C.S. Lewis on Jesus

The radical conversion from atheism to Christianity of C.S. Lewis is one of the great testimonies of the last century. His writings about faith are not only brilliant they have helped millions of Christians defend themselves against pseudo intellectual arguments against the divinity of Jesus.

In a much-cited passage from Mere Christianity, Lewis challenged the increasingly popular view that Jesus, although a great moral teacher, was not God. He argued that Jesus made several implicit claims to divinity, which would logically exclude this:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (Lewis 1952, p. 43)

Revival in Denmark

 

Four men, three youngsters and an old and wizened guy, came together in Silkeborg, Denmark to share about how God's people can reach out to minister to those who need the love, power and truth of Christ. On the left is Pastor Reuben of the Silkeborg Church. Next to him is Andy Niblock and then Danny Wilson from St. Thomas Church in Sheffield, England. I am on the right.

The St. Thomas Church has the most compelling and complex outreach program to the poor and needy that I have ever heard about. The church is a combination of Anglican, Baptist and House Church Movement and is very charismatic in experience. They set up "Missional Communities" in needy areas and encourage those groups to heard God's call to minister to the people they meet. Many homeless, immigrants,addicted and traumatized are coming to faith in Christ and getting their lives straightened out.

The congregation has over 3,000 members. If you are interested in Missional Movements, take a look at St. Thomas.

The Silkeborg Church along with Peder Poulsen and the Diakonea (Deaconing) Movement of personal ministry are cooperating to raise up hundreds of Missional Communities throughout Denmark. I spoke about how to reorganize a small group ministry to include an outreach ministry. I will post those ideas later.

Almost all of what God is doing to bring hope, healing and change in the world is hidden from view. The media rarely if ever report on the millions of human hours spent bringing the good news of grace and the good news of love to the hurting members of society. And that is not a bad thing. The Pearl of great price is hidden and only God really knows the depth of what the churches are doing.

Shalom,

Gary Sweeten

People Do Not Trust Psychologists

I have been a Professional Counselor for a long time. I have seen thousands of individuals and many more couples. I think that the reason so many people have sought me out for help is because I am a Christian who is speaking, teaching and meeting with people in settings other than the official office of a therapist. This leads them to decide whether they can trust me and my counsel before they ever see me "officially".

But a lot of people do not trust Psychologists, Counselors and Psychiatrists and I think I know why. The official manual of Professional Therapy is called, The DSM-4. (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fourth Edition.) This manual lays out the things that a committee of Psychiatrists think we should decide if a person is "Mentally Ill". There are a lot of problems with this manual.

1. Not every therapist thinks there is even such a thing as "mental illness".
2. Many of the diagnostic categories that were once considered mental illnesses have been removed for the manual because of political reasons that have nothing to do with research or psychology. (Homosexuality for example.)
3. Some of the categories are highly suspect by Professionals and lay persons alike.

In the new proposed DSM-5 revised manual, the committee has proposed a new category for children. The old category was "Bi-Polar Disorder" and the answer was strong medication. The new category is called, "Temper Dis-regulation" and the answer is still, strong medication.

Anyone even slightly familiar with kids know that many of them fail to "regulate" their anger/temper. But do we think that is a Mental Illness that requires a life long tag on their permanent record along with medication?

And, have the therapists doing this diagnosis ever interview the parents? They might, in fact, have some "Temper Dis-regulation" themselves and thus teach their children well.

Most traditional, non family centered Psychiatrists do NOT, in fact, diagnose the child and talk to the parents. In Psychiatric circles such meetings are considered to be "unethical".

I have founded several Peer and Professional Counseling Centers. In every one we always take the parents' ideas and experiences into account. By including such Mickey Mouse diagnostic categories in the new "Bible" of the field they are driving the public farther and farther away from trusting us.

One final thought. This trend for highly educated professionals to treat people with such theoretical surety and realistic ignorance signals a troubling trend in American life. Americans have always boasted of leaders whose ability to succeed was based largely on the fact that the leaders were common people who worked closely with the citizens. That is changing and many leaders today have almost no practical experience with the fields in which they work.

Heads of banks are egg heads with Masters and Doctorates and no personal experience in banking, loans or borrowers. No wonder the big banks failed. They are excellent in theory but ignorant of practice.

Read the book, The Puritan Gift for a full explanation of this trend.

Leadership Skills in Desperate Need

The Procter and Gamble Corporation has selected a new CEO. His name is Bob McDonald and he is a very interesting guy. P&G brings in something like $80 Billion Dollars annually. Think about that for a moment. That is a lot of money.

P&G employs about 130,000 persons who come from almost every nation on earth and now work all over the world. That is a huge number of people to pay, manage and care for. They have many, many products, each one competing against other great products. It is a constant, daily, weekly and monthly task to stay competitive and on top of their competitors.

How do they do it? Well, P&G is the most prolific marketing company in the world, but that is not nearly enough to stay competitive these days. The key is great people with great skills. What kind of person is needed to head such an enormous company?

Take a look at the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer about their new leader and get a sense of what skills they think the new leader had to have in order to take on such a big task. Then go back to my post on The Fruit of the Spirit and re-read what the Apostle Paul said about Christian leaders. (This story in Fortune also talks about Mr. McDonald.)

What about Church and Para Church Leadership? What do we need to compete with the world, the flesh and the devil?

Danes Place Obama Higher than Jesus

Here we go again. A Danish newspaper has printed a story that attempts to make Mr. Obama a contemporary Saint and Jesus a very common man. Will it work to cause Believers to rise up and protest? Will it work to get atheists and their friends stand up and shout because they think they have won the battle? Probably, but does it matter?

These kinds of things matter little to real spiritual life. It will not change when, and how many people find eternal life in Jesus Christ. Back in the Seventies when sex, drugs and rock music were rampant, many preachers practically mad ea living by preaching against all three plus beards and lack of bra's. But we saw the greatest revival in history fall from heaven despite the earthly appearances of widespread evil. Maybe we pray harder in hard times.

It is easy to think that God acts on what He reads in the papers and sees on TV. When a confessing Christian becomes President we all cheer and sing the National Anthem as though God was finally going to run the rascals out of Washington, D.C. But, it did not happen that way when George W. was in the Oval Office.

Today is the day of salvation. No need to wait for a better day. There has never been a better time to preach the good news, teach God's word and witness to God's love. We are in the days of great harvest. I know that the prophets of doom will disagree because they are often caught up in news headlines not God's headlights.

There are most Christians alive today than ever before. There are most Spirit filled Seasoned Believers who know God's word and have maturity and experience in leading than in all history. I wish I could live another 100 years.

I am not a Baptist, at least not formally, but I like the Baptist sign above. (My Baptist Church gave me the "left foot of fellowship" way back in 1969. I was too innovative back then too.) I am still an entrepreneur who wants to see new, exciting and cutting edge ideas prevail in the Kingdom of God. Why should Procter and Gamble have all the creativity?

Let's face it. Most churches and most of its leaders are stuck in a village church mentality that leads them to desire to be the best church in the first Reformation. They are still trying to be Luther and Calvin instead of God's leader in the current Reformation.

The model is that of professional football: 22 exhausted professional men who desperately need rest entertaining 20,000 non professional men who desperately need exercise.

See my web page sweetenlife.com for more exciting ideas about Christian growth and influence.

Billy Graham Association's Leader Declines Pay

An article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy today tells about Franklin Graham giving up his salary for one year but he still makes a lot.


By Noelle Barton

A prominent charity executive who leads two big charities in North Carolina decided this month to stop receiving pay from one of the organizations.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, who serves as chief executive at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, in Charlotte, as well as at Samaritan’s Purse, in Boone, will no longer receive compensation from the former.

Last year the Billy Graham association paid Mr. Graham $633,722, plus benefits of $36,060. Mr. Graham’s father, the Rev. Billy Graham, founded the charity in 1950, and Franklin Graham has been at the helm since 2001.

Also in 2008, Samaritan’s Purse paid Mr. Graham $308,206 and benefits of $174,547. He has served as that charity’s top executive since 1979.

“He just felt it was the best thing to do, given the current economic climate in the country,” said Mark DeMoss, spokesman for Mr. Graham and for both charities, in an e-mail message to The Chronicle. “He did not want his compensation to distract from the work of the two organizations.”

No Retirement Payments
Mr. Graham also directed both charities to suspend contributions to his retirement plans. That decision means the Billy Graham association will not contribute to his retirement in 2009 or 2010, and Samaritan’s Purse, which had already paid his 2009 contribution, will not make a contribution in 2010, Mr. DeMoss said.

“These are not necessarily permanent decisions and will likely be reviewed from year to year,” Mr. DeMoss said.

Both charities are listed on The Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 400 list, just out this week, which ranks the top 400 charities in the country based on private donations.

Samaritan’s Purse, the larger of the two, ranked No. 59, and raised about $291-million in 2008, an increase of about 11 percent over 2007. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, No. 258, raised about $83-million in 2008, which was down about 5 percent from 2007.



What do you think about this story?

Change is Everywhere

Back in the Sixties and Seventies a couple named Toffler wrote some very provocative books about the rapidity of change and the overwhelming nature of the increasing speed of information. Father Lou Guntzleman, a local Catholic Priest, wrote an interesting article about what they predicted about today's marriages some forty years ago. It is in the Enquirer. I think you will find it insightful and worrying.

My desire to establish a Center of Influence that will bring together men and women who are cutting edge thinkers comes to my mind when I read these articles. We desperately need some thinking that is deeper than the usual fare of Christian leaders if we are to touch contemporary people in ways that make a real difference.

Who would you like to meet and discuss critical issues about religion, values, politics and spirituality? Write down the people and topics you think that will be of interest to thinking Believers.

I need to hear from you.

The Pressure of Culture

I had a great conversation today with Amy R. She works with women at Horizon Community Church and has a great ministry.

We chatted about the pressure we feel in our culture because of the Matrix-like nature of the ungodly aspects of our world. Perhaps it is no worse than in other times but we live in our times.

Another friend in ministry, Mark Lutz of the "Big Vineyard" described it best. He said something like, "It is like wrestling with one of those huge guys in Japan who weigh 300 pounds. All they have to do is lean on me and it wears me out. I get so tired of fighting the weight of the cultural sin."

I thought of that today when I heard that Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett had died. I had just spent most of my day at a Celebration of the Resurrection for Bill Nester. Dr. Nester had been my boss and mentor at the University of Cincinnati during mys six years on the staff. He was a giant among educators. He impacted multiplied thousands of young men and women, many of whom have gone on to be great educators and counselors themselves.

His life and death will not be noticed by many in the Matrix Media at Fox, CNN or ABC. They are obsessed with fame, fortune and notoriety not lives well lived. But Bill Nester did more, much more to elevate the level of thinking, nurture and the common good than all the movie stars and rock stars combined.

Obituary of Dr. William Nester

Dr. William R. Nester, the first chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Kearney and former vice president at the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University, died Wednesday morning surrounded by his family at Hospice of Cincinnati in Anderson Township, following a long illness.


A longtime resident of Anderson Township, he moved to Bellevue about a year ago. He was 81.

"Dr. Nester was a wonderful teacher and friend," said Bill Keating Jr. of Mount Lookout. They had remained close since Dr. Nester was Mr. Keating's faculty adviser at UC back in the early 1970s. "He led by example and had a positive influence on all of us who had the honor to work with him over the years. Bill's influence will continue to benefit our community for generations to come."

A Cincinnati native, Dr. Nester was born on Feb. 19, 1928, to William Nester Sr. and Evelyn Nester. He grew up in Evanston and graduated from Walnut Hills High School. He held a bachelor's degree in education, a master's in counseling and guidance and a Ph.D. in higher education administration, all from UC. As a student he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and later served as its national president. He was also a member of Sigma Sigma, a service organization.

Dr. Nester also held honorary doctorates from Northern Kentucky University, the University of Nebraska at Kearney and UC. He received the William Howard Taft Medal for Notable Achievement, the highest honor given annually by the UC Alumni.

He had a 26-year career at UC, starting when he became director of the Student Union in 1952. He later served as dean of men, dean of students, and senior vice president for student and academic affairs.

In 1976 he became a founding member and first president of the Metro Six Athletic Conference.

Dr. Nester moved his family to Columbus in 1978 when he became vice president of student services at OSU. In 1983 he became the seventh president of Kearney State College. He led the college's move into the University of Nebraska system and became the first chancellor of UNK.

In September, the university named the newest section of its "Living and Learning" complex after Dr. Nester.

He returned to Greater Cincinnati after retiring in 1993. Since then he has worked in administration and fundraising at Northern Kentucky University and served on the UCATS board.

A lover of jazz, he also hosted two programs on WOBO radio - "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Swing Time."

His wife of 55 years, Mary Jane Grossman Nester, died in 2005.

Survivors include: four sons, William Nester III of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., Mark Nester of Cumming, Ga., Brian Nester of Cincinnati, and Steve Nester of Maineville; and seven grandchildren.

A celebration of his life is 11 a.m. Thursday followed by a lunch and reception at St. Timothy Episcopal Church, 8101 Beechmont Ave. Anderson Township.

Memorial gifts are suggested to Nester Family Scholarship Fund, University of Cincinnati Foundation, P.O. Box 19970, Cincinnati, OH 45219.

Many people call themselves mentors today but few can really pull it off. Bill was able to really mentor yourng men and women and people all over the earth remember him with gratitude today.

Gary Sweeten

A Giant Passes into Glory

Dr. Ralph winter, one of the most influential Christians in history and certainly in the modern era, went to meet Jesus face to face yesterday. Go to this site for a video and overview of his work.

Many years ago Karen, Julia, Timothy and I went to Pasadena where Dr. Winters was building The US Center for World Missions. They were just taking over the campus of an old Christian college in Pasadena that had been rented for some years by an Eastern Cult. The place was filled with evil spirits and I taught them how to clean the place up before moving all those studentsand leaders into the buildings.

Ralph and his wife Roberta were brilliant and cutting edge on ways to reach the world with a special emphasis on Unreached Peoples. Roberta is the very first person I ever saw who took a laptop with her to take notes at conferences and meetings. The story is that Ralph learned his theology lessons by reading and listening to roberta tell him what was said in class and she learned because she attended and did all the papers. That may be true or not but it would not shock me either way.

Empathy: What is it?

Mr. Obama says he wanted to pick a Supreme Court nominee with "empathy". He seems to think empathic judges will know the law better and make decisions that favor "the little guys not the big guys and gals".

What do you think about his philosophy of judging?

What do you think about his definition of empathy?

What do you think bout Judge Sotomayor?

Let me hear your comments.

Gary Sweeten

Why is Mr. Obama Popular

Do you ever wonder why polls show President to be so popular despite his reckless, power hungry behavior? Maybe I have a partial answer. Many citizens of the United States are pretty ignorant about our history, values and traditions to say nothing of our laws.

For example, I was discussing the last election with a friend and mentioned that almost half the people in America pay no income tax. He called me a right wing liar. But it it true. I also told him that there is no money in the Social Security Trust Fund. He called me a right wing liar. It is also true.

A recent survey the 2008 Civic Literacy Report, write Patrick M. Ford, americancivicliteracy@mail2.isi.org, reveals that many Americans are unaware of the most basic aspects of our nations political system.

1. Nearly a third of the respondents failed to name two of America's enemies in World War Two; 22% of college graduates did not answer that question successfully.

2. Only 53% knew that congress retains the power to declare war. Nearly 40% believed this power belongs to the president--a finding with obvious perennial relevance.

3. 54% of respondents (and only 44% of 18- to 34-year-old) knew that Congress shares foreign policy power with the president; nearly a quarter (and almost a third of elected officials!) believed Congress shares such power with the United Nations.

4. Only 41% of Americans, and 53% of college graduates, could recognize that free enterprise or capitalism exists insofar as "individual citizens create, exchange, and control goods and resources." 17% of respondents thought that free enterprise or capitalism is a system in which "government implements policies that favor businesses over consumers.

This reveals once again that our voters are woefully ignorant so no wonder they support the current policies. Write to Mr. Patrick M. Ford americancivicliteracy@mail2.isi.org to get the entire report.

Also see this report for information about the nation's laws.

Gary Sweeten

Jesus House Reunion

The Jesus House in Cincinnati held its reunion yesterday but I couldn't attend. Grand Kids here and that trumps everything else. Take a look at the blog put up by the Jesus House curator of memories, Terry Fisher to learn more.

The Jesus Revolution started in the late Sixties and expanded for about ten years as millions of people from all walks of life came to faith in Jesus. That was the beginning of The Fourth Great Awakening. According to Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Fogel, we are in the midst of a spiritual "Hinge of History" right now because the mature members of the Jesus Revolution are Seasoned Believer with the wisdom, wealth and wit to change the world. (See Fogel's book, The Fourth Great Awakening.)

It is God's timing for Seasoned Believers to rise up and make a difference in education, health care, business, art, music, foundations and politics. For example, my friends and I who were deeply touched by the Jesus Revolution have just begun a research study on ways to empower, support and educate parents of Special Needs Children.

This project has the potential to change the way we do health care. The system of health care is deeply flawed. Doctors, Mental Health Counselors and others in health care are hampered by Byzantine bureaucratic rules set down by local, state and Federal Governments as well as paranoid regulations by health insurance companies. For example, Doctors ignore the parents and extended families of sick children, and they are the experts in the care of such children.

Chairman Ow is dead set on nationalizing health care and infusing it with more bureaucracy and more rigid rules. We all know that the politicians who make these rules do not have to live under them because all Governmental Health Plans are exempt.

We who came to spiritual and emotional maturity in the Spirit must mobilize ourselves and be positive influences in our communities. Speak up!

Gary Sweeten

What is the Resurrection?

Have we been wrong all these years about the Resurrection and what it really means in scripture? NT Wright, the Bishop from England, says we are.

Bishop Wright goes on to suggest that it is tyrants and very secularistic, liberal theologians who love to plant seeds of wrong thinking about Resurrection in our minds. HMMMMMMMMMM! WOW!

You need to read the Bishop's interview in Christianity Today online.

Ministry for the Long Haul

While in Norway I was struck by the importance of continuing God's call for the long term. Maybe that is why Paul said that we ought not grow weary when we are doing good thing.

It takes a long time for the seeds to fall to the ground, get covered up, bloom and grow and then produce fruit of their own. It was over twenty years ago That I met Jens-Petter Jorgensen in Nairobi, Kenya. We became friends and he invited me to teach in Oslo at a Pastors' Conference in 1986.

Many of the people who came to our many teaching and equipping sessions have grown in maturity, insight and wisdom and God has placed them in positions of influence. They have grown and developed in new ways because of the Holy spirit not me. God brought healing and power to so many good people back in the Eighties that something good had to happen! It did because they are spread out all over the world doing good things for Jesus.

So, don't grow weary as you keep the flock of God covered with grace and power.

Gary Sweeten

Innovation

Read Guy Kawasaki's speech at the NAIS web.

Guy is a fantastically talented innovator who helped Apple Computer develop its verve and beauty.

Helping Special Children Grow

We recently received a grant from the Hatton Foundation to research the needs of families with special needs children and develop models for meeting those needs. This is a huge and exciting venture.

One of our dear friends and former students in Denmark is Kirsten Callesen. She left her former position to get a Masters and Doctorate with specialties in Special Education. Kirsten took the materials she had learned in the

Apples and RCT classes and developed her unique approach for helping kids with Aspergers.

You can see her work at the CAT Kit web site.

It is very exciting to see Seasoned Believers take on such large challenges, especially when they are doing a great job.

Take a lool at this video on how they are working with kids.

Pray that we will be able to develop ministries that are as great as my friends in Denmark. I will visit with Kirsten in March when I go there to teach.

Gary Sweeten

Russian Patriarch

The Russian Orthodox Church elected Metropolitan Kirill, a long-standing church diplomat and skillful orator, as its new patriarch on Tuesday night. Kirill, the interim leader since Patriach Alexy II's death on Dec. 5, won 508 votes cast by the 702-member Local Council, Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga announced in the main hall of Christ the Savior Cathedral at 10 p.m. The secret ballot was held in the cathedral, where the new patriarch will be crowned next Sunday.

Kirill, 62, is an experienced diplomat who has been the church's point man in often-difficult negotiations with other churches, prompting speculation that he might take steps to improve ties with the Roman Catholic Church, which have been fraught with rivalry for years.

Pray for the Patriarch and for Russia. Pray for closer relationships between The Orthodox Church and other Christians.

Gary Sweeten

http://www.liferoute.ru/

Bread and Circuses

Narcissus

It has long been a tenet of historians that the thing that brought down the Roman Empire would also bring down the American and Western European Empires. It appears that the fall is almost complete.

I often listen to ministers and youth workers tell stories about the almost total lack of boundaries among today's youth. I read a story in the paper today that needs to be read by everyone so we can increase our prayers for Americans, English and Europe. You can find it here on the Daily Mail's web page.

When the sexual license of today is added to the way Government is spending money to entertain us and keep us happy, it appears that it won't be long before football will be supplanted by lions and Christians.

We must prayerfully seek God's guidance on how to reach the western societies with Christ. Calling all Seasoned Believers to rise from our padded pews and rise up with grace, love and power to defeat the enemy. Passivity will never win the battle.

Write me about how you will contribute.

Gary Sweeten

www.sweetenlife.com

Leaders Speak

Two great communicators together: Rick Warren and Barack Obama

Any church or business that is growing is led by a good communicator. We can see from recent elections that the ability to speak clearly and persuasively is critical to one's political success. Mr. Bush is a fine man but he is a terrible communicator and McCain is not much better. Mr. Obama is untried and untested but he is a great communicator.

Sarah Palin surprised all of us with her tremendous ability to connect with people. I will be interested to see where she goes from here.

Great leaders get help so they can improve their communication. They need to communicate well in writing, interpersonal relationships and public speaking. Even Tiger Woods gets additional coaching and he is the best golfer ever. Great Pastors and Great Leaders have coaches as well.

Lloyd Ogilve was a famous Presbyterian Minister in Hollywood before taking the position as Senate Chaplain. Every sermon he gave was analyzed and discussed by a special speaking coach. The content was not discussed, that was the Preacher's job. However, the delivery, timing, pacing and tone were all fair game. That is how an expert gets better.

Who is coaching you?

Take a look at a great blog on communication. It has the top ten best and worst communicators of 2008. ( I am not on either list.)

Gary Sweeten

www.sweetenlife.com

Anxiety on a Plane

Resting in Jesus

The Doctor who attended me on that rugged North West flight to Tokyo and Singapore was very helpful. He immediately had the attendant give me an aspirin and a nitro pill. Then he took my blood pressure and said, "It is pretty high. Give him another nitro."

Of course my BP was high. I was high! 50,000 feet above Alaska with chest pains, of course I was stressed. My mind was going crazy with thoughts bot rational and irrational. First, I knew that during a heart attack stress and anxiety increase the chances of damage. So, I was saying to myself things like, "Calm down! You are going to kill yourself by irrational al thinking!" followed by "It is not irrational to think I am dying because I may be dying." Then I would say, "Be calm Gary. Be calm."

The Doctor said something like, "You need to get your BP down, sir. It is dangerous to have such a high level of blood pressure." I wanted to protest and tell this guy I already knew all that but thought better of it. So, I said, "Go away for ten minutes and come back and my blood pressure will be lower."

His eyes opened wide and he asked sceptically, "What are you going to do?" (I think he assumed I was going to do some dope or drink some of the free alcohol.)

"Well, Doctor, I am going to pray."

"Oh" he said, "that can't hurt."

He left and I closed my eyes and began to pray in the Spirit. I still had to practice all the disciplines I had learned and taught in Renewed Thinking and I started to thank God for His mercy and grace. First, I thanked God for teaching me the principles of RCT. Second, I thanked Him for having a cardiologist on the plane with me. (The Doctor was a heart transplant specialist.) Third, I began to thank God for everything I could think about and I used RCT to stop the ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) that kept insisting that I pay attention to them instead of God.)

I also prayed and sang in English and the Spirit and I began to feel myself relax and release the tension in my chest. It wasn't perfect but it was better than average so I was able to reduce my BP and my anxiety. When the Doctor returned with the BP cuff he said, "It is better but still too high." I laughed and said, "You came back too soon. Let me pray some more and it will come down more." He left and I prayed until I went to sleep. (Which was a blessing and evidence of God's favor.)

What do you do when the ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) of life crawl out of their ANT Hills and attack your mind and body? Do you know how to pray and focus on God or do you find yourself defenseless to the ravages of stressful thinking?

I am very thankful I learned the processes of Renewing My Mind as the Bible says. When a crisis occurs, and it will always be just around the corner, God has given us the ability to stop the Stinking Thinking and develop a Sober Mind and Peaceful body. Write me if you would like to learn how.

Gary Sweeten

http://www.sweetenlife.com/

gary@sweetenlife.com