A Confused Mind: Introduction

Over the past year I have written to dozens of Christian authors and leaders. Every attempt has been focused on understanding. I have tried to understand why they write and say what they do. I've also shown them a non-contradictory way of stating the same topic. While I have gotten some wonderful responses and learned a lot, I've have been shocked at the lack of response, especially since some of these incidences are critical.

This week, I'm going to focus on one of these encounters. My goal is twofold: 1. Give you the opportunity to help me understand where I may be wrong and 2. Help bring attention to modern day examples of Christians behaving as Pharisees...clinging to tradition instead of the non-contradictory Word of God.

This week's example: Chapter 10 titled "A Confused Mind" from "Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer. First of all, please read Chapter 10 for yourself. I'm going to present as much of the chapter as possible during this series of posts, however, you should ALWAYS check the source out for yourself. If you don't, you are letting me do the thinking for you. Second, if you read Chapter 10 and see anything critical that I left out or misinterpreted, please post a comment. I am trying to see how this chapter can be non-contradictory and Biblical, but I found it is neither.

The introduction to the chapter covers a passage from James (1:5-8).
Ms. Meyer writes:
"To me, the 'man of two minds' (the King James Version calls him 'a double-minded man') is the picture of confusion as he constantly goes back and forth, back and forth, never deciding on anything. As soon as he thinks he has made a decision, here comes the wondering, doubt and confusion to get him operating once again in two minds. He is uncertain about everything. I lived much of my life like that, not realizing that the devil had declared war against me and that my mind was the battlefield. I was totally confused about everything, and didn't understand why."

This is the introduction, so we are going to start slow...

The double-minded man is a person who tries to live with contradictions . These contradictions may even be the result of having more than one objective. The Bible says that people who try to live with contradictions are unstable in ALL THEIR WAYS. Now we know WHY it is important to actively remove contradictions from your belief system.

Having contradictions in your belief system is the CAUSE . The EFFECT is wondering, doubt, and confusion. The way to remove wondering, doubt, and confusion is NOT to just stop wondering, doubting, and being confused...it is to remove the contradictions. How do we DO that?

Notice, you can't do nothing. You also can't stop doing something by stop doing something. You can only stop doing something by DOING something else...preferably the opposite of what you are trying to stop doing. What is the opposite of wondering, doubting, and confusion?

Finally, notice Ms. Meyer admits she had this problem AND DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY.

The key to removing contradictions is the UNDERSTAND WHY...to think MORE, not less. We have seen the ONLY way to be SURE of truth is through contrastive thinking . The only way to remove doubt, confusion, and wondering is to understand the why through contrastive thinking.

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