Today, from guest teacher Kyle Eidelman. The
law of cognition. The law of cognition basically
says that your life is shaped by your thoughts.
Our brains are constantly, constantly being molded
by what we experience and what we're exposed
to. Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23 says, be careful
how you think, and here's why. Your life is shaped
by your thoughts. You're listening to Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Today we're continuing
a message titled Mind Mold with guest teacher
Kyle Eidelman. Here's a question. When was the
last time you sat in silence with no screen,
no scroll, no noise? In a world of constant distraction,
real transformation requires space. And today
you'll see that God is waiting patiently for
you to find it and ready to help you discover
it. Now here's Chip Ingram to introduce today's
guest teacher. You know, I've taught the Bible
for a number of years, and over and over I've
tried to help people, beginning with me. Life
change doesn't happen simply by trying harder.
The key, according to Romans chapter 12, too,
is renewing our mind. And I have a special guest.
His name is Kyle Ottoman, pastor of Southeast
Christian Church. He's written a book, but he
has a series that he's going to share with us
called Every... Thought Captive. It comes out
of 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, where we're commanded
to take every thought captive. You're going to
learn the power of thoughts, not only from Scripture,
but Kyle uses some great information from neuroscience.
I am privileged today to introduce my friend,
and then I'll be back at the end of the program
to share a few final thoughts. Now, here's our
guest teacher, Kyle Eidelman, with a message
titled Mind Mold. I want us to spend a few minutes
just unpacking this connection, this biblical
truth of our life being shaped by our thoughts.
First, let's recognize that our thoughts establish
our emotions. Now, that doesn't mean our thoughts
are exclusively responsible for our feelings.
There are a lot of factors that could be at play.
But more than we recognize, our thoughts establish
our emotions. We tend to talk about our emotions
as feelings that we don't have any control over.
I can't help the way I feel. or we look at circumstances,
situations, we look at people and we say, well,
if this circumstance changed, if this person
didn't do what they did, then I'd feel differently
than I do right now. But what we find is that
there's this intricate relationship between how
we think about things happening and the feelings
we have about those things. So our thoughts establish
our emotions. Secondly, our thoughts direct our
decisions. Turns out that just like our emotions,
our decisions are largely determined by what
happens in our prefrontal cortex, which is sometimes
called the executive center because it's where
decisions get made. Our thoughts being molded
by the patterns of this world are constantly
assigning, subconsciously assigning benefits
and consequences to different actions. And whether
or not you value like the immediate pleasure
and satisfaction or whether you're consciously
thinking about something that will come in the
future because of a decision you make. But we
all have these neural pathways that much more
so than we realize are making certain decisions
for us or taking us in the direction that we're
going. Thirdly, our thoughts regulate our relationships.
There's a term for how our minds interpret what
other people say and do. It's called cognitive
interpretation. That if you come and you say
something to me, No matter what you meant by
what you said, no matter what tone you think
you had, how I think about what you said is gonna
determine our relationship. And we all have like
this constantly happening in our minds where
our cognitive interpretation might be constantly
negative, in which case we're gonna react in
a way that's defensive or sensitive or antagonistic,
or we might pull away and withdraw. But our thoughts
are constantly filtering what other people say
and do. A few years ago, I was having some challenges
with some relationships in my life. And I was
talking to a friend about it. And he just really
challenged my thinking specifically. And he explained
to me that this concept of filling in the gaps.
And he basically said, look, any interaction
you have with someone, your mind is going to
fill in some gaps. Things that you don't really
know, but your thoughts will interpret what they
say and do and how your thoughts interpret that,
it's filling in the gap. So let's say somebody
says something, you're offended by it, but let's
say there's a context gap. Like you don't know
what led up to that. You don't know what they
might've heard. You don't know what's happened
during their day. You don't know a lot. And so
how you fill in that context gap is gonna determine
how that relationship goes. Or maybe there's
an information gap. Like what you're hearing,
is missing some important pieces. And how you
fill in that information gap is gonna have a
lot to do with the direction of that relationship.
So our thoughts are constantly filling in gaps.
Do we presume the worst or do we assume the best?
Do we give a cynical explanation or a generous
explanation? If I pull in the driveway and I
see my wife has ordered something else off Amazon
that's been delivered to the house, I see a box.
my thoughts fill in the gap. I can think to myself,
what could possibly be in that box that we need?
Like there've already been a few deliveries this
week. Doesn't she care about how we're spending
money? Like I could think those thoughts. I don't
know what's in the box, but my mind could fill
in the gaps. Or I can think something different.
I can say, well, you know, I never have to wonder
if we're gonna have what we need around the house.
My wife is much more intentional and thoughtful.
than me when it comes to spending money. She
takes care of so many things that I probably
don't even recognize and I certainly don't always
appreciate. And depending on where my thoughts
go, depending on how I interpret that moment,
depending on how I fill that gap will determine,
will regulate my relationship. It'll determine
the course of our connection for the rest of
the evening. So let me just give you some questions
to think about as you process this connection
between your thoughts and your relationships.
When I make assumptions about someone's intentions,
do I assume the best or the worst? Just pay attention
to that as you think about your thoughts this
week. Do you assume the best or do you assume
the worst? Secondly, when I think about my past
with this person, what do I remember? What do
I remember? When I look back on our relationship,
does my mind think about the things that went
wrong or the way they made mistakes or different
failures or negative things? Or do I look back
and, Think about things that are positive and
affirming and praiseworthy. Question number three,
what narrative do I tell myself about this person
when I have to fill in the gaps? What's the story
that I tend to tell about this person when I'm
not sure exactly the context of something? How
do I fill in the gaps with that story? Number
four, our thoughts determine our spiritual growth.
Colossians chapter three, verse two, set your
mind on things above. Think about things that
are eternal, not on earthly things. When we think
eternal thoughts, it doesn't just shape our emotions
and our decisions and our relationships, it shapes
our soul. Like if I'll think about intentionally
God's goodness and his promises and his character,
my faith will grow. If I meditate on scripture
as Psalm chapter one talks about, David says
in Psalm chapter one, that we are to meditate
on God and on his word. That word meditate, it's
this idea of thinking about something so focused
that it looks like we're talking to ourselves.
If I'm doing that, it starts to bear fruit. If
I am watering my thoughts with God's word, then
it shapes my soul. But if I'm watering my thoughts
with anxiety, then anxious things grow. If I'm
watering thoughts of discontentment, then discontentment
flourishes. So our thoughts, we'll talk more
about this next week, determine our spiritual
growth. Let's jump back into Romans 12. Look
at verse two again. Don't be conformed to the
patterns of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. This word transformed
is the Greek word metamorpho. It's where we get
our word metamorphosis, butterfly, caterpillar
into a butterfly. Something crawling around in
the mud is something soaring beautifully through
the sky. Like this is the transformation that
takes place. when we take our thoughts captive.
What's interesting about this verb, be transformed,
is it's in the passive imperative voice, which
is kind of weird because it's passive imperative.
The reason that's unusual is it's passive, meaning
that it's something that's done to us. We don't
transform ourselves. God transforms us, but it's
also imperative. Like you have to do this. And
it's just kind of weird to say, you have to do
something that you can't, do. But this is the
partnership that we have with the Holy Spirit,
that we align our thoughts with God and with
his word. And when we do, we experience his transforming
work. It's also one of the reasons I love the
language here is it takes this whole series and
this whole conversation away from our self -help
manifestation, self -improvement. mold and instead
it says hey we're transformed supernaturally
that's God's power that transforms us and so
we're going to begin this journey over the next
six weeks of taking our thoughts captive experiencing
transformation that can come only from God and
the way I want to challenge you as we start this
series is to break the pattern of distraction
If there's one mold of this world that I think
keeps us from experiencing the transformation
God wants in our lives, it's our constant distraction.
We are constantly distracted, more so than ever.
It would be fun, maybe not fun, it'd probably
be discouraging to me, to just pay attention
or know exactly what some of you are being distracted
by right now. Like right now. Like right now,
some of you are really distracted by something.
I don't know what it is. Maybe you're hungry.
Maybe you're watching your clock and you think,
is he about done? Maybe it's the white tennis
shoes. And you're like, you never trust a man
with tennis shoes that white. You can't trust
somebody. Like, I don't know what it is. I just
know that our minds are constantly distracted.
Like we have so much vying for our attention.
There's 6 ,000 movies and TV shows on Netflix.
That's one of 200 streaming services available.
There's 5 million video games waiting to be conquered.
There's 9 million apps you can download. The
average person spends like six hours and 58 minutes
on the screens every day. Some of you are like,
there's no way. Check your screen time. And then
take into consideration when you're tripling
up, when you're watching TV, shopping on an iPad,
and checking your text messages at the same time.
You think it's 10 minutes. That's 30 minutes
of time on the screen. It's constant, constant
distraction. And so for us to experience this
transformation in our lives, we've got to have
more space, more margin to think about our thoughts.
We have to have more space to listen to what
the Holy Spirit is saying to us. And God often
speaks in whispers. And we have so much that
distracts us. You're listening to Living on the
Edge with guest teacher Kyle Eidelman. There's
more just ahead, so stay with us. Today we continue
our journey through a fundamental series called
God's Dream for Your Life. And if you've missed
any part of this study or want to find more Bible
lessons, just go online to livingontheedge .org.
There you'll discover a wide array of teaching
content, downloadable materials, and daily discipleship
with Chip Ingram. Find it all at livingontheedge
.org. Well, now let's get back to our lesson
with guest teacher Kyle Eidelman. It's Luke chapter
10 when Mary and Martha have Jesus visit their
home. And the Bible says Martha was distracted
by many good things. I mean, she's serving, it's
hospitality, she's preparing food for Jesus.
And Jesus says, Martha, you're worried and upset
about many things. You're distracted by many
things. But few things are needed. Indeed, only
one. And Mary has chosen what is better. And
so my prayer for us as a church is that we would
break this pattern of distraction so we could
connect more deeply with Jesus. We could experience
this transformation that we read about in Romans
12. I wanna take just three minutes and I wanna
show you a parable that I wrote. And the reason
I wanna show you this parable is that when I'm
up here just preaching or teaching, if you're
like me, when I'm sitting and listening to someone,
I'm in a lane of... I'm in the information lane
where I'm trying to consume some content, not
necessarily a thoughtful processing. I think
one of the reasons Jesus told parables is that
the stories invited a different kind of thinking
than just receiving information. So I want to
show you this parable, and then I have a challenge
for you before we're dismissed. there was once
a loving father who took his young daughter to
a spectacular circus unlike other fathers he
didn't have to save for the tickets he actually
owned the circus in fact he had created everything
inside of it over the years it had become much
different than he had originally designed but
he was sure she would have a wonderful time and
couldn't wait to share the experience with her
As they approached the massive tent together,
neon lights flashed in hypnotic patterns. Music
pulsed from a dozen different directions. Screens
of all sizes displayed an endless stream of attractions.
Don't miss this. Limited time only. Once in a
lifetime experience, they promised. Stay close
to me, the father said gently as he held tightly
to her hand. But his daughter's eyes were already
darting everywhere, consumed by the dazzling
displays. Can I go look at that? She asked, pointing
to the social media spectacular where performers
were taking selfies with the visitors. Before
waiting for an answer, she was already drifting
toward it. The father watched as his daughter
raced from attraction to attraction, barely noticing
he was no longer beside her. She dove into the
streaming circus where countless shows played
simultaneously on countless screens. She got
onto the infinite scroll. carousel, and she was
spun round and round. Her phone buzzed constantly
with alerts about new acts starting somewhere
in the park. Each notification pulled her in
a new direction, always promising something better,
something more exciting from the last. In the
FOMO Funhouse, mirrors showed her all the other
shows that she was missing. She joined the frantic
crowds at the instant gratification games, competing
desperately for likes and views. The father remained
present, watching, waiting. Sometimes she'd catch
a glimpse of him in the distance, still standing
where she'd left him. But there was always another
attraction calling her name, another notification
demanding her attention. But as time passed,
a strange emptiness began to grow inside her.
Despite experiencing everything the circus had
to offer, nothing seemed to satisfy. The likes
and the views felt hollow. The endless streams
of content left her feeling somehow less content.
The constant rush for the next experience left
her feeling exhausted and... alone one quiet
moment between the flash and noise of attractions
she heard a small voice inside her asking remember
when you used to just sit with your father in
the backyard she stopped moving for the first
time in what felt like forever looking around
at the frantic crowd she suddenly realized what
she'd been missing all along She turned and walked
back through the circus, past all the flashing
lights and screaming at screens, until she found
him. Her father was sitting on a simple bench.
It seemed out of place amongst all the chaos
of the circus. Most people rushed past it, too
busy with their phones to notice, but he was
there, just as he'd always been, waiting patiently
with a gentle smile. I'm sorry. She whispered,
sitting beside him, I got so caught up in everything
else, I just, I just forgot. He gently put his
arm around her, pulling her close to his side.
For the first time since entering the circus,
she felt truly at peace. Around them, the frenzy
continued, lights flashing, music blaring, crowds
rushing from one show to the next. But she had
found something better. Later, as they walked
together under the stars, she asked her father
why he had let her get so lost in all the distractions.
Sometimes, he explained, you have to lose yourself
in everything else before you can find what truly
matters. I believe that's where some of you are
right now. I think that was the prodigal son
story. I think that's the woman at the well story.
I think that's the Acts 9 story. It's losing
yourself in something that might be good, might
be bad, but it's not what's best. And before
long, you look up and you have scrolled away
weeks, months, years of your life. But just know
that your heavenly father is waiting for you.
And so we want to just, over these next six weeks,
make space for that. I'm going to give you some
challenges, and I'd like to encourage you to
pick two of these for the next six weeks. Don't
think of this as punishment. Think of this as
partnership with the Holy Spirit in your transformation.
A way to break this pattern of distraction would
be a social media Sabbath. You delete apps, even
if it's just for one week, and you replace that
with time in scripture, time in prayer. And a
second option would be news detox, where you
limit your news to 15 minutes a day. You spend
extra time meditating on God's word. 15 minutes
a day, that includes like pundits talking about
what's happening in the world or podcasts that
are focused on current cultural dynamics. Third
is an entertainment fast where you trade your
streaming time for maybe some reading or some
worship time or conversation with others. Another
option would be phone -free mornings where the
first hour of each day belongs to God, not your
device. Each day, you say the first hour that
belongs to God. The next option is phone -free
bedrooms. I'll tell you why I'm smiling. Phone
-free bedrooms. Each day, you're going to say
for the next six weeks, you're not going to have
a screen with you in your bedroom would be the
one. And then lastly is notification silence
where you're just going to turn off all your
notifications that are non -essential. If you
need help figuring out non -essential, ask some
people in your life and they can help you recognize
what's non -essential. The reason I'm smiling
is because my wife hadn't heard my sermon until
last hour, and then I got a text from her, and
she's like, so which two are you choosing? And
so I was processing that while I was going through
the list with you, knowing that when I get home
that I'm going to make sure to give her my two
options as well. But can I just encourage you
to break the pattern of this world? And you can
choose something different if you want. but just
intentionally pay attention to the mold and let's
do some things to break free from it these next
six weeks so we can take our thoughts captive,
we can find freedom, we can experience the transformation
that God promises us in Romans 12. Let me pray.
God, thank you that you are a loving father who
even in the busyness of this world and in our
constant distracted state, you don't leave. and
you wait for us patiently. And so I pray, God,
that you would allow us the humility and the
courage to recognize how some of our thinking
is just really distracted these days, and that
you would give us just the... intentionality
to follow through on this, to break free from
some of the patterns of this world, to not just
say, we're just gonna do what we've always been
doing. We're not gonna just follow on the path
that everybody else seems to be on, but we're
gonna do some things different. So would you
help us do that as a church community these next
six weeks, that we would learn to take every
thought captive and submit them to you and find
the life that you really have in mind for us.
It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Kyle Eidelman
has been our guest teacher today here on Living
on the Edge with a message called Mind Bold.
That parable of the father and his daughter at
the circus, it's hard to shake, isn't it? Because
most of us know exactly what it feels like to
look up and realize we've drifted. The good news
Kyle reminded us of today is what he said about
that simple bench in the middle of all the chaos.
The father is still there, waiting, patient,
and he hasn't moved. For 30 years, Living on
the Edge has existed for that very moment. The
moment when a listener stops drifting and starts
turning back. 30 years of biblical teaching.
delivered daily into homes and cars and workplaces
across America and around the world. None of
it happens without the faithful generosity of
friends who believe this mission matters. If
Living on the Edge has ever been that voice that
helped you find your way back, would you consider
giving a gift today to help us do the same for
someone else? Your support reaches people you'll
never meet this side of heaven, and your prayers
sustain this work in ways that go far beyond
what any of us can measure. Pray for the listeners
who are hearing Kyle's message right now and
recognizing themselves in that story. Pray that
God would use this broadcast to call the distracted
home. To give to this ministry, visit livingontheedge
.org or write to Living on the Edge, PO Box 3007,
Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call us
at 888 -333 -6003. Now here's Chip Ingram with
some final thoughts for today's lesson. You know,
Kyle's parable of the circus really captures
where so many of us are right now. And you know,
I see this constantly in my own life. You know,
we're distracted, overwhelmed, scrolling away,
precious time, while the Father is patiently
waiting on us. And here's the tragedy. Our thoughts
don't just impact us personally. They regulate
our relationships. And spiritually, Colossians
3 .2, listen to this, set your mind on the things
that are above. You see, what we meditate on
little by little is shaping not just your mind,
it's shaping your soul. Kyle challenged us today
to break the pattern of distraction. Pick two
practices for the next couple weeks that you're
going to address the thought patterns in your
life. Maybe you're going to detox from the news.
Maybe every morning, no phone until you read
the Bible. Whatever helps you create space where
you can start to hear the whisper from God. You're
being molded and discipled every single day.
The question and the real issue is by whom? Transformation
isn't something that you can do on your own.
It's the Spirit of God with the Word of God where
you align your thoughts with His thoughts so
He changes you from the inside out. Don't just
consume the information that you're hearing from
Kyle. I want to encourage you to meditate on
it. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Make space.
Take every thought captive. That's where real
transformation begins. I'm Dave Drewy. Tomorrow,
Kyle Eidelman takes on the mental strongholds
that keep so many believers stuck and shows us
from Scripture how they can finally come down.
Join us next time for Living on the Edge. Today's
program is produced and sponsored by Living on
the Edge.