Mastering the Silence

Recently I finished the book "Mastering the Silence" by Doug Jones. For awhile I was contemplating whether or not I should do a review of the book as I wasn't sure I wanted to review a book that I consider a learning experience. I eventually decided to not review the book but rather comment on what it taught me. Keep in mind that I will only be scratching the surface the book itself goes much deeper.

As the blurb on the front cover suggests, "Mastering the Silence" focuses on helping you win the battles you face in your mind. What so many of us don't realize is that everyday we're plagued with attacks from our enemy and his primary method of attack is our mind. Luckily, we have been given all the power we need to fight back.

First, we need to understand how our enemy attacks. We can learn from the examples of Eve, David and others that Satan himself attacks with thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. It seems too simple at first but makes complete sense upon further observation. He attacks us when we our most vulnerable, when we're working hard and need rest he suggests we put the work off. Simple suggestions that don't seem bad but have consequences, such as more work later. Even more drastic things such as making a man believe his wife no longer believes him by things she said being taken in a completely different context.

But how do we defend ourselves against these attacks? Simple by taking every thought, idea, and suggestion and making sure it fits in with God's Word. While it's a process and can be tough to do at times it is worth it to be able to always keep our minds pure and win the battles inside them. I guarantee if you do this process for just two weeks you'll see a difference in your life.

As I mentioned above I merely scratched the surface, there is much more to this than I can hope to cover in one post and I encourage you to buy the book.

Other nuggets from the book

• Thought always precedes action.
• The more we know, the more victory we can enjoy.
• Wisdom learns from the mistakes of others.
• The lifespan of a thought is determined by the amount of attention it receives.
• Learn how thoughts take you captive and you can take thoughts captive.

Love You

God loves you. As Christians we hear that statement often, in fact, we might even say it to people. But do you believe that applies to you too? See, it's easy to say "God loves you" the tough part is saying "God loves me." It's easy for us to believe that God loves that other person but when we think about ourselves we can get into the dangerous habit of believing we are unlovable. God doesn't believe that, and neither should you!

1 John 4:9 (NLT)

⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.

God loves you so much he sacrificed his son! If that's not love then nothing is! How can we even think he doesn't love every one of us! God loves us, but most importantly he loves me. We have to accept that he loves us before we can tell people that he loves them.

When we accept the truth of God's love we must come to the understanding of it. His love never runs out, he loves us all equally. He doesn't love Jimmy because Jimmy praises better or has a better family. That doesn't matter to God all that matters to him is that you know his love. A love so strong that he gave us his son. A love so strong that, if you put your faith behind it, nothing can stop you! A love strong enough to cover every sin, no matter how bad. A love worth living for. God wants to share that love with you. A love so bold that his son died for it. I promise that if you give into the love that is love, you're life will never be the same from this point. Because God loves you, and we return that love by loving ourselves.

Impact

Recently, I had the awesome opportunity to attend my 4th summer camp, Impact. To say I knew exactly what God had in store would be a lie (who really does anyway?) But as I looked back God showed me that the biggest changes I made in my life were almost always at camp.

It was at camp that I dedicated my life solely to God. It was at camp that I learned of my calling to be a pastor. It was at camp that I got filled with the Holy Spirit. It's obvious that camp has had a big impact (no pun intended) on my life.

This year was no different in that sense. The biggest thing to happen to me at camp this year was definitely getting baptised. I'm really surprised it took me so long, and honestly, I didn't feel any different initially. But the moment we got into worship that evening I felt more in touch with God than I ever had before. Since returning from camp I've been feeling more and more of the spirit inside me leading me as well.

God also really challenged me to castaway all the other secondary things in life and focus on him primarily. What we need to know the most is that God and his will are to be first and foremost in our lives. EVERYTHING ELSE should come second to that. That means putting down the controller or the remote and spending time with him.

Overall, God continued the tradition of changing my life at camp and setting me ablaze for the year to come!