Thinking as the Gateway to Knowing God’s Will 

by Alan Smith

The service opened in prayer, asking Jesus to bless those watching by live stream, to send the Holy Spirit, and to give revelation to both speaker and listener. The request was direct: let this time be for your kingdom, not wasted, but fruitful in spiritual and physical ways.

From there, the message moved into a topic that can feel edgy because it cuts against the culture: thinking. Not random thoughts, not borrowed opinions, not whatever happens to float through the mind, but intentional, biblical thinking that leads believers into the will of God. The Bible speaks to this more than many people realize, and the stakes are high because the world around us pushes the opposite message: don’t think, don’t challenge, don’t offend, just fit in.

Why “taking a think” matters more than most people admit

Most people assume they’re thinking all day. It feels automatic. Thoughts come, opinions form, reactions happen, and we call that “thinking.” But a lot of what passes for thinking is just repetition. It’s tradition, a headline, a friend’s take, a favorite podcast, or the loudest voice in the room.

The message pressed a hard point: many “thoughts” aren’t really ours. They are borrowed, copied, or inherited. That matters because Christianity is not meant to be secondhand. It’s a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and that relationship requires a mind that’s awake, honest, and trained.

A short list helps expose how this happens:

• Some ideas come straight from someone else’s certainty.
• Some come from traditions we never questioned.
• Some come from a culture that says, “Don’t think, just be happy.”

To make the point memorable, the message told a Gomer Pyle story. Sergeant Carter tells Gomer to go think. Gomer asks how, and Carter says to “put a bucket on your head and go think.” Later, Gomer sits with a five-gallon bucket on his head and says, “It’s amazing how clear it is with this bucket on my head.”

That funny picture lands because it’s true. Many believers need to “take a think,” meaning they need focused, intentional reflection, guided by God’s Word, not a stream of untested assumptions.

What biblical “thinking” means (and why random thoughts don’t count)

The message drew a line between random thought and biblical thinking. Random thought is what happens when the mind runs without direction. Biblical thinking is an intentional mental action. It weighs, assesses, sets direction, and chooses an aim.

A key claim was also made plainly: believers can control how they think. Many people live as if the mind is on “random,” and whatever shows up is just normal. Scripture calls Christians to something else: bringing thoughts under the control of the spirit-led life.

That changes how a person reads verses about the mind. In the Bible, “think” often points to purposeful mental work, not mental drift. It’s tied to assessment, mindset, and moral direction. In plain terms, thoughts are not meant to be untamed. They are meant to be examined, trained, and brought into obedience to Christ.

This is where the message started pushing against modern comfort. A lot of society, and even a lot of church culture, tries to remove challenge. Don’t confront. Don’t press. Don’t risk discomfort. But a Christian who never challenges their own thinking will struggle to walk closely with Jesus, because Jesus challenges thinking at the root.

Renewing your mind is how you recognize the will of God

The message framed the main idea in a single line: thinking is a gateway to knowing the will of God. That is not mystical. It’s grounded in Scripture.

Romans 12:1-2 was used as the central text, with special focus on verse 2:

“Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

The logic is clear. If the mind is conformed to the world, the life follows the world. If the mind is renewed, the person is transformed. That renewal leads to discernment, the ability to “prove” (recognize and test) what God’s will is.

The message didn’t treat renewing the mind as positive thinking. It treated it as making the mind new with God’s thoughts and God’s Word. When believers fill the mind with what God says is true, the mind becomes a place where God’s will can be recognized and followed.

This also explains why so many people feel confused about God’s will. Confusion often comes from mixed inputs: a little Scripture, a lot of culture, a lot of emotion, and a lot of untested assumptions. The message called that out sharply with an image: Christians can’t live on “98 percent world thinking and 2 percent kingdom thinking” and expect clarity about God’s will.

What the Bible’s language shows about true thinking

A large part of the message walked through several New Testament uses of “think,” pointing out that biblical thinking is active, intentional, and morally shaped.

Thinking that weighs what is godly (Philippians 4:8)

Philippians 4:8 gives a clear target for the mind:

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The message explained that the biblical sense includes the idea of meditating and weighing. “Weighing” matters because choices often come down to what carries more weight in a moment. The mind is not meant to camp on what is ugly, suspicious, or corrupt. It’s meant to settle on what is true and worthy of praise.

Thinking as a set direction and lifestyle (Colossians 3:2)

Colossians 3:2 says:

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

This was treated as more than a suggestion. It was described like road signage: if you want to arrive at a certain place, you follow the signs. Setting the mind is a direction choice. It becomes a lifestyle, not a moment.

Thinking that can be wrong (Matthew 5:17)

Jesus said:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

This shows that “thinking” can be mistaken, and Jesus corrects it. He challenges assumptions. He does not leave false conclusions untouched.

Thinking that turns evil inside the heart (Matthew 9:4)

Matthew 9:4 says:

“But Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?”

This part confronted a common excuse: “It’s just a thought.” Jesus treats thoughts as moral territory. Repeated inner reflections shape the heart, and evil thoughts are not harmless because they are internal.

Thinking like Christ includes humility and unity (Philippians 2:5)

Philippians 2:5 says:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

This was presented as a command, not an option. A mind shaped by Christ tends to express humility and unity, not pride and division. It also challenges people, because the mind of Christ does not flatter the flesh.

Kingdom thinking will offend, and that’s not always a problem

The message made a statement that many people avoid: to think like the kingdom of God, you must risk being offensive.

The point was not “be rude.” The point was that truth has edges. When truth is clear, it scrapes against pride, false beliefs, and fragile identities. That scrape can feel like offense.

2 Corinthians 10:5 was used to show how serious Scripture is about the thought life:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

The message highlighted “imaginations” as imagined crises, conflicts built from talk, assumptions, and inner stories that are not rooted in reality. Families and churches can spiral into drama where, when it’s all boiled down, no real harm occurred, but a flood of words and feelings created a crisis.

Those imaginations become “high things,” and the text says they rise against the knowledge of God. The remedy is not to protect feelings at all costs. The remedy is to capture thoughts and bring them under Christ’s rule.

That leads into the harder claim: kingdom thinking is offensive to worldly thinking. The gospel itself confronts darkness, and that confrontation does not feel safe.

Godly offense is not rudeness, it’s clarity with the right tone

The message took time to separate truth that offends from cheap offense that harms. It gave a personal example involving Trevor Craig. He told the preacher, “Sometimes you keep things alive that God wants to die.” That sentence stung. It offended in the sense that it exposed something.

But the message emphasized why it worked: the tone was caring. It was not a put-down. It was not humiliation. It was truth delivered without cruelty. The offense did not come from nastiness. It came from clarity.

A key line followed: if “no one gets upset” becomes your main rule, you will stop saying what needs to be said. You will edit truth before you finish the thought. Over time, you stop thinking and start performing.

That performance can look polite, but it won’t set anyone free.

The message also called out a cultural pattern: people often label a statement “offensive” as a shortcut to shut down a topic. If they can label it, they feel they’ve proven it should not be said. Christians need to see that tactic clearly, because it can be used to block God’s truth, not to protect real dignity.

Thinking is a contact sport because truth collides with lies

“Thinking is a contact sport” was the phrase used to describe real conversation between people who are actually reasoning. It’s not violent. It’s not cruel. It’s real.

Clear ideas have edges. Those edges rub against beliefs, pride, and long-held assumptions. That friction can feel uncomfortable, but it’s often the price of getting to what’s true.

The message gave several examples to show how clarity works:

• A clear word is often short.
• A clear word is often direct.
• A clear word forces a choice.

Billy Graham was used as a public example of this kind of clarity. His gospel call was not presented as rude, but it was plain: without repentance and faith, a person is lost. People responded because they could understand what was being said. Clarity makes people decide.

The message also warned against vague “safe opinions.” Safe opinions keep the mood comfortable. They may keep social peace, but they don’t always reflect truth. When people live to protect the mood, they slowly train themselves to avoid conclusions.

Opinions are easy to borrow, biblical thinking must be owned

Another section separated thinking from opinion.

Opinions can be copied. They can be inherited from a group. They can be repeated online. A person may feel confident repeating them, but that does not mean they have done real thinking. Many opinions stay shallow, and many never reach a conclusion. They become a loop, like a cul-de-sac you keep circling.

Biblical thinking is different. It means you can explain your view in your own words. It means you can defend it with Scripture, not “vibes.” It means you can handle questions without falling apart.

The message gave a caution about loyalty overriding truth, using a media example involving Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Megyn Kelly. The point was not to build a political argument. The point was the moral principle: “She’s wrong, but she’s my friend” is not a Christian standard when truth is at stake. Loyalty cannot outrank truth if a person wants to carry God’s will.

Truth should be strong enough to survive questions. If a person’s “truth” collapses under honest challenge, it may not be truth at all. Safe thinking stays vague and avoids details. Kingdom thinking moves toward clear details, even when it feels awkward.

Offense is not proof, it’s a signal that something got touched

Late in the message, an important balance was added: offense is not a reliable sign of truth or falsehood. A true statement can offend. A false statement can offend. Offense alone proves nothing.

Jesus’ warning about the last days was quoted from Matthew 24:

“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

The point was not “never offend.” The point was to understand what offense does and does not mean. Offense usually tells you that something touched a nerve. The job of thinking is to ask what that nerve is connected to. It may connect to fear, group identity, pride, or an assumption that hasn’t been examined in years.

That kind of self-examination is not weakness. It’s part of renewing the mind.

Two kinds of offense, and only one belongs in Christian speech

The message ended with a clear contrast between cheap offense and truthful clarity. One kind is off limits for believers. The other is often required.

This tied back to the earlier warning: truth may offend, but Christians should not use offense as a tool to harm. Believers can control intent, content, and tone. They cannot control every reaction.

A practical gut check was offered: ask whether you’re trying to clarify the idea, or trying to win by humiliation. If it’s the second, that’s not thinking, it’s posturing. If it’s the first, you may still offend people, but you can stand behind what you said.

Another simple practice was given: say the clearest version of your point in one sentence. If you can’t, you may not understand it yet.

Choose clarity over comfort, and continue in Jesus’ Word

The message ended where it started, with a call back to Scripture and a warning about the spirit of the age. Wokeness and political correctness can look harmless, but they can also function as pressure to silence truth. When believers refuse to risk discomfort, their thoughts become safe, vague, and borrowed.

The goal is not provocation. The goal is clarity, spoken plainly, with a clean tone, and a willingness to let truth do its work. One question sums it up: are you protecting the truth or protecting the mood?

Jesus’ words from John 8:31-32 were left as the final anchor: if you continue in His word, you are His disciples, you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. The mission of the church is not to manage the mood. It’s to bring people into the kingdom of God through truth that sets captives free.

by Alan Smith

A snowy morning kept many people from making it to New Life Church, so the service came to everyone online instead. The welcome was simple and warm, with a light moment about preaching to a single in-person listener, Dr. Craig (Trevor), who “can almost walk here.”

The service opened in prayer, asking Jesus to bless those watching by live stream, to send the Holy Spirit, and to give revelation to both speaker and listener. The request was direct: let this time be for your kingdom, not wasted, but fruitful in spiritual and physical ways.

From there, the message moved into a topic that can feel edgy because it cuts against the culture: thinking. Not random thoughts, not borrowed opinions, not whatever happens to float through the mind, but intentional, biblical thinking that leads believers into the will of God. The Bible speaks to this more than many people realize, and the stakes are high because the world around us pushes the opposite message: don’t think, don’t challenge, don’t offend, just fit in.

Why “taking a think” matters more than most people admit

Most people assume they’re thinking all day. It feels automatic. Thoughts come, opinions form, reactions happen, and we call that “thinking.” But a lot of what passes for thinking is just repetition. It’s tradition, a headline, a friend’s take, a favorite podcast, or the loudest voice in the room.

The message pressed a hard point: many “thoughts” aren’t really ours. They are borrowed, copied, or inherited. That matters because Christianity is not meant to be secondhand. It’s a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and that relationship requires a mind that’s awake, honest, and trained.

A short list helps expose how this happens:

• Some ideas come straight from someone else’s certainty.
• Some come from traditions we never questioned.
• Some come from a culture that says, “Don’t think, just be happy.”

To make the point memorable, the message told a Gomer Pyle story. Sergeant Carter tells Gomer to go think. Gomer asks how, and Carter says to “put a bucket on your head and go think.” Later, Gomer sits with a five-gallon bucket on his head and says, “It’s amazing how clear it is with this bucket on my head.”

That funny picture lands because it’s true. Many believers need to “take a think,” meaning they need focused, intentional reflection, guided by God’s Word, not a stream of untested assumptions.

What biblical “thinking” means (and why random thoughts don’t count)

The message drew a line between random thought and biblical thinking. Random thought is what happens when the mind runs without direction. Biblical thinking is an intentional mental action. It weighs, assesses, sets direction, and chooses an aim.

A key claim was also made plainly: believers can control how they think. Many people live as if the mind is on “random,” and whatever shows up is just normal. Scripture calls Christians to something else: bringing thoughts under the control of the spirit-led life.

That changes how a person reads verses about the mind. In the Bible, “think” often points to purposeful mental work, not mental drift. It’s tied to assessment, mindset, and moral direction. In plain terms, thoughts are not meant to be untamed. They are meant to be examined, trained, and brought into obedience to Christ.

This is where the message started pushing against modern comfort. A lot of society, and even a lot of church culture, tries to remove challenge. Don’t confront. Don’t press. Don’t risk discomfort. But a Christian who never challenges their own thinking will struggle to walk closely with Jesus, because Jesus challenges thinking at the root.

Renewing your mind is how you recognize the will of God

The message framed the main idea in a single line: thinking is a gateway to knowing the will of God. That is not mystical. It’s grounded in Scripture.

Romans 12:1-2 was used as the central text, with special focus on verse 2:

“Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

The logic is clear. If the mind is conformed to the world, the life follows the world. If the mind is renewed, the person is transformed. That renewal leads to discernment, the ability to “prove” (recognize and test) what God’s will is.

The message didn’t treat renewing the mind as positive thinking. It treated it as making the mind new with God’s thoughts and God’s Word. When believers fill the mind with what God says is true, the mind becomes a place where God’s will can be recognized and followed.

This also explains why so many people feel confused about God’s will. Confusion often comes from mixed inputs: a little Scripture, a lot of culture, a lot of emotion, and a lot of untested assumptions. The message called that out sharply with an image: Christians can’t live on “98 percent world thinking and 2 percent kingdom thinking” and expect clarity about God’s will.

What the Bible’s language shows about true thinking

A large part of the message walked through several New Testament uses of “think,” pointing out that biblical thinking is active, intentional, and morally shaped.

Thinking that weighs what is godly (Philippians 4:8)

Philippians 4:8 gives a clear target for the mind:

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The message explained that the biblical sense includes the idea of meditating and weighing. “Weighing” matters because choices often come down to what carries more weight in a moment. The mind is not meant to camp on what is ugly, suspicious, or corrupt. It’s meant to settle on what is true and worthy of praise.

Thinking as a set direction and lifestyle (Colossians 3:2)

Colossians 3:2 says:

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

This was treated as more than a suggestion. It was described like road signage: if you want to arrive at a certain place, you follow the signs. Setting the mind is a direction choice. It becomes a lifestyle, not a moment.

Thinking that can be wrong (Matthew 5:17)

Jesus said:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

This shows that “thinking” can be mistaken, and Jesus corrects it. He challenges assumptions. He does not leave false conclusions untouched.

Thinking that turns evil inside the heart (Matthew 9:4)

Matthew 9:4 says:

“But Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?”

This part confronted a common excuse: “It’s just a thought.” Jesus treats thoughts as moral territory. Repeated inner reflections shape the heart, and evil thoughts are not harmless because they are internal.

Thinking like Christ includes humility and unity (Philippians 2:5)

Philippians 2:5 says:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

This was presented as a command, not an option. A mind shaped by Christ tends to express humility and unity, not pride and division. It also challenges people, because the mind of Christ does not flatter the flesh.

Kingdom thinking will offend, and that’s not always a problem

The message made a statement that many people avoid: to think like the kingdom of God, you must risk being offensive.

The point was not “be rude.” The point was that truth has edges. When truth is clear, it scrapes against pride, false beliefs, and fragile identities. That scrape can feel like offense.

2 Corinthians 10:5 was used to show how serious Scripture is about the thought life:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

The message highlighted “imaginations” as imagined crises, conflicts built from talk, assumptions, and inner stories that are not rooted in reality. Families and churches can spiral into drama where, when it’s all boiled down, no real harm occurred, but a flood of words and feelings created a crisis.

Those imaginations become “high things,” and the text says they rise against the knowledge of God. The remedy is not to protect feelings at all costs. The remedy is to capture thoughts and bring them under Christ’s rule.

That leads into the harder claim: kingdom thinking is offensive to worldly thinking. The gospel itself confronts darkness, and that confrontation does not feel safe.

Godly offense is not rudeness, it’s clarity with the right tone

The message took time to separate truth that offends from cheap offense that harms. It gave a personal example involving Trevor Craig. He told the preacher, “Sometimes you keep things alive that God wants to die.” That sentence stung. It offended in the sense that it exposed something.

But the message emphasized why it worked: the tone was caring. It was not a put-down. It was not humiliation. It was truth delivered without cruelty. The offense did not come from nastiness. It came from clarity.

A key line followed: if “no one gets upset” becomes your main rule, you will stop saying what needs to be said. You will edit truth before you finish the thought. Over time, you stop thinking and start performing.

That performance can look polite, but it won’t set anyone free.

The message also called out a cultural pattern: people often label a statement “offensive” as a shortcut to shut down a topic. If they can label it, they feel they’ve proven it should not be said. Christians need to see that tactic clearly, because it can be used to block God’s truth, not to protect real dignity.

Thinking is a contact sport because truth collides with lies

“Thinking is a contact sport” was the phrase used to describe real conversation between people who are actually reasoning. It’s not violent. It’s not cruel. It’s real.

Clear ideas have edges. Those edges rub against beliefs, pride, and long-held assumptions. That friction can feel uncomfortable, but it’s often the price of getting to what’s true.

The message gave several examples to show how clarity works:

• A clear word is often short.
• A clear word is often direct.
• A clear word forces a choice.

Billy Graham was used as a public example of this kind of clarity. His gospel call was not presented as rude, but it was plain: without repentance and faith, a person is lost. People responded because they could understand what was being said. Clarity makes people decide.

The message also warned against vague “safe opinions.” Safe opinions keep the mood comfortable. They may keep social peace, but they don’t always reflect truth. When people live to protect the mood, they slowly train themselves to avoid conclusions.

Opinions are easy to borrow, biblical thinking must be owned

Another section separated thinking from opinion.

Opinions can be copied. They can be inherited from a group. They can be repeated online. A person may feel confident repeating them, but that does not mean they have done real thinking. Many opinions stay shallow, and many never reach a conclusion. They become a loop, like a cul-de-sac you keep circling.

Biblical thinking is different. It means you can explain your view in your own words. It means you can defend it with Scripture, not “vibes.” It means you can handle questions without falling apart.

The message gave a caution about loyalty overriding truth, using a media example involving Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Megyn Kelly. The point was not to build a political argument. The point was the moral principle: “She’s wrong, but she’s my friend” is not a Christian standard when truth is at stake. Loyalty cannot outrank truth if a person wants to carry God’s will.

Truth should be strong enough to survive questions. If a person’s “truth” collapses under honest challenge, it may not be truth at all. Safe thinking stays vague and avoids details. Kingdom thinking moves toward clear details, even when it feels awkward.

Offense is not proof, it’s a signal that something got touched

Late in the message, an important balance was added: offense is not a reliable sign of truth or falsehood. A true statement can offend. A false statement can offend. Offense alone proves nothing.

Jesus’ warning about the last days was quoted from Matthew 24:

“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

The point was not “never offend.” The point was to understand what offense does and does not mean. Offense usually tells you that something touched a nerve. The job of thinking is to ask what that nerve is connected to. It may connect to fear, group identity, pride, or an assumption that hasn’t been examined in years.

That kind of self-examination is not weakness. It’s part of renewing the mind.

Two kinds of offense, and only one belongs in Christian speech

The message ended with a clear contrast between cheap offense and truthful clarity. One kind is off limits for believers. The other is often required.

This tied back to the earlier warning: truth may offend, but Christians should not use offense as a tool to harm. Believers can control intent, content, and tone. They cannot control every reaction.

A practical gut check was offered: ask whether you’re trying to clarify the idea, or trying to win by humiliation. If it’s the second, that’s not thinking, it’s posturing. If it’s the first, you may still offend people, but you can stand behind what you said.

Another simple practice was given: say the clearest version of your point in one sentence. If you can’t, you may not understand it yet.

Choose clarity over comfort, and continue in Jesus’ Word

The message ended where it started, with a call back to Scripture and a warning about the spirit of the age. Wokeness and political correctness can look harmless, but they can also function as pressure to silence truth. When believers refuse to risk discomfort, their thoughts become safe, vague, and borrowed.

The goal is not provocation. The goal is clarity, spoken plainly, with a clean tone, and a willingness to let truth do its work. One question sums it up: are you protecting the truth or protecting the mood?

Jesus’ words from John 8:31-32 were left as the final anchor: if you continue in His word, you are His disciples, you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. The mission of the church is not to manage the mood. It’s to bring people into the kingdom of God through truth that sets captives free.