Transformation of the Mind | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

Christian Academy praise team are we excited about competition next week hey man if you're not already standing stand to your feet tonight thank you Apostolic Christian Academy students and uh that's a brand new I think the past two or three years uh one of the categories is praise team and that in uh that includes not only singers but also musicians so they have a certain amount of musicians they can have and a certain amount of singers they can have and uh they they come in and they lead worship that's going to be on Monday evening of competition and brother Hammond I said that I believe it is Monday evening I know there's there's large band small band that's going to lead up to the evening but that will be in Gatlinburg and we'll have more information if you get on the academy site you can see all the schedule for competition if you have never experienced competition it kind of sounds um you say competition you think to yourself man that kind of sounds sacrilegious or something but I'm telling you um what it does is it it causes students to work hard to perfect their skills because schools all over the nation schools from uh all the way from Michigan Ohio we have schools from Texas North Carolina Tennessee Georgia I can uh probably I don't know probably 15 20 States come together and uh and they compete in all all things science Arts Sports you name it they compete in it and it is it is uh iron sharpeneth iron the Bible says and that's what's happening and we are I believe we are graduating anointed talented skilled graduates because um because of competition so if you can if you can block out some days next week and get up to Gatlinburg and check it out you will enjoy watching our Academy students perform amen and compete next week Proverbs chapter 23 and verse um and we'll kind of get our topic our subject we'll get it get it kicked off tonight but the Bible says in Proverbs 23 and 7 for as he thinketh in his heart so is he and then Romans 12 and 2 it goes along with this it says and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of of your mind and I'm kind of I'm kind of stuck I'm kind of stuck on this verse and uh last time I was in the Pulpit I believe I preached on the same verse and I'm stuck on this topic and let me kind of explain why it's because when I take the real colors personality test my primary color is gold how did he go any goals in the house any primary goals in the house all over this place represent I love it I'm organized I'm I'm a logistics guy I'm a list maker I'm a coordinator I'm a natural administrator and I love those characteristics and personality traits but my secondary color is really really close in score to my primary color and my secondary color is green and um being a green machine can be difficult at times now listen there's there's a lot there's a lot of positive characteristics and personality traits of green but for some reason I ain't found them yet in me and um it causes me to question things and not not Rebellion or or not being in submissive or unsubmissive or anything like that but it does it causes me to question it causes me to wonder it causes me to need to know details all right it causes me to want to know future events and it causes me to be unsettled if I don't have tomorrow planned or next week planned maybe even next year plan right any greens in the house they can relate to that yeah we don't do well in holding patterns however the reason why I'm really stuck on this topic is because I'm I'm currently writing a book entitled the anonymous times in leadership and this is going to be one of the chapters one of the topics that I'll be covering and the topic is simply this transformation of the Mind we got to have a mind transformation because why whatever a man thinketh in his heart so is he and I just believe like I can't be the only one that has thoughts and is thinking and is always letting things turn over my mind right and again it's not a bad thing it's a good thing it's it's a it's something that prepares you but at the same time if we don't control it it can control us so that's my subject let's pray together father we love you so we're asking you tonight Lord as I cover this topic of the subject of transformation of the Mind God is believed Lord God tonight somebody is here in this house though maybe it's a guest that's in the house and Lord but we're so glad they're here worshiping with us and we're so glad they're here tonight Lord or maybe it's just it's a church member who's been faithful to this house for years for decades maybe but Lord God I just believe Lord God you're going to speak to each and every one of us because each and every one of us have a mind that you've given us and Lord we're gonna we're gonna control that in one of two ways either it's going to help us or it's going to hinder us and I just believe tonight we're going to make a decision to allow it to help us in Jesus name come on if you agree with me why don't you just lift up your hands and why don't you just give God praise and glory that's to his name oh come on let's just shout into God as the singer sang as a as a small group saying Lord I'm thankful that you have already done it in my life you've already healed you've already saved you've already delivered me Lord God and and I believe you're going to do that in this house tonight you're going to deliver somebody from thoughts and mental captivity Lord God that's holding them Bound in Jesus name we pray and somebody shout amen amen you may be seated tonight in the house for just a a few minutes I want to I want to kind of set a foundation on this topic but the the white tail deer is a creature of habit and I know we've got Hunters that are here in the house and and we thank God that it is a creature of habit because it is a creature of habit it's a whole lot easier to find in the woods somebody said amen and and these these deer they they Forge a path through the woods and they they follow these same paths over and over again they followed them back and forth day after day or maybe night after night they follow these paths and they create what we call a game path or uh when I was a when I was a child we lived on 32 Acres of woods we we had a a beautiful we had a beautiful home and and behind our home behind our church we lived next door to the church that we've built and and there was Woods there was there was swamp area there was there were ponds we swam the ponds I remember one day swimming in the pond and coming out and I think I counted 15 leeches had a hold of my foot I don't recommend swimming in the pond but but we were boys we didn't have a pool and so that was our swimming hole it was also our ice skating rink in the winter time we bring our shovels down and we would shovel off the snow and we would ice skate and play Ice Hockey and and it was a great time we would go back and listen I don't understand it now and I've got a pond behind my house now that I wouldn't step foot in but that pond compared to where I grew up that's like fresh water I mean we had we had swamps that we would my brother and I we would wade through and we didn't wear waders we were Barefoot we'd Wade through these these swamps and and man we had the greatest we played jailbreak and Capture the Flag throughout the swamp so it was crazy we are the the the the the kids that lived around us on these on these 32 Acres we had a blast um but what I always noticed was no matter how dense the forest was we could always find Trails through the forest and I didn't even know what it was at the time I didn't realize I I often wanted to myself who made this Trail but now looking back at the same time I remember always seeing deer stands along these trails because the hunters understood if they've made this Trail if they have if they have made this Trail they will return again and uh the grooves that were made throughout the forest and in the ground to make this Trail in our minds I began to study science and in our minds these these same grooves are grooves that are formed in our brains from unconstructive thoughts stunning the brains scientists have found that repeated thoughts actually create physical grooves in our brain I'm going to say that again because a lot of times we don't we don't think of physical we think of just either spiritual or we think of emotional but scientists say that if we think the same thoughts over and over and over again there's actually a physical Groove that is in our brain tissue that creates this path if you will that allows those same thoughts to travel through your brain so much easier but it's not only bad but even even good at times because for example when we practice a skill or or we learn a sport or we study music these same trenches are trenched into our brain tissues it's it's what causes us to be able to play an instrument uh when when parents was up here a few minutes ago and brother Chase Condon was up here a few minutes ago they are not thinking of themselves my pinky has to be on the sea and my middle finger has to be on the E and my thumb has to be on the G to form a chord they've built there's grooves in their brain to where their hand just automatically goes if it says c chord that automatically goes to that chord kind of like I I remember when I was in high school I took voice lessons got serious about singing uh probably in my junior year of high school I got serious you know I sang in choir and and did everything that most public school students did in music but but in my junior year somebody told me there's an amazing vocal coach named Diane Graber that is in our community and it just so happened that Diane Graber was my best friend Brent's mother and so I said Brent I said listen I know your mom her her schedule's packed but I would love to take voice lessons she had her master's degree in vocal education and I said I said if I could take voice from your mother you know the people who take voice lessons when I was in school they're the ones that got scholarships whether it was the Summer Music Camp so whether it was the University those were the people that got scholarships and I'm thinking you know what it would do me good just just to learn to sing just so I can get a scholarship so I would go to Ms graber's house and and her Studio was there in her living room and we would go in once a week um we would go and she would teach me songs and I enjoyed singing so much we sing she gave me some Italian songs and Latin songs and sings the songs in Russian um just just cool stuff but what I hated the most about vocal lessons was vocal exercises oh man I I hated I I didn't even comprehend it didn't make sense to me I was a junior I was I was 16 17 years old and I thought what is this and in breathing exercises in ear training and she would try to put me through theory in the circle of fifths and and I'm like come on and she would tell me you're going to need a notice for college you're going to understand this for college we're going to train your ear and I'm thinking to myself just teach me a song I just want to sing right teach me how to breathe I know how to breathe I'm standing here I've been doing it for 17 years I'm a professional right but what I didn't realize was the very exercises that that woman taught me got ingrained in my brain in a way that just like these keyboardists don't have to think about what a c chord is or a G chord or C minor or a flat diminished whatever chord is when I began to sing I didn't have to think about how I should breathe and if my stomach should come out my diaphragm should fall and my lungs should inflating I I didn't think about ear training and what pitch I was going to when I was a major fifth or mine or fifth or or I didn't have to think about those things when I read music when I cite read music I could just follow along on music and it just came out of my mouth because why because I had ingrained that into my brain so that when I saw that note when I saw that interval between this note and this note my brain automatically hit that in my voice saying that no um and I think to myself you know if I would have tried harder if I would have done better and I did I went to University I got scholarship University I thank God for it I thank God I went to University of North Carolina Greensboro I thank God for the classes I went to but still even then the classes I could not stand were the ditching classes and we I I had an Italian Latin Dixon class I was a part of I didn't understand one word I was singing but I was so good at it because he taught us how to they would say here's the word this is how you pronounce it this is how you don't pronounce it and of course I was from North Carolina so if you can imagine we had some deep draw going on or they did I was from New York I was living in North Carolina they had deep draw but they would teach us how how to pull out that southern accent pull it out of the song and if you're gonna sing classical you can't sing like that y'all but again all those things were just ingrained in my brain so that I'd have to think about them it just happened naturally so I began to to bring that idea into what we're talking and discussing tonight with the transformation of the mind and the best case scenario is that you Groove out in your brain things that help you in things that improve your skill and and I talk I talk music but we could talk sports we we could talk construction um skilled Builders and creative Craftsmen they have skills they don't have to think about they just naturally look I I've been with brother Randy cogdale and he could look at an angle of of a stair or a step and he don't have to even measure or bring out I'd have to have all kinds of things squares and measure he can just look at and say oh that's a 45 degree angle that's about 35 degrees because why he's he's studied it so long that it's just in his mind so as good as that can be the same thing can happen in a worst case scenario which is thoughts can become ditches of self-doubt a phobias of obsessive thoughts some of y'all think about your mother-in-laws a vices and misdees and sometimes worse right and you think why do some people get stuck in negative chatter why do some people get stuck where where their mind every day every hour is always facing negative thoughts and and the reason is quite simple those grooves are dug so deep the only way to fix it is you have to dig grooves another Direction science tells us the only way to fix it is you have to fix it with different grooves in the physical brain I know this is getting kind of deep and and I was reading about this I got a psychology book it had a lot of pictures and so I bought it and I was flipping through it and I was reading through and I thought man this stuff is crazy they're talking about um even with animals and and how animals animals will begin uh saliva will will form and they begin to study animals just as they hear certain sounds as they as they think the door to the pantry is opening where their food is kept they'll salvate like that and it's all these these mental these mental things and and it's all has to do with this physical the brain and the channels that are cut into the brain because here's the deal a person thinks about 60 000 thoughts every day and normally many are random thoughts uh but some of those thoughts can be destructive thoughts negative thoughts so but what if those thoughts were harnessed and instead make constructive grooves in our mind if we could even even half of those daily thoughts if we could take those captive right for the purpose we could habitually live better lives and be better people because even Psalms 4 or excuse me proverbs 4 and 23 says keep thy heart with all diligence for all of it are the issues of life I know translation says be careful what you think because your thoughts will run your life come on have you seen that I've seen that happen I've seen people where you can read them like a book and everything that they're doing is because they thought it first whether you win or lose in life is determined by what you do inside of your mind so I promise this is not a self-help this is not some self-help sermon We're Not Gonna We're not gonna talk about ten steps on how to pull yourself up by your bootstraps it's not like that but I want to help someone here today get out of a mental and physical brain anguish is that all right and we can all act like it's not happening to any of us so we can just act like it's for somebody else okay make us feel better we can just aim in for somebody else all right amen for your neighbor all right all right God's word gives us examples of people who didn't allow the circumstances to determine their outlook on life I'm talking about people who are plainly done wrong but didn't let them off they didn't beat they didn't get offended all right because offense right offense is the Devil's Playground if we give him an inch he'll take a mile all you have to do is be offended just just a little bit just and let me tell you something there are legitimate offenses there's no doubt that people have been done wrong I'm not here saying that that nobody's ever left this church over over not being done people have been done wrong all of us have been done wrong all of us will be offended but it's how we deal with those offenses that's going to determine our future so let's talk about Joseph let's go to the Old Testament we have now listen Joseph I love preaching about Joseph and there's a reason he's got like 19 chapters in The Book of Genesis just about him think about that 19 chapters in The Book of Genesis all cover the life of this young man named Joseph he's got a Dream from God beautiful thing dreams are a beautiful thing because dreams give direction a dream doesn't always give detailed instructions on life right however a dream will at least allow you to know where you're going and if you're green like me I like to know where I'm going I mean I know brother brother Barrick I mean I know how to get there but at least I know what direction I'm headed I know where I want to end up in at least with with Joseph he kind of had a good idea I'm going to end somewhere good because I've already had dreams about my brothers bowing down to me I've had dreams about my parents my mom and dad bowing down to me so obviously in the whole patriarch scheme of things obviously I'm gonna have to get somewhere where people look to me in a leadership role so but but as soon as dreams are given it seems like typically a fence can always follow after a dream so I'm not going to go through the story you you know the story Joseph is sold into slavery by his own Brothers you can't tell me that that he wasn't fighting off some negative voices in his head amen thoughts that were attempting to form grooves in his brain Crews of depression self-centered thoughts because that's what kind of ends up happening you you go through these poor me situations and scenarios in your mind anybody ever been there we talked about that last time sometimes it just feels good just to I've got every right to be offended my my own Brothers my own blood done Soul me down the slave trade I I I'm sold to the ishmaelites I'm headed to to Egypt I'm headed to a Despicable place to hear these people are Hebrews and they're they're headed to Egypt but a land of sin they're they're going to Las Vegas if you will that's where he's being sold to he's being sold to this sin city of Egypt and and here we have a hero that is now a zero in in just a short moment of time he went from wearing the coat of many colors to it's been ripped off him and now I don't know he's he's probably in his undergarments and he's being led in a chain gang too Egypt and again I know you know the story of Joseph but somehow some way he stays on top of his thinking he's been done wrong he could have been offended right he's been done wrong but somehow he didn't have this this this privileged mindset right he didn't have he didn't have a mindset thinking that that people owed him something even even though yeah he did have a coat of many colors even though yeah he had dreams of of being Superior in every way to everyone around him but he didn't have a superior mindset he didn't have a privileged mindset but instead he said God whatever I can do for you I'm going to do for you and I'm going to do it the best way I can do it for you so he submits himself he submits himself to potiphar potipheral eyes on him but he stayed submitted a pot of her he gets thrown into jail he's submitted to the Jailer he submitted to the people around him the people the people that even are are telling him that they're going to remember him when they go back to Pharaoh it was the cub bear that after two years had forgotten all about Joseph Joseph I'm sure again if you want to be offended you can be offended if you want to live a life of a fence you can live a life of offense but the decision is up to you and the decision is up to me how do we choose to think how do we choose to think let me preach where we're living for just a moment because we have this Choice oh God I know there's people in my life that I could easily get on Facebook and I could air out dirty laundry on Facebook and and I can tell people how this person's done me wrong and that person has done me wrong and don't you know you can always find somebody to comment on your post and make you feel better about yourself there's always a hater right that's going to hate the same person that's done you wrong and hey if we're not careful if we're not careful we can get into this thing well if there's others that agree with me maybe I'm right that's not true two wrongs don't make a right but if we as the people of God and I believe this if we as the people of God can stand up and say you know what I will let no thing offend me I'm not going to allow something somebody says or a look somebody gives me somebody tells me that somebody said something oh my goodness so many times people are taken wrong uh ideas and comments are taken out of context we've heard not long ago I I was with a I was with a young man and he was telling me he said he said he said I felt I felt like like a person he had a problem with me and so I finally I defined as walked up to him and said you know what what what's going on why why do I feel I feel like there's there's just some friction between us and the person said well I hear that you've been talking about me and he looked at me and he said I just looked him back in the eye and I said I haven't even thought about you but but that's that's how the devil does us that's how the enemy does us he he'll he'll make he'll make us think that people are talking about us and people have issues with us when all along they ain't even thinking about us we haven't even been on their radar but in our own minds we have this what I grew up calling stinking thinking right you've heard that term where you just have you just it's like a tape recorder that just keeps on getting it's a Groove that you got in your brain to that same thought just keeps on going back and forth through whoo but let me tell you something Joseph wasn't like that he didn't feel like he always had to defend himself he didn't feel like he had to be defensive in every way but instead he remains committed to keeping the dream that God gave him alive all because he knows somewhere in my future God has a plan for me and how do I know it because the actions that are recorded are a direct result of the thoughts that were being processed by Joseph Proverbs 23-7 we read it for as he thinketh in his heart so is he maybe you're here this evening and God has made your calling sure but the doors just haven't opened yet that happens all the time God calls somebody into a Ministry God begins to tug on some of these hardness I want you you're hearing a call from God he's saying I want you to get busy in my kingdom but you can't find doors opening and there's something inside of us he just wants to kick doors open when we can't find open doors and God is just saying just hold tight hold on because let me tell you something the devil the devil would love for you to get in front of God and get the cart before the horse but God is simply saying if you'll just be patient and wait upon me I promise you it looks bleak it looks dark here you are in a dungeon you are in the king's prison but Joseph if you'll just hold on a little bit longer I've got something for you I'm about to make your dreams come true matter of fact look with me in Genesis 41 and 38 because unlike Joseph Joseph conceited at the end of his story Joseph can see where he was going now he had a dream of where he would end up but he couldn't see where he was going but you and I we know the story but the Bible says in verse 38 it says in pharaoh said unto his servants can we find such a one as this a man of whom the spirit of God is and Pharaoh said to Joseph for as much as God hath showed thee all this there is none so discreet and wise as Thou Art Thou shalt be over my house and according unto Thy word shall all my people be ruled only in the throne will I be greater than thou now we're talking about a young man who is sold into slavery we're talking a young man that was sold in a pot of his house was lied upon by Potiphar's wife was put in the king's prison he was forgotten about by the cup bear but this young man had something that nobody else had he could he could hear a dream and he could tell you exactly what God was doing through your dream he was an interpreter and nobody else could do that no Magician of pharaoh could do it no interpreter from Pharaoh could do it and so Pharaoh said hey there's something about you that I want to give power to and Pharaoh said unto Joseph in verse 41 seem I have set thee over all the land of Egypt and Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand and arrayed him vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck and he made him to ride in the second Chariot which he had and they cried before him bow the knee and Pharaoh made him ruler over all the land of Egypt and Pharaoh watch this right here Pharaoh said unto Joseph I am pharaoh and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all of Egypt oh let me tell you something if that doesn't let your fire your wood is wet because what we have here is a young man who Against All Eyes refused to allow thoughts to enter his mind he refused to be offended and live under a fence and because of it God promoted him to be the greatest in the land it was said right here by Pharaoh there's not a person that's going to lift a hand or lift a foot unless you tell him it's okay oh can you see that can you see this humble Hebrew boy coming up out of the prison and going my God I'm so thankful I didn't have that stinking thinking that my brothers had when I started sharing my dreams with them and they got all jealous and got to thinking bad thoughts about me and we're offended by my dream Joseph thought to himself if I would have been offended I would have never ended up in Pharaoh's Palace oh but because oh my god listen I'm preaching to myself I'm preaching you this this evening and my church family this evening if we can get our thoughts under control the sky is the limit every dream that you've ever been given if we can have a transformation of the Mind offense will not rule over you offense will not rule over me you will not have your life ruled by things that other people say or do or talk about or think oh that's what I want to be now that's Old Testament but what about the New Testament what about Peter and John here they are beaten and imprisoned in the book of Acts chapter 4 and I can tell you about it but I want to read it to you because it acts 4 and 1 this story jumps out of the pages because once again these men who could have given up and been offended when everything didn't go their way when everybody began to hate them for what they believed when they started helping people on the Sabbath cone you you know how these new testament stories go but the Bible says and as they speak unto the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees Came Upon them being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and they laid hands on them now we're not talking about they didn't pray for him when it says that lay their hands on them they beat them up they beat them they laid hands upon them and put them in a hold until the next day for it was now even tied how being many of them which heard the word believed in the number of the men was about five thousand and it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes and it goes through telling about who was all there they were gathered together at Jerusalem and when they had sent them in the midst they asked by what power or by what name have you done this then Peter oh I like this right here filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them ye rulers of the people and Elders of Israel if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent Man by what means he has made whole be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth who you crucified whom God raised up from the dead even by him doth this man stand before you whole this is the stone I like man he just he says you know you asked me a question I'm just going to sneak a preach right here he said he said even the stone which was set at not of you Builders which has become the head of the corner neither is there salvation in any other for there's none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved and now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and they had perceived that they were unlearning ignorant men they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus and beholding a man which was healed standing with them they could say nothing against it but when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council they conferred among themselves saying what shall we do to these men for that indeed a notable Miracle has been done by them is Manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem uh and we can't deny it but that it's spread no further among the people let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name and they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus but Peter and John answered unto them whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard so when they had further threatened them they let them go finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people for all the men glorified God for that which was done oh I don't know about you but we don't think in these terms today because we don't get beaten or put in jail because we preach name Jesus come on I want you to think about this in the days of our of our beloved Apostles men they they were martyred they were put to death they were boiled in oil oh they were hung upside down they were stoned to death these men they said I don't care what you say all I can do is testify from what I've witnessed all I can do is tell you what I've heard I've spent time with this man named Jesus and I've seen the power that's in this man Jesus and because of that fact I refuse to be offended you can beat me up you can throw stones at me you could hit me with clubs and sticks you can put me in jail overnight you can put me in jail for life but I cannot stop preaching the name of Jesus and what they were assembly saying was I will not be offended just because you don't agree with what I'm preaching about just because you've never experienced what I've experienced you cannot offend me and I refuse to live a life of a fence and thank God for it because we wouldn't even know the power that's in the name of Jesus had they not been been thrown in jail and Peter came on preaching oh but he said neither has there salvation in any other name I'm so thankful for the Salvation we have in the name of Jesus tonight are you thankful for the Salvation that you have through the name of Jesus what a name what a name there's nothing powerful nothing more powerful than the name of Jesus nothing can compare to the name above every other name I've got just one more I've got this one more story for you hey it had been 50 days since Passover the streets of Jerusalem were busy with people rushing around preparing for yet another Festival all except for a few all except for a hundred and twenty who had gathered in an upper room this room where these people were meeting was suddenly filled with a loud noise it sounded like a massive wind storming it sounded like a tornado was entering into the room then all those that were in attendance began to witness as tongues like as a fire began to sit upon every person in the room and they began to speak a language that nobody understood it began to speak a language that was given to them by the spirit of God and of course we know this is the day that we call the day of Pentecost this is when the spirit of God filled the new church it's when the spiritual World here on Earth had a great invasion oh yeah because up to this time there was a spirit of darkness and the devil on the atmosphere but when the spirit of God filled the new church when the spirit of God filled the pride of Christ if you will when the spirit of God filled those Disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost now all the sudden there was a new Force there was a new spiritual Reckoning taking place on Earth and Satan had to do everything he could do to try to defeat this new spirit on Earth think about it because 120 became five thousand or three thousand and three thousand were filled on that day of Pentecost and then from that point on it spread in thousands and thousands more were filled with the spirit of God in this cause great turmoil in the Kingdom of Satan this caused Great spiritual warfare to begin because before that time there wasn't a spiritual warfare because the spirit of God was not in man but as soon as the spirit of God began to enter men through the Holy Ghost all the sudden it was Warfare it was not carnal it was not fleshly but it was spiritual Warfare in God's Own people listen uh the religious Jews oh the enemy caused them to begin to hate these Jesus followers they begin to hate these people who have been filled with the spirit and matter of fact the greatest Ally to the kingdom of the devil was a Pharisee named Saul he was a hater of the Christians he was a hater of the Jesus followers but Jesus proved himself and he proved that he was more powerful than the enemy because he converted Saul and now all of a sudden Satan's Ally became one of the greatest allies for Jesus Christ and for this new Christian belief and Saul became Paul but now Satan switches gears because now Paul has become so effective in establishing this new church so Satan he gave is up this new attack to shut all the doors of opportunity for Paul and in A.D 64 in in Rome Paul finds himself and Rome is on the verge of a horrific disaster because on July 14th of A.D 64 The Great Fire of Rome breaks out and the fire ravishes about 70 percent of the city leaving over 200 000 of its population homeless in thousands were killed in this fire and there's no evidence that the Roman Emperor Nero started the fire but but still he used This Disaster to further his political agenda history tells us the emperor Nero he didn't like the artwork of the city and and he used this fire to just absolutely devastate the city in in a way that he could he could Implement and Institute new building codes and and he could change the decor of the city and also he found it just convenient to blame this growing Christian religion if you will he decided I'm going to blame the fire on the Christians because if I can blame the fire on the Christians there's over 200 000 people that are homeless and and thousands of people have lost some loved ones and so therefore the people turned the Romans turn on the Christians and they began to execute them they they began to torture them they began to arrest them and throw them in prison and we find Paul Saint Paul the Apostle Paul here in the city at this time and he would be imprisoned and he would never leave prison again this is where he would finally die in this prison and matter of fact he's he Shackled to a Roman guard and and he's alone other than the guard he's alone in the prison knowing to talk to no one to communicate with knowing to share stories with however under these circumstances he wrote the book of Galatians the book of Ephesians Philippians Colossians the second book of Timothy and also Philemon he wrote all of these books and Satan thought if I have him Shackled to a guard somewhere deep inside a prison I'm gonna silence him but I'm so glad today what Satan didn't understand was every book that he wrote while he was in prison before he was finally put to death we still have right here written it was canonized we still have it in the word of God and Devil you may have thought him you may have thought you silenced him but he is still preaching in the word of God today because of Paul people are being saved today the church is still growing today even though he was in a prison cell chain I got a verse for you because Paul begins to say he said in second Timothy chapter 2 verse 9 he's writing this in the prison he says that because I preached this good news I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal but the word of God cannot be chained oh brother heads and I I began to read about that I thought you can't stop the church the Gates of Hell cannot Prevail against the church you can try to shut it up you can try to Stone it you can try to crucify it you can try to kill it you can try to imprison it but you can't stop the church because if God's word was meant for you to hear there ain't nothing you can do but hear the word of God I believe he that hath an ear to hear Let Him hear what the word of God says to you but again I bring this all back because if it were me in my green self I I don't know how I would have handled being Shackled for the rest of my life to a Roman guard in a prison when I'm thinking to myself God how many times how many countries have I been a missionary too oh god listen there's so many people that want to question God's motives in God's ways we better be careful we better be careful questioning God listen it's not God's will that any would perish it's like it's not God's will that any would die it's not God's will that your family members sick it's not that's not God's will however let me tell you something his ways are perfect and I want you to know his ways are not our ways and so we've always got to think to ourselves God even though the door that I felt should be opened is not open and I know there's people in this place today you might have a calling to be a preacher and you say boy if I can just get a microphone In a Pulpit then I would show you what God's called me to do and I think to myself well what about Paul because Paul wrote enough books of the Bible that are still preaching the word of God even today and he didn't have a microphone he didn't have a Pulpit he didn't even have an audience inside that jail cell inside that prison cell but he said I've been called to share the gospel I'm going to do it anyway I can do it if it means writing letters to the churches I'll do what I've got to do to get the gospel out God don't let us don't let us get in our minds sometimes we can have a uh predetermined idea of what Ministry is or what a calling is and if it doesn't go the way we think it ought to go we get down on ourselves we we start thinking man where's my opportunity I I can I can do it just as good I can do it better if they would give me a chance and and maybe God is just looking for a Paul to say I'll do it even when all odds are against me I won't think I won't let those thoughts go through my mind because because here's where Here's Where We Are Tonight I'm going to preach what we're living tonight there's so many people in this house that God has given a dream to God has given a calling to and if we're not careful if we allow ourselves to either get offended or get discouraged we'll never do what God meant for us to do our calling will never be fulfilled and it's all going to be because we didn't allow the transformation of our mind but every day every day we've got all out new grooves to be dug inside of our brains oh Paul Paul reminds us he says listen he says who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or Peril or sword in verse 37 he says nay and all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loves us if God is on our side we're going to have overwhelming Victory that's what more than a conqueror means it means we have overwhelming Victory I believe there's people I believe there's a Joseph in this house today that you've been done wrong you've got family members that have done you wrong you've been sold into things that you never you never dreamed you'd be sold into oh but God has a plan for you and God has given you a dream please step out and just be faithful to God just stay in submission wherever you are and whoever is your head and to say God whatever you want me to do I'm not going to overthink this I'm just going to stay submitted to you I'm gonna stay submitted to my pastor I'm going to be saying submitted to my leadership and I'm just going to believe there's gonna come a day when you're going to draw me out of the circumstances I'm in and you're going to prove to me that that dream was real oh all along second Corinthians 10 5 says casting down imaginations in every High thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to The Obedience of Christ whenever we have a negative thought that seems it's going to try to depress us we've got to take that into captivity and he immediately cast it out so what kind of thoughts are we supposed to have I've told you that we've got to get those grooves in our brain we've got to somehow make new grooves so what kind of thoughts are we supposed to have will Philippians chapter four here we go the the this great Paul this great writer in prison he's going to tell us in verse number eight he says finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue or there be any goodness and if there be any praise think on these things this is what we start to burrow into our brain physically I'm talking physically not just emotionally not just spiritually I'm talking physically if we can think on these things whatsoever is honest just pure lovely good report come on we we know that good news doesn't sell bad news cells because people love to hear bad news if we have if we have a record graduation in Maryville College this year and we put more people out in the workforce in Maryville College than we ever have before I promise you we won't hear it it won't be in the newspaper we won't know anything about it but if somebody walks into their cafeteria or their student Hall with a gun we're going to hear all about it because negative news sells but let me tell you something if we can get out be not conformed to this world what this world loves but be he transformed by the renewing of your mind I don't care what the world wants to hear and what they love to listen to and what the World Views as a news worthy material God I want to think of a good report God I want to think of great things virtue that's goodness praise these are positive things that we can start to burrow into our minds and we can get rid of the negative thinking Great Britain's former prime minister I'm through Great Britain's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher her determination decisiveness and discipline gave her the edge she needed to ultimately become the first woman prime minister of Great Britain and one of my favorite Thatcher quotes is this she said this she said watch your thoughts they become words she said watch your words they become actions watch your actions they become habits watch your habits they become character what's your character for it becomes your destiny and it all begins with a thought it all begins with not just a thought but a repetition of thoughts this is not a negative message because I I'm turning this positive right here because it just so happens I again I I I've read I've read and I began to study and research and there's so much scientific evidence behind what I'm about to say but science proves that when a person speaks in tongues they use the part of the brain where selfish thoughts cannot neurologically be transmitted it's the frontal lobe of the brain where we have thoughts of selfishness and thoughts of feeling sorry for our self and and pitying ourself it's a frontal lobe that gets the ruts of the negative thoughts dug deep into it but oh when you begin to speak in another tongue when you begin to speak in your heavenly language and you get out of the selfish mode and get in the mode and get out of the mode of offense and get into offense it's a different part of your brain and when you begin to speak with tongues and listen I know that the Holy Ghost it's the evidence speaking in tongues is the evidence of the Holy Ghost I realize that but God has given you that tongue for far more than just evidence of receiving his Spirit he allows you to keep that tongue and to perfect that tongue Pastor Noah spoke about this how he matures that tongue within you and then that same tongue that was evidence now becomes a Heavenly language that you can now pray in the spirit and so when you start thinking negative thoughts huh and when thoughts start going through your mind of discouragement and offense if you will get into a prayer closet and begin to pray in the Holy Ghost you'll watch yourself because you can't think those negative thoughts you can't think thoughts of discouragement thoughts of self-pity as soon as you begin to speak in another tongue the Lord takes over your brain and you're using a different part of your brain and you start to etch grooves into your brain that cause you to start thinking pure thoughts and holy thoughts and positive thoughts I wish we could just stand to our feet right now I I wish there was something in this place they could just lift up their hands and begin to praise God in a way and say God I refuse to think thoughts of negativity I said I refuse to be offended I refuse to let offense rule me because I know my thoughts are are going to become my destiny one day Lord I want to think on things that are pure things that are holy things that are righteous things that are positive God let the Holy Ghost rise up in somebody right here come on we need selfless Worship in this place today we need selfless Worship in this place today and say God it's not about me it's not about my oh God but it's about you I wish worship would rise in a way that the Holy Ghost would flow out of your mouth that you would get out of the frontal lobe of your brain and get to the back where the Holy Ghost can minister to you right now come on someone you need a transformation of your mind oh I want worship to you rub them away extreme worship to a rottenham through you right now yeah yes yes yes yes yes yes come on let there be a response to the word right here somebody who's been down somebody who's been depressed somebody who's been oppressed because of thoughts that are in your mind I pray right now that God would stir up his holy ghost give within you and thoughts are a positive thoughts of Joy Let There Be joy in the house of the Lord let there be joy in the house of the Lord let there be hope in the house of the Lord let there be peace in the house of the Lord oh I feel the Holy Ghost in this room right now the Holy Ghost is your help and time of need the Holy Ghost is a lamp unto your feet it's alighted to your pathway God wants to tell you God wants to show you God wants to reveal to you everything in his word and to do it you've got to clear your mind of every offense of every negative thought and allow him to speak truth within your mind oh come on I was just for a moment I don't want to cheerlead you I wish this for a moment you would worship I was just for a moment you would tell God God use me God fill me God give me the thoughts Lord God that'll acknowledging me through tomorrow but they'll get me through next week Lord God give me the thoughts oh God that you're able that you're more than able you're exceedingly abundantly Beyond Abel Lord God to do whatever I need in my life foreign language flow right here let them minister to you right here come on we don't need music we we don't need a song We Don't Need lyrics We just need people with open hearts that say God I know my personality might cause me to question sometimes but I'll refuse to allow my personality to overtake me and overcome Lord God that you have given me joy Lord God that you've given me hope that you've given me peace oh God oh yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes I'm going to pray a prayer over you right now I believe that there's there's somebody in this room that needs joy to return back to their life I want to pray over you right now in Jesus name let Joy enter every mind in this place Lord I'm not just talking about happiness I'm not just talking about Lord loving what they have and the possessions they have I'm talking about I pray the joy would enter into every mind of this house Lord God that you would give a spirit of Joy when we wake up in the morning let us feel Joy when we lay our heads down at night to bed let us feel joined joy joy I'm praying for Joy Let There Be joy in the house of the Lord let there be joy in the house of the Lord come on I always women in we got some time I wish we could just end in the altar come on church family I believe there's needs in this house we've got needs in this house there's people in this place who have had thinking of the mind too long that has not been positive they've had thinking in their mind too long of offense and depression but right now you can be loosed in Jesus name but you got to make a decision to be transformed yes be transformed in Jesus name let the Holy Ghost transform you let his Spirit overtake you let them take control of your body of your mind Hey in Jesus name Let There Be oh let there be Lord God let there be people in this house today that feel Joy like they've never felt Joy before I believe there's going to be a Revival of joy joy joy joy joy oh there's going to be rejoicing because Joy has been found there's going to be rejoicing because Joy has been found oh in Jesus oh come on church family oh what you're praying sounds so beautiful oh the words coming out of your mouth are so beautiful the response of the word is so beautiful let that erupt let that praise erupt let that prayer erupt oh God reconcile Lord God's joy back into bodies into Minds into homes in the marriages oh God in the children in the parents hope Let There Be Joy yeah yes Holy Ghost right here Holy Ghost right now holy ghosts take control oh holy ghost do it right now for somebody make a difference in a life right now for somebody in Jesus name let your spirit Empower them oh God you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you you're going to be Witnesses for me you're going to be you're going to be in prisons you're going to be persecuted but my Holy Ghost is going to give you the power to overcome your thoughts overcome overcome everything that comes against you spiritually foreign Jesus name in Jesus name in Jesus name oh yes in Jesus name I wish every person in this room would just put your lay hands upon your own head I'm not praying for my brother or my sister but God I pray for myself right here I put my hand upon my mind it's over my brain right here oh God I pray positive thoughts I I pray thoughts oh God they glorify thoughts that exalt thoughts of Praise thoughts that are uplifting thoughts that bring joy thoughts that have peace intertwined within them thoughts of hope foreign get all the way into our hearts oh God find a place in our hearts right now oh God Purity Holiness righteousness oh in Jesus name that's who I am that's my identity that's my destiny oh that's who I am oh God I'm yours I'm yours I'm yours I'm yours I'm Yours take me try me God see if I can be completely yours in Jesus name foreign like a dove let it just settle in this place I pray that every person leaves here with a refreshed mind you're going to walk out of this place with a load lifted if you walked in town you're gonna walk out up if you walked in pound you're gonna walk out free I believe if you walked in sick you're gonna walk out of this place healed just some mention of his name just a mention of his name just a mention of his name oh just the mention of his name Jesus Jesus we're going to end this prayer just by calling out Jesus Jesus just a mission of his name Jesus Jesus Holy Ghost has stepped in this place Jesus Jesus Jesus some of you need a tarry in the Holy Ghost you need to carry in this Holy Ghost long enough until you let her take control of your mind Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus come on somebody walk in the spirit right here somebody walk in the spirit right here walk in the spirit right here Jesus Jesus Minister Jesus Minister Jesus you know the need Jesus you know what they walked in Here with Jesus you know what has them bound Jesus you know the thoughts and take them captive Jesus you know the thoughts that don't allow them to sleep at night Jesus you know what causes insomnia and they can't sleep at night Jesus step into their house step into their house step into their home step into their bedroom tonight and give peace Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus oh Jesus oh Jesus ah some of you might be uncomfortable right now I'm sorry that you're uncomfortable I'm very comfortable Jesus oh Jesus there's nothing awkward about calling on the name of Jesus Oh with a time of need Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus oh yes come on mother I hear you come on I hear cries right here mother come on Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus foreign I pray in a Heavenly language oh God it gets me Lord God not thinking about self but it gives me thinking about you oh Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus uh Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus there's just something about that name master Jesus let our heaven and Earth Proclaim Jesus Jesus come on somebody know this song better than I do Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away but there's something about that one more time let's see if we can get through it Jesus there's just something how about Landing master save your Jesus like a fragrance there is after the rain Jesus Jesus let all Heaven and Earth Proclaim Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away but there's something about that name amen thank you Jesus and then I pray you leave here with peace I pray you leave your joy amen we'll see you back here on Sunday morning in Jesus name God bless you you're dismissing the fear of God tonight