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YOUR PLASTIC BRAIN! · Mental Health and the Mission of the Church

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: How's everybody doing?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh excited to get into this this morning.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um kind of not changing gears, but then maybe in a way we are.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you about what uh is is commonly now called the fact that your brain is plastic or has plasticity, which is the uh characteristic or ability to change.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, plastic is something that can be reshaped.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: So science adapted that concept to talk about the fact that your brain, they used to think that you uh once you hit a certain age, that you couldn't learn um anymore.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean like two plus two equals four, but there was this belief years ago that when you hit a certain age, your your brain's capacity to change in a deep, deep way was done.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And what they've discovered lately is that that's not true to a very large extent.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't want to mislead you, there's still things about your brain that you can't fully change.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: But the bottom line is science has discovered that your brain is changeable.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Why is that important?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because your brain is designed by God to be the command center for all that you think, feel, and do.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, your brain is where all the, I mean, it's tied to some other systems that help.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's a big deal nowadays to talk about how your body stores information, and that's true.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: But for the most part, I think it's still the most helpful to talk about your brain and how it thinks, how it feels, how it makes choices, how it protects you, how it, how it pursues the things that you say you want.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, what we're going to talk about, we've been talking about this whole idea of what do you want?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: You're between, you live your life between what is and what could be.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And um I I I've just found uh, you know, many of the verses that we're all, if if we've been in church long, if we're Christians that have been around this stuff very long, we've uh we've run into several scriptures like Romans 12, 2, be transformed or changed by the renewing of your mind.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: A more contemporary translation would say, be changed by uh or change your life by changing the way you think.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um Ephesians 4 talks about putting off the old man, in other words, changing your old behavior and exchanging it with new behavior, and sandwiched in between those two thoughts, getting rid of old behavior, taking on new behavior, is the statement, be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So there's again this thought of changing the way we think translates into changing our life.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 2 Corinthians 10, 3 through 6 talks about taking our thoughts captive.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um so clearly this this whole thing of thinking is important.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you if you want to get from where you are to where you say you want, believe God wants you, uh you know, have had affirmed and reaffirmed that that's where God wants you to go, um, I would say to you, there's no better, more profitable, more uh impactful, helpful place to concentrate than right between your ears.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you were if you're not watching this, I'm pointing to my head with both fingers.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: The bottom line is if you can learn to recognize how you think, learn some skills on changing how you think, um, you're gonna change the way you act and react to life.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna be kind of digging into that, and it's what we always do, honestly.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, dude, you you you kind of repeat yourself.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know what?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't kinda, I do repeat myself.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because I found that there's really uh, how many of you degree simple and easy aren't the same thing?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that complicated.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, I'm I I believe in in being born again.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: I believe in accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And and I say that to say this.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Once we've done the most important thing we'll ever do, which is square off with who Jesus was and what he did and what he offers and how I receive what he offered.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, don't have time to get into all that, but just to make sure you know that I believe all that.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um from that point forward, the the exciting work happens between your ears in the sense of learning to unthink or unlearn what you've learned and replace it with God's thoughts, God's ways, etc.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And um let's just be honest, folks.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Most of that happens between our ears.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let me give you a little formula that I've given you before.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it's gonna sound a little weird if you're driving or whatever, don't write it down now, but write it down later and chew on it a bit.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Alright?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give it to you, so don't try to get it all in one gulf.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna explain it for a second here.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, the formula is BTFA and make them all capitals.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: BTFA equals R.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Alright.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Remember what we're talking about?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the fact that you have a plastic brain.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: BTFA equals R.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: B is believe.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: What you believe drives what you think.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's the T.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: What you believe drives what you think.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: What you think drives how you feel, and how you feel drives how you act.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: What you believe drives what you think, what you think drives how you feel, how you feel drives how you act.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And those all together, believe, think, feel, act, create the results we get in life.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: If my beliefs cause me to think a certain way, cause me to feel a certain way, cause me to act a certain way, that's gonna determine the kind of relationships I have, the kind of job that I have, the kind of uh prosperity I enjoy, the health that I enjoy, it's gonna affect every area of our life.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: The risks that I'm willing to take, the things that I go after, that I withdraw from.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: What I believe drives what I think, what I think drives what I feel, what I feel drives what I do, how I act, and all of that creates a result.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if that is all true, then the most important thing for us to understand, now, first of all, it's important that you understand that.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't, if you don't agree with that, then I don't I'm probably not gonna be a lot of help to you.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: But if you agree with that, even 90%, then I can really, really help you with some things that have really, really helped me.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Alright?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: So if we're gonna believe that formula, BTFA, believe, think, feel, act, creates results, um, then what I probably want to do is figure out how to start at the beginning.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, instead of working on how to change how I act or feel, or even really think, I need to be thinking about how what I believe.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about beliefs for a minute.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and and there's just a couple things I want to say to you about that.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Beliefs are beliefs are deeper than thinking, and I'm just gonna give you a couple of quick thoughts and then we'll wind up for today.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: But let me just let me just read you a couple things I wrote down.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Belief, what you believe, your beliefs are your subconscious set of rules about how the universe works.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your subconscious, what does that mean?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: They're they operate below the conscious line, and we're gonna talk more about that.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, your beliefs are deeper than your thinking.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: And they they basically are your rules.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if I do this, this will happen.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: If I don't do this, this will happen.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: When this happens out here, this is how I respond from in here.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, you have this set of rules about how the universe works, and there are things like um, you know, when I perform well, I'm noticed, celebrated, and loved.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: There are things like um, I'm loved whether I perform well or not.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm loved, period.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Performance is just a skill that I learn to acquire the kind of life that I want, but it has nothing to do with my worth and value.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what I just did was expose different rules about how life works.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: We learn them really, really early in life, and we're gonna talk more about that.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: But for now, all I want you to get for today is this.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um your brain can change.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: I know right now you're thinking this.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I get in situations and I react the same stinking way every time, even though I don't want to.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's because your brain is designed to learn something and then just do that same something really fast.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if I react a certain way in a situation, even if I don't like the result, I'm gonna do it again and again and again.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: That is what they mean by plasticity, meaning you can learn to identify, challenge, and change that cycle of B T F A.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Believe, think, feel, act.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're gonna be talking about for the next little while is how to take advantage of the fact that your brain is changeable and it's all throughout scripture, and uh, it's gonna be fun, man.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Alright.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Love you guys.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Later.