind

THE MASTER MOTIVATOR AND INSPIRATION GURU MR. LES BROWN REMINDS US TO LISTEN THIS WAY THOUGH WE

ARE TEMPTED EVERY DAY TO LISTEN TO

THESE THOUGHTS THAT ROLL AROUND IN OUR HEADS, THAT TROUBLE US, OR CHALLENGE US OR EVEN

SOMETIMES SEEK TO MAKE US FEEL UNWORTHY....HE

SAID:

“Listen to yourself the voice that’s in your Heart not your head, it will lead you to your Goal.”

IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE BROTHER LES BROWN FOUND A WAY TO ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO REPLACE THE THOUGHTS

IN OUR HEADS WITH THE VOICE AND YEARNINGS THAT EMANATE FROM OUR HEARTS......

AND IT WAS THE INTERNET POWER OF POSITIVITY MODERN DAY SHERO KRISTEN BUTLER WHO ENCOURAGES US

WITH THIS POWERFUL WAY OF SHIFTING OUR

THOUGHTS INSTEAD OF ACCEPTING UNHAPPINESS AS OUR ONGOING PLIGHT.......SHE WRITES:

REMEMBER IF DON’T LIKE A SITUATION, YOU CAN EITHER TAKE ACTION TO CHANGE IT OR CHANGE THE WAY

YOU THINK ABOUT IT. EITHER WAY,

CHOOSING UNHAPPINESS IS NO WAY TO LIVE

PAUL’S POWERFUL POINT TO THE PHILIPPIANS

FOR THE APOSTLE PAUL AND THE PHILIPPIANS THIS IS MORE THAN A PUSH FOR THEM TO CHOOSE HAPPINESS AS

MUCH AS IT’S A PUSH TO CRAFT A LIFE AROUND THE HIGHEST AND MOST HIGHLY REGARDED GRECO-ROMAN

MORAL VIRTUES.....SURELY PAUL UNDERSTOOD THESE VALUES WITH THE EXCELLENT PHILOSOPHICAL AND

ACADEMIC TRAINING HE RECEIVED......ONE COMMENTARY RECORDED THIS ABOUT OUR VERSE OF SCRIPTURE THAT

CLOSES OUT OUR SERIES THIS MORNING:

Each of these virtues and the sum total of them are what Greco-Romans prized as the best virtues a person

could display. This sentence could easily have been found in Epictetus’s Discourses or Seneca’s Moral Essays,

in the context of extolling the best of moral virtues.

MORE THAN JUST THE BEST OF MORAL VIRTUES THIS PARTICULAR SCRIPTURAL INJUNCTION IS A WAY TO LIVE OUT

OUR FAITH AS CHRISTIANS.....FOR OUR LIVES ARE NOT JUST LIVED OUT FOR OUR OWN BENEFIT BUT AS

CHRISTIANS WE LIVE, AS THEOLOGIAN, 19th AND EARLY 20th CENTURY PASTOR ANDREW MURRAY ENCOURAGED....

FOR YOUR TRUE JOY AS A CHRISTIAN CAN MOVE FROM YOUR HEART INTO THE HEARTS AND LIVES OF OTHERS WITH

YOUR WORDS AND THE FRUITS OF YOUR THOUGHTS......FOR YOU KNOW THE POWER OF GOD FLOWING THROUGH

YOUR LIFE AND JUST AS YOU KNOW IT, OTHERS NEED THAT SAME POWER AND THIS IS THE WORK OF TRUE

CHRISTIANS AS MURRAY SAID.......WHEN YOU PURSUE AND SHARE, WHATEVER IS TRUE, WHATEVER IS HONORABLE,

WHATEVER IS JUST, WHATEVER IS PLEASING.....IT IS THOSE THINGS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BLESS YOU

FIRST BUT WE DON’T WANT TO KEEP OUR BLESSINGS TO OURSELVES AND ONLY OURSELVES ONLY.....AMEN?

AND IT IS THESE THINGS THAT HAVE A GENESIS, A STARTING PLACE, A PLACE TO BEGIN AND RUMINATE....AND THAT

PLACE IS IN THE MIND OF THE CHRISTIAN BELOVED....IN THE MIND.....

ANOTHER COMMENTATOR ON OUR TEXT FOR THIS MORNING REMINDS US:

Undoubtedly you've heard the little saying "Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit.

Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character reap a destiny!" As you think about the thoughts that have

dominated your mind this past week, what do they say about your destiny? Paul now gives us a virtue list

which we can use for a "virtual mind purge" so to speak, replacing the negativity (and evil) that pervades

the world's thoughts with the positivity (and goodness) of godly thoughts. This is not some psychological

ploy, some "mind over matter trick," but is the living and active Word of God which effectively and

powerfully counters the words of the world.

IT IS HERE THAT WE TURN TO THE ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE LETTER TO HEBREWS.....THE ENCOURAGEMENT

THAT WE’VE GOT TO LET THE WORD OF GOD PREVAIL AND HAVE ITS WAY.....WE’VE GOT TO TURN TO IT WHEN

THINGS GO WELL, TURN TO IT WHEN WE’RE UP, TURN TO IT WHEN WE’RE DOWN, TURN TO IT FOR THE

REPLACEMENT THOUGHTS WE ALL NEED EVERY NOW AND THEN.....MAYBE THAT’S WHAT THE MAMAS AND THE

PAPAS MEANT WHEN THEY CALLED OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST A “MIND REGULATOR”......FOR THE

ENCOURAGEMENT OF HEBREWS 4:12 ABIDES ALWAYS FOR THE CHRISTIAN MIND, HEART AND SOUL.....

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

APPLYING REPLACEMENT THOUGHTS IN OUR WORLD TODAY

IN HER OPINION PIECE FOR THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER THE OUTSTANDING WRITER AND REPORTER DERECKA

PURNELL PULLED OUT ALL THE STOPS IN HER WEDNESDAY, MAY 18th ARTICLE TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF LAST

SATURDAYS SHOOTINGS IN BUFFALO......SHE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK BECOMING ABOLITIONISTS: POLICE,

PROTESTS, AND THE PURSUIT OF FREEDOM. SHE IS A SOCIAL MOVEMENT LAWYER BASED IN WASHINGTON D.C.

SHE PAUSED, BELOVEDS, TO PONDER THE THOUGHTS OF OUR ANCESTORS, THOSE OF US WHO WOULD STAND

AGAINST INJUSTICE, PAIN, KILLINGS, LYNCHINGS AND OTHER SUCH THINGS....SHE NAMEED THE REPLACEMENTS

FOR THE UGLINESS, INSOLENCE AND WRONGMINDEDNESS SO WELL I COULD NOT GET HER ARTICLE OFF MY

MIND......SISTER DERECKA WROTE:

LAST WEEK AN 18 YEAR OLD WHITE SUPREMACIST DROVE TO A GROCERY STORE IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK AND

MURDERED 10 BLACK PEOPLE. HE PUBLISHED A MANIFESTO ESPOUSING HIS HORRIFIC VIEWS AND

PENCILED A RACIAL SLUR ON HIS GUN. MAYBE HE HADN’T HEARD ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES LISTED IN

PRESIDENT BIDEN’S RECENTLY SIGNED BILL, THE EMMETT TILL ANTI-LYNCHING ACT. OR, MAYBE HE WAS

WILLING TO ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LIVES HE TOOK. COPS ARRESTED HIM

LIKE THEY ARRESTED WHITE SUPREMACIST SHOOTER DYLAN ROOF - ALIVE AND WITH CARE.

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE POWER AND AFFIRMATION THAT ELDERS AND ANCESTORS WOULD FEEL TO

WITNESS A FEDERAL ANTI-LYNCHING ACT FINALLY BECOMING LAW IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THEN A

COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER, ANOTHER MASS LYNCHING HAPPENS. IT PAINS ME TO PICTURE WHAT THEY

ENDURED: THE BODIES THAT BLACK PEOPLE PULLED DOWN FROM ROPES, THE ASHES THEY SWEPT INTO

SACRED CANISTERS, THE SWOLLEN BABIES THEY RECOVERED FROM RIVERBANKS. IT BLESSES ME, SHE

WROTE, TO THINK......TO THINK OF THEIR RESISTANCE TOO. BLACK ACTIVISTS FORMED ANTI-LYNCHING

ORGANIZATIONS, CREATED SELF DEFENSE TEAMS, WROTE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, BOYCOTTED WHITE

ESTABLISHMENTS, RAN FOR OFFICE, SUED IN COURTS, DEMANDED LEGISLATION, AND MUCH MORE. THEY

FOUGHT WHITE MOBS, ESCAPED AND TURNED POTENTIAL VICTIMS INTO SURVIVORS.........

NOW PREACHER, YOU MAY SAY, YOU JUST TOLD US THIS COLUMNIST AND LAWYER WROTE A BOOK ABOUT MODERN

DAY ABOLITIONISTS, A BOOK WHICH NO DOUBT, SHOWS US THERE ARE ALSO PEOPLE OF OTHER RACES, WHITES

AND FOLKS OF OTHER BACKGROUNDS WHO SHARED IN THE AMERICAN ABOLITIONIST CAUSE.......BUT DERECKA

USED SOME REPLACEMENT THOUGHTS.....THOUGHTS THAT TOOK HER MIND OFF THE VICIOUS KILLER IN BUFFALO

AND PUT THEM ON:

SOMETHING COMMENDABLE, SOMETHING EXCELLENT AND WORTHY OF PRAISE…THESE BLACK ACTIVISTS WHO

DID SO MUCH & DO SO MUCH TO FIGHT AGAINST THE KILLERS WHO KILLED US AND JUST KEEP KILLING.....

ANOTHER WRITER, BENJAMIN SLEDGE, DESCRIBED IN EXCELLENT DETAIL THE WAY HE PUTS HIS REPLACEMENT

THOUGHTS INTO PLAY......IN HIS ARTICLE FOR MEDIUM.COM CALLED, PLEASE LET ME BE ALONE WITH MY

THOUGHTS HE PROPOSED:

DEEP DOWN, WE EACH KNOW THE HUMAN SOUL NEEDS TO CONNECT WITH NATURE. WHEN WE DON’T OUR

LIGHT BEGINS TO FLICKER. I CRAVE ALONE TIME, DEEP IN THOUGHT. THE RENAISSANCE ICON

BENVENUTO CELLINI BELIEVED A WELL ROUNDED MAN IS AN ARTIST, A WARRIOR AND A PHILOSPHER.

TODAY, WITH SO LITTLE TIME TO THINK — AND MORE DISTRACTION AT EVERY WAKING SECOND — I WONDER

HOW ANYONE COULD BECOME A PHILOSOPHER. HELL, THESE DAYS A MAN ALONE ON A PARK BENCH

STARING AT THE TREES CAN RAISE EYEBROWS. “IS HE PREYING ON CHILDREN?” WE WONDER.

WRESTLING WITH OUR INTERNAL DEMONS HAS BECOME SO TERRIFYING THAT WE AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS. IN

THE PAST, HOWEVER, I WAS ALONE WITH MY MIND ALL THE TIME. I’D WAIT IN THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE

SORTING IDEAS IN MY HEAD. AFTER A STRING OF FAILED RELATIONSHIPS, I DROVE MY 1993 NISSAN PICKUP

WITH NO DESTINATION IN MIND. AN HOUR AFTER STARING AT MOUNTAINS, I HIKED THEM ALONE, THOUGH I

KNEW I WAS TEMPTING THE FATES.........

CONCLUSION: THINK OF HIS GOODNESS TO YOU

BELOVEDS, AS WE CLOSE OUT THIS MASTERMIND SERIES TODAY, WHAT WE ARE SEEKING TO REALLY MASTER IS THE

SHIFT IN OUR THINKING, THE SHIFT IN OUR THOUGHTS......FOR BENJAMIN SLEDGE, THAT SHIFT HAPPENED FOR

HIM IN NATURE AND WHEN HE WAS ALONE.....FOR DERECKA PURNELL IT WAS A TRAGIC EVENT, ANOTHER MASS

SHOOTING IN BUFFALO NEW YORK THAT CAUSED HER TO SHIFT HER THOUGHTS TO BLACK ACTIVISTS OF YEARS

GONE BY WITH ABOLITIONIST LEANINGS AND PHILOSOPHIES.......

FOR US AS CHRISTIANS SURELY, THERE’S A SONG....A HYMN THAT SAYS SO MUCH.....IT CAPTURES OUR INTENTIONS,

OUR HOPES.....IT DIRECTS OUR THOUGHTS OR STARTS US TOWARDS IMPORTANT REPLACEMENT THOUGHTS WE

NEED.....REPLACEMENT THOUGHTS WE MAY WELCOME AT TIMES WHEN DISTRACTIONS THREATEN OR OVERWHELM

US....THAT CLASSIC CHRISTIAN HYMN SAYS:

When waves of affliction sweep over the soul

And sunlight is hidden from view,

If ever you’re tempted to fret or complain,

Just think of His goodness to you.

Just think of His goodness to you;

Yes, think of His goodness to you;

Though storms o’er you sweep,

He is able to keep;

O think of His goodness to you.

THERE’S NOWHERE THAT THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD OUR GOD IS MORE EVIDENT, MORE PRESENT, MORE

PRESCIENT THAN IN THE VERY PROMISES OF GOD, PROMISES LIKE:

Psalm 29:11 NRSV

May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

OR THE PSALMIST’S BEAUTIFUL DECLARATION IN Psalm 9:

Psalm 9:9 (KJV (WS))

The Lord also will be a refuge in times of trouble.

OR THE GREAT PROMISE NOTED BY THE PROPHET JEREMIAH IN JEREMIAH 32:42

Jeremiah 32:42 ESV

“For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.

AND THE BEAUTIFUL PROMISE OF JESUS TO THE ONE THAT OVERCOMES WHO CONQUERS THE WORLD REVELATION 3:21

Revelation 3:21 ESV

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

GOD’S PROMISES ARE SURE AND IN GOD’S PROMISES WE FIND ALL THAT IS EXCELLENT, AND COMMENDABLE, JUST,

PURE AND PLEASING....GOD’S PROMISES ARE ALL THAT WE NEED TO KEEP GOING.......TO KEEP SERVING AND TO

KEEP SHARING THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL.....

Thank you, God, that you promise peace in every situation. Thank you that your peace guards my heart and mind.

Forgive me for the times I've allowed anxiety to steal that peace. I pray that you'll teach me to live deeply in Christ

and enjoy your peace more fully.

Crisp, Andrew; Crisp, Lesley. Mind the Gap: 21 Biblical Steps to Overcoming Damaging Thoughts and Reclaiming a Healthy Mind (p. 25). Kindle Edition.