Do you ever wonder how you might best share your faith with others? 

Have you ever been in the position to actually defend your faith?

Lead Pastor Dr. Stephen Pattison from CapCity Church in Frankfort unpacks what all this means and offers us tangible ways to both verbally and practically SHARE & DEFEND our faith.  

Sometimes we may THINK we’re not qualified to share our faith, much less defend why we believe what we believe.

We may compare ourselves to others like Sally Super Christian who seems to be sharing her faith and witnessing to others in marvelous ways.  Our efforts compared to hers leaves us feeling a bit less than and may cause us to cower back in fear. 

Doc encourages us to shine the light of Christ in our own unique and personal ways and release the outcome! 

Click READ MORE for the outline of our conversation or tap the button to Listen Now to our meaningful conversation on the Choose 2 Think® Inspirational Podcast that will encourage you to be YOU! READ MORE to see the long list of BOOKS Doc recommends to help us grow as Jesus followers. 

 Dr. Eli Jones is a Professor of Marketing, Lowry and Peggy Mays Eminent Scholar, and the former Dean of Mays Business School at his alma mater, Texas A&M University.

During our recent chat on the Choose 2 Think Inspirational Podcast, Dr. Jones outlines a personal map for your faith journey based on his recent book called *Run Toward Your Goliaths: Fighting with Faith to Overcome the Giants That Stop Your Personal and Professional Success.  

Drop in on the Choose 2 Think Inspirational podcast to grab this full motivational episode 142: On Saying "Yes" to God Today with Dr. Eli Jones.  

​Click on Listen Now below!

​Read More to watch the highlight reel or full video on YouTube and check out his book on Amazon!

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything – it’s the extremely valuable lesson that NOTHING, NOTHING is secure in this physical world. 

C-19 has brought us face-to-face with what we value most.  It has shown us where we have put our trust.  It may be teaching us what we have taken for granted in this life.

We are more quietly reflective about our purpose on this earth.  We have a deeper awareness that there is so much in life that we cannot control.  We are sobered to realize that our jobs, our lifestyles, our plans, even those people we love most dearly may be stripped away from us in a split second.   We feel small, powerless, and weak.

C-19 has reminded us of the frailty of life and the futility of our earthly pursuits.  As the world has pressed the pause button, our lives have trembled and been shaken to an abrupt halt.  As the dust settles, we find ourselves looking into the sieve to see what precious little remains that is of true and lasting value.   

We feel so vulnerable.  Yet, when our soul is quieted, our hearts are better prepared to listen for God perhaps like never before.  Could this be a silver lining?  
 
We "listen" to God in so many ways, but one of the best ways to better understand the Creator of this universe, His ways and character are through the longest love letter ever recorded in the history of humankind:  the Holy Bible.

I would like to invite you today to discover God's perspective about C-19.  Bible study has taken many turns in my life.  There's no single "right" way.   Maybe it's been a while since you cracked your Bible open or perhaps you've never read one single verse.    Over the years, I have discovered a simple 3-step process to recharge my desire to seek God and His Word.  ​

Picture this:  An intensely lit, blindingly white room with one open door in the back that leads to all things pitch black. 

Then picture a bucolic, stunningly beautiful vineyard with sloping hills, a rising sun, vivid color contrasts of blues, greens, yellows, fresh air. 

You have a choice:  You can walk through the door into the darkness OR you can reside in the vineyard. 

​Which would you choose?

As we conclude our reflections on imagination, we have learned that in life we can train ourselves to deal positively with dashed hopes and expectations and that we can willfully resist the temptation to allow our imaginations to run wild when we feel jealous or afraid.  We actually have the ability to control our thoughts, but we must consistently and repeatedly practice doing so.

​In other words, we are determined to use our imagination FOR us, not AGAINST us.

Every single day, I face my own mental battles and the option to walk through the door into the darkness or to remain in the light, and I'm sure you do, too. 

Sometimes I'm challenged by a sad or distressing memory or regret; sometimes I wrestle with a comment someone said to me; I'm feeling disappointed in myself or others; and other times, I'm my own worst enemy and discouragement overwhelms me.   

In all scenarios, I have learned to tell myself:  "Stop.  I am not going to walk through that door into darkness where there is no good benefit for me or others.  I choose life, health, wholeness,  and peace.  I play for God's team.  In His vineyard there is no lack of any good thing.  There I find security, forgiveness, blessings, freedom, rest, strength, and hope.  I am His child, an heir.  I have His Spirit inside me and the mind of Christ to help me find and practice Truth."  

This self-talk is the discipline of using "Truth Trump Cards" to control my thoughts which influence my brain and consequently direct my mood and behavior.    This is how I reorient myself to continue to walk in God's love.

Often, as previously discussed, at the root of darkened imaginings is fear. 

Both Love and fear are powerful motivators, but Love is stronger and more deeply influential. 

The Apostle and Evangelist John wrote this so beautifully in his letter to the Christians (in Ephesus it seems):  "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love"  (1 John 4:18).   

I don't know about you, but I want to be perfected in love (to have completion and fullness, maturity, to be characterized by consummate human integrity and virtue).     This is really hard to do without having first received God's love. 

In other words, when we have God's love in our hearts, we have the Supreme and Divine Advantage.   In our mental storehouse are innumerable Truth Trump Cards that we can quickly cast over our toxic, fruitless thinking. 

We are better equipped to wage war in the battlefield of our minds.  We are offered victory through Christ who defeated any and all darkness that we could possibly ever imagine.   We are offered a nice place to do life in God's vineyard.

If this sounds hokey to you, I am truly sorry.  There was a day when I also would have thought this was weird, foreign, and absurd.   But I was spiritually blind, and spiritually blind people cannot see the Truth until the scales fall from their eyes. 

​For me, I found myself in that dark room, chased by the Hound of Heaven and ultimately rescued by the Author of Love.