On Healthy Minds in Troubled Times, Part 5: Focus
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“…we’re not obligated to think about, let alone agree with, any old thought that pops into our heads. We can direct our minds. We can take charge of our thoughts.” - Olinger
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“I lived in an alternate universe during 1972 and 1973, so I know ideological addiction.”
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“My Communist Party addiction lasted only 16 months, but even then I needed God’s merciful intervention to leave that drug behind. Others, though, may be able to regain a grip on reality by popping their right-wing-media-only or left-wing-media-only bubbles. One way to do this is by deliberately developing a Twitter stream that includes both liberals and conservatives.” - Olasky
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Russel Moore: How Do I Talk to People Who Fall for Conspiracy Theories?
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“I’ve been asked this question more times and by more people than I can count over the past several weeks. …First of all, realize that the wisdom is true that one cannot reason someone out of something one was never reasoned into in the first place. …There is no easy step-by-step argument to pull someone out of a Facebook echo chamber.
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“Christian joy stands out among a sad and sullen people”
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The Christian is a joyful being! He’s one who has come to know God and hopes to know him more fully, indeed, to know him face to face in glory where there will be an eternal enjoyment of who He is and who we are in Him. In this world, this kind his joy is contagious.” - Ref21
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On Healthy Minds in Troubled Times, Part 3: Selflessness
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“In troubled times, ‘looking out for Number One’ is absolutely the wrong thing to do. Just as a threefold cord is not easily broken, so we as believers benefit by facing the certain troubles as a unified body, looking out for and supporting one another. Troubled times are the worst times to be fragmented or to go it alone.” - Olinger
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Christianity and the Alt-Right
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“Granted, the alt-right is concerned about much of what I am concerned about. The alt-right opposes much of what I oppose. But sometimes the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy.” - P&D
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On Healthy Minds in Troubled Times, Part 2: Confidence
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“On the day Christ commissioned Saul as apostle to the Gentiles, he told him he would suffer. He told Ananias, the believer who healed Saul of his heaven-sent blindness….And Saul, now Paul the apostle, tells the believers in the little church at Philippi that this is the common fate—no, the ‘privilege’—of all believers” - Olinger
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Practicing Gratitude: Grateful Heart, Grateful Life
By Diane Scallon
Did you know that practicing gratitude can rewire your brain? Yes, the brain, this amazing creation of God, can be rewired! Gratitude is a heart change that leads to behavioral change, ultimately improving your physical, mental, and spiritual health and even cultivating a delight for life.
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January 6, 2021: Lessons Learned?
Even at our best, we humans often botch the job of identifying what’s true and right. The important thing is to recognize what went wrong, learn the lessons, and aim to do better.
If I could gather every American who self-identifies as conservative and deliver one message to them right now, that would probably be the bottom line: Face the facts of January 6 and start identifying how to do better and be better.
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