Mental Musings

Have you ever known someone who was not very consistent? You know the type: not dependable, always late, rarely finish assigned tasks, float from job to job and relationship to relationship, and never seem to do what they say they will do. In classical deductive logic, a consistent theory is one that does not contain a contradiction. When we are talking about a person’s life, we say that consistency means that you walk to talk. Walk the Talk 15  Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—  16  making the most of the time, because the days are evil.  17  So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  18  And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18) Paul shares several examples in this passage of how you can walk the talk. He cautions us to not be foolish in how we think or act, but to understand wha...

Have you ever been inside a deep cave? Some of these caves are so secluded from any light source that if they were to lose electricity you would be in absolute darkness. You wouldn’t even be able to see you hand if it was directly in front of your face. Darkness seems to be extremely powerful, however, it only takes one small candle to extinguish the dark. As we continue our series from Ephesians, we learn that we are to be children of the light. 8  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light—  9  for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth—  10  discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8-10) Once Upon a Time This passage reads almost like a classic story. Once upon a time you were part of the darkness. You were floundering around through life blind and lost. Everything around you was filled with darkness, deceit, desire, disruption, despai...

Some people seem to really enjoy old things. Old black and white movies, old classic cars, old (or retro) video games. There is such a large following of these items that people spend thousands of dollars renewing classic cars, restoring movies, and re-releasing old video games onto new systems. Old things become renewed. The Bible teaches that we are being renewed. Pauls says that we have two selves: an old self that loves the ways of the world and a new self that strives to be more like Jesus.  22  You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires;  23  you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds;  24  you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. (Ephesians 4:22-23) The old self used to get us into all kinds of trouble, but the new self is learning how to put away those old ways and do things ac...

One of the most popular fish for aquariums is the shark. Not great whites, but smaller sharks. Apparently if you confine a small baby shark in a tank, it will stay a proportionate size to the aquarium. Sharks can be 6” long yet fully mature. In other words, you can force a shark to live a stunted life, but if you turn them loose in the ocean they will grow to their normal length of about 8 feet.   Today we are going to take a look at what Ephesians teaches us about growing stronger in every way…and why that is important.   4  There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—  5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  6  one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)   Grow Stronger in Our Heart As a follower of Jesus, we should recognize that the heart of our relationship with God is faith. It is through our faith that we trust,...

Watch on Facebook You’ve probably heard of the get-along-shirt. An extra-large t-shirt that siblings are made to wear together when they refuse to get along. They must keep the shirt on all day until they learn to play nice. Tonight, we are going to do a couple of experiments to see how well we can get along with each other. Group Ring:  put as many people as you can around a hula hoop each holding onto the hoop with only one finger. Their finger must remain in contact with the hoop at all times. If any member of the team loses contact with the hoop they must start again. The goal is to move as a group and pick up various objects from around the room, navigate past barriers, and reach the back of the room without losing any members of the team. Boxing Match:  have the team stand in a box. All of their feet must remain flat against the bottom of the box at all times. Anytime a team member’s foot lifts, they must begin again. The goal is for each team member to do...

The song, “Touch of the Master’s Hand,” tells the story of an auction where an old violin was being sold. The auctioneer started the bidding with $1 and got no bids. Then a man stood up from the audience, picked up the violin, and started to play the most beautiful music. As soon as he returned the violin to the table, the auctioneer started again, “Who will give me $1000, $2000, $3000 twice, now that’s a good price.” A young man asked, “What happened? Why is everyone suddenly so interested in that old violin?” A man responded, “The difference was the touch of the master’s hand.” Some people have great skills and abilities in certain areas and will always be far better than the rest of us. I doubt any of us can play basketball like Michael Jordan. We probably can’t even play baseball like Michael. Very few people will ever have the business savvy of Bill Gates, creating, buying, and selling numerous tech businesses as well as software and hardware. Only a small number of m...