Kids and Thinking Errors (Part 2)

 

Another thinking error kids use that follow closely with jumping to conclusions is blaming.  Children’s ability to discern intent or culpability is not developed.  Emily may have accidentally bumped into Ben on the playground, but Ben naturally assumes that Emily did it on purpose because he can only see the end result of himself being hurt. Read more

Kids and Thinking Errors (Part 1)

 

Anyone who has gone through the SFT program is aware of the difficulty of eliminating thinking errors from one’s thoughts.  It requires a great deal of vigilance, patience and willpower.  Adults of all ages struggle with taking their thoughts captive.  Imagine then how much more difficult it can be for children to think accurately. Read more

Simplifying Accurate Thinking

 

It is not uncommon for participants to overcomplicate the attitudes and skills of the SFT model.  Accurate thinking may appear to be difficult when one first glances at a 16-error list.  However, some of these errors are made easy to recognize by locating key words.  The following is a list of some of the errors from the list and the easy key words. Read more

Biblical Solutions to Heaven’s Reward Fallacy

When someone participates in SFT Awareness training, one of the skills he will learn is how to become an accurate thinker.  There are sixteen thinking errors on the list that is covered in this training.  The fifteenth thinking error is called Heaven’s Reward Fallacy, which states, “bad things do not happen to good people.”  Another way to look at this error is when someone thinks if he can accomplish enough good, then bad things will not happen to him.  This is a common lie that distorts the way people see negative events that happen in life.  Thankfully, the Bible has answers that can clear up any misconceptions about this error, answers that can give a person peace of mind when facing some of life’s tough issues in regard to this error.

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The Power of Suffering

 

I always found it hard to grasp passages like Colossians 1:24, where Paul says that he rejoices in his sufferings.  It feels as though we are going against our very nature to be happy about being uncomfortable.  It seems hard to imagine that any person could rejoice in sufferings.  How could anyone delight in being beaten, molested, fired, robbed or any other act that produces suffering?  What about deaths and divorces?  Why would anyone want to celebrate these things? Read more

A Lack of Knowledge

 

“It’s easy to do, acting like a Christian at church, punching that time clock and leaving the building to begin acting like the rest of the world again.  I know because in my own life I have gone to church and put on a show in the past, singing, “Oh how I love Jesus,’ Looking forward to go home to the promised land - Hell.”  These lines, taken from a sermon in the 70’s, are unarguably harsh.  However, that message was preached not only 40 years ago, but also over 2000 years ago by Jesus when he spoke to the church at Laodicea in Rev 3:15.  Jesus says to choose.  Either continue in evil works or try your absolute best to follow God, but stop being lukewarm. Read more

Cocooning

 

Today’s culture has influenced many people into living a “cocooned life.”  In other words, we act according to the situation at hand in a way socially acceptable in all areas of life.  The message that it’s ok to be a Christian as long as you keep it at church is being heard more and more.  The first time I noticed this cocooing was many years ago while working at a warehouse.  The owner of a chain of electonic appliance stores was talking, defending himself because someone asked him about the priorities in his life.  I don’t remember the question that triggered the response, but I will remember the answer for the rest of my life. Read more

Can You Believe What She Did???!!!

 

The scene begins with Jesus teaching people early in the morning at the temple…

The scribes and Pharisees were so excited.  They could hardly wait.  They came barging into the teaching session, dragging a woman who had been caught in the very act of adultery.  It’s hard to tell what they were most excited about: exposing this woman and her sin and stoning her or waiting to catch Jesus in a trap so that they could accuse him of fradulence for claiming to be the Son of God.  But one thing is certain… they were so excited to lift themselves up at the expense of someone else. Read more

Am I Righteous Because I Can See A Little Wrong?

 

No one doubts that Ron Wilkins impacted the lives of many people before he died.  However, there were people who would not have anything to do with him because he had spent time in prison.  This is in spite of all the wonderful things he had done.  One may wonder why this would happen to someone like Ron, but the answer is quite simple.  It comes from one person thinking that someone else has an unforgivable sin and this attitude is an especially great temptation for people who have been raised in a spiritual environment.  These people have been taught the mindset that if they have not done anything as bad as someone else, they must be more righteous than him.  Read more

Deceptively Attractive

 

When I did some research on the idea of “window dressing” in preparation for this article, the results of a Google search on the topic basically amounted to two broad explanations of the expression.  The first is the original, and literal, defintion of the word, which involves creating an attractive display of merchandise in a store window to draw customers in, and the other describes the practice of making something appear deceptively attractive or favorable.  It is the second defintion which concerns this issue of the newsletter, but I found the juxtaposition of these two explanations particularly interesting when applied specifically to the world of the consumer and the world of the religious.  Why is it that when it comes to selling products in stores, window dressing is simply considered good marketing, whereas when it comes to our personal lives, it is considered deceptive? Read more

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