Can What You Believe Change You?

By Ada Brownell

I went back to college to complete my degree when I was in my early 40s and from my vantage point of  maturity I watched high school graduates enter the university with strong differing views about religion, politics, morals, and life. They looked different, acted differently, their speech was unique, but when they completed their education they were like little toy marching soldiers, looking alike, acting similarly, using similar vocabulary. Moreover, for the most part their views of religion, politics, morals, and life made them seem as if they’d had their brains reprogrammed to the beliefs of their professors.

 Their parents’ and the church’s teachings were shoved aside.

These students’ lives were changed by what they were taught to think and believe. Yet, the young people would swear they chose to change their own way of thinking.

I was taught Logic in psychology and other classes. I suppose there is some truth to using those techniques, but also a whole lot of error. Often people who try to prove their point through argument start with a premise statement that can’t be proved.  For instance, evolution is taught as fact, but there is no solid evidence for it. It takes as much faith as believing in an Almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful God who is everywhere.

My idea is that argument doesn’t prove anything except who is the best at debate!

In my estimation, the only thing that can be trusted to be true is God’s Word, the Bible. After all, textbooks have to be replaced frequently because the information in them is outdated or discovered to be wrong.

We should guard our minds because future is tied to what we believe. Propaganda and brainwashing literally changed the Soviet Union and Communist China. 

Propaganda affects the way you live and who you are. But more important, so does the Word of God—the Bible. How?

The Apostle Paul said: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature….The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.-- “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:16—22).

In prohibition days when liquor couldn’t be sold legally in the United States, a couple of women preachers set up their tent in a small country city and began to pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit.

“Who is the wickedest man in town?” they asked.

People said the local bootlegger qualified. So the women raised their voices to God to save the man’s soul. Instead of accepting Jesus as Savior, the liquor maker was furious at his wife for attending the services, where she became a Christian. When she got home one night, he said, “I’m going to kill those preachers.”

Nevertheless, people filled the tent as the women evangelists sang, preached, and offered prayer for the sick.

A lady who had been ill for some time went forward for prayer and was instantly healed. She was the bootlegger’s wife.

The next night the fellow sat in the tent on one of the home-made benches and knelt in the sawdust at the end of the service, weeping at first and then getting pretty loud and excited about the joyful gift he received.

His name was Ennis Surratt, the father of one of our long-time pastors, Hubert Surratt, who pastored then in Lakewood, Colo.

  What Ennis believed definitely changed him.

©Ada Brownell April 2014

 Swallowed by Life http://amzn.com/1466200936

  

Do You Put Your Faith in Outdated Textbooks?

How is your faith walk? Do unbelievers affect your beliefs?

A psychology professor openly ridiculed Christians in one of my university classes with more than seventy students. As the instructor made sarcastic remarks about Christians in the news and preached his atheistic ideas, I wondered why no one challenged him. One day I raised my hand.

 “You said this textbook will be outdated in ten years,” I began. “So what you are saying today might not be true in ten years?”

The questions flowed.

“Can you prove evolution? Isn’t it true you accept it by faith? Are you aware that many scientists have thrown out missing links because they couldn’t find them? Did you know scientists are even putting forth the idea that man might have fallen from outer space?

“How did creation turn out so perfectly without a Designer? Why aren’t monkeys turning into humans now?”

He admitted that, yes, the textbooks and the theories and knowledge in them would soon be outdated; that he didn’t have all the answers; and, “Yes, we do accept some things by faith. But when something is universally accepted, we treat it as fact.”

I should have asked, “Then because the God of creation and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ are universally accepted, that should be treated as fact?”

A few weeks later, I asked a science teacher if the first and second laws of thermodynamics violated evolution. The teacher had opened the class on the environment by stating everything would be based on evolution.

No more than thirty-five pages into the text, Living in the Environment, by G. Tyler Miller Jr., the class was studying the law of energy degradation, also known as the second law of thermodynamics. The law states that matter, if left to itself and undergoing physical or chemical changes, will always change in the direction of decreased order and decreased energy content. The entire universe obeys this law, and this includes every chemical reaction.

In words plain and simple, the law means anything left to itself will slowly fall apart. Every old barn with the roof sagging and the walls falling in demonstrates this law. Despite galaxies thought to be expanding (are they expanding, or are we increasing our knowledge?), scientists will tell you the entire universe is slowing down, growing old, and, as the saying goes, is running out of steam.

The second energy law also tells us energy tends to flow or change spontaneously from a compact and ordered form to a dispersed and random, or disordered, form.

“No one has ever found a violation of this law,” Miller states.[1]

When the teacher read that, I put up my hand. “Isn’t evolution a violation of this law?”

In order for evolution to occur, many complex chemical changes must take place, and they must all be in the direction of increased order and energy to move from the simple to the com­plex.

The teacher paused a moment, cleared his throat, and said, “Well, evolution is the only violation.”

The theory of evolution also violates the first law of thermodynamics, which simply says energy (or matter) neither can be created nor destroyed.

A story goes that God and Satan were having a discussion.

“I can do anything you can,” Satan said, stretching his puny body so he looked taller.

God smiled. “OK. Make a man.”

Satan bent over and began scraping up dirt.

God grabbed his shoulder. “Use your own dirt.”

 

How we got here, why we are here, and where we are going are matters of faith. Each Individual decides what he will believe. Some do believe in evolution, with God starting the process. But we have to decide whether we accept the first verse in the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth: (Genesis 1:1).

 We're told in Hebrews 11:3, 6 "By faith we understand that athe worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible... But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him."

 

That's how we become confident of our future with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

AUTHOR BIO:

 

Ada Brownell, a devoted Bible student, has written for Christian publications since age 15 and spent much of her life as a daily newspaper reporter at The Pueblo Chieftain in Colo.   After moving to Springfield, MO in her retirement, she continues to free lance for Sunday school papers, Christian magazines and write books. She is author of three non-fiction works, one novel, and is critique group leader of Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers.

Among her books: Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, released Jan. 15, 2013; Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, released Dec. 6, 2011; and

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[1] G. Tyler Miller Jr., Living in the Environment (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.), 34–43.

TRUTH OR SPIN?

  By Ada Brownell

Christian writers wary of preachiness often avoid a gospel message in their writing. Many, however, don’t know what “preachy” is. When I first noticed editors’ guidelines advising against it, I feared they didn’t even want to publish anything with a scripture in it, even in non-fiction.

Then a secular writer, Frank Luntz, author of Words that Work, explained how to avoid being preachy: “Tell the truth,” he said, “but don’t do it in a condescending manner.”[i]

How important is truth? Should we “spin” it so it will be accepted? “Spin,” used so often these days by politicians and others is actually “twisting the truth” or avoiding it.

 Sometimes telling the truth is difficult, in our writing and in life. We need to be dedicated to truth, even in the family.

I can’t imagine how Mary felt when she had to tell Joseph she was pregnant with the Messiah. She excitedly told her aunt Elizabeth, and rejoiced so much her words became the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). But Joseph considered breaking their engagement privately. Nice the angel also visited Joseph with the news of the Messiah, so he believed his virgin and quickly married her (Matthew 1:18-25).

The Apostle Paul usually offset hard truths by wonderful revelation: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

John, the disciple, who spoke continuously about love and penned John 3:16, didn’t hesitate to write hard truths: “If we say we have fellowship with him (Jesus), and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1John 1:6). But he adds, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Jesus certainly didn’t stumble at the truth, either. For example, “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:41). But went on to add the contrast of hope, “And these shall go away to everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Matthew 25:46).

It might sound preachy, but it’s really not condescending. Truth is a light that can save a sinner from falling into the dark chasm of sin and eternal death.  Truth is water to the soul wandering in a dry desert of wickedness and unbelief.

The belt of truth is part of the armor God provides if we ask.

What is truth? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

The scriptures were “God breathed” and are the only effective pattern for living. The Word also is an example for our witness. So for me, I’ll write the truth and hope I don’t do it in a condescending manner.

©Ada Brownell October 2013

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[i] Hyperion, New York, 2007

DISCOURAGED? HERE'S ENCOURAGEMENT

The Lord is the everlasting God,

The creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

 

²⁹He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. ³⁰Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
³¹But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

Cross references:

1. Isaiah 40:29 : II Cor 12:9
2. Isaiah 40:31 : Heb 12:1-3

Amplified Bible (AMP)

 

IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH?

A NOTE FROM THE APOSTLE PAUL

From 1 Corinthians 15 12-58 NKJ

Note: When you see ..., that means I left out some scriptures to shorten the length of this post. You can read the whole passage in your Bible. The first part of the chapter is valuable, too, because Paul states emphatically that Jesus died and rose from the dead, and then he lists the many witnesses, including 500 at once (probably at his ascension) and then gives his testimony of seeing him.

So here's Paul.

Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain.

Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up--if in fact thte dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in you sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the mot pitiable.

BUT now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive...

THE LAST ENEMY that will be destroyed is death... But someone will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body will they come?

Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he pleases, and to each seed its own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds...

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruptions, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body...

BEHOLD I TELL YOU A MYSTERY: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality.

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal  has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory... "

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Your Mind: It's OK to Talk to Yourself

Because grief occurs in the mind, I'm sharing a post for one of my other books, Imagine the Future You

Controlling our thinking:

IT'S OK TO TALK TO YOURSELF

By Ada Brownell

Author of the book, Imagine the Future You

FREE JANUARY 25 AND 26

You've seen the commercial. Mom washed her teenager's new jeans, causing a crisis.

"My life is over," the young gal says.

She couldn't be serious, we think. Yet, when I became the new teacher of a high school Sunday school, I contacted all who had attended in the past. Before he had time to receive the card, one of them was dead. The young man hung himself from a tree in his parents' front yard. I heard the kid, whose parents had money for booze and cigarettes, killed himself because he had nothing but holey sox to wear.

In preaching about suicide a few weeks later, our pastor emphasized suicide almost always comes as the result of a suggestion from Satan.

But we don't have to listen to the devil. We can capture evil thoughts and refuse to allow them to live our minds. The Apostle Paul wrote, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

If you don't want to be depressed, change the way you talk to yourself, advises Christian psychologists Frank Minirth and Paul Meier, authors of Happiness is a Choice. "All of us go through each day talking to ourselves in our thoughts. We either talk in a positive or a negative, critical tone."

What had the boy said to himself before he climbed up that tree with a rope? "I can't face those kids at school anymore?" Or, "Nobody cares about me anyway?"

What if he'd thought like my stepbrother, Clarence, who started out in his early teens asking people if he could have their old broken bicycles? He figured out how to fix them, probably at first cannabalizing parts from one old bike he could put on another, and using old paint from my Dad's garage. Then he sold the repaired bicycles. In no time he had a profitable business, at least for someone his age.

Although changing our thinking patterns is not easy, it can be done. "The scripture promises that negative thinking can be changed to positive thinking," says Jerry H. Schmidt, author of Do You Hear What You're Thinking?

He gives a number of scriptures, among them Romans 12:2, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect" (New Living Translation).

Another one is, "If there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things—fix your minds on them. Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. And model your way of living on it, and the God peace—of untroubled, undisturbed, well-being—will be with you" (Philippians 4:6-9 Amplified Bible).

Beyond that, we need to decide to believe in ourselves and in the God who created us. Jesus told us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength," and "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:-31). That implies we are to love ourselves, too.

Then believe this scripture, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," (Philippians 4:13).

If you need to, talk to yourself about it!

Prayer: The Creator listens to you

 

By Ada Brownell 

“And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”[1]

A strong wind propelled a raging forest fire up the side of Grand Mesa in Colorado, leaving blackness and ashes in its wake. Grand Mesa is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world.

The billowing smoke and hungry flames came into view of a mother and three children, alone in a white two-story house. The roaring mass of flames raced directly toward their home.

 The father had gone to help fight the fire, which erupted near Cedaredge. He had no idea the wind would take the fire to his family—now stranded without a car or any other means of escape.

Inside the house the mother and children ran to the bedroom, took the Bible and read the Ninety-first Psalm, which talks about God’s protection for His children. Then they knelt and prayed fervently. Still praying, they went back to the living room and watched the fire, now almost upon them.

While they stared, the flames turned away as the direction of the wind changed. Their prayers had reached God, and He answered!

IMAGINE PRAYER POWER

This true experience is one of several miraculous answers to prayer shared by members of a church I attended in Lakewood, Colorado, several years ago. I was asked to speak in the youth service about prayer. While meditating and praying for the service, I felt I should let people in our church tell from their own experience what prayer can do.

So I asked people to help me. My only problem was choosing which miraculous answers to prayer to use! I found so many examples of the power of prayer I couldn’t use all of them.

IMAGINE CONNECTING WITH GOD

One woman said she uttered a simple prayer as their family’s truck, loaded with apples, rolled over the side of a mountain. Her children were riding on top of apple boxes. After she scrambled out of the truck, crushed by huge boulders, she called her children’s names.

“Tim? Are you alright?”

“Yes,” a voice answered from beneath the boxes.

“Steve?”

“Here!”

“Connie?”

“Here, Mom!”

The entire family escaped uninjured.

“Sometime let me tell how the Lord made an empty fuel barrel keep the house warm for a week,” she added.

A deacon told how he prayed and God stopped the rain so he could work on a road construction project. The deacon had five children to feed. If it rained, he couldn’t work and didn’t get paid.

It was the deacon’s job to send supplies to the men on the paving machine. For three days the rain followed close behind the road crew. They could see storm clouds dumping rain behind them, but it never reached where the men worked. Occasionally the showers came right up to where they were, and then would go back again.

Many persons told of being delivered from alcohol or cigarettes. Outstanding physical healings included a baby healed of hydrocephalus. The doctor wrote “absolute miracle” across the child’s medical records.

God wants us to talk to Him. If we have a problem, He will answer. That’s one reason why He’s important to our future. See more answers to prayer in Imagine the Future You.

--Excerpt from Ada Brownell’s book, Imagine the Future You, copyright 2013

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

 

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[1]1 John 5:14-15