Your mind is a special gift from God. It can potentially store 100 trillion thoughts. And it is a tool that God wants to use in your ministry to fulfill his purposes.
Yet there are a lot of people fighting for access to that mind of yours. Years ago I read a book on advertising by Jack Trout and Al Reece called Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. The book opened my eyes to all the people fighting for our attention. The fact is people are intentionally planning, 24-hours a day, to get our attention.That's why we have to be choosy. We have to control what - or who - we allow into our minds. What's true of computers is true with humans - garbage in, garbage out.
To do that, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to "capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ." (NCV) The Bible is very specific at giving us five things that we are to guard our minds against. Share these with your staff members and the key leaders of your church.
1. We are to guard our minds against false teaching. First and foremost we need to watch out for doctrinal errors that can divert us from the true Gospel. Scripture encourages us to contend for, "The faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3 NKJ) That means the message has been around for awhile. In fact, I tell my people "If it's new, it's not true" - because the biblical faith we believe is the one that was handed down from "the saints."
How do you guard your mind against false teachings? Know the truth. If you know the truth, you can instantly spot a lie. Treasury agents are not trained to detect counterfeiting by handling counterfeit bills. They give them real bills and study them so well that when a counterfeit dollar bill is put in their hands, they immediately know that it's false.
