There are two things that often compete with each other. Sound bites often are relied on for truth and for what to believe. Sound thinking doesn't just "buy" something because it sounds right or "feels" right. Sound thinking asks, "Is this true; is it right?" I lament (along with many others) over the decline in many minds of critical thinking. By that, I do not mean that we are to be critical (except of sin). Critical thinking analyzes what it reads or hears. It is discernment in action. People that we highly respect can be wrong in just the same way that we can. Even the Apostle Paul commended the Bereans because they "....searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (From Acts 17:11). Searching the Scriptures is the only absolutely reliable guide to measure the accuracy of any attempted mental or emotional input. Without any objective external standard(s) to go by, we are vulnerable to the clever manipulators of our minds and emotions. Too many accept something as right just because it sounds right. Being mentally lazy is not an acceptable option for a born again Christian. Radio, movies, TV, lierature, etc. are not the authorities that we need. The Bible is the supreme and final authority for faith and life, as some have eloquently taught. The more we are conversant with Scripture, the greater our capacity to separate truth from error. We neglect the Scriptures to our own peril. Paul instructed the Thessalonians and by extension has instructed us to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). Selah! Are we going to let others determine what we are to think or will we seek the mind of God? The One who made the mind knows how to keep it functioning properly. Ron
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