The Mind of Christ

 Mind of Christ

June 12, 2026

Philippians 2:5-11 (NKJV) 

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form ofGod, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5 (NASB)

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

When you look at the news this week, it is readily apparent that one thing missing from our modern society is the mind of Christ. Jesus had an attitude of humility by which he made himself of no reputation. He didn’t defend himself from insults and disrespected by lashing out with violence. The attitude that it is ok to murder someone because you are disrespected is tearing our society apart. Our young people need Jesus! 

Modern philosophers and social influencers criticize Christianity as being out of step with modern times, but it is the teaching of Jesus that serves as the foundation of civil society. The American republic was founded on the teachings of the Bible, and our laws reflect the justice taught from Moses to Jesus. Without the philosophical underpinnings of the Bible, society is returning to a cruel, pagan past. Before America, all nations were governed by kings or tyrants, and the ideas of liberty and equality were unknown outside of a few periods when the king was a follower of Christ and ruled from a biblical perspective. The American constitution was the first to codify the ideas of liberty, equality and justice as taught by the Bible. When we deviate from this standard, society deteriorates, and injustice and cruelty abounds. Let us have the mind of Christ and teach our children the way of humility and love for one another, so that America can once again be great. As the French historian De Tocqueville put it, “America is great because she is good. If she ceases to be great, she will cease to be good.” So as we celebrate 250 of American liberty, let us remember the teaching of Jesus and humble ourselves and and teach our children the way of love.

Humility and Healing

 Humility and Healing

July 3, 2025

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NASB95) 

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make yourpaths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 4:20-22 (NASB95) 

20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of yourheart. 22 For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

The subject of last evening’s Bible study was “Humility and Confidence”. That is a hard subject to teach  because you can’t claim to be humble lest you loose your humility to pride! Anyway, the Bible attributes many benefits to the man who is humble. In Proverbs 3, the writer admonishes, “be not wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord… It will be healing to your body…”. I had never associated humility with healing before, but it makes sense that walking humbly before your God and living in the fear of the Lord would lead to a healthy life. The proverbs repeatedly warn against the dangers of pride and arrogance. So it stands to reason that if pride leads to difficulties and problems in your body, that the opposite could lead to good health. 

The Old Testament law is full of instructions of what to eat and what not to eat. To the arrogant one, these seem to be senseless restrictions, but when you look at the dietary laws in the light of modern medical science, many of the prohibited items are indeed unhealthy. This was particularly true in ancient times before modern methods of sanitation and medicine were available. I’m not saying that eating kosher is a requirement for a Christian, but I do think that you will be healthier if you stick to the foods allowed by the Torah. (Except for bacon of course. No southern man can live without bacon!) But seriously, walking humbly and giving attention to the Word of the Lord will lead to health and healing. When I was a child, they used to put it to me in the saying, “Don’t drink or smoke or chew, or run with those who do.” The boys would make fun of the old ladies that quoted this to us, but there is some wisdom there. Staying away from the things that the Lord says are harmful will lead to a healthy and happy life, despite what the popular crowd says. They encourage all sorts of debauchery which sounds fun to a young man, but which will lead to all sorts of disease and difficulties in the end.

Bottom line, living humbly and walking in the fear of the Lord, leads to the benefit of good health and long life according to the Proverbs. 

Examine

 Examine

June 17, 2025

Galatians 6:3-4

3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reasonfor boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.

1 Corinthians 11:28-29

28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats anddrinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.

Yesterday we talked about a clean heart. Today I want to talk about clean teeth. After I wrote yesterday’s blog, I went to the dentist. That was a good life lesson on what a thorough examination entails. Fist they lay you back and shine a bright spotlight in your face. You can’t really move or see anything, and then they break out the scary, sharp instruments and proceed to poke, prod and scrape. This time they even used the laser scalpel to cut away some offending matter. Then they may want to take an X-ray to look beneath the surface at things that can’t even be seen with the naked eye.  Now thats a thorough examination!

So are you willing to undergo such a though exam of your heart? In Galatians, Paul talks about how easy it is to deceive yourself, but if you want to be able to serve the Lord and have something genuine to boast about, you need examine yourself. The Lord can use anyone, but first He must examine you and prepare your heart. Humility is required, boasting of your own self worth is deception if you don’t first examine your own work to see if it worthy or not. Once you allow the Lord to examine your heart and scrape away the toxic buildup from the world, then He can use you to do things that you can truly boast about. You can boast in the Lord and the great things that He has done as long as you realize that it His gift and working and that we, in ourselves, can do nothing.

Attitude of a Leader

 Attitude of a Leader

October 31, 2024

Philippians 2:5-8

5 Havethis attitude^g5426 in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Yesterday, I was speaking on the topic, “Pride and Humility”. One verse that stood out in my notes was Philippians 2:5-8. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…”. How do you have this attitude? But first, what is an attitude?

g5426. φρονέω phroneō ; from 5424; to have understanding, to think:--

adopt...view(1), conceited*(1), concern(1), concerned(1), feel(1), have...attitude(3), intent on...purpose(1), live in harmony(1), mind(4), observes(2), set their minds(2), set your mind(1), setting your mind(2), think(3), views(1).

Strong’s Greek dictionary tell us that the Greek word here is phroneo, which means to have understanding, to think, to set your mind, to feel… It seems to me, then, that this implies that you can purpose in your heart to think in a certain way. You can choose to view the world with a particular mind set. We if we are going to do that, then we need to understand how Jesus viewed the world. What was his attitude? 

The writer to the church at Philippi goes on to explain Jesus’ attitude. His primary focus was to be a servant leader, with an attitude of humility. He empties himself, made himself of low esteem in the worlds eyes, and adopted the attitude of a bond-servant. Not only a servant, but a bond-servant who was one who had pledged his entire life to his master. He was also obedient the the wishes of the Father, even to the point of death on the cross.

If we aspire to be leaders in the church, we need to have this same attitude. Always putting others first. Considering others’ opinion before our opinion. Pledging our whole life to the Lord as a bond-servant. Humbling yourself.

Can you do that? Can I do that? That kind of humility requires a great strength of purpose and strong courage. We must know that we know that we know the will of the Father, and do everything in our power to obey it. We must be able to stand up not only to the forces of darkness of the world, but the forces of darkness in our own soul. That is a far harder task! The easiest person to lie to is yourself. Do you have the strength of purpose, the attitude of Christ, to stand up and tell the truth to yourself? 

In a previous blog I was talking about walking in the light. Light illuminates the darkness and exposes evil. Do you have the fortitude to shine the light of the gospel into your own heart and soul? I was talking to my wife recently about how to pray for people who have experienced trauma. She said that she has talked to some who were so severely traumatized that they can not shine the light on it. The exposure, at least at one time, would be too painful. I takes great humility to have the wisdom to know how to pray for such a one. They need to know the love of the father, and the cleansing light of His word, but it needs to be done in such a way as to not cause further hurt.  We need to have the attitude of Jesus.

Jesus demonstrated this attitude when he spoke to the woman at the well. He didn’t accuse her or expose her past all at once, but engaged her in conversation and eventually brought up the subject of her husband. He engineered the conversation in such that she brought her sinful situation to light on her own, when she was ready. That is wisdom. The attitude of Christ.

Well, I’ve rambled on for awhile now, but will just leave you with this. Have this attitude in yourselves… Like Jesus who humbled himself and obeyed the Father, even to death on the cross.

What the World Needs Now

 What the World Needs Now

October 25, 2024

Yesterday, we were talking about what is wrong with the world. But what can be done to fix it? Back when I was in high school, there was a popular song, “What the World Need Now”. It was a song with lyrics written by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach. It was first recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon in 1965.  The chorus went like this:

What the world needs now 

Is love, sweet love 

It's the only thing that there's just too little of 

What the world needs now 

Is love, sweet love 

No, not just for some, but for everyone 

Then a couple of years later, in 1967, the Beatles released a song called “All You Need is Love”. It was the era of peace and love with flower children marching in the streets against the war in Vietnam. I remember it well (Then again, maybe not so well. We had a saying, “If you remember the 60’s, you weren’t really there!). But is the kind of love that we were singing about the kind that would save the world? The kind of love that most of us had in mind was characterized more by The Rolling Stones song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”!

No, the kind of love that will save the world is illustrated more by the story in the gospel of John in chapter 13.

John 13:5-17

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

5Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

…

15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

True love is humbling yourself and serving one another. It is not always easy and it never comes at a convenient time, but it shows true love for your brother. There is a lot of strife and animosity in the world caused by selfishness and pride, but the antidote is unselfish love. Such love really is beyond the capability of most of us outside of the love of God and the  power of the Holy Spirit. So really, what the wold needs now… is Jesus! 

So then, let us be an example to the world, living according the the example set by Jesus when he washed the disciples feet. Let us humble ourselves and love our fellow man by serving them. We can bring a little bit of true peace and love to our corner of the world and who knows how far that can spread. 

Pride and Humility

 Pride and Humility

October 23, 2024

Another topic that came up in the retreat was pride.This is a difficult subject to talk about, especially in America where we encourage all types of prideful behavior in our children: Self-actualization, Self-esteem, self-respect, self-identification. Now this is not all bad, but there are additional selfish and prideful attitudes that underly the addictive behaviors that plague our country: Self-gratification (sex, over eating), self-medication (drugs, alcohol), self-promotion (athletics, politics, entertainment ), selfish desire to get rich (gambling ). Then of course America has the whole month of June dedicated to Pride in breaking as many of God’s commandments as possible in one month!

It’s also hard to talk about because talking about it brings up the realization that there is pride in our (my) soul, and we don’t want to acknowledge that, because we have pride in our soul… Oh my! It’s also hard to talk about humility, because they say that you can’t claim to be humble, because as soon as you do, then you are prideful, and not humble!

So then, what is pride and why is it so harmful? From the list of prideful attitudes above, you will notice that they all start with “self”. Pride is basically putting yourself first before God or any other person. That was Lucifers problem. “I will exalt myself above the most high…” By seeking to raise himself up, he was cast down and cast our of God’s presence. Therefore, we can say that pride separates us from God, and this produces a rottenness in our soul. John 15 talks about the vine and illustrates how the branch dies and rots if it is cut off from the vine. This is exactly what happens when we are proud and exalt ourselves above the Father.

So if pride is an overly exalted opinion of ourself, what then is humility? Is putting yourself down, being a door mat and kowtowing to evil authorities humility? No. True humility is having the opinion of yourself that God the Father has of you. When you see yourself as loved, honored and cared for by the Father, then you are truly humble. Humility is akin to meekness. That is commonly misinterpreted as weakness, but in truth, meekness is the strength of a horse that has been broken and trained. Once a strong horse has been broken to ride and trained to obey the riders wishes, it is a powerful tool that can herd cattle or run a race. Such meekness is strength under control. Humility is like that in that it is a sense of self worth that is true, and not exaggerated or minimized. 

How do you get rid of pride? I don’t think there is any easy answer there. It is a process of submitting to the Lord Jesus and listening to the Father’s voice though the Holy Spirit. When you walk in submission over time, pride diminishes and humility increases. Like all the fruit of the Spirit, it takes time to grow. You don’t plan an apple seed and expect to harvest apples the next day.  It takes a season, and sometimes two or three, for the tree to grow and begin to bear fruit. So my admonition, is start from wherever you are. Renounce pride and begin to follow the Lord with all you heart, and let Him work on your character until you look more like Jesus and less like the world.