The Kingdom and Mind Change

As summer comes to an end, we have concluded our run of Mind Change Encore Moments and are turning to some new thoughts. My good friend, Steve Brown, and I are looking forward to the release of our new book in a few weeks. Titled The Kingdom of God—Volume One: The Future Breaks In, it is the product of study and teaching the two of us have done together the last two years.

When Jesus came preaching the good news of the Kingdom (which, by the way, was his main message) the word “repent” was usually right there at the beginning. The Greek word for “repentance,” of course, most literally means “change your mind.” In the last twenty years I have talked a good deal about the subject of “mind change,” and used that term to help me and others shift our thinking. But the fact is that there is no mind change like that which Jesus called for when he called us to the Kingdom.

The Panic Button

This last week I heard someone describe a difficult situation and then say, “But it is not time to hit the panic button.” Immediately I thought “When is it time to hit the panic button?” There are definitely times to hit the urgent button, but since panic has to do with overwhelming fear and anxiety, there aren’t many right times to hit the panic button.

The Second Mile

In marriage, there is sometimes divorce. In other relationships we have less formal but, often equally final, endings to all efforts to communicate and heal something that is broken.


Things reach a point where one or both parties decide that the gulf between them is just too great and that further efforts to connect will only add to the pain.

Not In Advance

For years a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer was on my office desk. It read: “God will give us all the power we need for any situation, but he never gives it in advance lest we depend on ourselves and not him alone.” Can you support that statement from Scripture? I don’t think so. But, I found his comment helpful because my own experience tended to verify his thought.

It Is What it Is

Item one: The Dow Jones Index plunged 400 points the day I wrote this. That means our retirement fund that we will some day need (before too long) just lost a chunk of its value.

Item two: I just finished teaching a class of college students about the philosophies at work at the time of Jesus. We looked at Stoicism which taught its adherents to accept whatever comes.