The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.  The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

                                                                       1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV)
 
 
      What a privilege to have the capacity to think from the perspective of Christ. Sadly it is a privilege much of the church has neglected. We have been content to have others think for us. We listen to commentators explain what politicians have said. We wait for the preacher to tell us what God has said. We listen to music and watch movies that tell us what culture is saying. Then we wonder why we are so dissatisfied when we are powerless to direct our lives in a meaningful Christian context. Weren't we supposed to be the culture-shapers? How is it that we are products of secular culture when we were assigned to be prophets to it?
 
      There are some tools that we must access if we are to effectively fulfill our God-ordained purpose. First, we must embrace the Scripture as God's gift and necessary tool to give us the proper perspective on the meaning of history and the purpose of creation. To ignore or misuse the Scripture is to doom ourselves to an unnecessary ignorance that will not be overridden by human intellect or religious superstition. We can't afford to treat the Bible as our private source of personal inspiration, nor can we treat it as the owner's guide to trouble-shooting life's problems. It is the record of God's revelation of himself and his working throughout all history. It is the story of the Word in creation and redemption. It offers the key to understanding what the natural intellect can never know from even the keenest observation.
 
      Another privilege we must embrace is the constant fellowship with God the Father. Too many have no confidence that they live in the continual favor of the sovereign Father of our Lord Jesus. Always trying to please him and to gain a greater measure of favor, they find striving and anxiety to be more constant companions than God himself. We must learn how to embrace the Spirit of adoption and enjoy the fellowship that Jesus has with the Father. We can't be both orphans and sons at the same time.
 
      Then there is the skill of discernment. With eyes trained by a biblical view and a heart at peace with the Father, we can evaluate what comes to us through our contemporary culture and actually become agents of change. It is not enough to isolate ourselves from a corrupting culture in hopes of not being defiled. We are sent to influence it by being the salt of God's enduring kingdom. What is music saying? What message is behind a movie?  What is the philosophy behind the politician's platform? How are we going to train our kids? How does a Christian apply the Gospel to ethical dilemmas? We must step up and grab hold of the available tools God has given and use them to fulfill our own Christian responsibility.
 
      Maybe the most asked question today relates to how we find our personal destiny. There is a God-ordained way, but most have no clue how to follow it.
 
      Because these issues are extremely important, we have scheduled EPIC for October 16-18, 2009. We will address these issues and more as we seek to fully equip believers to thrive in this world as agents of God's kingdom. It is a fun and intense exercise of grasping the tools necessary for getting our job done. It is designed for all men and women over age 17.  Those who attend the weekend "prologue" will have opportunity to continue to study by correspondence in developing the skills and perspectives introduced.
 
      We have the mind of Christ. It must be embraced and nurtured. Failing to do this is the height of arrogance. I would love to have you join us. Call the office or visit the website to register.