“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Phil. 4:8
Being a Christian doesn’t automatically make you think straight.
God doesn’t open up your skull and pour ‘right thoughts’ into your brain.
We wouldn’t need instructions on what to think about if He did.
“You’re a Christian! You won’t be needing your brains anymore!”
Alas, the New Testament gives Christians lots of work to do…
Seek this thing…
Flee this scene…
Love those guys…
…think about such things.
CHOICES.
God gave us the ability to reason.
We aren’t slaves to instincts.
We decide what to think about.
What we think about forms our beliefs.
So, every belief is a choice.
That’s why ‘right thinking’ is crucial.
Bad thinking leads to bad choices.
Bad thinking is EVERYWHERE.
Even in church.
My head can be full of bad thoughts even while occupying pew space and raising my hands in worship*.
Righteousness is a choice.
God doesn’t MAKE you behave yourself.
You decide how you’ll behave.
And your decision is determined by what you think about.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Rom. 12:2
*I never raise my hands in worship.
51 Responses
Darn…..I was so hoping for the right thoughts download. Love your humor.
Right thoughts download is something our atheist friends will introduce some day after they figure out how to isolate the chemicals responsible for religion. It will usher in the utopia of godlessness and make everyone’s house smell like cookies.
(Honestly, I can’t work out how these comment threads are supposed to work…)
Hi JB, Sweet Cheeks, and gang –
Tim Keller (podcasts available on iTunes) had a great sermon recently titled “War Between Your Selves” where he discusses the differences in one’s self before and after salvation. It’s quite interesting.
Matt – Great job with JZ. That was fun.
Btw – Can anyone name a single new or original thing JZ has said or done? Something truly revolutionary? Just one thing. Consider it a challenge.
And I mean something more than just “You should be embawassed. Are you embawassed?”.
And I mean something more than “5 out of 20 Jewish and Bible scholars agree that blah blah blah. They’re my fweinds.”
JZ should write a book. It would sell like wildfire.
Signed,
Nameless in Alabama
I’m getting back from Hawaii on Thursday. Got a lot of catching up to do at home but the first order of business will be to assign you a suitable nickname since Señor Dipshit isn’t unique. I’m tempted to ask JZ for a horrendous name but I fear he will just copy and paste it from his book and we’ll be no better off than we are now.
John,
I am so hurt. You were so close to where I live, yet you didn’t drop by.
Seriously, though, I hope you and the Mrs. got some great rest. And not too much sunburn.
Dave
Revelation 14:13 (ESV) – And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
In JZ’s defense, he started talking about creator aliens in the last post, which I hadn’t heard from him before…
It’s not unique to JZ. Stephen Hawking floated the idea. Before him, probably Buddha …
I know he didn’t COME UP with the idea. I’m just relieved he didn’t say “slavery” for a full day. 🙂
Has anybody, anywhere ever said anything truly ‘unique’? How many places on the Internet will we find the challenge to “name one unique thing Jesus said or did”? Do you suppose the question is unique to JZ, or is he just copying the question from another source?
I’m guessing he heard someone else do it once.
Because, when I asked why he cared, he didn’t seem very confident with his answer… which was “you would assume God himself would have something new to say!”
I answered him, “No YOU would assume that. I would assume God is more interested in truth than saying something ‘new.'”
He didn’t have much to say after that.
Carl says this is preposterous. Becoming a Christian is the last choice (or did you choose?) that you ever have to make. The Spirit does everything for you after that, including your thinking.
This is an interesting take, Carl.
Are you serious?
John,
I pray that is not serious!
Scripture tells believers not to quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), so that would lead us to believe that we can. No use prohibiting something that can’t be done.
We are to confess our sins (1 John 1:9), meaning we still sin. If, after salvation, we are in auto-pilot, and the Holy Spirit makes all our decisions, must we lay the blame for sin upon Him? I shudder to think so.
I am guessing Carl must be being facetious, or just needs to review his thoughts.
Dave
1 John 1:1-6 (ESV) – My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Carl is always serious. I however, am often sarcastic.
John and mrsmcmommy,
Dare I tread in the dangerous waters and stir them up?
What think ye of Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Is faith a gift? Must we make a choice to have faith unto salvation, or has the Holy Spirit opened our eyes, like turning on a light bulb, and we are enlightened and thus believe? As in an irresistible grace?
What think ye of Romans 9, where God’s will in salvation is laid out? Or Romans 10:1, where Paul prays to God for people’s salvation?
What are your thoughts on Romans 8:28-30? Does God look forward through the corridors of time and see what people would do, and then call them (sounds like a work of merit), or does He predestine them based upon His own good counsel, not necessarily calling those who are good and nice, but those He chooses purely because of His perfect and mysterious plan, though they be messed up mortals like me?
More verses to ponder to muddy the waters of our peaceful discourse: Psalm 65:4, Romans 8:33, Romans 9:11, Romans 11:12, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Ephesians 1:5 and 11, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2, and Revelation 12:8.
Yeah, yeah, I am one of those Calvinists, monergistic in my soteriology (hey… with what I paid for my Bible degree in student loan debt, I am going to get all grandiloquent in this house), and knowing that in my heart, had the Almighty not reached down and done a work in my heart, I would not be one of His own. Not that I base my beliefs on personal experience, but I “became” a Calvinist when questions arose in my faith and I searched the Scriptures for answers. I had read R.C. Sproul’s “Chosen by God” while house sitting for my pastor (Who was not a Calvinist. He had several copies of that book and an opposing view one to have folks read and learn), and I was troubled when I came across the phrase in Sproul’s book “regeneration precedes faith”. I was shocked, and I determined to go right to scripture to disprove this author’s conjecture. Instead, Scripture disproved my objections. It turned my faith from a matter of pride in my holiness and my smarts for choosing to believe in Christ as I had thought, into a humble adoration of the One who saved the wretched me that I was and am. That is why I pray to God for people’s salvation, to change their hearts, pleading with the Almighty to use the words that I share for His glory and purpose.
Thusly I pray for the unbelievers who post here, for a mighty work of God. My paltry prose certainly will not bring about a conversion in men who are hostile to the things of God.
I am curious to see how other believers here see the “process” of salvation, and I endeavor to have an enjoyable and kindly debate amongst fellow saints who may differ in their view on it, should there be disagreement.
Dave
Ephesians 4:1-3 (ESV) – I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
——————————
DISCLAIMER – No thesauruses (I would have thought it was thesauri) were harmed during the course of this production.
These are all good points, Dave.
At some point, God has to reveal Himself to individuals. There has to be ‘a call’. Otherwise, we would have no way of knowing He’s there. The point of yesterday’s post was that there seems to be an idea of God that appears in all cultures around the world. God seems to have revealed Himself to everyone.
The last thing Jesus said was, “Go make disciples” which seems unnecessary if God has revealed Himself already to mankind. I understand the Calvinist explanation for evangelism and I don’t have a completely satisfactory rebuttal.
The Bible suggests that even pagans have evidence that God exists and they will be judged according to what they do with that evidence. Personally, I think some of this ‘evidence’ is the unified sense of morality that permeates human kind. Stealing, murdering, disrepecting authority are universally considered ‘bad behavior’. They aren’t unique to Christianity.
I’m confident that God will act justly. I trust that his judgment will be correct. Scripture says, “…when you seek me, you will find me when you seek with all your heart.” I believe that everyone who earnestly looks for God will find Him.
John,
No argument here. I wonder, though, if the judgement is for severity of punishment. Scripture speaks of blackest darkness reserved for some (2 Peter 2: 17), and that some fallen angels are held in a pit until the final judgement (2 Peter 2:(2 Peter 2:4-6)( so we know there is some distinction in levels of punishment. Perhaps the punishment is based upon people’s response to the light God has given.
The sovereignty of God in salvation is why I have confidence that unborn babies will be in the presence of God. What about the mentally retarded who can’t comprehend? I confess, I do not know, but I do know the character of God. I have confidence that nobody will be able to stand in front of God and lay accurate accusation against Him for injustice.
Here is a story I just made up to think about the stickiness of the whole issue. A missionary goes out to the deepest jungle to share the Gospel with the people there. He explains that without Christ, men are lost and doomed for eternity. Some believe, and some do not. Upon returning to his church in Indiana, he reports on what happened. One of the church members comes up to him after the report and tells him that it might have been wrong for him to preach the Gospel to them, since before he went, the folks were ignorant and God would not judge them as He would now for those who have heard the Gospel and rejected it.
It is a tough issue, and many great saints do not agree on it. It is an “argument within the camp” as some say.
The bottom line I have come to is faith and trust in God’s goodness and justice. It is Him that men sin against, and He who makes the final judgement. Praise God that it does not fall to me to make the final decision, for I am lacking in the infinite divine wisdom to do what is ultimately right.
My personal reasons for evangelism (Calvinist or not) are:
1. Jesus commands it.
2. I have the pleasure of being a vessel of clay carrying great treasure and being used by God for His work.
3. It increases my faith and gives me a greater compassion for those around me, created in His image but bound for Hell.
4. I get to share the joy of peace with God and see the miracle God works in human hearts.
5. I get rewarded in heaven for obedience.
For me, I don’t think my reasons would be different were I not a Calvinist, other than a fear that somebody would end up in Hell because I did not share the Gospel. I actually heard a local evangelist tell a congregation that once, via a skit. My jaw hung open as he used guilt for the people going to Hell because of lack of evangelism as a motivator. I can’t imagine the Almighty saying “Well, Steve, if only your friend Dave had told you about Jesus, you could have gone to heaven. Sorry, man. that’s the luck of the draw. I wish you had made better friends. Not much I can do. It’s the rules, you know. I’m kind of stuck here. Really, I’m sorry.”
A bit silly, but I like the reductio ad absurdum from time to time.
I enjoy the sharing of thoughts immensely and am grateful for your blog!
Dave
James 4:12 (ESV) – There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
I tend to think that anyone who would stand before God and assume Him of being unfair has already decided where they wanted to spend eternity.
At the risk of being misunderstood, I’ve been having nagging thoughts about God being bigger than my religious ideas. The atheists have helped me get comfortable with these notions. (Peaches helped some too.)
All Truth belongs to God. So anyone who speaks the truth is speaking something that came from God. Whether or not the speaker acknowledges God is irrelevant.
Sometimes, truth can be found in wretched places. Sometimes heathen people say true things. The Spirit of God is made available to anyone who asks for it. That Spirit ALWAYS points to truth. And God has mercy on everyone who is humble enough to admit they don’t know everything.
Dave
I have heard stories similar to that. Food for though..so I’m just digesting.
JB states that “there seems to be an idea of God that appears in all cultures around the world. God seems to have revealed Himself to everyone.”
By capitalizing the term ‘God’, JB is assigning to it the properties of a proper noun by fiat, an assignment meaning an individual person, place, or thing (like an organization or company).
Is this actually the case? Is he really talking about an individual agent revealed to people everywhere and then expressed by every culture?
No.
JB wants to give the intentional impression that we’re talking about the same object, the same proper noun, the same agency. an individual divine agency.
This is not true. This is a misrepresentation.
The example of belief in unseen, unexplained agencies doesn’t fit his proper noun. Not all cultures produce belief in an individual divine agency.
JB doesn’t care. The example he uses does the job he wants, namely to support his a priori religious belief and by dismissal allows reality to have no say in the matter. Reality doesn’t matter to JB. Promoting his religious beliefs does. The role of whaty’s true is of no concern in this pursuit.
JB then conflates a ubiquitous sense of agency that every one of us at one time or another assigns to unseen forces, unknown causes, to potentially be a hidden agent to represent this individual ‘God’. Therefore, anyone who succumbs to this assigning temptation by JB’s definition has been made away of ‘God’.
Is JB being honest here?
No.
JB then concludes that because every culture produces various superstitious models about unseen agencies, that ‘God’ has revealed Himself to just about everyone.
See the problem?
The ‘evidence’ he uses to justify his belief doesn’t exist in reality (which matters not at all to a dishonest person). He is imposing his belief on reality. This is a constant methodological mistake JB makes and refuses to correct it because… well, his motivations for remaining dishonest and misrepresenting reality are his own. But none of us has to be credulous enough to go along with the deceit. All we have to do is ask ourselves, “Is what JB writes actually true, and how can we know if it is?” This is the pinprick that bursts the balloons JB likes to float. He just doesn’t appreciate the effort because he’s not after an honest dialogue about what may be true or how we may come to know if it is; he’s after selling his religious belief to others unable and/or unwilling to think clearly and critically about reality, as if his religious beliefs contained insight into reality
They don’t. They dismiss it and supplant superstitious nonsense in its place to be swallowed by the ignorant.
JB pretends to be somewhat unsure of his claim by inserting the term ‘seems’ as if he holds some doubt, or that there may some other explanation for this common assigning of agency, but having explained this biological disposition to him several times to absolutely no effect, I suspect he wants to misrepresent the certainty he holds in his religious beliefs, his religious modeling, to fool others into thinking he is honestly inquiring into this phenomena and that his belief does have support from reality. Neither is the case.
Dear Leader,
We are talking about the same divine agent. Giving God different names is to be expected across cultures. I was not dishonest.
But, even if I was dishonest, what does it matter? Truth is relative. Why should I stop lying just because you don’t like it?
Still laying down your conclusion as if it were a premise, I see. On the bright side, you are <i.consistently dishonest! You should put the trigger warning back up there.
What’s your premise for how cultures around the world became religious without consulting each other?
Archaic ontology. I could explain, but that would take multiple paragraphs.
Thank you for sparing me.
What’s important is that “religion” is how people made sense of the world back before they used “artistry”–which is what you use to comfort the dying.
So, no need to explain further.
Back to form, I see.
That’s my special way of inviting you to explain the difference between the religion built into human nature, and the “artistry” that you embrace when dealing with the dying.
If a single agency made itself known to many people from many different cultures as JB claims as if fact, does it add to or detract from the confidence in this hypothesis (sorry, JB… that’s all it is: a hypothesis) that we never have a duplicate god, never the same religion arising in two distinct cultural regions, never produce compatible religions, never find the same explanatory model even though separated by something as trivial (to a single creative god) as geography?
Put another way, would you not find it MORE compelling if we found the same religious beliefs erupting at about the same time from very different regions and distinctive populations, telling the same story? If you can consider that to be a more powerful force for credence, then its lack SHOULD BE a compelling reason to reduce confidence in the hypothesis. That’s what critical thinking produces… a good Bayesian shift in confidence based on independent evidence. JB doesn’t shift. Ever. His confidence is already certain… because he’s using the WRONG ontology, the archaic ontology used two millennia ago when we didn’t know any better. Today we do… except for John B and a lot of confused religious people.
Now you’re arguing against JZ. He has been saying that Jesus never said anything new or original… That all religions are fundamentally the same.
They all refer to having the Way and Truth and Life.
So which is it?
Dear Leader,
Then stop reading my stupid blog.
I am a lying, manipulative wretch. It’s well established.
Go share your knowledge with more enlightened minds.
Because your blog needs at one person telling the truth, pointing out where you make your fundamental thinking errors and how they manifest over and over again, pointing out your duplicity and dishonesty. Sure, I could stop reading but I have a better idea: how about you grow a pair and grow up and start treating your beliefs with the intellectual integrity you demand from others? That would be a good start.
Okay! That’s a great idea! (Just what I’ve come to expect from you as the knower of all things.)
You are truly casting your pearls before swine. Intellectual integrity compels me to send you away. Your insights are too important to be buried under the chatter of fools.
Rather than wasting your time on my incoherent dithering, take to YOUR OWN blog and let loose your torrent of wisdom! Be the voice of reason! Truth will always win out over deception, Dear Leader!
You and you alone hold the key that unlocks reality. Write! Write so the people will live! Do not let them languish in this wasteland I have created!
Go forth and do what the unguided forces of the cosmos have mindlessly compelled you to do.
Hi Dave
Interesting. I suppose I am one of those Calvini……LOL. Being not as fleshed out in my studies as many(watch and see if I don’t get pounded by somebody over THAT statement!, and you know who you will be.), my thoughts on many things are still developing.
I believe with all of my heart we are all sinners, and so full of that sin by choice and nature that in our natural state we would never reach out for God. I also believe He extends enough of a call to us all to respond..or not. “If I be lifterdup, I will draw all men unto myself” Slightly paraphrased I am sure there. “God loved the world”…and so it goes. “Whosoever..”
I also get that not everybody agrees with this, and frankly I don’t like the intensity with which it get debated by folks. I may very well find out when I get to heaven I was wrong. It won’t change the way I operate on this earth a bit. I am going to try to reach every lost soul I encounter. I know you will too, Dave.
@JB. I agree. I think God puts enough awareness of Himself out there, creation and so forth, that every life on this planet has the chance to respond. Some do, and more light is given. I think of the fact that our work has a missionary in Mongolia of all places. Or had, not sure if they still are. At any rate…why? I think some Mongolian fellow, or lady, responded to the light they percieved and was seeking more. Boom, some man is called to preach to the Mongolian lost
Just my two cents.
I really like the ‘more light is given’ idea. Thanks for that, Wally.
My pleasure JB. It’s just something I have heard somewhere, but for the life me I can’t remember where.
I hear what you guys are saying about responding to the light given. I fear that as humans, we are so wicked and fallen that it takes more than revealed light to cause us to call out to God.
Romans 1 tells us that God has given men light, or knowledge, and that men, in their sinful nature, reject the knowledge God put in their hearts. That is why it seems that a work of the Holy Spirit it the impetus for men calling out to God at all.
So I think that more than just light, but a saving grace is put in the hearts of some men, whereby they seek after God. Then He sends the preacher to share what He has awoken in their hearts, and I believe that they will always accept the Gospel, when it is heard, having turned on the lights, so to say, before the missionary comes. Sort of the idea of the harvest being plentiful while the laborers are few. He has those ready to hear and receive. When Scripture speaks of those chosen before the foundations of the earth. I certainly put no geographical limit on who those are.
I always tread carefully when these discussions occur. I understand that others may differ in their interpretation, and they are still brothers in Christ if they hold fast to the essentials.
In the end, it truly is only a matter of us mere mortals trying to describe and understand how any why God works. Our interpretation of how He “does it all” has no effect on His ways and who will be there in heaven. Thank God it is not by vote or consensus! Sort of like the futility of unbelievers in explaining away God and how science works. Ain’t no stopping God!
Dave
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (ESV) – What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Dave
Again, you make some good sense. That is actually the problem with this entire debate; good sense is actually present on all side of it, and both sides can carry it to the point of absurdity, and actual harm. As you said, this issue is hardly worth diving over. We may not go plant a church together, you and I, but we are certainly brothers.
I, for one, appreciate the kindness you have shown
Wally,
Amen to that, brother. Thanks for the encouragement. This is the kindest “debate” (if we can even call it that) on theology I have ever been honored to participate in.
Dave
Colossians 3:14 (ESV) – And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Great question, Dave.
And my short answer is, I don’t know.
My long answer is Iiiiiiiiiiiii dooooooooon’t knooooooooow. 😉
I totally agree that there are good points from both the Calvinists and the Wesleyans. (And probably countless mixtures of the two.) But, I’m happy to allow The Wisdom of the Crowds to sort out some of this stuff slowly…over time… evolving (for lack of a better term) closer and closer to God’s Truth. And–in the meantime–I’m learning to rest in the knowledge that God doesn’t require me to know everything. It’s his job. Which is the most wonderful, terrible process of letting go I’ve ever experienced.
By the way, this is what I mean by the Wisdom of the Crowds. It’s not “supposed” to be a religious video, but…I think it reveals some Truth.
Well again I liked this
But it was agreeing that got me in trouble before so maybe I should not
I did raise my hands in worship once during our last Vacation Bible School and rumor has it several members clutched their chests and swooned
Please find something to criticize so you aren’t accused of blind agreement.
Well you did say you never raise your hands I worship…and I have once
Maybe that’s a start
Whew! After clawing my way out of that thread with 350+ comments, this page looks nice and bright and clean.
Every belief is a choice, you say?
Surely our Atheists buddies won’t have an objection with THAT?
What about our Christian buddies? Will they object?
At this point, I’m almost HOPING they will.
It would be nice to have an authentic conversation with people who are really seeking the truth, instead of a battle of wits with people trying to justify their hatred of God.
I agree, clean slates are nice.
It looks like JZ still wants to rehash and rehash and rehash on the old thread… (*sigh) I’m not sure if you saw my points to him, and/or if you were thinking along the same line.
But I’d really encourage you to invite him over to this thread so we can continue to ask him why he thinks “new/original” is more important than TRUE.
I did see your points. I also agree that I’d love a future post concerning the question. Of course, I like the literal approach more than if it really matters. Also, since the quote I used had Jesus as Truth- it explains the relationship between other religions with Christianity-that is- truth. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, as a theist, I can concede that all religions have some truth to them, as an atheist, I cannot.
But I’ll leave this section unblemished.
John,
Philippians 4:8 is a verse I wrote on a piece of paper some time ago and keep on my desk at home. It is a “mantra” I use when I need to ward off less-than-holy thoughts.
Your post is right on. When a person becomes a Christian, that is only the beginning of the journey. The Christian faith is an active one, and anyone who the Holy Spirit is indwelling will begin to have their mind transformed. Not into a gullible dullard, but to one who sees the world through a different lens.
It takes effort, and we fail at times, sometimes catastrophically. R.C. Sproul said that there is no sin that a Christian is incapable of falling into. We must battle within our minds daily to think straight. The heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), so we must work to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).
God told the children of Israel, who He has rescued from slavery in Egypt, that they needed to choose who they would serve. (Joshua 24:15). There were His very own people, delivered by His hand, and they were still messing up. Repeatedly.
In Romans 12:17, Paul admonishes believers to not repay evil with evil, and to give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all.
Believers have to always guard their thoughts, be mindful of them, lest their thoughts betray them (gratuitous Star Wars reference). Our thoughts become our behaviors, for sure.
On a tangential note, our faith is an intellectual faith, never a blind one. Never did God tell us “never question”, rather He told us to test everything and to hold fast to what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21) That requires mental effort.
Jesus included loving God with our minds as part of the greatest commandment (Mark 12:30).
And jesus Himself was a smart fellow, confounding his critics with words and slipping from the seemingly impossible traps they posed to Him. Taxes to Caesar, healing on the Sabbath, and the like. He asked His disciples questions to help them understand, “Who do you say that I am?” and applied Scripture with great skill.
Back to the main point of the post, the battle cry of the Reformation was “semper reformanda”. This was because we always need to keep realigning ourselves to Scripture, not letting bad thinking cause us to deviate from what God’s Word says, in our beliefs and behavior, and in how the church operates. Bad thinking allows us to create rules and traditions in the church that we elevate to the level of what God has decreed.
I think of my mind like I think of my chef’s knife I use daily at work. I need to keep it sharp in order for it to work well. I need to use it wisely, so that I don’t hurt other people or myself. If it is dull, it is of no use.
I leave the brave readerwho has endured to the end not with a crown, but with a link to a brief commentary on Philippians 4:8 that I find helpful: https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-25-christian-s-thought-life-philippians-48
Dave
Romans 12:2 (ESV) – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Well said John!