Inmans

Several years back I started a tradition of designing our kids’ birthday invites. Here is the latest:

This one could disturb some children and hopefully will disturb their parents :-)

I have heard some programmers say that the best reason to learn a new {programming} language is to learn to think differently. Well, I have always taken this with a grain of salt, thinking ‘maybe it helps you think differently about programming, but…’

This morning my 9-year old daughter asked, ‘Can Jane think?’ Jane is our 9-month-old baby. I was impressed with the question. She had realized that she thinks in words and Jane doesn’t say many words. Certainly Jane does think. Even though she doesn’t say many words she probably knows several., and she probably thinks mostly in images and feelings. Learning English will revolutionize her thought-life, though. Not only will it increase her thinking vocabulary, it will no doubt change the way she thinks about things.

I wonder if these guys are on to something.

Missional is my new favourite Christian buzz-word. It seems like it’s all around me: on blogs, at conferences, in books and even coming out of the mouths of my friends. It means that sharing Christ [old buzz word = evangelism] is not just a program, or an event, or even a vocation, but a lifestyle for every follower. It goes like this: 1. A Christian becomes an authentic expression of Christ within his/her own culture, then, 2. People are naturally attracted to Christ and want to become followers, too.

Of course it’s not a new idea - it comes from the Bible and missionaries have been talking about it for decades using a different word: contextualization. I’m all for it but I’m a little worried that another cool sounding word is glossing over a difficult proposition.

When Jesus got missional or incarnational [another cool buzzword] it meant God was submitting Himself to pain, stress, trama, torture, and murder. Hmm, that means being Jesus to my friends is probably going to be a little more sacrificial than dressing like them and buying them coffee.

Are you ever bothered by unwanted thoughts? Maybe when scared or nervous, or you can’t stop thinking about something someone said? A helmet will protect your skull or even your brain from being physically hurt, but what if there was a helmet that could protect your mind?

In the Bible’s book of Ephesians, we are instructed to put on the full armor of God, and specifically:

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Is the helmet of salvation an invisible magic tool that succeeds where tin foil helmets fail?

Kind of. Whenever someone becomes a follower of Christ they begin a process of whole-self renewal (see 2Cor 5:17). Our minds can be renewed! (Rom 12:2).

Of course the equation includes us and our own decisions. Though we can’t always choose what thoughts we will be exposed to, we still get to decide what we think about and focus on.

The Biblical letter to the Philippians has some great advice regarding mental health:

‘Finally, brothers, 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.’

I tell my kids that they can ‘change the channel in their minds’. And, I know sometimes troubling thoughts can keep coming back. That’s when there is strength in numbers. Dark thoughts aren’t as powerful when they are exposed to the light of day and people we trust can help us win the battle, too.

Putting on the helmet of Salvation isn’t as easy or as naive as a tin foil helmet. It’s not a two-sentance prayer I do once and then forget about. Like a soldier who has to put his armor on every day, it is representative of an on-going, conscious effort get good stuff in and filter out the bad, remembering what God has brought to the table.