• repentance
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    Repentance and the Way of Neuroplasticity

    I once offended a woman by extolling the virtues of repentance to her. I believe the misunderstanding lay in our definition of the word. I think the image she had in her mind was of penitents on their knees making a painful trek to the Vatican. My image was of Christian in front of the Cross in Pilgrim’s Progress shedding his burden of sin and shame. Say the word repentance and we often default to condemnation and the list of our shortcomings we carry in the back of our minds. Of course, she may have just been angry at the idea that she had anything to repent of. We have…

  • painful memories
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    How to Take Painful Memories Captive

    The issue of whether or not God heals painful memories can be somewhat controversial within the body of Christ. I had just finished reading an article by a Christian in which he called inner healing a bunch of psychobabble. I am not sure why I bothered to read it because I usually steer clear of articles that are filled to the brim with judgment and contempt. Why court any more condemnation than I already face? But the Lord drew my attention to 1 Corinthians 10:5. Most Christians are familiar with this scripture. It reads: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we…

  • renewal
    Featured,  Renewing the Mind

    Renewing the Mind: Three Questions to Ask the Holy Spirit

    One of the most important tasks we are given as Christians is that of renewing the mind. Learning how to do this is crucial if we want to grow, both in love and power. Renewing the mind is the process of understanding what lies we believe and asking God to replace those lies or tear down those strongholds so He can replace them with His truth. But this means we must become good lie detectors. I find that, often, the filters of my past or even of my emotions can make finding those lies challenging! After all, they are my lies and I have believed them for a long time.…