The Brain vs. The Heart
Have I mentioned that I am consistently amazed at the ability of my children to blow my mind on any given day at any given moment? No? Well let me just tell you, I am amazed at the ability of my children to blow my mind on any given day at any given moment! So there now I have said it. This post was completely inspired by my 7 year old son, Gabriel.
While sitting at the kitchen table about a week ago reading, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my son was scribbling on a notebook like he does a lot. I went back to reading. He then interrupts to ask me, “Dad, how do you spell brain?”.
Without looking up I say, “B-R-A-I-N”.
He then says,”Thanks. Now how do you spell heart?”
So I oblige much as I did for the word brain. He then says,”How do you spell versus?”
OK now he has my interest. “What are you drawing?” I ask him.
“I’m drawing a story” he tells me. ”A story about the brain vs. the heart.” I then ask him to tell me the story. He proceeds with such innocence and pride of his work.
This is Gabriel’s story of “The Brain vs. The Heart”
At first the Brain and heart were friends. Then one day the brain started being mean to the heart and ignoring him. So they weren’t friends anymore. They started fighting. The brain was winning until the heart got super powers and defeated the brain in a war. Now the brain and the heart are friends again. The End.
His, seemingly to him, original story had some timeless truth to it. As I listened to him tell his story I could not believe that my 7 year old son was telling me a story that was so profound and so old for such a young mind to understand. Looking back at the situation now I can tell you that I have recently been in a situation in my life where I needed to be reminded of this story. And so I believe that much like Gabriel the Archangel was used as a messenger for God, He used my Gabriel to deliver a message to me. Now I would like to share this message with you.
An eternal battle waged in the human body
In this corner, weighing in at approximately 3lbs and wearing the gray trunks, hailing from the northern region, THE BRAIN!!!! And in the opposition’s corner, hailing from the central region, weighing in at a slender 11 oz, THE HEART!!!! DING DING DING!!!
Now the brain gets a lot of credit for being the “control center” for the body. You would think that it would have the upper hand here. However, the heart, I would say is quite a vital organ. In a battle which one wins. Well, we can’t really say from a scientific stand point. They both require each other. From a spiritual stand point it is also hard to say. Let me give you some information that may help you with your eternal battle between the Brain and the Heart.
1. The brain is the center where your thoughts and physical actions are born. Both of these weapons of the brain are VERY deadly weapons that can be, and often are, used to defeat the heart. Maintain awareness of these weapons as they can be deceptive.
2. The heart is where your emotions and true desires come from. Both of these weapons of the heart are used quite often. Maintain awareness of these weapons because if left unchecked they will become a weakness in this eternal battle.
Now here is where things begin to get messy. Thoughts, a weapon of the brain, can affect emotions, a weapon of the heart. Physical actions, a weapon of the brain, can greatly affect your desires, a weapon of the heart. When it all comes down to it, this battle isn’t really about the brain or the heart winning. It’s about YOU winning! The only real way to win this battle is to understand the weapons that are being used.
Ever had a thought and been like,”Where did that come from?” Have you ever been angry one day and didn’t really know what you are angry about? This is where you step in and win the battle. If you understand these weapons you can control them and determine the outcome that is best. Here is the best way I can describe how to control your “thoughts”. I heard this in a message from Andrew Womack one time quite a while ago. Think of a thought like a bird. You can’t control what birds fly by your head, BUT you CAN control what birds land and make a nest. Be aware of what is trying to make a nest. How do I know what birds are ok to let make a nest? Well you have three weapons of your own for this. 
1. Seek the Word. Read the Bible!
2. Check your heart. What emotions are this “bird” stirring up?
3. Pray. Ask your Creator for assistance.
This will allow you to overcome your brain and begin to work on your heart. Now, your heart is the master of disguise. Your heart will use emotions and desires to protect itself, especially if it has been hurt in the past. Emotions are part of what make us human. We can be happy, sad, angry or in love. Emotions are a way for us to connect with others and the world around us. That connection is what we truly desire. Deep down we all desire a true connection to our Creator. To control emotions you need to understand that there are really only 2 REAL emotions.
1. Love. The greatest weapon of ALL.
2. Hate. One of the most damaging weapons of ALL.
Now love is pretty much the root of all, what I like to call, secondary emotions. Happiness, sadness, jealousy and yes even anger. Once you grasp this you can really begin to understand your emotions. Here is an example: Two siblings live in the same house as their parents. One of the 2 siblings is regarded greatly by their father and the other is not given as much positive re-enforcement. So the “under appreciated” is jealous of the other. This jealousy emotion is not a real emotion. The real emotion behind this is Love. This sibling has such a strong love for their father that they feel jealousy when they don’t get the attention they DESIRE. To control these “secondary emotions” all you need to do is try to recognize where it stems from and begin to work outward from there. I promise you, you will really begin to find yourself not wanting to waste so much time and energy on negative secondary emotions.
I truly hope these things will help you in your eternal battle. Understand and control the weapons and you will be victorious in life.
I am super excited to hear your feedback and personal stories of Triumph. Please comment below and as always feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. Thank you again for reading.
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I have always been intrigued by Super Heroes and their Super Powers. Who hasn’t, at some point, wanted to be able to fly or have super strength? There have been so many times in my life where I felt like if I just had some sort of super power I could fix this or get out of this hole. No matter how hard I focused or believed, I could never seem to summon a Super Power. Recently while reading the bible I discovered something that I believe will change your view of what a Super Power really is. Let’s start with this:
Thanks Marvel and DC Comics
We think of Super Powers as Flying, Super Strength, Shooting Fire from your fingers and other things brought to our collective conscience by Marvel and DC Comics. All of which are Awesome and have fueled children’s (and children at heart) daydreams for years. To get a better understanding of Super Powers lets look at what the “word people” have to say about Super Powers.
Dictionary.com defines a Super power like this
SuperPower: power greater in scope or magnitude than that which is considered natural or has previously existed.
What is interesting to me about this definition is that is pretty much says that Super Powers are unnatural. I don’t know about you but Super Man seemed to be quite a natural at flying and shooting laser beams out of his eyes, at least to me. Of course that was comic books and “Hollowood” (yeah I meant to say that). In real life we tend to look at certain people in our lives as being “Super Heroes” but not necessarily having Super Powers. I think that it IS possible for us to attain Super Powers.
This is the beginning of a series of posts that I will call Secret Super Powers. As of right now I truly believe that there are 5 Secret Super Powers that are outlined for us. These are not commonly thought of as Super Powers, but when applying the actual definition of a Super Power to these I think it will change your mind and possibly your life if you really let it.
Super Power #1 – Perseverance
Our first Super Power is found in James 1:2-4
“2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Now when I first read this verse I thought, “Yeah right! Who in their right mind would find joy in trials, or temptations or hard times?” I don’t know about you but the last time I was faced with struggles I wasn’t saying , “Thank you sir, may I have another?” I was more like, “What is happening? 
When will this be over?”. I think it is natural for us to recognize trouble, take cover and weather the storm until it is safe to come out. So you want a Super Power? Do what is not natural, Persevere! Persevere comes from the Latin root word, perseverare, with per meaning “through” and severus meaning “severe.” So perseverance means that you are going THROUGH something SEVERE. This Super Power is mentioned almost 28 times throughout the bible in the NIV. In every verse it is praised as something powerful. Just saying.
Now there is a difference between Persevering and Enduring. To endure something means that you have accepted the current situation and are willing to suffer it until it passes. This would be a “passive” thing. Therefore, Enduring is passive. Persevering means that you are pushing through. You are actively removing yourself from the trial. Therefore, Perseverance is active. I do not believe that Perseverance is natural. I believe that true perseverance can only be granted to you by GOD which makes it Super Natural! It is a Super Power that can truly change your life. Next time you are in a situation that seems hopeless, ask GOD for the Super Power of Perseverance!
Stay tuned for Super Power #2. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment below and let me know your experiences with this Super Power.
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“Ladies and Gentlemen, skinny and stout,
I’ll tell you a tale I know nothing about;
The Admission is free, so pay at the door,
Now pull up a chair and sit on the floor.
One bright day in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight;
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other.
A blind man came to watch fair play,
A mute man came to shout “Horray!”
A deaf policeman heard the noise and
Came and killed those two dead boys.
He lived on the corner in the middle of the block,
In a two-story house on a vacant lot;
A man with no legs came walking by,
and kicked the lawman in his thigh.
He crashed through a wall without making a sound,
into a dry creek and suddenly drowned;
The long black hearse came to cart him away,
But he ran for his life and is still gone today.
I watched from the corner of the big round table,
The only eyewitness to facts of my fable;
But if you doubt my lies are true,
Just ask the blind man, he saw it too.”
~ Unknown
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1. “Do as I say not as I do” DOES NOT WORK!! 
Let’s say your kid secretly snags an extra cookie before bed. There is just something confusing to a child when you say, “You cannot have another cookie right now!” as you take it from them and proceed to eat it before their mother finds out what is going on.
2. Make sure, “Just a minute” really means just a minute.
Child: “Dad come look at this tower I just built in my room!” DAD: “Just a minute” sitting at the computer reading a pointless article. 45 Minutes pass and the child returns and says, “Dad aren’t you gonna come look at my tower?” DAD: “Yeah, I said just a minute didn’t I?” Child:”Yeah, but how long is a minute?” Not only does this prove to your child that you are terrible with math but that whatever it is that you were doing was more important than they are to you at the moment.
3. Understand that “BandAids” have healing magic. 
It may seem crazy to you as an adult to think that BandAids have healing magic. Well guess what? There is nothing you can say to change the mind of a kid that seriously believes that they do! We need to remember that there isn’t any rush for our kids to become adults. In fact, I can’t even tell you the number of times I have been reminded what a difference a child like way of looking at or believing in something can make. Their is a reason that God mentions this Super Power like characteristic of children. Child Like Faith. It can change the world. Don’t crush it with your sarcastic, “real world” understanding of how things “really” work. PLEASE.
4. Pray together.
Not much to say here other than it is absolutely true that, “The family that prays together stays together” It teaches our children that there is a God. That He is there for them. That if they ever want to talk to Him, and trust me they will at some point in their life, they will know how to communicate with Him. If you truly love your children please do not forget this one.
5. Never Give Up!
When push comes to shove you are going to run into situations that are hard to deal with or that you will have no clue how to deal with. It is in these times that we as parents and as humans really, learn. If you use these situations to TEACH as you LEARN, you will make an ever lasting impression on the type of character that your children will have when they are faced with similar situations in their life. It really comes back to the old saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime” I am sad to say this but I really do think that in our society today we look for the easy out. It has corrupted our youth. ”If it gets difficult give up.” Let’s change that. Remember these 5 facts and I truly believe it can make you a better parent than you thought you could be.
Please feel free to comment and let me know if any of these facts help you or if you have some tried and true parenting facts of your own to add to the list. As always, thank you for reading.
]]>Well the Economy has fallen apart and is now on some miraculous return, at least as far as the media tells you. I have to say that I am not a firm believer in whatever the “media” sells you. Yes I said sells on purpose. You see the media is mainly comprised of a bunch of weak minded individuals with agendas. There truly aren’t many in the media these days that have the ability to think for themselves.
I challenge you to NOT automatically download everything you hear straight to your brain as truth. The reason why is simple. Whatever your brain accepts as truth, it believes. Whatever your brain believes then affects your attitude, which in turn affects your emotions, which in turn affects your actions. So lets look at it like this.
POSITIVE TRUTH=POSITIVE BELIEF=POSITIVE ATTITUDE=POSITIVE EMOTIONS=POSITIVE ACTIONS.
You pick which one sounds like it would be more productive for you. Seems pretty simple to me.
All of this rambling was to get me to the topic at hand, YOU! It is a well known fact that the “ECONOMY” is not able to control anyone. The truth is that the “ECONOMY” is only what you make it to be. A strong minded person will see nothing but opportunity during an economic downturn. A weak minded person turns inward and starts asking questions like, “Why is this happening to me?” or “Is it even worth trying now?”. You can see the previous pattern that I outlined above showing itself throughout that persons thought process. Negative in Negative out. One of the main characteristics of a successful person is their ability to control their thought process. They can take information, analyze it, and figure out how they can use it to their advantage. Sounds simple. However, many people struggle with it.
Here is the key…. try to create a buffer between the stimuli and your reaction. Don’t just react instantly to everything. Give yourself a few seconds to look at the stimuli from outside the constraints of your immediate desires. Try to work out possible solutions and their outcomes, pick the best one, then react.
So, the short of it is… Think before you react. Check the water before you dive. Most of all, look for the opportunities available in every situation. Well, that is it for now. I have a quick question to end this post with:
If you could have any Super Power what would it be AND how would you use it?