FEEDING THE MIND

Hey  friends. How are you doing? I am fairing on well. Today has been a very interesting day for me. I have been learning a lot of things from the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit at work in my dear friend Pastor Jon Courson.  Genesis 7-8 is full of images of salvation, the end times, the pouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh, the seal and assurance of salvation, sacrifices and many other beautiful things that God has chosen to reveal to us through His Word. Then after I finished that study, I ran into my very dear friend and roommate in 3^rd year, Sir Kevin Makokha. This is one guy who always builds me up in the faith. You know the way the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17 says: “Iron sharpens iron. So a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.” Today I have been sharpened. Kevo, as some of us call him, is one person who leaves you better than he found you. He draws  your attention to things that you easily overlook or never take time to ponder on. He challenges you to think and pray for God to teach you more about Himself and His kingdom. Moreover, he is quite an informative person as far as technology is concerned. You should see the passion in his eyes as he talks about the latest android OS, the new phones and tablets in the market and their respective specs in detail. This is one friend that I really appreciate and I truly thank God for him. If you know this guy,let him know that you  appreciate him!!!

Of late my attention has been drawn to what we watch. What do we allow to fill our minds. Technological advancement and easy access to media and entertainment content has had a really great impact on the values that our culture has begun to embrace, especially from the Western world. Some friends of mine in Church recently pointed out how many young people are living very empty lives. What is the trend of many young people? Wake up early, go to school or work, buy a series/ movie, go home, make supper, eat as you watch the series you bought, sleep late, and the cycle continues the next day. These minds slowly become saturated with ideas form movies, which when evaluated carefully, are quite farfetched, even perverted. This extends to our speech, thought process, reaction to circumstances, motives etc. in the midst of our discussion, a friend mentioned  how a friend of his has spent Ksh.18,000 in one year over the past one year. If you do the math, that’s 360 movies/series. That’s a lot of money. What’s more concerning is the time spent watching all that content and the effect it has had on that person’s character. What are some of the things that mostly appear in movies? Lies, sex, drugs and substance abuse, violence, ego and pride, selfishness, homosexualilty and lesbianism, among many other questionable vices that are being advocated by the western world. No wonder we are now seeing gay activists in care talking so passionately of their dreams of seeing a Kenya where one is not discriminated for being a lesbian or a homosexual. SHINDWE !! And I will say it again,SHINDWE!! These are things which would have caused a massive outcry in our country a few years back. Now, many are embracing these practices in the name of  being modern and ‘keeping up with the times.’ However,  I am not surprised by the unfolding of these events. The Bible teaches of man’s inherent sinful nature and the way the last days will be.  Allow me to quote 2 Timothy 3:1-5: “But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days . People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather han lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

The instruction at the end of verse 5 is quite clear. Have nothing to do with them!!! Can’t expound on that. I would just like to ask you a few questions. When was the last time you sat down to watch something that will enrich your very self, YOUR SOUL? When did you last invest time and money in a book? If you look at your collection of literature, music, movies and other material, does it glorify God at all? It’s good to read books, but have you read your Bible from cover to cover?

As I challenge you, I am also challenging myself.  For the past 4 years, I have come across people who have invested greatly in me in terms of  literature, movies and music. These have really come in handy in the war that we I fight with the Devil, especially in the battlefront of the mind.

One day, I was having a conversation with some of my friends, and I was telling them about some of the Christian movies (movies written by Christian authors) I have watched. One of them said, “I have never watched or even heard of these movies that you are talking about. In fact, many people haven’t.  Why don’t you do tell people about these movies?”  Well, today is a fulfillment of a promise I made to my friend to let people know. Below are the titles of some of these movies:

·        Encounter

·        End of the spear

·        Faith like Potatoes

·        Never Ashamed

·        The Pastor’s Wife

·        Amazing Grace

·        Facing the Giants

·        Fireproof

·        Courageous

·        Flywheel

·        No Greater Love

·        Time Changer

·        To Save a Life

·        What Would Jesus Do

·        Movies of Bible books and characters: Abraham, Esther, John, Jeremiah, Joseph, David, Solomon, Jesus,  Paul, Samson, Genesis and Revelation

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Feel free to borrow from me and also suggest more titles. Friends , the battle of the mind can only be worn when we equip our minds adequately. What are you equipping your mind with? Junk? Or are you arming yourself for battle.

Remember 2 Timothy 3:5:”…..Have nothing to do with them!”