The “Change Your Mind About You” Podcast was launched in April 2022. Its purpose is to assist us in awakening to our true identity. We are not what we appear to be, neither to one another, nor to ourselves. Come join me each week on an exciting journey of discovery as we learn the truth of who we really are together. ENJOY!!
Season 2 Episode 32 : Our World of Perception
‘A Course in Miracles’ states that our world of perception is..
“the world of time, of change, of beginnings and endings. It is based on interpretation… It is learned rather than given, selective in its perceptual emphases, unstable in its functioning, and inaccurate in its interpretations. “(ACIM, Preface.3:1-2, 4)
Yet of truth, it states..
“Truth is unalterable, eternal and unambiguous. It can be unrecognized, but it cannot be changed. It applies to everything that God created..”(ACIM, Preface.2:4-6)
My friends, we live in a world based on varying perceptions that change with time and often conflict. These perceptions are learned as the result of our education, upbringing, and life experiences which vary from person to person. No wonder we have so many disagreements. Whereas truth is unalterable and unambiguous. It never changes and is perfectly clear to the one looking at it.
So if we live in a world of perception – of rapid change- of beginnings and endings, we live in a world where truth is at best obscured or at worst completely hidden from us. It is a world where truth, even when revealed, is often unrecognized for what it is and persecuted as a result.
How can one recapture the truth while still living in a world of perception? There is a way. Tune in to this episode to find out.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13644892
Season 2 Episode 31 : The Widening Generation Gap
Christianity in the U.S. today is in a state of crisis. Church attendance over the last 50 years has steadily declined. But worse yet, that decline has accelerated in the past 10 to 15 years. And most of that decline is among the younger generation, 18 to 34 year olds, with liberal and democratic beliefs. Thus there exists a widening gap between church culture and the needs and beliefs of the younger generation.
Why is this happening? What is it that is driving our young people away from church and away from God in these times? Who and what needs to change ? And what type of change needs to occur?
Find out the answers to these questions and more by tuning in to this episode.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13560331
Season 2 Episode 30 : A Light to the World
Jesus, while on earth, referred to himself as “The light of the world.” He also informed his followers that they also are lights to the world – just like him. What does it mean to be a light to the world in this context? In what ways does a light reveal what has previously been hidden? And why is a bringer of light often not welcomed by the world?
Tune in to this episode for the answers to these questions and more.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13474393
Season 2 Episode 29 : Embracing Our Pain
One of our human tendencies is to seek pleasure while avoiding pain. Yet because we live in a world of opposites, experiencing pain as well as pleasure is inevitable. Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ” In all things God works for our good even when we suffer pain and sorrow.
In this episode, we learn from Jesus how to embrace and effectively manage the pain that inevitably comes our way and learn the lessons it has to teach us. We also find out what it truly means to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13344728
Season 2 Episode 28 : The Great Deception
In this episode, a familiar story, the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, is approached in an entirely different way and reveals some surprising characteristics about both God and humanity. When Adam and Eve ate “the forbidden fruit”, what happened? Was God’s creation altered in any way? When Adam blamed both God and Eve for his eating of the forbidden fruit, what was he really doing? And finally what does this series of events teach us about practicing ‘repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ which Jesus pioneered and admonished us to follow?
Find out the shocking answers to all these questions and more by tuning in to this episode.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13265632
Season 2 Episode 27 : Love Requires Forgiveness
It is rare to find truly unconditional love in the world because it is equally rare to find true forgiveness. For in our current state of affairs, it is such forgiveness that establishes a pathway that leads us back to the unconditional love that all of us crave.
In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus teaches us about the forgiveness that manifests as unconditional love in the world. At the same time, he also teaches us about our universal life experience in “a distant country” and why it is up to each of us now to choose forgiveness and the unconditional love that follows it.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13173175
Season 2 Episode 26 : Finding Peace in a Troubled World
Since the dawn of time, humanity has tried seemingly everything to achieve lasting peace. However, as hard as we have tried, world history always has been and continues to be riddled with the ravages of war, poverty, famine, sickness, anger, grief, mourning, and death. Is there any escape from it ? Is there a way of enjoying lasting peace amidst all the trouble we see in the world? Yes, there is!
In this episode, we discuss four principles that must be both understood and practiced if we are to find the peace of mind we long for.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13090047
Season 2 Episode 25 : The Sacred Embrace
When two people embrace, they wrap their arms around each other to form a unified whole. The two join together as one. It is this joining that pictures our natural state of being as God created us.
Unfortunately, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the originally unified whole split into seemingly separate independent parts. Ever since, humanity has attempted to live as if these separate parts were wholes. They are not. And because they are not, human history has been riddled with wars, famines, sickness, suffering, and death needlessly for thousands of years. When we lost our wholeness, we lost our peace.
Jesus came to correct our error and to teach us how to once again restore ourselves to wholeness. But how could he do that perfectly unless he was joined as one to another human being himself? In this episode, we learn that Jesus was indeed joined as one to another human being . We identify who that human being was and how their relationship impacts the way we interpret his teachings.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13057903
Season 2 Episode 24 : Two By Two
King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: “Two are better than one… If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
In this episode, we learn that there is indeed strength in numbers and nowhere is this more true than in holy relationships. We demonstrate from the gospels and other sources that contrary to the world that teaches that strength is characterized through independence, Jesus imparts strength to his disciples by sending them out ‘two by two’ to clearly demonstrate that God’s Presence is in their relationship. And for the disciples that experience His Presence in this way, a whole new world rises before them.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/13003536
Season 2 Episode 23 : Obstructing the Holy Relationship
It has been said, “We are our own worst enemy”. How so? The primary barrier to enjoying loving, joyful, and fulfilling relationships are the personal defenses we have erected over the course of our lives. But of all our defenses, there is one that is the most formidable of them all. Indeed it may be referred to as the defense of all defenses. What is this major obstruction that affects all of our relationships?
Tune in to this episode where the shocking answer is revealed.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12961920
Season 2 Episode 22 : From Intellect to Desire
Love God and love neighbor; Jesus referred to the combination of the two as the greatest commandment in the Bible. All of us are born with a natural inclination to both give and receive love. But much of the time we neither think nor act very lovingly toward the ones we have intended to love.
Why do we think and act in ways that are contrary to our best interests? What does it truly mean to love someone with “..all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind?” How can we perfectly reflect the Love of God in our intimate relationships?
Tune in to this episode for the answers to these questions and more.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12921430
Season 2 Episode 21 : Reversing the Fall
Biblical tradition teaches us that the reason for the presence of good and evil in the world is due to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. But did you know that the conditions manifested as a result of their decision are both temporary and thereby completely reversible? Did you know that life as we know it can indeed become ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ if we so choose?
In this episode, we present Jesus’s approach to bringing about this remarkable transformation.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12875937
Season 2 Episode 20 : The Fall Revisited – Part 2
Why did the man and woman make coverings for themselves after eating the forbidden fruit? Has fear always existed? Why did God only show up after the forbidden fruit was eaten? Didn’t He care that His creations were making a huge mistake? What is the oldest game in fallen humanity’s playbook and why do we use it? In what way does the story in Genesis 3 demonstrate the principle of ‘ask and you shall receive’?
Find out the answers to these questions and more by tuning in to this episode.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12841543
Season 2 Episode 19 : The Fall Revisited
God’s creation is very good [Genesis 1:31]. The scriptures tell us that God is Almighty, a God of Love, a God of Peace, a God of beauty and goodness, Who never leaves or forsakes His creation, and does not change. If all this is true, how can our world of life and death – a profound mixture of coexisting and conflicting opposites, even exist? Why is it that we do not see the world as God created it? Are the scriptures that speak of God and His very good creation just ancient myths born out of superstition? Or is there more to the story than what we have previously understood?
Tune in to this episode to find out.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12785715
Season 2 Episode 18 : What Is Man?: Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how the spiritual roots of humanity’s higher level functioning reflect the image and likeness of God.
In this episode, we demonstrate how human male / female relationships were designed to reflect the unified relationship that characterizes God and the Word. And, how it can be that God’s creation is complete while at the same time modern science tells us our universe is changing.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12736554
Season 2 Episode 17 : What Is Man?: Part 1
Modern Science has determined that human beings are anatomically related to the great apes but differ due to our larger brains, superior creativity, and capacity for abstract thought. It is believed that our brains reached their current size roughly 130,000 years ago.
While science is in agreement about the evolution and make up of human anatomy, there is little agreement about the origins of humanity’s higher level functioning.
Here is where the inspired writings of scripture can once again be of great assistance.
Where does humanity’s higher level of function originate? How do the scriptures refer to it? And what on the physical plane is it most like? This episode answers those questions and more.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12690921
Season 2 Episode 16 : The Beginning
Science and religion have been at odds for centuries over the origins of the universe.
The prevalent view in science is The Big Bang Theory which has been formulated from observations of the cosmos using the scientific method. Whereas Bible based religions stake their claim through faith in the creation account presented in the Bible.
Are these two viewpoints necessarily at odds with one another or is there a way that they can be combined to compliment one another? In what way does science need spirituality to arrive at a more complete understanding of the origins of our universe and ourselves? In this episode, the answer to these questions and more are discussed.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12646001
Season 2 Episode 15 : The Crucifixion & Resurrection
What is the surprising and rarely heard message behind the crucifixion of Jesus? And how does it apply to each of us? In what ways was Jesus’s resurrection a wake up call for us?
Find out the answers to these questions and more by tuning in to this episode.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12603156
Season 2 Episode 14 : The Crucifixion Continues
In this episode, we review the events that took place from Jesus’s condemnation to death by the Sanhedrin to his death sentence by crucifixion administered under Pontius Pilate.
During this entire period, Jesus shines brightly as a wonderful example of a rare God-like quality so necessary for understanding the human dilemma and how to correct it. What is this quality? Tune in to this episode to find out.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12550777
Season 2 Episode 13 : What Can We Learn From the Crucifixion?
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus teach us that bodily death is not the end. That is because life is of the spirit and not the body.
Yet Jesus, through his life in the body, taught us ever so much more as he endured his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. What lessons did he teach us about how to respond when mistreated by others? In this episode, we examine the events that took place from the betrayal of Judas to his unjust death sentence administered by the Sanhedrin and highlight the teachings he delivered to all of us along the way.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12502602
Season 2 Episode 12 : Why was Jesus Crucified?
We are, always have been, and always will be as God created us – in His image – a perfect reflection of His holiness, goodness, loving kindness, and blameless innocense. If God is Holy, Perfect, Almighty, Lives in His creation, never leaves or forsakes His creation, and never changes, it can be no other way. If that is the case, then there is no sin and no need to sacrifice in order to forgive sin. Therefore, the crucifixion of Jesus could not have been a sacrifice to forgive sins.
But if it was not for that, what was it for? Jesus certainly didn’t endure a cruel and torturous death and experience the public humiliation that went with it for nothing.
Why then was Jesus crucified? This episode reveals the surprising answer.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12455447
Season 2 Episode 11 : The Crucifixion Was NOT a Sacrifice
Did God give up His One and Only Son for the world? What did God lose in order to save the world? What did God sacrifice? Why was Jesus born? To give himself up for the world or to offer his self to the world?
And what about those of us that choose to follow him? What are we sacrificing if we as Jim Elliot said ‘give up what we cannot keep in order to gain what we cannot lose.’?
The contents of this episode demonstrate that the crucifixion of Jesus was NOT a sacrifice. And that in order to follow Jesus, no sacrifice whatsoever is required of us. Yes, this is the exact reverse of what most of us have been taught. But then again, when the teachings of Jesus are properly understood, they turn the ways of the world upside down.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12408689
Season 2 Episode 10 : Love Without Sacrifice
Jesus commissioned his followers to preach a gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. To repent means to change the way we think. Typically, what makes such change difficult is the various ways in which our culture has conditioned our minds. And, among the ways our minds have been conditioned, is through the blending of the concept of sacrifice with love.
The world has taught us that sacrifice is both a necessary and honorable quality to exhibit out in the world. But what effect does it have on our inner world and the ability to love ourselves and others? This episode discusses the profoundly negative effects sacrifice has, in all its forms, upon our minds and the solution Jesus himself proposed to overcome them.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12361996
Season 2 Episode 9 : Love Yourself First
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” All of us have heard this greatest of commands that Jesus taught. In fact, nearly every religion in the world also teaches it in some form. Yet even though we have been taught it and believe it to be a true teaching that benefits everyone, we find it difficult or near impossible to keep with any consistency.
Why?
The problem lies in the fact that we can only give what we have first received. So what most us end up giving to our neighbor is something other than love. The only solution is to first accept love for ourselves. For only then will we be able to give that love to our neighbor because we have first received it for ourselves.
This episode demonstrates to us that our perception of the world provides us with the feedback we need to prompt us to change the way we think so that we may receive the love of Christ and thus extend it to others.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12313515
Season 2 Episode 8 : Appearance Versus Reality
The entire basis for Jesus’ teaching is that only what God has created is real. And this creation of His is complete, perfect, unchangeable, and everlasting. Yet we do not live in a perfect world do we? It is always changing. All we have to do is look at old photographs and compare what was here then to what is here now to prove that. And finally, we live on a physical earth in a physical universe that is subject to decay, destruction, and death. It is not everlasting. Thus according to Jesus teaching, the world we experience through our senses is not real. It cannot be God’s creation and therefore must be a dream.
Yet it seems so real! Haven’t we all had dreams that seemed positively real? Even if you don’t want to call it a dream, do you think it is important to know the difference between appearances and reality? In this episode, I explain that difference to us.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12267639
Season 2 Episode 7 : The Square of Life
There have been many interpretations of the New Testament throughout history. Yet each and every one is based on some fundamental premise which drives the entire interpretation. When speaking of God created reality, we are describing something spiritual and infinite which we attempt to express in finite terms.
In this episode, we describe what I call “The Square of Life” to graphically picture the God created reality that forms the basis of Jesus teaching. For it is only through understanding this fundamental premise that we can come to a firm grasp of the details of what Jesus is attempting to teach us.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12219742
Season 2 Episode 6 : Forgiveness & Healing : The Relationship
Without a doubt, there is much sickness in the world. We tend to think that the many and varied diseases have multiple causes. Yet there is only one true cause of all sickness.
In this episode, this singular cause of sickness is revealed along with the one remedy for it all – forgiveness. But the type of forgiveness that relieves all sickness is very different from the kind of forgiveness that we have all been taught in the world. Tune in to this episode to learn what it means to truly forgive so that you can begin to experience what it means to be truly healed.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12170943
Season 2 Episode 5 : Applied Forgiveness 6 : Purification
Fire may be used to shed light in the midst of darkness and provide warmth to bring comfort to those who draw near to it. Yet fire is also used to purify as in a refiner’s furnace.
In this episode, we discuss how the Holy Spirit’s baptism by fire is used to refine our minds so that we may become one in Mind with Christ and the Father.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12136692
Season 2 Episode 4 : Applied Forgiveness 5 : Heat & Warmth
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is described as one of fire. Such fire not only provides light to enlighten but also heat and warmth. What is meant by heat and warmth in this context? And in what ways do we observe such heat and warmth in the life of Christ? This episode provides us with the answers to both of these questions as well as how to apply the answers to make life on earth more like it is in Heaven.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12077537
Season 2 Episode 3 : Applied Forgiveness 4 : Light
The Holy Spirit’s baptism is a baptism with fire. One of the properties of fire is that it gives off light. Such light may be employed in a lamp or a torch which helps us to see more clearly as we walk amidst darkness.
In this episode, we learn what it means to receive the light of the Holy Spirit and also the purpose for which He gives it to us .
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/12042228
Season 2 Episode 2 : Applied Forgiveness 3 : Baptism
Christ’s message is repent so that sin may be forgiven. So forgiveness is the end while repentance is the means. In previous episodes, we stated that to repent means to think differently. But in what way must we think differently in order to bring about forgiveness?
In this episode, we learn how the rite of baptism symbolizes what in particular we must repent of in order to both receive and extend forgiveness. What it teaches us is shocking. But that is because Christ’s message, when properly understood, is shocking. And that is why his teaching has a long history of either being rejected by some or considered utterly amazing by others.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11987633
Season 2. Episode 1 : Applied Forgiveness 2 : Repent
There is much sickness in the world today as there always has been. Yet there is a singular cause of all sickness that humanity continues to either overlook or outright ignore.
In this episode, we focus on where all lasting healing begins. This beginning of the healing process has long been cited in the scriptures. The prophets of old preached it. John the Baptist preached it. And finally Christ and his followers preach it even today. It is the critical prerequisite needed to accept the gift of forgiveness and healing, all of us have been offered.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11938292
Season 1 Episode 38 : Applying Forgiveness 1
What peacemakers do is forgive sins. But the way in which forgiveness is practiced by Christ in making peace is both unusual and thereby foreign to us. So it helps to see examples of such forgiveness in action.
In this episode, we look at Christ’s forgiveness being applied by the father in the parable of the two sons. The father’s actions in this story is a demonstration of just how radical Christ’s teaching on the subject of forgiveness is.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11879932
Season 1 Episode 37 : The Peacemaker’s Universal Tool
As peacemakers, we join the Holy Spirit in His work of making whole that which is now divided and in conflict. The world in its current state loves its friends but hates its enemies. The task of the peacemaker is to transform this hate for enemies into love. To do this, the peacemaker is given a tool which also happens to be at the core of Christ’s message to humanity.
In this episode, we reveal what that tool is and the justification for its use.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11838293
Season 1 Episode. 36 : Become a Peacemaker
By attempting to obey two masters with diametrically opposed objectives, human beings unsurprisingly live in a state of confusion. Thus the world we have made is one of perpetual conflict where no one escapes suffering, pain, and death. Such a world is incompatible with the best interests of the children of God, who were created to experience an eternity of unified life dwelling together in happiness and peace.
In this episode, the Son of God takes on the role of a peacemaker. From the scriptures, we review the experiences of Jesus and the apostle Paul as they went about the task of peacemaking. See what they encountered and thereby what we can expect as we take on our God-ordained role as channels of His peace.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11797355
Season 1. Episode 35: The Importance of Unlearning
Imagine yourself working for two bosses who each seem to possess equal authority over you. What would happen, if on every occasion, one boss instructs you to do one thing and the other boss instructs you to do the diametric opposite? What effect will that have on both your state of mind and your relationship with those bosses? You would no doubt experience both confusion and stress, respectively.
Now imagine that at some point during your tenure of employment you found out that only one of those bosses was your true boss and the other only pretended to be, but in reality has absolutely no authority over you. Which one would you choose to obey?
Christ told us long ago that no one can have two masters. Yet in this world, we have two to choose from. In this episode, we show the results that come from obeying each of the masters so that we may compare the results, thus leading us to make our only sane choice in the end.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11752383
Season 1 Episode 34: Faith in Our True Identity
Paul referred to our God created identity as “a profound mystery”. We do not see it because our world was put in place to obscure it from our sight thus making it “a profound mystery.” Yet Jesus as Christ saw it clearly and experienced it as a human being.
In this episode, we learn that the only way to experience our God created identity is through faith. The immense power of faith is discussed along with how it has worked through ordinary people to bring about extraordinary results. It also reveals some common misunderstandings that hinder our faith in practice.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11715066
Season 1 Episode 33: From False to True Perception
We are the children of God. The term “children” implies more than one. Yet the scriptures are clear in stating that God has only one Son. We are many members of one body. Yet that is not what we perceive in our world.
In this episode, we learn some of the ways in which the Holy Spirit transforms our current perception so that, with our cooperation, it becomes a new perception that more accurately reflects God’s created reality.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11671318
Season 1 Episode 32: The Forgiven Perception
We normally think of ourselves living in a world characterized by a mixture of good and evil, of love and hate. In this episode, we provide answers to questions that all of us will eventually have to face. Such as: How did Christ define hate in the Sermon on the Mount? What is the true meaning behind the Royal Law to “love your neighbor as yourself? What does it mean to shine a light upon darkness? And finally, how do the answers to all these questions help us to understand the centrality of the gospel message to forgive sin?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11626140
Season 1 Episode 31 : The Framework for Forgiveness
The way Christ defines forgiveness is much different from the way we do. In fact, without any background information to provide a framework for forgiveness, we would think that Christ himself was insane.
So in this episode, we provide that much needed background to give us the framework in which Christ’s forgiveness makes perfect sense. We do this by answering the two questions introduced at the end of the previous episode. They are;
- If each one of God’s creations remain as He created them, is the world that we see and have experienced consistent with that creation or in conflict with it?
- And if God created everything that exists but what we see in our world is in conflict with that, what must we conclude about the world that we see?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11581578
Season 1 Episode 30 : Renewing the Mind
In our last episode, we learned that we are the children of God. Yet we don’t think of ourselves that way. We see ourselves as regular human beings – subject to injury and death – sometimes good and at other times not so good. A transformation in our perception of ourselves and others is now necessary for us to accept the truth about ourselves.
In this episode, we begin to describe that process of transformation. We are presented with some radical ideas about our beliefs that challenge what we have always been taught.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11537996
Season 1 Episode 29: What Is Your True Identity?
In the previous episode, we learned that life does not end at death. If this is true, as the evidence from both scripture and modern science indicate, then we must come to the conclusion that our true identity is not defined by our bodies as it is in this world.
What then is our true identity and source of life? Is it our biological parents as we have always assumed? Why is it that we equate life with the body? In this episode, you find out the answers to these questions and more. For it is this episode, perhaps more than any of the others to date, that reveals the true meaning behind the phrase “Change Your Mind About You.”
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11495174
Season 1 Episode 28 : Rethinking Death
Death is always an uncomfortable subject for human beings to cope with. For that reason, we don’t like thinking about it. Yet it befalls all of us. So we must come to grips with it.
In this episode, we start by discussing some of the issues that cause us to be uncomfortable with the idea of death. Then we progress to what both the scriptures and modern science teach about it. There are some real surprises here. Finally we come to the astounding conclusion that death is not the end of life. Rather, all the evidence gathered in the last 2000 years, points to death as a transition to a new life characterized by peace and unconditional love.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11452247
Season 1. Episode 27 : But I Tell You – Part 2
In this episode, we continue our discussion of Christ’s “But I Tell You” commands found in the Sermon on the Mount. The only way to describe the clarifications Christ makes to the following commands is counterintuitive. For instance, it is a common practice to take an oath to tell the truth when testifying in a court of law. Why would Christ command us to not take an oath of any kind?
It has also been said that, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Yet Christ tells us, “Do not resist an evil person.” Why would he teach that?
Finally, Christ commands us to “love your enemies.” If we do that, would not our enemies continue to take advantage of the situation and cause more suffering as a result?
Find out the surprising answers to all these questions and where those answers ultimately lead.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11410036
Season 1 Episode 26 : But I Tell You – Part 1
In the Sermon on the Mount, we find the heart of the Christ teaching. Part of this teaching is what I call the “But I Tell You” commands. It is important to realize that these “But I Tell You” commands are not additions to God’s Law. Rather, they are given to clarify the Law and thus render the fullness of its meaning.
In this first of a multipart series, we discuss Christ’s clarifications of the commands “Do not murder” and “Do not commit adultery”. We also discuss his more restrictive teaching regarding divorce as he presents it as an act of violence against the relationship and motivated by hate.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11367854
Season 1. Episode 25 : Redefining Equality
Human beings have an acute sense for what we perceive as “fairness”
We learn this perception from a very young age and practice it clear into adulthood. But such perceptions are always based on comparisons which focus on differences and breed both envy and conflict. Therefore, the common human perception of “fairness” actually harms us by acting as a barrier to our peace.
There is a better way. In this episode, we learn what true equality is and what perceptual changes are needed in our minds to both realize and practice it.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11332011
Season 1. Episode 24 : Love is Sharing
Love is the most sought after, talked about, written about, and sung about topic in the history of human existence. We all long for it. Yet love and its fullness have remained hidden from our awareness. Why?
This episode presents love as the sharing of life. It identifies the source of such love which lies at the heart of the Christ teaching and includes all of us. Finally, it teaches us what we must do to receive the love that each of us longs for and the peace that goes along with it.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11285228
Season 1 Episode 23 : Understanding the Special Relationship
Special relationships are universal in human experience because we have all learned to love some more than others. Some relationships even demand a higher priority such as marriages and live-in partnerships. Yet what most of us encounter in the course of these special relationships is a blending of happiness with suffering.
In this episode, we examine the anatomy of special relationships, their source, and the spirit underlying their existence. These are presented to motivate us to allow the Holy Spirit to correct us by transforming our special relationships into holy relationships. By doing so, we allow the Holy Spirit to fulfill His function through which He brings a taste of Heaven to earth.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11244986
Season 1 Episode 22 : Struggling With Forgiveness
Now that we have redefined forgiveness, the new definition seems hard to grasp. This difficulty arises because a change of mind (i.e.repentance) is required in order to practice forgiveness as redefined. To compound the difficulty, we seem reluctant to undergo such change. Why? What is the nature of this change? What makes the need for such change so difficult for us to accept?
In this episode, we learn that everyone is both able and called upon to practice forgiveness in their closest relationships. In addition, we examine the trial and unjust conviction of Jesus to a death sentence on the cross to teach us about the true nature of reality and to motivate us to practice forgiveness as he did.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11203588
Season 1 Episode 21 : Forgiveness: The Pathway to Peace
I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that forgiveness is the most misunderstood concept in human affairs. Many would ask: How can we forgive atrocities such as torture, rape, and murder? Aren’t such actions unforgivable? Don’t such evils deserve to be punished? Isn’t forgiveness, in such cases, merely a cowardly retreat away from administering justice?
All these questions demonstrate clearly that we have misunderstood what it means to forgive sins. In this episode, we learn what forgiveness is and why it is the central responsibility of every follower of Christ. The immense power of forgiveness is also displayed in the context of one of the healings performed through Jesus.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11161951
Season 1 Episode. 20 : The Vision of Holiness
In previous episodes, we stated that the Holy Spirit’s function is to transform our special relationships into holy relationships. He helps those blind to God’s perfect creation to be able to see it. What are some of the elements involved in doing this?
This episode presents the Holy Spirit’s work as a process of restoration. It highlights a few of His teachings that He uses to help us acquire the vision of holiness. One lesson is drawn from Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan. While the other takes an uncommon perspective on what Jesus meant in John 15:13 by “laying down one’s life” for his friends.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11123392
Season 1 Episode 19 : From Specialness to Holiness – Part 2
This second episode in a two part series discusses the transformation of special relationships, a characteristic that we all share in our world, to holy relationships. Our world is plain for each of us to see. But we cannot see God and His creation because our world obstructs our perception. of it. We are all in effect blind to God and His perfect creation.
How then do the blind receive their sight? How do special relationships become holy relationships? How are those separated through specialness once again unified through holiness? And where does all of this ultimately lead us? Tune in to this episode to find out.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11083467
Season 1 Episode 18 : From Specialness to Holiness – Part 1
This episode is the first of a two part series that will discuss the transformation of so-called special relationships to holy relationships. In the beginning, only holiness existed. However, one of the consequences of “The Fall” was the establishment and proliferation of special relationships.
In this episode, examples of special relationships from the Old Testament are presented along with their characteristics. These are presented to demonstrate that such relationships, common in our own world, require transformation back to holiness in order to fulfill the deepest desires of the human heart.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11044077
Season 1 Episode 17 : The Holy Relationship
What is a holy relationship? Why is it needed? And what kind of relationship does it reflect? The healing of all of the world’s ills is at the core of the holy relationship. It is where two learn to become one. Thus we learn to love our neighbor as ourselves and fulfill the intent of the scriptures. Through that experience, we awaken from our state of spiritual sleep by learning to reflect the unified relationship Christ has with God the Father. A holy relationship is that powerful.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/11006535
Season 1. Episode 16 : Are There Two Gods in the Bible?
This episode presents the answer to the age-old question: Are there two God’s in the Bible? If the one true God doesn’t change, but remains the same yesterday, today, and forever, how can it be that the God of the Old Testament seems so different from the God revealed in Jesus Christ? For example, while the God of the Old Testament punishes disobedience by afflicting his offenders with suffering and pain, the God revealed in Christ forgives sin and heals all pain and suffering. How can this apparent dichotomy be explained sensibly? This podcast clearly explains how. Don’t miss it.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10963958
Season 1 Episode 15 : Making Peace
Perhaps the most elusive of all unfulfilled human desires is the desire for lasting peace. Humanity has sought peace since the dawn of time but has been unable to find it because we do not know the way. Yet knowledge of the way to peace has been available since the time of Christ. We either have not recognized it or have refused to practice it.
In this episode, an introduction to the way of peace taught by Christ through the Holy Spirit is revealed. It describes the characteristics of a peacemaker and concludes by defining what the true meaning of peace is .
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10922238
Season 1 Episode 14 : The New Perception : Part 2
In this second of a two part series, we look at the final two of three common misperceptions we have learned from life in the world that the Holy Spirit has been sent to correct. These are the issues of righteousness and judgment.
This episode discusses the limitations associated with life under law in our world and contrasts that with the way our Father sees us. It also reveals to us why the so-called “end of the world” rather than being good news for some and bad news for others ,as it’s typically perceived, is instead extraordinarily good news for everyone.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10885458
Season 1 Episode 13 : The New Perception : Part 1
Everyone wants to change the world to make it a better place to live. But we don’t need to change the world to make it better, we need to perceive the world rightly. We are incapable of doing this on our own. So we have been given a Teacher, the Holy Spirit, to correct our faulty and incomplete perceptions of the world.
In this part 1 of a two part series, we learn how the Holy Spirit corrects one of the three universal errors of perception that we all share – humanity’s belief in sin.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10844642
Season 1 Episode 12 : The Necessity of Faith
The end of suffering cannot be achieved without faith. This podcast discusses not only what faith is but also provides examples of faith from scripture. We learn why it is that we must live by faith in the Holy Spirit’s teaching rather than trusting in our own experience learned through the body’s senses.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10799454
Season 1 Episode 11 : The End of Suffering
In spite of all the material progress humanity has made throughout the millennia, widespread suffering continues to plague us. It seems the more progress we make, the more suffering we make to accompany it. Human beings were not created to suffer. But rather to experience lasting peace and joy instead, completely free from all suffering.
Will suffering ever end? Yes, it will. Suffering’s end is inevitable. How will that happen? This podcast – “The End of Suffering” informs us of both why we suffer and how suffering will finally end.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10754196
Season 1 Episode 10 : The Dynamics of the Fall
In this episode, we delve into the details of “The Fall” in Genesis 3. As we saw in the previous episode, “The Fall: The Unheard Story”, the separation has already occurred prior to the encounter with the serpent. In fact, the serpent is merely a byproduct of the separation.
This episode discusses the dynamics of the encounters with both the serpent and “the Lord” afterwards. Once again, more surprises emerge from the story as we make a closer examination of the details.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10713698
Season 1. Episode 8 : The Two Emotions
There are times when all of us have felt like a jumbled up ball of emotions – Oftentimes these emotions, which drive our thoughts, may even be in conflict . Although we may seem to have many different kinds of emotions, fundamentally all of them can be boiled down to merely two. Yes, all we are capable of expressing can ultimately be reduced to two principal emotions – and one of them is false.
In this episode, we discuss the various emotions that stimulate thought. Several different theories of emotions are discussed along with how these emotions tend to drive us toward negative thoughts. This negativity bias affects our perceptions in surprising ways and leads us to false conclusions about the nature of reality. Find out how we are like the younger son in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. And, through his story, learn to decide what is the only true principal emotion and driver of thought.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10627149
Season 1 Episode 7 : Form Versus Content
The world of outward appearances is governed by form while our inner world is a matter of content. Why is this important? Where we place our priority (form versus content) determines the kind of world we live in. We have historically lived in a world of duality where form and content often conflict. But such conflict is not necessary.
The Lord’s primary concern is with content, which refers to someone’s inner state of being. In this podcast, examples from both the Old and New Testaments are reviewed to demonstrate the problems encountered when form and content are in conflict. These conflicts are resolved when the content of the Mind of God becomes the driver of form. The resulting continuity and wholeness brings about a remarkable transformation in both the person and the world.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10595129
Season 1 Episode 4 : The Holy of Holies
This episode is a continuation of our previous discussion of our inner world. In it , the contents of the section of the tabernacle called the Most Holy Place is discussed.
The significance of the contents of the Ark of the Covenant is presented along with the ritual performed at the Day of Atonement, the only annual ritual in which the Holy of Holies was involved. How this ritual is related to the institution of the New Covenant is also discussed and so is the long hidden mystery that the New Covenant reveals. All of this ties into the message the construction of the tabernacle was made to tell us.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10480452
Season 1 Episode 3 : Our Inner World
Since all healing takes place from the inside out , if we want to be fully healed, we need to come to understand and focus on our inner world. In this episode, we focus on how we human beings are constructed from within. The biblical image used to explain this is the tabernacle from the Book of Exodus. The various furnishings located within the tabernacle are discussed along with their deeper meaning. All this provides for us a much clearer picture of what we are really like inside. What is revealed is nothing short of amazing. There is indeed far more to us than meets the eye!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10465922
Season 1 Episode 2 : Healing From the Inside Out
All healing takes place from the inside out is what I refer to as The Golden Rule of Healing. We see this phenomenon take place in the healing of cuts and fractured bones. But our bodies are not the only part of us that are in need healing . The fact of the matter is our existence consists not only of an outer physical life but also an inner spiritual life.
Jesus taught, “.. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” [John 10:10]. The life to the full of which he spoke begins with healing of the inner life. And since all healing takes place from the inside out, the end result is total healing and wholeness.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1973773/10460861
Season 1 Episode 1 : Questioning Reality
Modern science tells us that as much as 95% of all our thoughts are subconscious. That means we are generally unaware of our thoughts. The implications of this lack of awareness are extraordinary because our thoughts govern our perceptions of reality. And, our perceptions of reality affect how much joy we experience in life. Few of us ever consider this. But it is time that we do.
In this episode of “Change Your Mind About You” we are going to take the time to question our reality. We discuss how our perceptions are formulated and why the way we typically form them not only robs us of joy, but also brings us much harm. To resolve this, the importance of living in the present moment is discussed and its relationship to the Christ teaching of being “born again.”