Having learned more about influence and social media, we now turn our attention to the most effective uses of social media. How, exactly, does one create a philosophy of social media in order to increase the depth and breadth of his impact? That's what we'll explore in this episode of Influence, part 3 of a 3 part series. (If you like it, share it!)
Friday, August 29, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Episode 014, Influence: Part 2 of 3
Social Media is all around us. But sometimes we're so inundated with it that we become overwhelmed. What's more, our over-familiarity with it can become unfamiliarity. So why not take a moment to re-think the nature of social media. What is it? How does it work? How can it be used well? That's the strategic help you'll get on this podcast, part 2 of a 3 part series on Influence.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Influence, Part 1 of 3
Influence. We all want it. And we want to increase the impact of the influence we already have. This podcast explains the nature of influence and how that can be deployed in whatever field one finds him or herself, be it leadership, education, technology, discipleship or ministry. After this session, check out the other episodes in this 3 part series.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Practical Tips for Expressing Faith
Whatever is not of faith is not pleasing to God.
--Hebrews 11:6--
To conclude this series on the psychology of faith, I have some practicable ideas on putting your faith and your life together.
1. Don’t insult God with small requests. God is able to do great things. Ask Him to do great things; expect Him to do amazing things, and He will do things that are much greater than what you ask and much greater even than your wildest imaginings. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
2. Don’t assume without asking. Faith is not the assumption that God will fulill all of your requests. You must understand how God works and seek His will before acting in faith. You must have faith in something, not just faith in the strength of your own faith. (James 4:2)
3. Ask only for things that God can bless. Do not ask selfishly, merely to suit your own convenience and desires. God does not bless your selfish requests, when you ask only to suit yourself. (James 4:3)
4. Believe that God will grant your requests and goals. Do not ask God without believing that He is capable of fulfilling your requests. God hears all that you ask and all that you do not ask. He knows your faith and your unbelief. He hears you. He is capable. (1 John 5:15-15; Matthew 9:27-30a)
5. Ask God to give you greater faith. As the apostles asked of Jesus, God can supernaturally increase your faith in Him. God can work to bring you into greater faith in Him. (Luke 17:5)
I hope this seven week series has helped you to understand faith and the importance of integrating your faith in your mind, your emotions, and your will. Faith doesn’t always work how we’d expect, but God does work and we are to have full faith in Him above all else.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Faith and the Will
He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
--Matthew 14:29--
Faith involves the entirety of the soul, including the will. We must choose to believe, to have faith. It is an intentional act. You do not passively decide to have faith. You do not passively trust in God’s provision. You must intentionally act in faith.
Faith that influences our wills is not just “any old faith.” It does not come easily and is not present in all Christians. Jesus calls us to have God-sized faith. God wants to deliberate choose to have God-sized faith. God-sized faith exhausts the full resources of the human soul, which is evidence that we expect God to show up. It is deliberately choosing to believe God, and to act in a way that shows that belief. As the old adage says, “actions speak louder than words.” Saying that you believe God, but continuing to act in a way that relies only on you - your time, your money, your abilities - is NOT God-sized.
Jesus says in Matthew 17:20 that faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move mountains. A mustard seed, if you don’t know, is tiny. It looks in significant. The mustard plant, however, is a large tree, big enough that many birds will live in its branches. Faith is played in our actions, in what we choose and what we do.
God-sized faith is one’s utter resignation to the fact that, unless supernatural activity takes place, there is no possibility that a given goal could ever be realized. Setting goals that can be accomplished by you alone does not show your faith in a sovereign, omnipotent God. We must choose to rely on God’s provision in our lives and act on that intentional choice. This is the only type of faith that gives God great glory – because only these types of things actually require God to act.
Our choice: DELIBEATE DECISION AND ACTION or INDECISION AND INACTION
WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE TO THINK, TO BELIEVE, TO DO?
Monday, July 25, 2011
Faith and Emotions
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
--Hebrews 11:6--
Your soul’s emotions aren’t merely feelings. In their fullest sense, human emotions have to do with our feelings, sentiments, affections, attitudes, beliefs, and convictions. Feelings are fleeting and should be limited in their influence on our lives and decisions. Emotions are broader and are instrumental in our lives. Feelings can develop into beliefs and convictions and so influence our soul and our faith, but our emotions are more than feelings.
Before your emotions can help you express Biblical faith, each area must be Spirit-controlled. The Holy Spirit should lead and direct your decisions and your emotions. Take time now to think about how the Spirit can influence and control your feelings, your sentiments, your affections, your attitudes, your beliefs, and your convictions. Think about the role of each of these in your faith. How has or how can the Spirit direct your affections? Do your attitudes come from your flesh or does the Spirit control them? What are your strongest convictions and do they come from God?
As such, what happens in our emotions in the moment of truth dictates whether or not we please God, because feelings and convictions are critical elements of a Biblical psychology of faith. Our faith is firmly rooted in our emotions, in our belief, but faith isn’t only belief alone. Faith has to do with the object of belief or it is merely faith in faith. You must have faith in something. To believe in something, you must understand it. If you really believe something, you will act on that belief. We should seek to increase the degree of our faith, to have enough to step out of a boat and in to the waves.
Our choice: CONVICTION – strong, unshakable belief in God or INDIFFERENCE, APATHY, AND FEAR
Your cry should be the same as the father with a demon-possessed son in Mark 9: “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Monday, July 18, 2011
Faith and the Mind
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine [think], according to His power that is at work within us
--Ephesians 3:20--
What happens in your mind is one of the most important factors in your faith capacity. Rational study and understanding is sometimes forgotten in Christianity today. Our focus has been more on connecting our beliefs with the heart and less on discipline and conscientiously studying God’s Word or logically understanding our faith and beliefs.
An important foundation to understanding the role of faith in the mind is realizing the difference between the brain and the mind. The brain is a part of the body. It is physical, material, and visible. It can be seen and touched (although you probably wouldn’t want to!). The brain works through electrical and chemical means, through interactions of chemicals and synapses. It receives information from the physical senses and from your self-embedded memory. The mind, however, is a part of the soul, as we discussed last week. It is immaterial and invisible; it cannot be seen or touched. The mind, contrary to the brain, works through psychic and spiritual means. It receives information from the brain, as well as from the emotions and Spirit.
Faith works in and with the mind and the brain. When you disbelieve or doubt that something is possible, the brain immediately slows its workload and reduces its “firing capacity,” which short-circuits faith. As a result, the mind’s ability to believe is immediately reduced, resulting in unfaithfulness. When your mind is not being controlled by the Spirit, it stops thinking supernaturally and downsizes what God can do. As a result, it begins to be “pressed into the mold” of thinking, which shrinks your capacity to believe God (Romans 12:2).
Our choice: To BELIEVE God – to trust fully in Him, His promises, His ways, and His purposes or DISBELIEF – our refusal to accept something as true.
WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE TO THINK?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)